Bella Forte Glass Studio

Bank 2 Night Tuesday night.

2011-07-27T01:10:00.004-05:00

In the top picture we have that super pepperoni guy and Fran giving us the congrats gesture with her ice tea. In the bottom picture, Linda is checking out the dining room!

Opening NIght July 11th, 2011

2011-07-27T01:00:00.004-05:00

Our very first customer at Italian JIm's Restaurant in Historic Downtown Edmond. Dennis Wheeler and guest!
Also a view of the restaurant and glass blowing studio from outside on opening night.

We Are Open!

2011-07-26T09:35:00.002-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. I've been pulled so many directions for a long time, I haven't had the time to update my blog. The place is stunning! You should see it! Several people that have come in have said, "It's amazing! It's like it transports us to someplace else like New York, Chicago, San Fransico!" I'll try to get some current pics soon. I can't remember what I did my camera, but when I find it, I will get right on it.

More Progress Pics at the new Edmond Spot!

2011-04-11T23:29:00.007-05:00

The first photo is the glass blowing studio. The area behind the concrete block wall is for the cold shop, fabricating shop, and that kind of stuff.

The second photo is looking down the hallway that leads to the the 4 different dining areas. The round metal wall you see is the first dining area that we are calling the "round room".

The third photo is the main entrance to the restaurant. You see more of the round room wall and also an opening that will have a door that will lead from the restaurant directly into the glass blowing studio.

The next 2 photos are taken of the large dining room. You see the circular round booths in front of the "Art Wall". We are extremely excited about the circular booths and the "Art Wall" is tremendous! Each one of the art niches in the wall will house a different genre or "type" of work that we have blown. Each niche has the appropriate amount of lights in it. Each niche has the same number of lights in the bottom as in the top.

"Ascension" Our Largest and Best Project to Date!

2011-04-11T00:03:00.017-05:00

We just completed this install Friday night late. The ceiling height was 20' 9". It was a challenge to space all the hanging glass that high up perfectly and not hit any ceiling joists. We are extremely grateful to Shane for his help and expertise! The ladder we were using was 16' tall and barely was tall enough. It got a little spooky holding on to heavy, glass 18' up on a ladder with sweaty arms and threading 1/16" aircraft cable through small hardware and fittings. But hey, .....we're professionals. ;-)

We are so grateful to Richard and Sueellen for choosing our glass to be in their beautiful home!

We call the installation: "Ascension".

Here's a few pics

Some Random Construction Pictures

2011-03-26T10:48:00.008-05:00

This is such a HUGE project!! The Edmond Downtown Art Festival is May 6th, 7th, & 8th. We want to be open before then. Is is possible? It is possible!

Progress on our new concept in Edmond

2011-03-14T01:07:00.009-05:00

As many of you know by now, we are significantly upscaling our restaurant concept. We have been formerly known for 15 years as Italian Jim's Pizzeria. When we open our new place in Edmond we will be simply known as, "Italian Jim's Restaurant". We are losing the name, "Pizzeria". No, we are not getting rid of our pizza, but we are upscaling our menu and didn't want people to think all we did was pizza. We will be adding a really nice filet mignon, ribeye, salmon, and other signature chef dishes. We are "taking it up a couple of notches!" We will still be "casual" dining, but it's gonna be a really nice place! Things are getting close and it's possible and "preferred" for us to open sometime in April. May is not out of the question, but we want to make it happen in April. Also, we are excited about adding our glass blowing studio to our restaurant. To us, it's a completely natural fit. "Italian-style Art" (For centuries the glass blowing capital of the world had been Murano, Italy) and Italian food. At this point it seems there will be a few limited seats in the dinning room for folks to watch us blow glass from their table while they eat. Also, of course, people will be able to walk right into the studio before or after their meal to watch glass blowing.

We are going to have live and exciting demos of glass blowing and also host special glass events for groups of all sizes. We will be booking special "Romantic" evenings where a gentleman can bring his wife for a special Italian steak dinner (or whatever they want) and then after the exquisite meal, they will have an appointment in the studio with us to watch us create a special something "live" right in front of them and then after it anneals, pick it up and take it home. Business men can bring clients in and have the "experience" of watching something extraordinary created right in front of their clients eyes and then bring it to them later. For the next day or two the client will be highly anticipating the gift thats coming. We will have a video/photo service available eventually and will be able to document the experience on HD DVD to accompany the gift to the client, spouse, or date! Better book your Valentine's Day reservations soon!

I was talking with the owner of one of the major glass blowing supply houses in the United States the other day (I'm pretty sure he told me one time that he's the primary supplier to Mr. Chihuly) and he told me that as far as he knows, there is nothing or nobody in the United States doing what we are doing with the restaurant and art glass studio. We apparently, will be on the cutting edge in our industries!
(Make sure you "click" on the pictures to see a bigger version)
I'm gonna be posting some pictures of "before" and "during". Some will just be "during". Brace yourself, this first set of photos was taken from very close to the same spot. The photo with all the dirt on the floor was taken March 4th, 2011, the other one was taken July 15th, 2010 before we even decided on this property for sure. Then later on, I'll just be posting random shots of different areas in the restaurant/studio. This shot in particular, is taken from the front of the building, in what is now the glass blowing studio. Don't let the booths fool you, they are just hanging out there in the studio until we are ready to put them in the restaurant part. The booths are totally wonderful! Circular booths! Not U-shaped booths! CIRCULAR! Yes, that's right, I think circular is better.

3 New LARGE Redento Raffinatos!

2011-02-21T00:33:00.010-06:00

We are thrilled with these new Redento Raffinatos!
We think Janusz would be proud of us!
The Olive and Purple one is 33 1/8" tall, 10" wide, & 6" deep!
The Red and Blue one is 31 3/4" tall, 10 1/4" wide, & 4 1/2" deep.
The Olive and Blue one is 30 7/8" tall, 9 1/4" wide, and 4 1/2" deep.
The photographs are decent, but they really don't do them justice. Much for vivid in person!

COMING SOON! - STAY TUNED FOR AN UPDATE ON THE NEW LOCATION IN EDMOND WITH PICTURES -

New cane vase

2010-12-15T13:48:00.005-06:00

Here's a vase we blew yesterday afternoon from cane we pulled yesterday. It's 17 1/2" tall and about 8 1/2" wide. It's wonderfully thin and the canes on the very outside that run up and down, are raised up from the surface of the vase, all the way up and down the vase. (which is what we tried to do) In the past, it has been hard for us to do that, because when the vase is heated in the glory hole, the canes have a tendency to flatten and be smooth across the surface of the glass. This is the first time that we didn't have them fused "flat" . Plus, we pretty much kept them straight up and down. They have a tendency to want to twist a little bit. We're excited that we were able to do it!

New Redento in Morning Light!

2010-12-14T02:34:00.006-06:00

This Redento Raffinato is 33 3/4" tall and about 11" wide. It's tremendous! Here it is in it's new home in Lawton as the morning sun strikes it. Notice the aurora borealis-like effect with the colors being cast on the white background. Wow!

Here's two

2010-10-15T20:05:00.007-05:00

Last night we had a wonderful group come out to the studio for a demo. We made a Redento Raffinato while they watched. It turned out Super Good! After cold working it was 23"1/4" tall. That seems so small now. It used to be really big.

The Murinni Raffinato was blown about 2 months ago and I finally got a picture of it tonight. It stands slightly over 30" tall. The dark colored circles are a beautiful transparent purple with green cane, green color, and white cane surrounding it. I wasn't able to get it lighted properly, but I guess it will have to do.

A New Multi-Media Sculpture by McGahan Signature Glass!

2010-09-16T01:04:00.012-05:00

Here are some photos of a new Multi-Media sculpture we just installed this evening in Edmond. The place we installed it is beautiful! The home is going to be on the "Garden Tour" this Saturday. The backyard at this home is simply stupendous! There are places in the backyard where you can stand and think you are way out in the middle of nowhere, when you are in one the nicest neighborhoods in Edmond! It's amazing! You can go to the Oklahoma Horticultural Society's website and find out about tickets for the tour! We are going to give it a whirl ourselves!

