After nearly 9 months of exploring Tacoma, I was approached by an aspiring film artist, Adamthealien, to appear in a documentary about my life.
The current production is in post-production, but he has posted a brief, I guess it is called a 'preview,' of the talkie motion picture.
Though there is one word that some may find objectionable, I believe the term is Never Satisfactory for the Workplace, it is a fine preview for the upcoming event.
It may be a month out, but to my friends, Tacomaboy, Bobble Tiki, Sluggy, or any other exploring bloggers in Tacoma, stay tuned for the time and location for my, no, our, world premier!
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
Showing posts with label Tacoma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tacoma. Show all posts
31 January, 2008
History Mystery
Anonymous writes in the comments:
I appreciate that anonymous enjoys reading this blog. He or she is a an occasional poster in the comments section.
Honestly, dear reader, I have no clue where this might be. One of the commentators at Found hypothesized that much of Tacoma, like Seattle, is on reclaimed bay areas.
You need to only see the lack of damage and claims from the 2001 Nisqually earthquake to know that Tacoma is on solid ground. It s a distinctive difference compared to the build-then-fill of Seattle's history.
But I open this one to our readers ... is this Tacoma? Could it be part of the port? Part of Point Defiance? Could it be the original attempt at a town center for our friends in University Place?
I'd love to hear what our experts have to say.
Seeing how you know a lot about Tacoma, what do you make of the picture Here at Found Magazine today?
It was Found in a book in Seattle, but the TAC written on the picture suggests it was taken in Tacoma in 1960. I Love your Blog.
I appreciate that anonymous enjoys reading this blog. He or she is a an occasional poster in the comments section.
Honestly, dear reader, I have no clue where this might be. One of the commentators at Found hypothesized that much of Tacoma, like Seattle, is on reclaimed bay areas.
You need to only see the lack of damage and claims from the 2001 Nisqually earthquake to know that Tacoma is on solid ground. It s a distinctive difference compared to the build-then-fill of Seattle's history.
But I open this one to our readers ... is this Tacoma? Could it be part of the port? Part of Point Defiance? Could it be the original attempt at a town center for our friends in University Place?
I'd love to hear what our experts have to say.
29 January, 2008
"One Man's Junk" at the Lark
I had the chance to attend the Adam Poskie show on Third Thursday in January. It was a festive event at the Lark Gallery inside Sanford and Son.
I was greeted with wine and smiles from Gretchen, whom I found out had some neat designs featuring a gnome that never were developed. And here I am for her. We shared a few jokes and a bit of wine before she showed me the rounds in the gallery.
This is the ultimate combination of recycling and beautiful art! This one, I believe, is painted on sheet rock using leftover paints. I love the simplicity of the rectangles and the boldness of the colors. Not to mention the stroke patterns.
This piece was quite moving. It reminded me of the chaos of creation, Odin and the constant presence of order even in the chaos than surrounds us all.
Of course, I had the chance to meet Mr. Poskie myself. Quite the talented lad. From his paintings to the ascot upon his head.
Good job, my friend.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
I was greeted with wine and smiles from Gretchen, whom I found out had some neat designs featuring a gnome that never were developed. And here I am for her. We shared a few jokes and a bit of wine before she showed me the rounds in the gallery.
This is the ultimate combination of recycling and beautiful art! This one, I believe, is painted on sheet rock using leftover paints. I love the simplicity of the rectangles and the boldness of the colors. Not to mention the stroke patterns.
This piece was quite moving. It reminded me of the chaos of creation, Odin and the constant presence of order even in the chaos than surrounds us all.
Of course, I had the chance to meet Mr. Poskie myself. Quite the talented lad. From his paintings to the ascot upon his head.
Good job, my friend.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
04 January, 2008
Warm Gnome action
We finished the piece up, and took it to the annealer to cool.
These are very similar to ceramic kilns, but the are to cool the glass slowly. It starts at some temperature, like 482 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit). And cools the glass slowly to room temperature. Otherwise, it would shatter.
As you can see, I fit nicely inside. It was slightly warm, like a patch of pine needles after a bear wakes from hibernation.
Talk about hot. I had the opportunity to try on one of the protective suits. Well, actually the hood was big enough for yours truly, so we left the suit portion hanging (humans are very tall).
