Country Mouse Goes To The City - 2011 10th annual Architectural Home Design Show!

Mujeres, a new piece inspired from this picture from a friend..

   While in Baltimore, we got to see great old friends and make great new friends!

             
 After returning from shows in Baltimore and Florida, Randi and the crew at Solinglass are on high speed in Vermont once again; getting ready for a full line up of shows! Randi and Marie are headed off again to the:     
  


                                                 2011 - 10th Annual

                       Architectural Digest Home Design Show 
                                                           March 17-20, 2011
                         Pier 94 • 55th Street at West Side Highway • New York City

                                                             archdigesthomeshow.com

      Randi has come up with some new creations that debuted in Baltimore! She is very excited to bring them to this show, as they received rave reviews at both the wholesale and retail shows!

                                                                                               
Click here for the image from National Geographic the inspired the Greenland piece                                                                          

                                                                                                      

                                                                                                       

               
The ever-changing faces of Greenland                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                             
                                                                                            
                                                                                          



When you come to see us in New York, we will be at:

 BOOTH M85 in the

                                                                        section.           

Last year at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show.

                  
   There is a link below that will lead you to free tickets to get into the show!                 
      

      TO RECEIVE your complimentary tickets click on of the links...below

COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS TO THE SHOW! 

COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS TICKETS FOR TRADE PROFESSIONALS

THIS ADMITS YOU AND A GUEST ALL 4 DAYS OF THE SHOW.

Compliments of: Solinglass  






We are looking forward to seeing everyone we see when we come to Manhattan and meeting new friends!

 

Solinglass is represented by over 70 galleries!
 Everyone works hard together to make our
worlds peaceful places filled with beauty.
I would like to say thank you to a couple now:

Avalon Gallery

Pashmina Cintura

Avalon Gallery Website
                                                              
       Avalon Gallery                                                 
  425 East Atlantic Avenue                                
   Delray Beach, FL. 33483  .                                 
PHONE:  (561) 272a-9155                      
  FAX(561) 272-9031                                

Avalon Gallery is located in Delray Beach,Florida. John and Mavis are two of the hardest working and sweetest  people that I have ever met. (besides us, of course)! They are always so eager to answer any questions and are extremely  passionate about and very knowledgeable in the Fine Arts. Please say Hello to John and Mavis from us if you happen to venture into their gallery!                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                 

E-Mail: info@avalononatlantic.comDriving Directions
                                                                                                                                                                     
and:


Syd Entel Galleries &                                                                        

Glacier

Susan Benjamin Glass etc.       

247  Main St.
Safety Harbor, FL 34695
Phone:  (727)-725-1808
  E-Mail:       fgalleries@tampabay.rr.com

Syd Entel Galleries is like a gallery within a gallery! There is a beautiful glass
gallery (Susan Benjamin Glass etc.) within the Syd Entel Gallery! A beautiful space in a beautiful place.....Safety Harbor, Fl. You can find the  Solinglass piece Glacier there soon!                                                                                                
                                                      
  BYE BYE BESSY..........  BYE BYE.                                                                                                                                                 

We have had our share of road trips! and old Bessy 1996 Dodge 15 person van has finally seen her last voyage! We will miss her dearly, as we had some long fun trips in that vehicle ... from Chicago to Florida with two families; she has certainly seen a lot of  America... I can say now, that she was a reliable old girl as.. Randi and I never sat on the side of the road waiting to be rescued! Wait! I may have missed my knight in shining armor! But.. we will always have great memories of BESSY........  BYE BYE......................................



She has been replaced with......
TRISCUT  !                                                                                                                                                               

       A mini Dodge Sprinter.... comfy seats! She had her first road trip to Baltimore last month and did great! We were surprised to fit everything in!

Solinglass Travels to Africa!
 
And last, but not least! 

Solinglass sent two pieces with some Art Handlers to 
Nouakchott, Mauritania Africa  !  The Aquos Flat and the Sahara Emperor Bowl made it's way last week to the United States Embassy there! That makes 6 U.S. Embassies around the world, so far! Now , if we could only get them to send us there!   

Aquos Flat and Sahara Emperor Bowl

Thank you so much for all your support! We look forward to the future but, try always to LIVE in the present.    

Here's a Quote from Thich Nat Hahn:

  Waking up this morning, I smile.
   Twenty- four brand new hours are before me.
   I vow to live fully in each moment ,
   and to look at others thorough eyes of compassion!     

 peace.        See you in New York!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Solinglass website

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                        
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                               
                                                                          






  

Solinglass - Winter - The American Craft Council Show

looking out my front door!

                           

 Reconstructed!


     It's hard to believe another year has come and gone! We have made a lot of changes around the Solinglass Hot shop. Last you knew we were under full construction ; biting our nails and praying all these crazy ideas would work! Well........................