Our sculpture is steel, copper, blown glass, with low voltage lighting. It stands about 5 foot, 5 inches tall. We used copper for the "stems" and we fabricated leaves out of sheets of copper. We cut the leaves out, textured them and soldered them to the stems. We then blew the "flowers" or "buds" to go on top of the stems. To give it that beautiful "aged" look, we applied a patina to the copper and "wa-la" beautiful blue-green patina! After we got it all together and "aged", we "electrified" the sculpture with low voltage lighting. Looks almost as neat as the backyard it's in! The "buds" or "flowers" can of course be changed out to different colors for different seasons. White would look pretty cool in the winter. Red, gold, and/or orange could be attractive in the fall. Hail shouldn't be much of an issue unless all "hail" breaks lose and it's a complete "toad strangler". We blew the "buds" a little thicker than we would normally blow something and they are pretty sturdy. We are really pleased with how our first one turned out!

A Peek At The Big Doors To The Glass Studio in Edmond

2010-09-15T23:50:00.002-05:00

Here is the lovely and gracious Christi Mitchell standing in front of the new big entrance to the glass studio right on the main drag in Downtown Edmond. These are some HUGE doors! We'll probably keep them open most of the time while we are blowing. Peeps can walk right on in to the studio while they are strolling in the downtown area. This place is gonna be super, super, COOL!

Big News! Huge News!

2010-08-24T06:40:00.004-05:00

We are finally realizing more of our dream!! We've been in the pizza business now for over 14 years (This Jan will be 15 years). I blew my first piece of glass 6 years ago this early summer. Shortly after beginning to blow glass, I wanted to decorate our restaurant with the glass. I wanted to blow my own pendant lights, and put all sorts of glass in our restaurant to make it look beautiful. A little while later, we (the fam) decided "How cool would it be if we had our glass blowing studio and restaurant under the same roof. People could come in and eat great Italian food and in the same building watch us create Italian Art. (For centuries, the best blown glass on the planet came out of Murano in Italy) We have been cultivating, developing, and pursuing that quest for over 5 years now. When we came up with the idea, we had never heard of that being done anywhere! Later, we heard of a place in Vermont called Simon Pearce. To the best of our knowledge the only place that comes close to what we have wanted to do is Simon Pearce, who has a restaurant and glass studio on the same grounds. The glass that they blow however seems to be only clear and seem to be primarily functional pieces whereas ours has lots of color and much of what we do I consider to be "art glass" but we blow functional pieces as well. Having said that, it truly seems to be first class in every way! One of these days, I think we will try to make it up there to take a look at it in person. Our hats are off to Simon Pearce!

At times it looked impossible! Starting a glass studio is not easy. Neither is operating a restaurant. (A banker told me one time that the statistics show that less than 2 out of 100 "mom & pop" restaurants that start are still in business five years later!) I don't know the stats on a glass blowing studio. But the good news is, we are now moving toward realizing that dream at a pretty fast pace.

Work has already started on the deconstruction and renovation of our new place! Our new place will house both Italian Jim's and the glass studio together. Right now Italian Jim's occupies about 2400-2500 square feet. Our new place will be 6,500 square feet. We are really excited about it. We are going to be right in downtown Edmond, OK. I will be giving more specifics about the restaurant and the studio later with some photos taken during the construction.

Wait till you see the new "Oklahoma Today" magazine!!!

2010-08-24T05:56:00.004-05:00

Actually, don't wait! The newest issue of "Oklahoma Today" magazine is being mailed out now. Some have already received theirs. They featured us twice this issue. Once as one of the top pizza places (Italian Jim's) in Oklahoma and also did a TREMENDOUS write-up with an EXTRAORDINARY photo of some of our latest stuff. I've been told you can't get it in the news stands till about the first of next month, but it could be early. I think we are mentioned on page 77 and featured on page 78? (I'll check those page numbers and make sure that's correct.)

From Oklahoma Symphony Show House in March 2010

2010-08-24T05:27:00.003-05:00

This is an old photo. Sorry I was a little late in getting this one posted. We have moved on to some new things and never got around to gettng it posted.

A Beautiful Installation at Warren and Karen's House in Edmond!

2010-08-07T12:17:00.003-05:00

We are excited to get the photos taken of the beautiful installation we completed recently. Warren and Karen invited Linda and I over to their house this week for hors d'oeuvres and to view the installation we did for them. (Linda hadn't seen it yet) We had such a good time visiting with them and looking at their extensive backyard/flower garden area. The installation we did for them was in their bathroom around a skylight. They installed extensive lighting to really reveal the majesty of the glass! It is beautiful! Their backyard area is really extraordinary! Just to give you an idea about how wonderful it is, their home is gonna be on the Garden Tour this September. We left enriched by the warm hospitality and with our crew cab pickup back floor area full of starter plants! You can't beat that with a stick! Wonderful people!

2 More Large Redentos Find a Home!

2010-08-07T11:55:00.006-05:00

We are proud to have our Redento Raffinatos in such a beautiful home with such nice folks. These Redentos are in Mr. Riley's beautiful home on Winter Creek Golf Course. The home is stunning, both inside and out. The outdoor landscaping is lush with flowers, ground cover and nice design features like a pergola. There are 2 niches are in the front entry area to where the Redentos stand poised in their majestic grace. We're honored to have our glass here.

What we are working on now

2010-07-03T18:17:00.002-05:00

We are and have been working for some time now to get 2 or 3 fairly large sets of these Optic Twisted Raffinato Vases. Several of the ones we've already blown have already found a home and we didn't get them in the grouping photographs we wanted to do. I don't really like the setting these are in but when we get more blown I will go to the hassle of getting a nice photo op.The tallest of these is 30" high.

Reviewed in the Oklahoma Gazette

2010-05-30T18:08:00.003-05:00

We had a surprise visit from the food editor of the Oklahoma Gazette at our restaurant, Italian Jim's recently, which resulted in an impressive article that just came out in the May 26th, 2010 issue. Read pages 26 and 27. They talked about our food and our blown glass. Thanks Carol and Shannon for the favorable words and great photo!

Here's the link to watch

2010-05-13T18:24:00.006-05:00

As I have already mentioned, OETA came out and filmed us blowing glass and put us on a show with some friends of ours who help people with heart problems. It's a great program and well produced. After clicking on the link, click on SOC 205 Full Episode and also the SOC 205 Web Extra: McGahan's on Teamwork.

Click Here for the link.

You can even go on iTunes and find the podcast and download both podcast to you iphone.

Bella Forte featured on OETA HD!

2010-05-12T21:08:00.006-05:00

State of Creativity is the program name. Starts at 9:30 pm on Wednesday night at 9:30 pm and Sunday night May 23rd, at 9:30 pm. We are being featured on this program in connection with the LVAD Cardiac care program at Integris Baptist Hospital. Pretty neat program, produced really high quality!

Here's a couple of Raffinatos we just did. One is with murrini and the other a beautiful strong transparent colbalt blue. The one with murrini is our first attempt. The murrini one is about 23 1/2" tall and 11" wide. The blue is 21 1/2" tall and 11" wide and both are about 3 1/2" deep.

Whew!!!

2010-03-26T20:55:00.003-05:00

It's been an eventful 3-4 weeks! We have quite a bit of glass in the OKC Symphony Show House. This year it is a 17,000 sq. foot home on the the east side of Lake Overholser. The address is 2550 E. Overholser Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73155. The date is May 1 to May 16, 2010. We've also had a ceiling sculpture with an April 1 deadline. We've been busy blowing glass and fabricating the steel structures for our projects. Ron Licklider with J. Kimball Interiors asked us to do a "obnoxiously large" glass sculpture for the show house that needed to be installed before today. Heap big thanks to Ron for giving us this opportunity to get noticed!! We are making the deadlines so far. The large (about 9' tall) glass scupture is in the "Art Gallery" area. We also have several other pieces of glass in different parts of the home. We have a total of 5 pieces consisting of transparent turquoise, turquoise and white, and white cane pieces in the kitchen utilized by "Domain Interiors". Kristi Forhan and Heidi Smith are the designers and owners of Domain Interiors and did a fabulous job with the kitchen and have been so nice to work with. We also have several of our large art vases we call "Redento Raffinatos" in the Mathis Brother's design area by designers Angela Davidson and Todd Stepp. We may also place another set of beautiful Chartreuse with Gold Ruby accents (a stunning color combination!) within the house. We are so grateful to Angela and Todd for giving us the opportunity to get our Redento Raffinatos looked at by over 15,000 people in the 16 days. I just had my 50th birthday. Mixed feelings about that. Not too happy about being that old, but really happy that I am still having birthdays. Growing older is mucho better than the alternative, if you know what I mean. My son, Micah, honored me greatly! Without my knowledge, he contacted Dante Marioni and bought me a signed goblet from Dante. A DANTE MARIONI SIGNED GOBLET! Did I raise a great son or what! I am literally holding it now as I type this! But then....... But then..... But then...... yes, out of the box came another signed Dante Marioni goblet as a gift from Dante Marioni himself! I now own 2 Dante Marioni Goblets! One a gift from my son and another a gift from "The Man". Whew! I have to stop now. I'm getting too excited and all wore out from thinking about it. I'll post pictures of stuff later.

