Hand Pulled Prints, Books, Drawings and More


Monday, May 16, 2011

Explore! It's worth it, I promise

Seattle alleyway
Had a great time visiting the north west of the United States this past weekend. Put over 1600 miles on my car driving from Reno to Washington state to see one of my best friends graduation with her B.A. in English from the University of Puget Sound. Believe it or not, the weather was sunny and nice until the last day - the day that she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. Regardless of the weather, which I was anticipating, my partner and I enjoyed exploring Tacoma's Glass Museum and the city center of Seattle.


"Skylight" picture taken from underneath the sidewalk
We decided to take a tour of "underground Seattle" which was incredibly informative and lots of fun. Our guide knew loads about the history of Seattle and the general northwest region. She even directed us to an outstanding book bindery in a restored section of these underground areas called Ars Obscura Book Binding. There I met the patient and fascinating Master Bookbinder Radcliffe who gave me great information about his illustrious profession.

shaping red-hot glass
artists using blowtorches



By then it was lunch time so we scarfed some delicious gyros and headed down to the Tacoma Glass Museum. At the Glass Museum we were able to watch an artist creating work in their studio space called the Hot Shop. It was amazing how quickly these people had to work shaping and molding the glass as soon as it came out of the 2300F degree machines.
Hot Shop from the outside - I couldn't fit it in the frame!

Experiencing different artistic environments is important. Don't think you know "how things are" just because that's the way the cookie crumbles wherever you live. Always strive to seek out the new, the old and the different together. I'm trying to teach myself this lesson and I want to pass it to you before you get into a rut!

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