The Prize

I have not forgotten about my contest, and picking out and awarding a winner.

Here is The Prize (click on the picture if you want to make it bigger):



I included some helpful captions, so you would realize what to focus on and how to make sense of what you see. You're welcome.

No, but seriously, this photograph is really awful; the problem is not shoddy workmanship, however. It is a free form paperweight, with curved edges, and no uniform shape. It's fabulous in person (or is that "in paperweight"); it is nearly impossible to correctly photograph its beauty.

So, you are just going to have to take my word for it. And whoever wins will hopefully back me up when they get this beautiful paperweight. It is personally an item I really love.

So, this Mike Warren piece of art was created in 2006. It is a handcrafted, lampworked, sodalime (that's soft glass) glass piece. Included within is a man-made gemstone that is just phenomenal (that's a trick that not all glass artists know - how to make a gemstone compatible with glass so that the glass does not crack). There are also a few of Mike's signature millis and a fair amount of sparkle. Beautifully contrasting and complementary colors, the paperweight measures 2 1/16 inches tall by 1 1/2 wide by 1 1/2 deep. It is valued at $100.

I will announce the lucky winner shortly, so stay tuned...

We Are Live on Etsy! Check it Out!

We are (finally!) live with glass art for sale on Etsy.com! And it is not marbles.

Check it out here:
OpenFireGlass.etsy.com

Click around, check it out, enjoy yourselves. And check back often, because there can only be more to come for sale very soon!

The listings here are not auction-style, just straight-forward sales, so there's a price, and an item, and if you like it, you buy it, and then I send it to you!

Here are a few items currently up for sale:

Banana Slug lampworked by Kaya Warren:


A lampworked redwood tree landscape bead by Mike Warren:


A fused flower millefiori glass pendant by Naomi:

(flower millis by Mike, of course)


In other semi-related news, we need a new banner graphic for our Etsy store. Anyone interested in making us one? There would be compensation involved...!

(Oh, and the contest has been extended, sorry to those who were on the ball, thanks to everyone for your understanding, I love you, and good night.)

I'm Having a Contest, with Prizes!

Hey Y'all,

Okay, so I am having a contest to pick out our domain name for our website.

To see details go to:

http://openfireglass.webs.com/apps/blog/

And VOTE!

If you vote, you will be entered into the raffle. If you come up with your own name, and we end up using it, you will win an amazing piece of glass art FOR FREE!

I will let this run through the end of the week, I do believe. I will keep you posted.

UPDATE:

The raffle/contest will go until Friday 4/24 at midnight, and the results will be announced Saturday morning!

ANOTHER UPDATE (Saturday, April 25 at 6:30PM):

Okay, this is probably unfair or something, but the contest is being extended, because we are moving, and we are taking a road trip in two days and we are busy busy busy. Plus I am not 100% on any of the entries so far. And so, I think I need to get moved (which is happening Friday the 1st of May!), and then I can re-visit this whole thing.

The prizes are cool though, so it'll be worth it. And everyone who first entered will get special consideration, though you CAN still enter, and you can still win!

How is that for an incredibly informal contest?

Maybe I should post some pics of what you stand to win to motivate those of you who have not yet entered... We'll see. Maybe it'll be a surprise...

A Home Office Pro and Con Minute (Plus, Support Your Favorite Entrepreneur at No Cost to You!)

One of the really good things about being self-employed, and having a home office, is that when I wake up at 5:30 in the morning and I can't sleep, I can get right down to business, in my pajamas even!

The con is I can start my workday at 5:30 in the morning, and I can often work until 9 at night, if I don't cut myself off and use some discipline. And while there is nothing wrong with getting a lot of important work done (the kind that pays the bills and enriches my existence and what-not), it's also important To Me that I work to live, not live to work. Even if I do find my work incredibly enjoyable. (Which I do! Yay!)

The pro is though, that I have the freedom to do what I did yesterday: hang out at Redwood Park all day. There was a festival going on there, and we sold some glass, but we also just hung out and had ourselves a picnic in the sun. It was an all-around glorious success of a day. And we worked solidly through the weekend in anticipation of it. So, that flexibility is a really nice thing that I never experienced as a nine-to-fiver.



You know when the weather is nice and you are stuck in the office and all you want to do is go to the beach?

Well, I can do that.

But I also am playing all the roles: I'm the office manager, the HR person, the boss, the peon, the supply orderer (or would that position more aptly be called the inventory manager), the accountant, the tax preparer, the web designer, the photographer, the photoshopper (why does Blogger keep saying these aren't real words, whatever, Blogger, I'm the boss!), the (eBay and Etsy) store manager, the appointment coordinator, the ... well, you get the idea, and I could literally go on like this, but what would that accomplish? I have so much work to do!

