the sofietta

new skill, old weirdness

kylereslow — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:11:14 +0000

Today, I learned how to swaddle a baby. I practiced a couple times with a stuff animal. A Grateful Dead Bear to be exact. Here is a photo of me with the little swaddled guy in a baby back pack thing. I am the one with the guitar.

cane and murrine

kylereslow — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:39:19 +0000

Cane and Murrine Work

Many of the objects I create are patterned using cane and or murrine. These patterning techniques are classically Italian and refer to prefabricated glass elements that are later combined into a handblown object. The use of cane and murrine is generally a time consuming process but well worth the extra work as the final product is often stunning and bold and unachievable any other way.

There are several different kinds of cane with seemingly infinite possibilities for color combinations and patterning. But basically any cane is glass that has been stretched into long rods. Usually this is done by making a large cylinder on a blowpipe or punty and then stretching the cylinder to a desired thickness. This creates round canes. Other shapes can be extruded as well (a square for instance). These rods are then cut to differently lengths depending on the intended application. Most times I cut my own cane to five inches in order to use them in “roll ups.”

A “roll up” of cane (or murrine) is done by using the cane to create a field on a steel plate. The canes are lined up side by side and fused together on the plate creating a rectangle of striped glass. This rectangle is then rolled into a cylinder on the end of the blow pipe. Thus the roll up.

Murrine are produced in a similar way as cane. The difference is that with murrine, the cross section of the rod is used to make the pattern.

in the portfolio, check out the peacock pair or the triangle vases for examples of murrine work. For cane work see the sun cube, the kitchen sink cane roll up, or the plaid cane detail.

Huey Lewis was singing about love…not a truck

kylereslow — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Despite my own beliefs to the contrary, Huey Lewis was not singing about getting a new truck. The song was “I Want a New Drug” not “I Want a New Truck” and though it might seem that Huey was looking for a new drug (and we know that not only rock stars seem to need them, but pop stars too) he was actually talking about love.

Now, before I go on, let me say that love is awesome. But right now, I’m stoked about my new truck. It’s not new in that it’s an ’09 or ’10. It is new in that I have never owned it before. It’s big, it’s shiny, it feels like a cloud moving down the road. So that’s good. I have a feeling that this baby is gonna be able to pull the trailer that I’ve been working with for the last couple years. This tiny 5′ x 8′ enclosed trailer ate my last truck for breakfast. It was a long year and a half to two year breakfast…but it really did make short work of it. I take this trailer out to the art shows I work. And since I haul glass, it’s a heavy pull despite it’s small stature. Now, with the new wheels I will cruise with less stress.

So even though Huey was not singing about a new truck I think the end is the same for us both. His new drug and my new truck pragmatically speaking are the same: something that you can rely on to take some of the stress and strain out of life.

opening day: fusing oven

kylereslow — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:33:58 +0000

Plaid Tiles

Opening the oven after a successful fusing is like opening gifts on Christmas morning. The excitement of having some new goodies to play with when I blow glass (in this case the new goodies are tiles of crisscrossed cane used to make the series of Plaid objects) causes an irrational sense of urgency topped with mirthful curiosity.

When I am fusing the glass, I do have a chance to look at the pieces while they are molten hot. So I already know how they look, how they turned out, but that doesn’t satisfy fully my curiosity, my desire to pick them up, turn them back and forth in my hands, and to hold them up to the light to see the transparent and opaque qualities. During the fusing process the temperature of the oven must be crashed from the melting point to the annealing point. This is a difference of several hundreds of degrees. It must be done quickly in order for the glass not to become cloudy. In that moment–crashing the oven–I get to have a look at the work. Then, a couple days later, after the glass anneals (slowly cools to room temp.) I at last have them in hand.

These tiles are used as elements to make blown objects.

still alive

kylereslow — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:38:56 +0000

so, I haven’t visited my blog in a long time…but I still know it exists. Going out soon…things to do…caught a cold.