GOOD NEWS!

Randi lighting up the new glory hole.

We have successfully finished building and piping in the new glory hole! as well as updating our 9 year old furnace to be more efficient with a Recuperater! This will preheat the air going into the furnace and not take so much energy to keep the furnace going! Let's hope it works! The Glory Hole is so efficient that we have been turning it down by 10 or 11 am! So far, we are all happy with both BIG changes! The glass coming out of the furnace is amazing to work with and a lot more bubble free; which will help us spend a little less time on each piece! Thank you Mr. Charlie Correll for your fine work; and working fine with us! We miss having you around!     Charlie's site!  (click here)


                                                                                                                 38th ART FESTIVAL 
     TEMPLE BETH-EL  
        PRESS RELEASE:

     Randi Solin has just returned from St. Petersburg, Fla with a smile on her face. She was asked to participate in the 38th Art Festival Temple Beth-El ! Not only did she sell most of her pieces to help raise money for the Temple, She walked away with an Award of Distinction...Setting her apart from most of the other artists. Thanks to the staff who put together a great show with so many amazing artists...! It didn't hurt that the weather was great!

Temple Beth-El's Site   (click here)








      AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL......... .                      ..and that's it!

This year , for various reasons, for the first time in 11 years,  Randi has decided to only attend one Wholesale show. Solinglass will be                    attending the:

          American Craft Council (ACC) Wholesale/Retail Show:

     in   :  BALTIMORE, MD
    at   :  THE BALTIMORE CONVENTION CENTER
                PRATT STREET
    on  :  FEBRUARY 22-23 WHOLESALE ONLY
    and : FEBRUARY 24-27 RETAIL

 We hope to see you there! Randi Has come up with some new designs! and colorations!
       Expect to be DAZZLED!

2011 AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL SHOW
please check out their website!




          WELCOME NEW GALLERIES!

  I am adding ALL the Galleries that Randi Solin and Solinglass sends the beautiful, one of a kind, art glass pieces to..
   Here are two new friends...





Two Moon Gallery...  located in Nashville,Tenn
 http://twomoongallery.com/

and

Arts Afire Glass Gallery .. located in  Alexandria, VA
http://www.artsafire.com/8.html



       2011 Spring Show Schedule

I have added a few things to the show list!
 Now is the beginning of show season... We all are trying our best to get ready for the wholesale show in February! Realizing we have only a few more days before we leave has us on our toes for sure!
We have been testing out a new mold SHHHH! for a new Piece (it's a secret!) !! We'll see! Also, look for a Cardinal? when you come see us in Baltimore..
Solinglass is going to..........

                                         ACC Wholesale/retail show
                                           February 22-23 (wholesale) and 24-27(retail), 2011 - Baltimore,MD
                                                               http://public.craftcouncil.org/baltimore

                                         The Architectural Digest Home and         
                                                Design Show
                                            March 17-20, 2011 -  Pier 94 NY, NY
                                                               http://www.archdigesthomeshow.com/
                                          
 We are wait listed for the 2011 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
                                   .and Demoines, Iowa Art Festival
not the best news ...but not the worst!  send those vibes! we want to see you there! 

Welcome to 2011! All of us at Solinglass here in Wintry, Creative Brattleboro, Vermont wish you the best of years..! may all your dreams come true... Thank you for all your fantastic support. We'd never be here without you! peace

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and DECONSTRUCTION!!!

REEDS

                                                                                                                                                                                             
 This is the newest work that Randi Solin has designed.... Reeds.  This piece stands 24" tall x 14" wide x 5" deep.. Layered with many different colors of cane and frit.and "fine" Silver foil......this is truly a 3D abstract "painting" allowing the viewer to enjoy it from all directions! The gesture and form truly gives you sense of underwater REEDS coming to life.

The ICE is on the pumpkin!

                                                                                     

                                            Hello and Happy Holidays!

This has certainly been any interesting year!  hmmmm..............
We here at Solinglass have just made it through another Open Studio Holiday Sale! We certainly had a lot of fun! Thank you to all of those who were able to take time out of their busy schedule to grace us with their presence!
                                                   OPEN STUDIO 2010

the halls were alive with music.

We had live glassblowing demonstrations all day! There was pottery, jewelery, woodworking, massages, specialty toys, yummy jams and much more!
                                                                                                                                                                                       

Randi and George draining the furnace!

lots of people came through.........................................

liquid light

                                                                                                                             

old friends and new friends

       We had so much fun!                                     We hope to see you all next year

------------------------------------------------------------
DECONSTRUCTION......RECONSTRUCTION!

the old glory hole! at rest.

  After the open studio, we drained the furnace! Which means we took out the rest of the glass. Then we shut down the furnace! The night was so quiet. No roar of the burner, no Glory hole rumbling.... and it was dark....

