GLORY HOLE- appalachian center for crafts

So this morning i headed out for the mountains. I'm taking a week long glass blowing class at the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville Tn. It's atop a mountain over looking the beautiful Caney River.

It's the first time i've left my family since we've become a family. i knew it would be hard, but leaving the house and leaving my baby was a little more thick in the throat than I had expected. But, I filled up the tank, picked out some tunes, got on the road and got on with it.

Here is a picture of the Caney River. This river you cross over just before turning onto the winding road that leads you to the campus.

There are 6 workshops going on right now. Glassblowing, woodturning, metalsmithing/forming and chasing, fiber surface design, clay sculpture, and blacksmithing. Tonight @ 5:30 we all met at the cafe / gallery- had a tour of the studios,- these are photos of the metal studio. -Every time i see a shop like this i have tool envy so i had to document-

and came back for a yummy dinner. And I mean yummy! Started out with crushed ice for my drink- cha-ching! And then moved on to fresh salad from their garden, homemade dressings- ranch or balsamic vinaigrette, pork tenderloin and chicken, grilled and dry rubbed with chili powder, cumin and cinnamon. Singing my name ba-bay! And homemade mac and cheese that about made me cry. My best guess is cream cheese sprinkled with cheddar? i don't know- HEAVEN. Meg is the chef- I think she may be family; if you know what i'm saying, and she had two super cute boys working for her. Both sporting longish hair and crocs for the kitchen; one wearing an apron that said The Perfect Wife on it. i love it when a man is secure enough with who he is to do something funnily like that. Sealed the deal on liking Meg's Cafe crew.

After shamelessly having seconds on the mac and cheese, we all headed out to our prospective positions. Our class is being taught by Thomas Spake of Chatanooga TN. Also, the father of an eleven month old-he and I related on that.

In the Cold Shop we talked about what we would be doing over the next week, what's it's like being in the hot shop - he warned us that the terminology was suggestive (i'll say) and about the importance of staying hydrated and taking breaks. After we were in the Hot Shop beginning to look at equipment, I noticed a thermostat on the wall that said- 110. …..that's right. Did I mention it was 7:00 at night? In the mountains? I'll report back about how hot it is during the day!

We learned about puntis. Those are the steel rods that you spin and pick up and shape glass with. We learned about the glory hole…..yep;….and how to turn our puntis and use them to reach into the glory hole, penetrate the surface and gather the glass…"you'll feel a little resistance - don't go too deep or too fast"…easy, easy..turning, turning until you can pull out gently….turn around slowly….and lay your punti over the cooling bucket while your partner sprinkles water over it- and you rub a cloth up and down it to cool and dry it off.

I don't know about you, but I might need a cigarette.

What we did tonight was called gathering- and what we made is called the boiler. (IF i'm remembering all this correctly) and that is what you build upon by dipping back into the glory hole and going through the turning/cooling and then going back and doing it again until you get enough to began stretching, turning, shaping your piece. After we each had our turn at the glory hole, we all pretty much went our separate ways until morning.

My place is nice. Like everything here, it's very woodsy and cabin like. Wood and glass and green all around me. I was excited to find out that i didn't have a roommate, but later disappointed to discover I had a suite mate. Of course, I had already begun nesting and had to gather up my things from around the place. But, it's okay, I've got plenty of room where I am. It's nice and quite- with the exception of the cicadas- and it's just what i need.