adventures . pt 2

Here is the studio tour we took of a Grand Haven husband and wife team, Mark & Kathy. Together, in their home studio (which was entirely built by them, kilns and all!), they hand craft beautiful glass and ceramic pieces. Most of their work, all really, is functional. I have a lot of their stuff that I've collected over the past few years and it is a pleasure to use. They are so generous with their time and their studio; almost every time I visit, they let me design and blow a piece! With their help, of course.

Anyway, into the studio:

On the morning that we visited, Kathy was blowing and Mark was mostly assisting. In the photo above, Kathy has already gathered the glass onto the rod, blown a starter bubble, and gathered the color (stringers and frit). Now, she's rounding off the gather of glass with a cool wooden tool. Very technical, yes.

Just after that, she is standing in front of a mirror (out of the frame) and starting to blow into the glass to form a hollow. That's Mark hanging out on the side there. At this point, he is giving advice and encouragement.

Kathy is getting another "heat" (it's really hard to blow into glass that is starting to cool!) while my friends hang out and watch. L to R: Matt, Eric, Mickey and Matt.

We've skipped a couple of steps, but they have reattached the piece onto another rod and Kathy is now forming the lip of a bowl.

One more heat!

This is the color station! Those are the stringers on the bottom, and the shelves of beautiful colored frit (just tiny pieces of glass).

This is the area where Hadley, their daughter, teaches summer classes of ceramics and other crafts. All by herself!

Lots of recently finished glass pieces on a counter in their garage/workshop. I love how the light shines through all the glass.

My dad and Kathy looking at some especially cool pieces.

This is my favorite shot of the inside of their house. I love this window! And that table is so pretty in the light, it's wood.

Needless to say, I try to visit Mark & Kathy whenever I can. They're such an inspiration.

P.S. Sorry I didn't post this yesterday like I promised; I ran out of time :(