Sunday 29 November 2009

Teaching at Darsham

Yesterday I once again taught at the Darsham craft day, and once again it was an absolute pleasure!!!! I get such a thrill out of teaching and seeing incredible results and seeing delight at their achievements, huge thanks to Jo for all the organising. 6 students in the morning and 6 in the afternoon. I have been doing it long enough now to have about 50% of them having their second go or even more. 50% having never tried to engrave glass before and some quite aprehensive, but always managing perfectly well.
Well done everyone!!











So it is back to work tomorrow (oh and I played golf today in rather chilly weather, 10 holes did us fine as we dived back into the club house for a well deserved drink)I have a busy week ahead with some pretty challenging orders, I couldn't think up such variety myself!!! Pictures to come once all the recipients have seen them....which will be after Christmas.
Hope everyone is coping with the season, we keep it simple, we don't do presents for each other we buy our own if we feel like it. I bought myself a golf club. Of I course made up a lovely parcel of wrapped up Christmas prezzies which I sent to my sons in New Zealand. Gifts for your children, (what you can afford) to delight them, that is what it is about as far as I am concerned. The rest is good will, good cheer and love. Don't waste all your hard earned money on what the world dictates. The origins of Christmas is quite different, it has been twisted and now become ugly in many cases.
You know by now the story of my children, so I have a sad tinge to my Christmas and it always makes me think about the many many people who have lost loved ones. Children, parents who have either moved far away, died or even worse those that are missing, my heart goes out to you most especially in this season which holds the most precious memories.








Saturday 14 November 2009

Run up to Christmas

Much is happening all round, it is that time of year when timing is crucial, it speeds up so much on the run up to Christmas and then suddenly hits you smack on! I am taking all sorts of engraving still, lots of small jobs and a couple of big ones on the go, nothing with extreme deadlines that I can't cope with so I am cruising along nicely.
I am presently working on another lovely Tudor Crystal Christening goblet. I absolutely love these! A combination of sandblasted lettering and hand engraved decoration. Pictured above is the last one I engraved for a family with an African theme. The other favourite is English woodland themes.
I am filming most of this new engraving for my collection of little movies which will eventually be put on a DVD. I use a remote control to move the zoom and pause and film.
I must just add that I certainly do engrave simple subjects aswell, it is all part and parcel of my business. I frequently am asked whether I do this sort of thing, I DO enjoy them, these jobs are not always as simple as they look, a curved glass will mean each line of lettering can be on a different curve, meaning some clever computer artwork tweeking, this is very important for a professional finish where all lines appear perfectly straight.
Just thought I would leave you with this glass, a subject I had never engraved before, "Morris Dancing In Merry England"
Things are not always as they seem when viewed from a different angle :-)