Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show 2013- Part 1 of 2

This past weekend, the 23rd St. Armory in Philadelphia...

...was fitted out with many wonderful booths.

Here's just a sampling:

 

Functional and decorative blown glass...

...by the charming Jim Loewer.

 

Beautifully crafted outdoor planters...

...by Gretz Craft.

 

Laminated wood and molded plywood furniture featuring creatively re-purposed metal parts...

...by the delightful Clint Parker.

 

These handsome craftsmen from Philadelphia Woodworks...

...were on hand to offer classes and membership opportunities.

 

Walnut Wood Works strives to honor the natural shape of a chosen piece of wood.

 

Claudia Mills' beautiful and lovingly crafted rugs...

...provided a welcome jolt of color.

 

This father and son team...

...form the brains and brawn behind Harrington Design Studio.

 

As you can see...

...I recently spent an enjoyable morning at the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show.

In addition to the oh, so welcome experience of spending a beautiful spring Sunday downtown...

...I was able to engage in interesting conversations with many of the talented vendors at this intimate show.

Next time: we'll meet a few more artists...

...including two more rug makers!

Finger Lakes Mini-Vacation- Part 1

Glass furnace where liquid glass is held at 2200 degrees F (1200 degrees C).



The glory hole.



Yours truly blowing a glass Easter ornament.



My instructor adding a hanging loop prior to placing it in the annealing oven.



I spent five days last week in the Finger Lakes region of New York state...

...and boy, did I have a wonderful time!

My best friend and I made quite a few stops on our brief trip...

...and I'd like to share some of them with you.

We started in Corning, New York by making blown glass ornaments for Easter...

...and if you haven't ever seen this done, it's truly magical!

The glass is held at unimaginable temperatures...

...where it behaves like a rather viscous liquid.

My only contribution to the making of my ornament was in the blowing...

...and, in fact, I ruined the first one that I tried because, as they jokingly told me, "I'm too full of hot air!" Grin.

Glass at these temperatures would crack if it's cooled too quickly...

...so it's held overnight in an annealing oven...

...where the temperature is slowly reduced from 900 degrees F to room temperature.

While we were in Corning, we also visited The Corning Museum of Glass...

...where we saw lots of gorgeous modern art glass, antique examples of glass through the centuries, and even learned how glass is used in industrial
and scientific ways.

Next time: My pilgrimage to The Moosewood Restaurant!