A Gathering of Redento Raffinatos

2010-03-06T10:35:00.006-06:00

Here's the largest group we have been able to get together at one time at one place so far. There are 16 here. We call this collection, "Gathering of the Redeemed". Make sure you double-click the photo, it opens up nice and big.

Some Commissioned Blowls

2010-02-21T15:10:00.009-06:00

Bank Installation

2010-01-01T16:16:00.003-06:00

These are a couple of photos from an installation we did in the lobby of a bank. The first photo is the mock-up in our studio and the second photo is in the bank lobby. There are a lot of fluorescent lights over head that washes out much of the color. I think they are gonna install some nice spots to shine on it. That will really make the color pop! It was kinda dark in there when took the photo and the photo didn't turn out as well as when we get good lighting on it. We finished the install the first week of December, (I think).

Couple of things.....

2009-12-16T18:10:00.007-06:00

Here's a smaller Redento Raffinato we did for a custom order. Also a new can technique we tried for the first time came out pretty decent. The cane vase is 23" tall.

Without Janusz.....

2009-11-20T08:10:00.006-06:00

...... we couldn't have done these. These are our latest and greatest. We made 9, we sold 3, we have 6 left. Here is a photo of the grouping of the "Redento Raffinatos". We are VERY proud of these! Make sure you click on the photo to enlarge it. It looks tremendous!!! The shortest one is 28 inches tall, the tallest is 34 7/8 inches tall! They weigh in at 16 to 18 lbs each.

Signature Chefs Auction report

2009-10-19T22:44:00.003-05:00

The auction was a fun event. The food was really fancy and the Skirvin was really nice and high class. We sat at a table with some really nice folks, Glen and Vera Alexander. Glen does wood sculptures. Beautiful, contempory, wood sculptures! His sculptures were some of the most beautiful there. His web site is: http://www.glenalexanderart.com/

We fared very well, ours was the top seller in our catagory of about 9!! There were several groans thoughout the crowd when the auctioneer said, "SOLD!"

Signature Chef's Auction & The Latest and Greatest.......

2009-10-19T14:30:00.009-05:00

Tonight, Linda, Krista, Micah and I are guests at the Signature Chefs Auction at the Skirvin Plaza. We were chosen as....
well, here's the promo on their website..

"This event will pair OKC's top chefs preparing a four course meal at the Skirvin Hotel Ballroom with local accomplished artists! March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality."

We donated the the centerpiece with platters on it for the auction. It is located on the Mickey Mantle restaurant table.

The Redento Raffinato pieces pictured here range from approximately 29" tall to 35" tall. They are absolutely gorgeous!

Many thanks to Janusz for all of his help!

Wowser!

2009-10-01T21:38:00.022-05:00

First Oklahoma got Seattle's basketball team, now the coup d'etat, we were able to bring one of Seattle's finest glass blowers (Janusz Pozniak) to Oklahoma! (Just giving you Seattle guys who are reading this a hard time :-)
Wow! Janusz (you pronounce that, Yah-noosh) went back home to Seattle Tuesday evening. It's amazing that 5 days can pass so quickly! Bella Forte Glass Studio is better because Janusz was here. Really, really, world class in every way. We did our best to show him a little what Oklahoma was like and show a little bit of Oklahoma what a really sharp Brit was like (We tried not to mention 1776 too many times ;-) Every person I introduced him to was really impressed. It was truly an honor to have him blow glass in our humble studio. I want to thank Andy Boatman and Craig Clingan for coming out to the Bella Forte Studio and meeting Janusz.
Janusz helped us refine a few of our processes on some pieces we do called the "Redento Raffinatos" and with his help (or him with our help) were able to do some pieces in the 30" range. What he taught us on how to cold work a piece would have been worth a few hundred dollars alone - SERIOUSLY!
He almost wore us out! We were glad when he left so we could get some rest. We weren't really glad he left, but after he left, we were able to get some rest. The guy is a work horse! We even took him to church with us (pretty brave guy), he went on a catering with me to Shawnee, he even did a demo for a little group that came out to the studio. Not to mention doing a demo for a few glass blowers who were wise enough to realize what an opportunity they had to be this up close and personal with someone world-class, also helping Micah and I upgrade every aspect of our game. The guy was frickin all over the place. He was like a one man volley ball team, this corner, that corner, the middle, then slam!-game over! I am gonna post a few pictures. The first photo is some of Janusz's latest works. The one where I have just hand fed him some fresh fruit and fixing to hand feed him some more. The story behind that photo: In the 12 page contract that he made us sign to get him to come down, page 9, item 62, stating that, "....fresh fruit must be kept on hand and be hand fed to Janusz at his every request" Unbeknownst to Janusz, I had just dipped the strawberry and pineapple slice in the dog's water dish before I fed it to him. You can see he was enjoying it almost as much as I was. Really, he was a good sport. He was able to dish it out as much as we were. Oklahoma is a good fit for Janusz and Janusz is a good fit for Oklahoma! He got to eat some Italian Jim's Pizzeria food, we fed him the best steak sandwich the world has ever seen and also fed him a Freddy's Triple Steakburger with cheese, fries, and the best custard at Freddy's Frozen Custard! I don't think he's used to eating like that. We figure 3 or 4 more trips down here, he'll put on another much needed 20-30 pounds. The other pics are some various photos of blowing glass and some various studio shots and some shots of some of the things we blew. The one pic of Janusz turning the pipe and me putting the jack-line in: The story behind that is..... Janusz was feeling a little homesick and missing Dante, so I took Dante Marioni's place and let Janusz turn the pipe for me while I set the jack-line in. It made Janusz feel better (see the picture with Janusz smiling and happy) It felt really cool being Dante! After that, the prices of my work went up 300%!
Looking forward to his next trip...... and the one after that..... and the 4 after that..... and the 12 after that....ad infinitum...

Janusz Posniak(see the 2 guys highlighted? The one to the right) here to demo and teach!!!

2009-09-22T18:09:00.005-05:00

Monday night only! Monday night, September 28th, 4 hours, starting 6:00 pm. Up close and very personal. Only a few slots possible. Janusz will be demonstrating, answering questions, giving some instruction, and just in general demonstrating what a Glass Blowing God does! $50 per person. Want to be included - Call me before there is no more room left! 405-659-6169 There will be light refreshments served.
The photo is of Dante Marioni, Janusz Posniak (Not faded out), Paul Cunningham (between Dante, who is on the left and Janusz who is on the right), then starting on the far left the other folks are the hot shop team at the Tacoma Museum of Glass. By the way, not only was the hot shop team very talented, but they were extremely nice to us throughout the whole week. This photo was taken when Micah and I went there and watched them for a week. First there is, Alex Stisser, (I wasn't introduced to the next 2 ladies and don't know who they are) then Dante, Paul Cunningham (who I've already mentioned who is a close friend of Dante and Janusz), then Ben Cobb, then Gabe Feenan, then Jeannie who did alot of announcing at the TMOG.

Janusz Posniak at Bella Forte Glass!!

2009-09-18T06:17:00.002-05:00

Janusz is coming to Oklahoma! Janusz is coming to our studio to get a few pointers on how to blow glass from Micah and I. We may have to dumb it down a little so Janusz can keep up, but it will be good for us to remember how we used to be.
NOT!!!
If anybody tells Janusz we said that, we will immeadiately go into counter-attack mode, which is, DENY, DENY, then make COUNTER FALSE ACCUSATION!
Actually Janusz is coming down and we are so excited. It's like a dream come true. We are goIng to blow some glass and express some xtreme southern hospitality to this World Class Glassblower and Artist and just hang out some.

On Monday, Sept 28th we are gonna have a four hour demo time with Janusz where you can watch, ask questions, get some pointers and interact directly with this truly World Class man for the very small price of $50. We only have a limited number of slots available, so it's on a first come basis. If you are interested email me from the link or call me at 405-659-6169 to get the details.