Kyle vs Plantains

kylereslow — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:17:30 +0000

Why must the plantains taunt me? I know how to use a knife. I even know how to saute things. Why must they break when I flip them, when I move them, when I cut them, when I put them in the pan? I know how to use a spatula, but why must the spatula be a jerk and not slide easily under the plantains? Why must it bunch the yellow fruit up, cause a tear, mash it slightly? Why do the plantains fall on the floor when I try to place them so neatly on the brown paper bag. In my mind’s eye I can see the multitude of plantain slices lined up shoulder to shoulder, end to end,on the paper bag, pan fried a sunny, sweet golden like a bunch of tasty, benign smilers smiling. In reality there are three slices scattered and menacing on one bag like city litter and four slices on another. Two of the latter are smashed into the bag and counter and look like what would happen if dogs pooped slices of plantains on the sidewalk and then I stepped in them.

Why not let go of my desire to follow the recipe before I meltdown in the oppressive heat of the day and the kitchen? I mash all the plantains into a…well…a mash. Then I lay what would have been filling to plantain fritters onto of plantain pancakes and call it dinner.

Despite lackluster presentation, the dish tasted fine.

Possible Discovery

kylereslow — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:42:59 +0000

I felt the other day that I had deciphered one of the central conflicts in my life thus far. It seemed an issue long felt but never articulated. I think I forgot the central idea of the conflict but I know that long term understanding of the fabric of reality was in tension with short term.

Erin With Blanket

kylereslow — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Erin With Blanket

scan face

kylereslow — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:24:38 +0000

scan face

accidental scanning of face…weird

The Road is Tough

kylereslow — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:22:47 +0000

Last month I showed my work at a three day art and fine craft show. The show location was a good drive away from my home; not too far, but not all that close. It was an hour and a half drive in each direction. So the day before the show opened I drove down to the venue, did my set up and drove home. That was a long afternoon as set up did not begin until 5:45 pm. The next morning I was out the door and on my way by 6:30 am to finish my set up (displaying the glass–and there’s nearly a ton of it!–isn’t out and ready until actual show time). I drove home that night as well, leaving me, of course, having to drive back for the second day of the show.

By that time I had had enough of the driving. I don’t like to drive…it makes me all flustered. Whenever we go anywhere together my wife Erin drives. That’s the way it is. Driving is not my favorite thing to do. I decided then to sleep in my trailer the last night down there.

Now, when I sleep in my trailer I bring a nice bedroll, my toiletries and change of clothes, a magazine or book, a reading light, a good utility knife, and a six pack (sleep aid). Toward the end of the show I had a beer or two, closed up for the night, then hooked up with a few artist buddies to hit a good pub in walking distance. A burger, several drinks, and a few games of darts later, I walked back to the parking lot to hit the trailer for the night.

Unfortunately it was quite hot and humid and air in the trailer moved very little…not at all, in fact. I did not have the best of sleeps that night. After I had slept there for as long as I possibly could, after the sun had come up, and I had figured that I had gotten at least several hours of sleep, I went back to my booth where I had accidentally left my toiletries the night before. There I found my tooth brush. I loaded it up, doused it with water and commenced brushing. My first thought was this tastes really funny…there is a hint of mint, but this is very weird. This thought was followed quickly by another. Well, this is my travel brush and it has been in my bag for a couple months…maybe it picked up a flavor from something. So I kept hacking away at my teeth. Before long, my mouth was foaming up in an abnormal way. With each stroke the foam thickened and overtook my mouth. I thought this strange at first as it was the all natural Tom’s from Maine toothpaste I was using. Tom’s didn’t use to foam all that much at all. Perhaps in an effort to appease customer concerns on the lack of foaming, they’ve created a new line of foaming toothpaste. The foam started pouring out of my mouth, down my chin, onto my shirt, splattering on the grass in the middle of my booth. Well they really over did it here…I mean come on…and this really does taste weird… I tilted my head back to brush my tongue and gagged as my throat filled up with foam. Simultaneously the flavor finally awoke my sleeping taste buds and the putrid taste filled my mouth. Instantly I was doubled over and spat for all my worth taking several tugs off my water bottle.

I went to my bag to find out which flavor of Tom’s toothpaste I should never again purchase. Well, I just had to laugh when I pulled the tube out. Though it looked just like a tube of toothpaste, it was definitely Tom’s Conditioning Mint Scented Shaving Cream.

The road is tough.