Never be afraid to stick your finger in the Pie

Today was my first full day at Pilchuck. I firmly believe that those creative people that put this wonderful place together decided to put the living quarters at the top of a 6 percent grade in order to discourage themselves from sleeping.




All my tools are not in my workplace and I will hopefully only have to make the hike 4 or 5 times tomorrow.

Never have I been surrounded by such a group of talented people! While I am on the older side of the bell curve, there are some older than me. The general population are younger than middle age, this includes most of the staff. But they are talented well beyond their years. I see the list of alumni, and cannot honestly believe that I am walking the same ground.

The hot shop demonstration last night is a great example of the spirit of this place.




To streamline the process, several of the hot shop people spent about 3 hours during the afternoon to prepare a piece of glass. In the first minute of the demonstration the piece accidentally fell off the punty onto the ground and broke.

Then the most amazing thing happened. Without a word, everyone on the shop floor went to work, It was a beautiful dance, only interrupted to hug the glassblower, and huddle up for plan B which was completed in about 45 minutes.





The spirit that built this place in 1971 truly lives on here. It is really contagious.

What did I learn today? I learned that our job as artists is to observe what other people fail to see, and then never be afraid to stick your finger in the pie......

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1200 Miles and only 20 to go

I left for Pilchuck Saturday morning and made it to Sacramento that day. Woke up at 5 am and headed north. Drove 500 miles and finally quit in Eugene, OR. California is a big state! While I could drive the length of the Central Valley on auto pilot, once in the Shasta area I-5 narrows and climbs to about 5,000 feet. It is very beautiful.

Today I had a relatively short haul to the Seattle area. I stopped in Tacoma to visit the Museum of Glass. The exhibit there at this time is entitled "Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest."

When you walk into the exhibit the first thing you see is the amazing "Portland Panels," by Klaus Moje




and some of his other works..







Twenty-one artists were featured including Kristie Rea and Jessica Loughlin who will be my instructors at Pilchuck.







While time and the drive served to calm my nerves a bit, after seeing their work in person, I am once again in awe. Nearly every artist, and the museum itself has a direct connection with Pilchuck. Today I meditated that I will allow myself to open my mind, close my mouth and learn as much as possible the next three weeks.

I am also going to try and discipline myself to blog as much as possible as a way of journaling to myself (if internet connection at Pilchuck will allow).

I am 20 miles away, and they don't want us there until 11am. Hope there is a place to park down the street when I get there at 8 or 7 or 6 in the morning.


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Getting ready for Pilchuck

Just spent a great week with my family. Had a baby shower for Julie, spent quality time with all three daughters, my two granddaughters, met the new machatunum, meditated, and am now ready to pack for Pilchuck.
It's going to be a grand adventure.




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