Back From Seattle

2009-07-22T08:33:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! This is my first day back from Seattle. I took a workshop taught by Janusz Posniak. Janusz is an extremely gifted glassblower and teacher. I learned much more than I have ever learned in a short (5 days in the workshop) time. I had a great time in Seattle. The summers there are so much cooler than here in Oklahoma. Janusz and I went out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Seattle and had a very good steak and the best dessert he or I had ever had. I should have taken a picture of it before we ate it and posted it. Anyway I had a great time and am happy to be back home - enjoyed making friends with folks there and enjoyed my accomodations. Now to put into practice what I learned......

Bella Forte Glass NOW at Dean - Lively Gallery in Edmond

2009-06-30T15:47:00.002-05:00

Better late than never (I guess). Tonight we are showing some new styles of work we have done, plus some of the other styles we've done in the past, this time only BIGGER. DEAN-LIVELY ART GALLERY at 16 N. Broadway in Edmond, OK 5 pm - 8 pm.

Answer to Larry's Question...

2009-06-24T17:43:00.002-05:00

Thanks for the nice words. The individual cups were blown out on another day beforehand. When doing the cups, I would blow out 5-7 cups at once out of the same stuff. Like, if I wanted a transparent sea green cup with light green cane, I would start by picking up a chunk of sea green rod, get a couple of gathers over it, then pick up the light green cane. Then I would blow it out and stretch it out until it was long enough to start making 5- 7 cups out of that one thing. Then I would repeat the process several times for other combinations. Then, when I had the right combinations I would pick the cups I wanted and heat them to about 1050-1100 degrees, pick them up and add them in whatever order I wanted. The exception to that is the first cup, which I do on the spot for the piece I am about to make. Then I start adding the other previously made cups till I get enough. Then I change the axis and blow out the piece. I don't have a lot of other pics right now of the process. Just took those hurriedly with my cell phone while blowing.

7 Incalmo Cup Piece

2009-06-18T09:23:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pics of an incalmo piece with 7 incalmo cups and ultimately a change of axis.

New Idea

2009-06-12T15:32:00.002-05:00

We were experimenting a little bit with the ribs on the bowl.

Update of Bella Forte at Night

2009-06-12T05:44:00.003-05:00

Here's a newer photo of our Glass Studio at night with the flowers grown up a little better.

Lt. Governor Jari Askins and Bella Forte Glass

2009-06-11T13:48:00.002-05:00

We are honored that one of our beautiful fluted bowls, a Cerulean Blue with light blue accent, were choosen to present to our Lt. Governor, Jari Askins at the monthly AICCO meeting at the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University. The accompanying photograph shows (beginning on the left) Micah McGahan, Lt. Gov. Jari Askings, myself-Chris McGahan, and Philip Busey Jr. at the presentation.

Pictures of Bella Forte Studio

2009-06-10T21:13:00.004-05:00

I thought I had these in the blog, but after a quick look, I didn't see them. Here's Bella Forte in the day, (I'm getting ready to go into the studio - note the killer Chihuahuas) and here's Bella Forte at Night. Looks kinda Thomas Kincadeish doesn't it? Click on each picture for a bigger look.

First Attempt at RETICELLO!

2009-06-07T16:38:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've had time to post anything. I can't remember when I've been busier. Haven't worked out in over 2 weeks. (I can tell it, unfortunately) First, I want to say how nice it was to have Karl and Bill over to the studio again, and it was so nice to meet the guests they brought along. Dr. Long, Dr. Moore, Dr. Horstmanshof, and his wife. We had a great time enjoyed their company. Looking forward to doing it again. Also yesterday we were glad to meet Judy and Susan that drove up from Ardmore. Very nice folks.

Back to the reticello. We tried reticello for the first time yesterday. Very difficult to do unless you are Dante Marioni and Janusz Pozniak working together. They make it look easy these days. Well anyway, here's a photo of our first attempt. Not too bad for a first try. I know we will get better at it with practice. That's the way it always works. The piece is slightly over 16 1/2" tall and 9" wide.

Project almost complete

2009-05-28T23:23:00.015-05:00

We were commissioned to blow 30 bowls for a corporate leadership team. Then an additional bowl for a commemorative gift to a high ranking govt. offical. So a total of 31 bowls. Here's a few photos of the bowls we were commissioned to make for a leadership team of a top organization. (A few of the photos of individual bowls were taken in an isolated setting.)

The First photo shows one of the blue tone on tone bowls.

The second photo shows the interaction of a different bowl with light and the background of it's surroundings. I love the reflection of light the bowls give off!!

The third photo is a different tone on tone blue bowl.

The fourth photo is of the bowls in the corporate conference room on the huge granite table.

The fifth photo is a different view on the same table.

The sixth photo is the bowls on the gorgeous lawn outside Bella Forte Glass Studio.

We have 2 more to blow, which we will do Saturday and the project will be completed ahead of the deadline which is the coming Monday. We had less than 2 weeks to get this far from the initial mention by our client. Yeah, that means we did good!

Draft of New Bella Forte Glass Studio Brochure

2009-05-26T02:44:00.002-05:00

A Little Something....

2009-05-25T19:40:00.002-05:00

This color combination is one of my favorites and to top it off, this bowl fluted out in a really nice and unique way. It stands about 9 inches high and almost 17 inches at its widest part.

Micah's Blue Caribean Vase

2009-05-10T22:03:00.002-05:00

Micah blew this one. I thought he did a great job! It looks beautiful!

Great Group of People!

2009-05-10T21:11:00.006-05:00

We had a great group of folks come out and watch us blow glass yesterday! Roger brought a group out to eat at the restaurant then come over to the glass studio and watch the action there for about 3 hours. We all had a great time! Here's one of the things we blew. It is a multi-cane vase. It stands about 9 1/2" tall and has canes that are "amethyst blue", "gold"(not pure gold-just the color gold), "blue", and "green". It turned out wonderful!!! I'm glad they got to watch us make it. Here's a few pictures of it.

Incalmo Platter

2009-05-02T16:44:00.004-05:00

It turned out pretty decent. Not perfect, but pretty good for a first time. We will work toward perfecting it.

More New Stuff!

2009-05-01T00:39:00.002-05:00

We continued on today with something new. If it turns out decent, I will post photograph/s tomorrow. It looked very promising when we put it in the annealer. Sometimes with something new, there are so many things to watch and moderate over I might have overlooked something that didn't look right. Right now, I am cautiously excited!

Expanding our skills!

2009-04-29T14:17:00.005-05:00

Here's something new we tried yesterday and just got out of the annealer today. It's a five piece incalmo. It's the first time we have ever tried incalmo, and we did five of them. Very pleased with our first one. I know they will get better with practice. It's 23" tall before cold working. The four incalmo cups are in the annealer before we start. The 5th one was already on the pipe. The middle picture is before it was blown out. It looks pretty cool like that.

Success!

2009-04-16T20:40:00.008-05:00

Well, we finally did it! We were shooting for a "Raffinato" style piece of 30" in the "perfect world", 27" up to 30" in the "normal world". We were about 29 1/4" before cold working. We ended up with 28" exactly. Not the 30" but close. Actually we were over 31" before we transfered. Our glory hole is only 24-26" deep. We had to keep 3 torches on it to keep it from cracking. (You can see the picture) This was our third attempt. We (Micah, Krista, and I) had glass on the pipe about 3 1/2 hours with about 1 hour prep time before that. I would say for where we are now, a 28" finished piece is about 10 times harder than a 15"-16" piece. As we progress, I know that will change. After that we blew a 16" piece and that used to be stressful. No stress. It felt like nothing on the end of the pipe. we guess the finished piece weighs between 12 and 13 pounds. Doesn't sound like much weight, but wait until you get that stretched out 30' on the end of the blow pipe with a thick moile, and the glass moving. Anyway, we want to thank Roy for helping (actually he did it and we barely helped him) cold work the piece! Roy did a great job! Roy, you the MAN! Here are a few pictures.

Atten Karl!