Check out my latest blog post at http://openfireglass.webs.com/apps/blog/, featuring a discount offer to all members! If you are not a member, why not join?

And tell your friends: The Goal (one of the many) is to get Mike's art into every gallery across the nation. We want his name to be a household name. We want people to see his art in a store or on the neck of a passerby and say "That's a Mike Warren piece." And you, my lovely, lovely loved ones, can help us with that goal, without any cost to you! Just pass our website on to your email address books, to your next-door neighbors, your cube mates, your coworker down the hall, the stranger on the street, and tell them about your hardworking entrepreneurial family out here!

Oh, and if you do manage to find the time to do this for us, THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! I love you all!

Published! Plus other stuff about my artist.

Hey Family,

Here's some super fantastic news I want to tell you:

Mike Warren is in the Spring 2009 issue of The Flow.



I don't own a copy of the magazine yet, so I snagged the front cover from their website at theflowmagazine.com. You can see Mike's name in the bottom right corner (fourth name from the bottom).

The Flow is a magazine for the lampworking community (I believe I borrowed that wording right off their front cover). The article featuring Mike is about his seashells, and how he makes them.

Here's a photo of the featured shell (and one of the photos from the article):


The photography and text for the article are by Yours Truly, which technically means I'm published too. It's exciting, y'all. And we have even received a few emails from people who saw the article and want their very own seashell!

(The photos throughout this post are all in the article, but there are many more pictures that you will have to see the article for yourself to be able to view.)


Much more exciting times ahead. More to tell you about, but it's late and I gotta get to bed. Tomorrow we will be at a festival selling our wares.



Oh, and in other, slightly related news, I am working hard to get our Etsy store going. For those who don't know, etsy.com is an artsy eBay-esque website where artists sell their handmade art. We are planning a jewelry line to begin with to be available ASAHP (that's As Soon as Humanly Possible).



Our seller name there is openfireglass as well. I'll post another note here when items are available, but you can feel free to pop over and check it out anytime you'd like at OpenFireGlass.etsy.com.

So, if you'd like to know Mike's secrets about how to make a glass seashell, some of them are available in the spring issue of The Flow magazine.

Happy Trails,

xxoo

Yay, Portland! (in pictures. from the month of June.)

Because I am supposed to be working and getting art ready to list on eBay, I am instead posting here. Make sense? Good.

And because I obviously love pictures and I obviously have been uber lazy in getting pictures posted from my Wisconsin trip in June, I am now going to post my Portland Oregon trip, also from June.

So, Here It is:

First, we were at the Glass Art Society (GAS) Conference, and it was a great experience. I met a lot of people that Mike already knows, and got some good inside information into this whole glass-blowing experience.

OK, pictures:

This is Phyllis, one of Mike's longtime buyers and fans. She had a vendor booth at the conference and when Mike saw her company name he rushed over to her and introduced himself. I am very glad we ran into her because we ended up spending a significant amount of time with her and she gave me a lot of good advice and tips:


When we were strolling around Portland (I can't remember exactly which section we were in, but it was a very good one), we came upon this tree. All of a sudden Mike is putting his face very close to this tree, and then he says "Touch this tree!" I thought "what's the big deal" but it turns out that the big deal is this tree is not real. This tree is made of metal. It's very hard to tell this both in pictures and in person (or is it "in tree"?):





(Doesn't my butt look very small next to the tree? OK, that's clearly pushing it. But it definitely looks smaller than the tree.)



Closeups of the tree:






Part of the conference included lots of art exhibits and private showings at galleries. This one is called "Degenerate Art":


























I took a picture of Mike looking at art:


Our room with a view:

(I can't remember exactly the name of that big ol' mountain up in the top right corner, but it is a good one.)

The conference also included a number of live glass demonstrations, and the Ladies of the Corning Museum of Glass (in Corning, NY) in particular made me want to quit all other projects and learn how to blow glass:












We donated a glass seashell to the GAS auction, and after only a few bids it got purchased outright:


Mike blowing glass at a BBQ put on by a glass store and studio space called "Bridging Boro":






A kid with flames painted on his face - very festive:




Impromptu DJ-in-a-truck:


For a few minutes Mike had a pretty good-sized audience watching him, but I didn't snap a picture in time:




Stopping for fresh air and a little walk on the way home:


So there it is: all the things I haven't said about the Portland trip and some pictures too! Hope you enjoyed them.