                                                          Let the deconstruction begin!

George and the new Glory Hole unfinished....

There was lots to do!.. After the furnace cooled down enough to touch (this took 5 days!) we had to dismantled it to assess it for damage... A nail biting experience...Do we have to get a new furnace? Or can we "love up" this one? A new furnace was just about out of the question ,,, so we were all quite happy and surprised to see we could do some need maintenance and she'd be almost good as new... well with one difference..
Randi decided have Glass furnace wizard Charlie Correll install a recouperating system onto the furnace.
You can find out all about this system on his website!.....
                                          http://www.correllglassstudio.com/
 
At the same time we had to prepare the new glory hole and dismantle the old glory hole.. after 11 years! wow! George and Charlie had built the new glory hole about a year ago! It has been sleeping quietly in the corner without it's legs....

the new glory hole without it's legs

The beast at rest.

furnace door

not used to it being so dark in there!!

Michael..overseer,,,,we couldn't do it without him!

Randi focuses...ready to weld!

We had to weld the legs of the new glory hole onto the body! Randi, welder extraordinaire was on the job.  We all were thinking about how to tip it up! we'll get to that later!!

the face off the furnace

George checking out the drainport

the furnace .empty. void of the crucible.

Randi and Charlie

taking apart the old glory hole

the floor of the glory hole

Charlie Correll and our baby...

Charlie came in and tore a gaping hole in the side of the furnace! YIKES!

            We had so many projects going on at once.. sometimes it was hard to keep track!

the guts of the recouperater

meanwhile...George casts the new gathering port! 95 pounds of refractory!

rebuilding the furnace!

Charlie came into the studio and tore apart the furnace last week.. He started building the new recouperater..  then left for vacation! So here we sit.. waiting for Charlie.... ready to put the furnace back together. The studio looks quite different at the moment... pieces and parts of the furnace and glory hole everywhere. We are all anxious to pull everything together and get up and running again.

the crucible in place..leveled

rebuilding the furnace

Randi....placing soft brick in the furnace

the new door/gathering port/face

"gooping" up the door with moldable refractory

the furnace front rebuilt..ready to cast the sill

measuring the sill

I just like this picture.

all set to cast the sill....

sometimes accidents happen. ouch.

sometimes.. well most times, our schedule gets messed up with some little detail that we never thought of.. or sometimes you let go for a second and the the face falls to the floor.. this set us back at least 3 days .. we just cast a new face today and must let it set up...for at least a day.
Lucky...Charlie won't be back until Monday!...

                                             Trusting Mr. Michael Wind... Randi left the standing of the 900 lb piece of equipment up to him..... Michael took in mind all precautions and considerations .. He devised a way that 3 people could do it! amazing.... using a 2 ton come-a-long / winch and chains from my dad...  building a support frame from 2x6s and 2x4s, and a 10 foot 2x4 lever ... the job was done in less than one hour...all I had to do was take the pictures!  Thanks Michael! We've been wondering about that for about a year now!
Randi's welds held up no problem! Great teamwork!                                                

Michael watches as Randi hoists the 900lb glory hole up!

setting the glory hole on it's legs...

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

the new glory hole ready for doors and to be piped in!

====================================================

                            NICK DANTONA PHOTOGRAPHY
                                                             

We have had many photographers come into the studio to take a few shots and see what they  "come up with"...
    We had the pleasure of having Mr. Nick Dantona come to Solinglass... and this is what he "came up with"  All these photos are copyrights of Mr. Dantona and have his permission to be used in this blog. Thank you Nick. The photographs are quite amazing. Please check out his website!

                                                              http://www.ndantona.com/

 

                                                                         
     I think these photographs encapsulate the being and motion of the glass as part of a beautiful dance. Just like life .. everyday bring new adventures in the studio,,,, For the last 10 years, I look forward to stepping my feet through the door every time I go in.  
So....I must add on a personal note, being the end of the year and all..that...........................................
    Over the past ten years, I have had the pleasure of working and traveling in very close quarters with Randi Solin.... I feel very lucky... She has been there watching my 3 children grow up...She has been a fantastic person to work for and with.. She has been an even better friend... I have watched this woman grow in her personal life and business..She has made Solinglass a family of 4.. She gives her all to everything...from running her business to making sure her family is well cared. She works more than any other person I know to achieve this; and is a true inspiration to perseverance and life itself.  The gratitude I feel for this gift is priceless and can not be put into words. I can only say that I look forward to the next 10 years...much love and........ Thank you Randi.


  Happy Holidays to everyone out there... and thank you all for making this year be the year it was.....

We here at Solinglass wish you a happy NEW YEAR....... May 2011 bring you all your wishes and dreams.   Thank you for all your support!