2009-04-04T21:11:00.026-05:00

Karl, if you are following my blog, this will be of interest to you. For everyone else here's the scoop. Karl came into the restaurant in February looking for some glass and commissioned one of our multicolored raffinato pieces. He needed it to be as large as we could get it to be to fit the scale of his house. (big house!) He wanted the vase 30" tall. I told him, we never had done one that big before, but I knew we could eventually get it done. Since some of our operation is outside we try to avoid blowing some things when its cold for obvious reasons. We had some cold spells and wet spells and knowing we needed something bigger than we ever had blown before we waited for a better weather. Finally an almost decent day came and we started. The piece got too cold and cracked before we could even transfer. I figured out that in addition to needing a warmer day than what we had, we also needed a second large hand torch. I bought a second torch and waited for the perfect day. Today(Saturday) was that perfect day! We started at about 5:30 pm. It was going wonderful until the transfer (about 10-15 minutes from completing a beautiful 30 inch piece.) @ about 8:54 pm. The transfer was made and then after the transfer and on the way to the glory hole the piece fell off and busted on the concrete. Here are some photos. Hey, it was only Micah and I and Linda came and helped us man(in her case, "woman") the other torch and the camera. We saw Lino making pieces that big and he had some of the best glass blowers in the nation helping him, sometimes 3 or 4 assistants that had been helping him 12 -15 years. So considering everything, we did pretty good and are getting better. We are going to get the 30 inch piece completed! (Just not today). That pesky "Global Warming" that happens every year about this time is coming upon us again, which will give us perfectly warm glass blowing weather again and we will get that 30" piece done. You will notice the bright sunshine when we started and the darkness when we finished. That's the longest a piece has ever taken us! With all the multiple pick-ups and reheats it just takes us awhile. To give you an idea of the scale of the piece, the tool bench part of my glass blowing bench is 28' long, by the time we would have transfered it and stretched the neck out like we usually do, we could have easily gotten another 6' out of it! The last picture kinda says it all.(ha ha!) - I'm laughing to keep from crying.

Hello

2009-03-06T22:42:00.002-06:00

Nothing extraordinary happening. We have been extremely busy at the restaurant and blowing chandelier parts for a commissioned chandelier. Busy, Busy, Busy.

Platter, Platter, on the wall .......

2009-02-14T10:43:00.004-06:00

We are in platter mode for a few sessions again. We have sold so many platters (rondels) that the walls are looking empty. I haven't been taking pictures of the platters since I had previously taken so many and we had moved on to try the mastery of other things, but these three came out so vivid and wonderful I wanted to photograph them for posterity.

Something New

2009-02-11T20:47:00.002-06:00

Here is a new cane vase with a window. It is about 16" tall by about 6" wide at the widest part. Thanks to Andy and Roy for the help with the Sandblasting!!

Pink & White Lace Vase

2009-02-05T23:33:00.005-06:00

Heres the white cane lace vase that was pictured earlier with the pink (which is really stiff white with Amethyst Blue overlay on the stiff white) and made to cane.

Micah's Platter and Vase

2009-02-02T08:07:00.006-06:00

Here's a new vase sculpture and a twisted black/white cane platter that Micah did. He's ahead of me when I was only blowing as long as he has been.

Another Cane Lace Vase

2009-02-01T22:04:00.010-06:00

Here we are doing our 2nd cane lace vase. This time we cased the white with amethyst blue. Once it cools you can see the amethyst blue better. A photo of the completed vase will come in a day or two. This time when making the cane, we did not gather clear over the spiraled color. Hence not clear gaps between the canes in the vase. I think I like the clear gaps better.

New Cane Vase

2009-01-22T20:56:00.004-06:00

Micah and I have been experimenting with cane a little bit. As a matter of fact, we have decided to really spend some time focusing on cane in our glass blowing. It really helped us a lot to see Dante Marioni and Janusz Pozniak and the team @ Tacoma Museum of Glass in our recent trip. Some of the things we observed have already helped us quite a bit and will continue to help us. We have many more things we are gonna get into.

We made this vase based also on a technique that I saw Lino Tagliapietra and crew do earlier this year. It was our very first attempt and we made it look pretty easy. Not as easy as Lino, Dante, or Janusz, but for us, a huge big deal!!!! It couldn't have turned out much better. It's about 12-1/2" tall x 9" wide.

We are really excited about the cane. Stay tuned as we progress. We have several commission pieces to blow, so we will ease into it as we can get to it.

Did You Miss Us?

2009-01-19T21:32:00.016-06:00

Micah and I snuck out of town and got to spend 5 solid days watching Dante Marioni, Janusz Pozniak, Paul Cunningham, and the great gaffers at Tacoma Museum of Glass blow extremely good glass! Without exception, Micah and I were the first two spectators in the hot shop every day of those five days and with one exception we were the last ones to leave. We learned alot of stuff. We met "Gabe", "Ben" and "Alex" (all very talented and competent). Heather and Jeannie were great announcers! We even got a tour behind the scenes and got to see the "cold shop" at the Tacoma Museum of Glass. Many thanks to Ken for some great shots!
I've got over 300+ photos. I'll post a few.

Also, here's a couple of pieces Dr. Kelley and Nan commissioned that we just got done after we got back.

"The Oklahoman" link & OETA

2008-12-21T18:11:00.005-06:00

Heather Warlick with the "Oklahoman" came out and did a great interview and even shot a few minutes of video. The lead photograph for the story they did on us made the front page next to Sam Bradford's picture. (WOW!) Then the story was in full color on the front page of the "Life" section of the newspaper. It took up almost all the front page and then ran over to another page!!! Again, thanks to Heather and her photographer for such a great story. Click on this link for the story and in the body of the story you will see the video for you push the "play" button.

As many of you know we were recently featured on OETA's "Gallery" program. Randy and Susan came out to the restaurant and the studio and shot some video over a few days and I also went into their studio for a sit-down interview. Again, thanks to them for such a nice piece! We still get folks come into the restaurant and say they saw us on OETA. Someone told me this week that they had the video up on their website. I was going to put the link here, but could not find it. If someone out there finds it let me know please and I will post the link.

Finally Back!!

2008-12-21T16:14:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since a post. We have been incredibly busy. First thanks to Elaine and Greg Dean and the crew at Dean-Lively Gallery in Edmond. Our show there was a success! We had a great turnout and want to thank everyone for coming out and taking a look and buying. Here's the new 75 piece chandelier at the Dean-Lively Gallery in Edmond. Come by there and see it in person.

Micah and I have been busy on a number of commission pieces and didn't even get pictures of several of them.

We are falling in love with some new shapes and our work is evolving a little bit. We will still do what we have been doing but we are entering into another dimension and are excited about it. Our skill level is increasing and so it the size of our work. Our tallest to date is a little over 27".

Some pictures of a new style for us are posted here today. Right now we are calling this style, "Raffinato". It's Italian for "Elegant".

The "Raffinato" right now has at least two versions. The first is the "Redento Raffinato" and we don't have a name for the 2nd one yet. We have yet to make a third version, but we know what it will look like and it is coming. The "Redento" is Italian for "redeemed". We have taken trimmings and scraps from other things from off the floor and out of the trash and "redeemed" them and made something beautiful out of them. Kind of like God does with people. He picks up people off of the scrap heap of life and makes something beautiful out of them if they will let him. Whoa! weren't expecting that were you?

Anyway here's some stuff we have been doing. The guilded olive green raffinato is 20" tall. Most of the others are taller, up to 27".

I''m posting a couple of pictures of some things Micah did by his self. The grayish granite looking one is about 15" tall and the blue/sandy beach one is over 20" inches tall, maybe 22". We don't know for sure, it sold before we measured it. Micah is really doing great. Together we are blowing the best glass we've ever blown. We are fixing to get started on Aaron's chandelier in January. He ordered one that has lots of warm transparent colors in it. Oranges, ambers, reds, gold browns, etc... We are really excited!

TODAY'S THE DAY!

2008-12-04T09:42:00.005-06:00

Dean-Lively In Edmond 5 - 9 pm!

New Technique!

2008-12-04T09:33:00.006-06:00

Micah and I fused pieces together and rolled them off the pastorelli and blew it out. We were very pleased with the way it turned out. It stands slightly over 17 inches tall and about 5 1/2 inches wide.

We also have another Indian Basket set in olive green with formal black accents. It's about 11 inches wide.

Micah's Blue Voyage

2008-12-04T09:29:00.002-06:00

Micah did a great job on this one!

Art Show @ Dean-Lively Gallery in Edmond

2008-11-28T12:48:00.002-06:00

New Blown Glass Christmas Ornaments and a bowl!

2008-11-26T15:40:00.005-06:00

More New Stuff!

2008-11-24T14:23:00.005-06:00

We are busy making Christmas orders and replenishing our blown glass on hand. Here's a couple of things we did yesterday. Also we are posting another photo of our new red Chandelier.

New Blown Glass Chandelier!

2008-11-20T20:36:00.006-06:00

Congratulations and thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Lance Haggard and Lori Dobbins, the proud owners of a new Bella Forte Glass chandelier. In case you can't tell by the photograph, it qualifies as red. It's beautiful! It has 51 blown glass pieces in it! It is about 30 inches tall by 30 inches wide.

New Work!

2008-11-16T20:37:00.006-06:00

Here's some new stuff we did the last couple of days. I have wanted to get this shape (The wide mouth, low sided, soft curved edges in the light blue - the middle-sized bowl) and finally figured out how to do it. The chartreuse set is a little more green in person, than the photos turned out. The photos make it look a little more yellow than I think it actually is. The blue set in particular is kind've opposite of what U2 said in their song. They said that..."I still haven't found what I'm looking for..." In this set "I found what I am looking for." At least in being able to make that particular shape. Cool-O!

Our First Showing! The Edmond, "Dickens Weekend" @ Dean-Lively Gallery!!!!

2008-11-16T19:27:00.005-06:00

Bella Forte Glass will be the featured artists at the Dean-Lively Gallery on Thursday, December 4th, 2008! This is going to be during the "Dicken's Weekend" in Edmond. From what I understand, shop owners and others will be in period costumes (stuff they wore back when Charles Dickens wrote "The Christmas Carol") The Mayor of Edmond, Daniel P. O'Neil comes down and lights the Christmas Tree at the Mayor's Tree Lighting at 6:00 pm on Thursday night December 4th. They have really revitalized that little downtown area and it looks really cool with neat street lights and bronze statues, and brick walkways, and trees and all sorts of neat stuff. They are going to be having Penn Square Christmas Carolers, Santa walking around, carriage rides, street corner food vendors, the governor is gonna fly over in a helicopter and throw millions of hundred dollar bills down...... (I think I just got carried away, scratch the governor and the hundred dollar bill part) Anyway, Micah and I are going to be the featured artists and Elaine Dean will be showcasing alot of our work. We plan on having a beautiful red Chandelier made and hanging.(No promises, but we are working hard to make it happen.) Dean-Lively Gallery (Elaine and Greg Dean) has purchased and just recently moved next door to where they were for years. "They" (I think that means primarily Scott Butler) has really done a great job on all the construction and finishing touches. I think Scott could do Ty Pennington's job and make it look easy! A really talented guy! I'll mention this again and possibly again and again later on! We are looking forward to it.

First Christmas Ornaments & Manheim Steamroller Christmas Music!

2008-11-16T19:13:00.005-06:00

Here are the first blown glass Christmas ornaments I have ever blown. The clear one is the first one I ever blew. Followed by the blue then the Gold Ruby one, and then the other Gold Ruby one. They are a little thick, but I didn't want them to break easily. I will say that listening to Manheim Steamroller is the ONLY way to go while blowing Christmas ornaments! Seriously!

New Sea Life Sets

2008-11-09T22:43:00.013-06:00

Here's some new nestled bowl/platter sets we did. I love the color combination of the Chartreuse and Raspberry colors and we are really pleased with the way it turned out. It is really thin but not too thin.....just right! Appropriately thin may be the way to describe it. The Lapis Blue and yellow is also really nice and appropriately thin as well. The Lapis blue and yellow sets have always sold well, so Micah wanted to make another set of those. What Micah wants, Micah gets (most of the time anyway). We are really wanting to do more cane work. We just haven't had the time. We just completed a beautiful red chandelier and are making another one to put at the Dean Lively Gallery

Blowing Glass In T-Town!

2008-11-09T22:35:00.002-06:00

We were really excited that Sarah Diggdon with Tulsa Glass Blowing Studio invited us to do some demos and come up and spin out a few platters. We had a great time. Was glad to see Benita Duncan there. Enjoyed meeting Kurt with the Tulsa Police Department and had a good time talking weapons. It was good to see Roy from Andy Boatman's studio there demo-ing fish, skulls, and sea shells. Roy is entertaining in more ways than one. Never boring watching Roy work! Roy is cool!

Read about us in "The Daily Oklahoman" - Also - Blowing Glass in Tulsa on Friday, November 7th, 2008

2008-11-06T21:21:00.005-06:00

The Daily Oklahoman came out today to Italian Jim's Pizzeria and then out to our studio to watch, interview, and take a few pictures. I'll confirm this for sure later, but I believe I understood them to say they were going to run it on November 12th. Will let you know later. I can't wait to get some pictures of some of the most beautiful platter sets we have ever blown and post them. I was so excited to get them up to the restaurant that I didn't take the time to get pictues.

Sarah Diggdon has so graciously invited us (Micah and I) to Tulsa Glassblowing Studio @ 19 E. Brady, Tulsa, OK to demonstrate blowing and spinning out a few platters from 6 - 9 pm Friday evening on November 7th! We are excited. Sarah has always been very nice to us. She even came out and ate one afternoon at Italian Jim's Pizzeria! Also, Roy from Blue Sage Studios is going to be demonstrating some sculpting also. Roy has gotten really good! We look forward to watching him work.

Bella Forte Glass NOW at Dean - Lively Gallery in Edmond

2008-10-22T17:16:00.004-05:00

We are proud to announce that the prestigious Dean-Lively Gallery in Edmond is now carrying Bella Forte Glass! They are located at 16 S. Broadway, Downtown Edmond OK. (1 1/2 blocks north of 2nd on Broadway, east side). Phone (405) 341-2143
Store Hours are 9:30 - 5:30 Mon-Fri, 10-3 on Sat and closed on Sunday

Pumpkins, Leaves, and platters

2008-10-22T09:49:00.006-05:00

The orange pumpkin is about 71/2" wide x 6" tall. The Green pumpkin is about 81/2" tall x 7" wide. On the bottom platter, the orange in the reflection is the color of the lip wrap. In the picture, the lip wrap looks yellow. It is not, it is as orange as you can get.

Venetian Vases with curls

2008-10-19T14:37:00.005-05:00

Here something we are working on. Not exactly what we want yet, but working on it....
Venetian Vase #1 is Chalis Blue with silver and silver coils is almost 14" x 6" x6 "The second one, Chalis Blue with silver leaf and silver coil is about 18 1/2" x 5" x 6" and the third one is Gilded Ruby Rose Venetian with Golden Curls is about 20 1/2" x 5' x 5".

HUGE!! BELLA FORTE GLASS ON OETA TV THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, 8:00 PM CST

2008-10-13T17:23:00.003-05:00

We are excited! This Thursday night (as of this writing on Oct. 13th, 2008) Bella Forte Glass is going to be featured on OETA. Randy and Susan were extremely nice - like bend over backward nice! - Like bend over backward "limbo" nice! Like, "We really liked them alot!" nice! It's supposed to show @ 8:00 pm C.S.T. on OETA TV on the show called, "Gallery". We haven't seen it yet but I know they really did a great job, I saw a tiny part while they were editing it in the studio. I don't know if it's gonna be on the front part of the show or the back part of the show. Can't wait to see it. *Everybody that watches the program and calls my cell phone gets a free blown glass platter! *(Not really just messin' with you) but you could call and tell me you saw it.

Zanfirico Canne work

2008-10-13T00:28:00.012-05:00

Micah and I have been working on making zanfirico canne. This last Saturday was our 2nd try at it. Then we wanted to get enough to make a "lace" handkerchief bowl. Recently Marty Lockstone came by the restaurant, saw the glass and gave me a call. Marty is from Weatherford and we knew each other back in high school. He graduated a year before me at Weatherford. He wanted to know if he could come and watch us blow glass. He came over Saturday and was good help. He helped us pull canne and helped us with the zanfirico bowl. It's been nice to get reacquainted. Here's some photos of the canne, the bowl and of a vase we have been trying to pull off. It's blue, about 13 1/2" tall with a yellow coil around it.

Glass at The Oklahoma History Center

2008-08-26T23:16:00.011-05:00

We are honored to have our glass on display at Distinctly Oklahoma Magazine's 1 year aniversary at the Oklahoma History Center tonight (Aug. 26th, 2008). We had four days to design and come up with a significant number of pieces to display at the event. We designed and fabricated the steel armature and finished last night after midnight. We blew over 30 pieces for the centerpiece along with a number of other things at different tables set up thoughout the event. Here are a few pictures. I should have told Micah to smile. He was a tired puppy. The last 4 days have been long and involved and on top of that, we didn't finish until around 1:00 am last night and he had a catering in Norman this afternoon. (I catered in Seminole at noon today as well) We were both tired puppies! We really enjoyed the evening! The folks at Distinctly Oklahoma are really nice and the reception was "first class". They had catered food from an extraordinary pastry chef from Benvenutis in Norman, extremely good tenderloin and pulled pork sandwiches from "The Ranch" in OKC, and some other places (Those were the only ones I ate at - I got too full too quick!) We can't wait to go eat at Benvenutis soon! That tenderloin sandwich and pulled pork sandwich were awesome! Big thanks to Krista who came and helped Micah and I set up. She has the touch and the knack for knowing how to set up and decorate. Linda came down as well. Only Anna and Kim couldn't make it. We missed them. There were a number of other pictures of more glass but didn't get them posted.

A Vase

2008-08-12T00:24:00.002-05:00

Our FIRST Chandelier!

2008-08-11T23:49:00.012-05:00

Our first stab at a chandelier! This chandelier measures about 40 inches wide by 40 inches tall. We forgot to count the pieces before we put them on but we are guessing the total will be about 100 give or take. We had planned on about 80 or so pieces but at the last minute we decided to redo the metal framework on the substructure of the chandelier. After a bit of "tweaking" it ended up a little bigger and looking somewhat medieval before we attached the blown glass pieces to it. We blew our first one out of clear glass,"just because" and also we may put some fiber optics in it. We have some samples blown of different colors so people can see what the chandelier would like in various colors. The photographs don't really do it justice. You need to see it in person. Even though it's our first one, it's beautiful!
Thanks to Andy and Mara for coming out tonight to take a look. Really looking forward to collaborating with Andy on some things!
Looking forward to going to Tulsa tomorrow catering for Italian Jim's Pizzeria and then stopping by and seeing Sarah Diggdon at her "Tulsa Glassblowing Studio". Sarah came to Italian Jim's Pizzeria a few weeks ago and we really enjoyed visiting with her and feeding her some great pizza!

Installation @ The Martin's Home

2008-08-11T23:33:00.005-05:00

It was our privilege to meet John and Kay Martin and to install a series of platters over their buffet area in their home. Their home is gorgeous! It looked like a retreat resort inside and out. What an honor to have our glass chosen to grace such a beautiful place for such nice people!

More Platters

2008-07-16T18:40:00.010-05:00

We're working on about 3 projects - I'll post some photos of the glass we are incorporating in a couple of the projects.

Some new glass

2008-06-24T01:23:00.002-05:00

Here's some new pieces. Had more than that but they already sold before I could get pictures of them.

Lino Tagliapietra!

2008-06-18T22:12:00.005-05:00

Linda and I were in the Seattle / Tacoma area for 7 days and got back on Tuesday the 17th. We spent 5 of those 7 days sitting and watching probably the greatest glass blower that has ever existed on the planet. Lino Tagliapietra. Lino was tremendous. There was a total most of the time 12 people on the floor with Lino assisting. John Kiley, David Walters, and Nancy Callan were his main three. Most of the time all 12 stayed busy preparing cane, cups for incalmo, and assisting with the piece Lino was working on and getting the follow-up piece ready for Lino to take over as soon as the one he was working on was finished. We watched every day from 9 am to 3:30 or 4:00 and on Sunday Noon to 5:00 pm. Lino signed our book that we bought. He wrote to, and signed our names and then signed his name and "Tacoma, 2008". They had this huge exhibit entitled, "Lino Tagliapietra In Retrospect A Modern Renaissance In Italian Glass" The number of pieces of his work was astounding. They also had a large exhibit of Dante Marioni. His ability to produce those long, elongated, elegant pieces seem unmatched. I know Lino is the best but Dante is certainly following closely. (We took 620 pictures! Thank God for digital picts. Thank God for Apple 30" monitors, and Apple tower quad processor computers with insanely large hard drives.) I can't wait to get back in the studio and experiment and practice. And practice. And practice....
Man! We had a great time!
And practice…

News 9 Interview

2008-05-29T19:53:00.012-05:00

We want to thank Gwen Faulkner Lippert, Melissa Maynarich, and Channel 9 for asking us to come down to their television studio and do an interview with us yesterday. They asked us to bring some glass that we blew and we set it up on a counter in front of where we stood. They did the interview live at about 4:25 pm. it lasted slightly over 3 minutes. The people there at channel 9 were really helpful and nice.

This link should take you to the video.

Once you get to the site find the "search" on the bottom right and type in, "Oklahomans focus on art, pizza" It should pop right up. Right now its under the heading of "Top Videos".
Thanks very much to Scott Newhouse for recording it for me! Scott and Hal - Mac Geniuses and longtime friends of me and Italian Jim's Pizzeria!

Distinctly, Something Special

2008-05-27T21:23:00.013-05:00

Something special has happened to us. Distinctly Oklahoma! It's out!!! The June, 2008 issue of "Distinctly Oklahoma" features Bella Forte Glass Studio in a great article starting on page 38 through page 43. It's the issue with David Boren on the cover. They probably won't have it on the website (http://distinctlyoklahoma.com/) until June, but the magazine just hit the streets. Many thanks to all the leadership and fine staff at Distinctly Oklahoma, from Stephanie Lawler, Brent Fuchs (http://www.brentfuchs.com/) at the portrait studio, and David Althouse who interviewed us and wrote the article. Get your copy at Barnes and Noble, and Full Circle Bookstores. Also on Wednesday, May 28th we are going to have a 3 minute short spot on Channel 9 (News 9) with Gwen Faulkner Lippert where they will be interviewing us and talking about blown glass. Really sharp! I've got some new pieces we've done but haven't taken the photos yet and excited about doing something a little new with some cane. Maybe this week or weekend, and if it turns out, some photos will be forthcoming.

"The Highest Recommendation I Have!" goes to David and Alice Manney and Jamila and Mark Whisenant (David and Alice's daughter and son-n-law). A family business owned and run by the family called "Kwik Kar". They change oil and do all sorts of service work and mechancial work on your vehicle. They are located right in front of Lowes of Yukon there on "Garth Brooks Blvd". You can trust David and his family to be fair and treat you right. I tell my own mother that's where she needs to go if she ever needs anything done on her car. David has integrity and runs his business with it as well. Get your service work done there and you will be glad and your car will be a "happy car".

Also, just found out Lloyd Daniels down in Texas checks out my blog from time to time. It was good to see you and Teresa today and thank you for checking us out! A big HELLO! to you guys!

New Work

2008-05-09T20:39:00.007-05:00

1st Photo is a big fluted bowl. A Mixture of different reds (some transparent and some opaque) on the inside with Gold Brown mixed with a few chunks of Garnett mixed in with a Curry body wrap and lip wrap. It's pretty large, I'll measure it and put the measurements in later.

2nd Photo is a set that is Sea Green with Chartreuse accents.

3rd Photo is a Cerulean Blue with Orange accents set.

Wow!

2008-04-30T21:49:00.020-05:00

Hello boys and girls.

(Before I go any farther, with the exception of photos #4, #5, #7, and #8 which I took with my iPhone - ,make sure you click on the photos and see a bigger image. ESPECIALLY the Lino VENETIAN piece! - thats the guilded blue vase with the yellow leaf and coil)

Linda and I just got back in town from a really gratifying trip. Linda has wanted to go back to Spokane where she spent some time as a little tyke. So we decided to finally go. Being the ever gracious gal that she is, she, knowing that I have been planning to go see Dante Marioni and Janusz Pozniak in Seattle, said "How about flying into Seattle first and seeing them." Quit! Stop! Ouch! Quit twisting my arm! It hurts! Okay! Okay, we will stop there first if you insist. (It really didn't sound exactly that way. ) We left last Friday morning at 6:30 am and arivied at Seattle at about 11:15 am or so. (Seattle time). My first time ever to Seattle! Seattle was gorgeous! The view! The mountains! The Trees, flowers, water, everything! More importantly we arrived at Dante's studio and received a very warm welcome form Dante and his wife and Janusz. We spent a couple of hours with them on Friday and came back and spent most all day the following Monday watching Dante and Janusz blow glass. (Pictures #1 & #2) Dante gave us the grand tour and Janusz gave us his grand tour of his studio apartment. (Assorted pictures throughout) I got to see the famous "Dante Chandelier" up in Janusz's apartment. I got to see both of their work up close. Extraordinary talant in Janusz, a faithful helper, and a real gentleman! Dante, of course, well… what can you say that hasn't already been said. Dante introduced us to his father, Paul Marioni. Extremely nice and humble man, very friendly and sweet natured! Dante and Janusz introduced us to Preston Singletary,, John Kiley, Elise, Michelle, and Sean. Dante made us feel really welcome and right at home. We went to Spokane Saturday and Sunday, then flew back Monday to go back to Dante's studio. Spokane was beautiful as well. The Spokane Falls were wonderful. Azteca restaurant there was awesome! We drove up to Sullivan Lake on Sunday. It was beautiful! If I had a bunch of money I would move me and my wife, my 3 kids and daughter-n-law, our best friends and their kids(if they wanted to move) and live up there in Seattle! It was great!!!!!
Oh yeah, on Friday, Dante told us that there was a huge exhibit at the Tacoma Museum of Glass featuring "Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect - A Modern Renaissance In Italian Glass" and that we definitely should go. We went on Saturday and were there over 4 hours! Amazing! Here's the website:
http://museumofglass.org/

They also had "Living Legacies Homage To A Maestro" a very large exhibit of Dante's work along others. In their words, "Artists represented in the exhibition include Nancy Callan, Dale Chihuly, Paul Cunningham, Dan Dailey, Jen Elek, Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, Dante Marioni, Richard Marquis, Benjamin P. Moore, James Mongrain, Janusz Pozniak, Richard Royal, Preston Singletary, and David Walters. Each of these accomplished artists has worked with Lino in some capacity during their careers, and their ability to manage the intricacies and challenges for working with molten glass has grown exponentially. The artworks in Living Legacies have “translated” traditional Italian techniques into a thoroughly fresh and contemporary American language shown through singular works and installations." To top it off, Martin Blank and his team were working "live" in the hotshop. Lino's pieces are something to see on the internet or in books, but seeing them in person… well… breathtaking! At least one of his pieces was about six foot tall! Well worth the 10 bucks a person and the $12.50 parking fee. Not to mention seeing the Chihuly Venetian Bridge and all that. We ate at Ivars Salmon house right next to Chihuly's boathouse. (Pictures # 4 and #5) Pretty cool! I took about 200 photos. I may post a few of Dante's studio and some other things if I can make my self wait the loooooong time it takes to upload a few. We'll see.
Also, a few weeks ago, I was perusing Chihuly's website and found this beautiful venetian that Lino did with Chihuly that has fascinated me greatly. (Picture #11) I printed a number of copies on paper and carried them around with me in my pickup to look at, put it on my computer, my iphone, and in my studio. I even got to see it partly being made on the new Chihuly video that just came out a few weeks ago, called "CHIHULY in the HOTSHOP". I have made it one of my goals to make one just like it in time. I saw the piece in person at the hotshop in the Tacoma Museum of Glass! IN PERSON!!!! Did you get that? IN PERSON! One more time just in case, IN PERSON! When you first walk in the hotshop, it was center stage at the entrance It was magnificent!

Also we stopped at Olympic Color Rods and met the folks there and the owner, Phil O'Reilly. Phil stopped what he was doing and treated us like kings and gave us the tour. They have an awesome set-up and are great people with warm hospitality.

Las Vegas Baby!

2008-04-14T21:19:00.006-05:00

Just thought I would tell folks whats been happening.

I temporarily shut down my furnace on Saturday March 29th. The last time I did that the Oklahoma Natural Gas came and said my meter had quit working properly. I bet they come out again and check it out. You would think as much gas as I buy they would give me a Christmas and birthday present! Nope! All they want is my money. I look forward (I think) to one day getting an electric furnace.

I took my three top managers to the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. We left Monday, March 31st and returned Friday, April 4th. It was the first time any of us had been to Vegas. What an extraordinary place! I, of course, made sure that we all went and saw the Fiori Di Como at the Bellagio. Tremendous! Went by the Chihuly Store in the Bellagio. Really cool. The lady that worked there was really nice to us. Had a great time at the International Pizza Expo. Looking for ways to take our business to the next level or 2.

Since we were going to be gone and my furnace was ready to charge again, I decided to take that opportunity to shut it down, save some greenbacks, and do a little maintaining on the furnace. The furnace door had gradually gotten chunks knocked off and was not maintaining a good seal at all. I could see the $5 bills just floating out into the sunset. It was already that way when I bought it and of course it has gotten worse with use. So I chiseled out the old refractory cement and reformed the door and poured new refractory in it's place. Many heap big thanks to Andy Boatman at Blue Sage Studios for telling me what kind of stuff to buy and where to buy it. Andy always knows what I need to know. Always ready and willing to help. A true gentleman!

We are kind've tweaking the studio a little bit. Got some folks coming out to take a few photos for a magazine article. I was putting the furnace back together today and was going to light it, but accidently broke my Giberson Burner Head! Getting it overnighted from Joppa Glass works. Yeee Hah!

Hopefully I will get it lit tomorrow afternoon late. We have a decent amount of caterings tomorrow plus I am speaking at the State Capital to about 50 folks for about 30 minutes or so. Then going to get some photos taken, then back to work on the studio.

Thats's whats been happening here.

I'll report when we get everything up and running. We are starting to make some different kind of stuff. Been really inspired by some of the Venetians on Chihuly's website. His website is totally first class! Very inspirational to me. Some of the Venetians with coils and leaves are really appealing. We did 2 right before we shut down the furnace and did decent for our first 2 attempts. We are really excited about continuing and getting better at that kind of stuff. We also have been pulling cane and working with that a little..

Lapis Blue Cane Platter

2008-03-31T01:11:00.013-05:00

Micah and I pulled some lapis blue cane and picked it up and blew it into a nice platter. I don't have pictures of the platter yet but here's a few picts of the piece in progress. The last photo is is transparent ruby red platter in process with a lapis blue body wrap lip wrap.

Update

2008-01-29T00:53:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile. For the benefit of those of you who don't blow glass.... a brief explanation. The glory hole (the round drum-looking thing that you reheat the piece you are working on) normally runs at about 2300 to 2500 degrees. When you get ready to blow glass you light it and turn it on. I goes from ambient temperature (whatever temperature it is outside) to the operating temperature. You blow glass for however long. (2 - 5 hours) You shut it down. It returns to ambient temperature. Those kinds of extreme fluctuations cause expansion and contraction. Over time, (in my case, about 2 years) the insulating material in the glory hole cracks and falls apart. That's what happened to me. I ordered another "liner" from Denver glass. Micah and I installed it. It was easier than I thought. After doing this, we were feeling so good about ourselves, we did something that was long over due. We got rid of a bunch of clutter and reorganized the glass studio. We outdid ourselves. It's still not perfect, but it's pretty good. I had a bunch of color that hadn't been organized and bottled and labeled. We did that. We installed shelving (that I had bought at an auction about 9 months ago and wondered if I would ever use it.) to hold all the glass color, in frit and rod form. I had more color than I thought I did. Here is a picture. Click on it to get the full import. We may start blowing tomorrow. Maybe not. We have been finishing creating Italian Jim's Website also. Next we are going to have a official website for Bella Forte Glass studio. Going to try to promote sales of lighting and art from there. I don't know exactly. Maybe not. We are going to try to showcase the different things we do.
Catch you later.

New lamps, blue set, yellow platter

2008-01-07T20:13:00.001-06:00

Christmas Stuff

2007-12-21T09:05:00.000-06:00

More Photos of the New Glass

2007-12-15T18:31:00.001-06:00

Some new things

2007-12-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

I want to thank everyone who has come and bought glass! We have sold more this Christmas than ever before! Heap big thanks!

Here's some stuff we have blown recently. Some were custom orders, some were pieces we just wanted to blow.

Another Installation

2007-11-24T13:42:00.000-06:00

Here's another installation at Bill and Chris' house that we blew.

New Installation

2007-11-24T13:05:00.002-06:00

Here's the installation I was mentioning a post or two ago. We are doing both windows. We have 21 pieces on the "left side" and I assume it will be about the same on the other side when we get it done. The pictures are show pretty much the order of events once we got the pieces blown and drilled and arrived at the installation site. It took us part of a couple of days to get it done. As you can see we were welding into the night on day one and finished the installtion in about an hour and a half a couple of days later during the daytime. As you can tell we did a mock up as we went along. After we had everything set up like we wanted it, we took a photo and then disassembled and painted the mounting hardware. Then a couple of days later we looked at the photo to tell us which platter went where and then installed it accordingly.