I was startled when Mr. Stisser put the flame on me. WOW! I have never actually been IN a flame before. I hardly felt a thing.
But there was a slight mishap. Oh, I'm okay, thanks to Mr. Stisser's fine work.
He applied some burn cream and a sterile bandage to the burn. With the expert precision that I would expect from David the Gnome.
See? No big deal, I stuck around for a bit.
Mr. Stisser gave me an excellent prognosis for recovery.
One way out I was presented with a lovely parting gift. They said it was a 'bumper' sticker. Though I have nothing that contains a bumper to put it upon. Perhaps you can give me suggestions as to what should be done with this piece of MOG propaganda (which is quite nice, actually.)
Thank you to Mrs. Newsom and the crew at the Museum of Glass for a wonderful and exciting visit.
May your artisan hands create more wonderful sculptures for your world. It certainly needs more joy.
And to speak to my earlier post it is much more exciting inside the museum, and just about better than a cup of gløgg.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
These are very similar to ceramic kilns, but the are to cool the glass slowly. It starts at some temperature, like 482 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit). And cools the glass slowly to room temperature. Otherwise, it would shatter.
As you can see, I fit nicely inside. It was slightly warm, like a patch of pine needles after a bear wakes from hibernation.
Talk about hot. I had the opportunity to try on one of the protective suits. Well, actually the hood was big enough for yours truly, so we left the suit portion hanging (humans are very tall).
I was startled when Mr. Stisser put the flame on me. WOW! I have never actually been IN a flame before. I hardly felt a thing.
But there was a slight mishap. Oh, I'm okay, thanks to Mr. Stisser's fine work.
He applied some burn cream and a sterile bandage to the burn. With the expert precision that I would expect from David the Gnome.
See? No big deal, I stuck around for a bit.
Mr. Stisser gave me an excellent prognosis for recovery.
One way out I was presented with a lovely parting gift. They said it was a 'bumper' sticker. Though I have nothing that contains a bumper to put it upon. Perhaps you can give me suggestions as to what should be done with this piece of MOG propaganda (which is quite nice, actually.)
Thank you to Mrs. Newsom and the crew at the Museum of Glass for a wonderful and exciting visit.
May your artisan hands create more wonderful sculptures for your world. It certainly needs more joy.
And to speak to my earlier post it is much more exciting inside the museum, and just about better than a cup of gløgg.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
03 January, 2008
Gaffer Gnome
After we sort of successfully created a glass buble, Mr. Stisser suggested that I might try being the Gaffer. So, he took the pipe back to the Glory Hole to get more molten glass.
I waited patiently, surrounded by flame and heat ... but fortunately, as you can see, there was a yellow water bottle nearby for me to maintain optimal hydration, as recommended by my doctor back home. Same way on long flights. My joints get all stiff and everything. At times, though, it is useless to to drink on an airplane as the line to the toilet seems to be endless.
This being an early morning session at the MOG, I was not worried at all about the lines. Hanne, I know you'd appreciate I'm following Ole's orders.
Here I am supervising the blowing of the glass. I was responsible to use the pliers and other tools to maintain the shape of the glass art. Those of you on Facebook will recognize this as my most recent profile picture. If you're familiar with the facebook, feel free to request a friendship ... I enjoy the tool for networking.
At one point the glass lost its firmness, but I hear it is pretty common. At least that's what Mr. Stisser said to assure me that is was perfectly normal for gravity to take over if I wasn't doing my job. We were able to get it back to a position, so we did not lose the shape we were forming.
I took him at his word.
It's a challenging art, I tell you! The heat is tough for this cold-weather tempered lad, and the amount of air that goes into creating such a simple piece is, well, HARD.
But it's well worth the effort.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
I waited patiently, surrounded by flame and heat ... but fortunately, as you can see, there was a yellow water bottle nearby for me to maintain optimal hydration, as recommended by my doctor back home. Same way on long flights. My joints get all stiff and everything. At times, though, it is useless to to drink on an airplane as the line to the toilet seems to be endless.
This being an early morning session at the MOG, I was not worried at all about the lines. Hanne, I know you'd appreciate I'm following Ole's orders.
Here I am supervising the blowing of the glass. I was responsible to use the pliers and other tools to maintain the shape of the glass art. Those of you on Facebook will recognize this as my most recent profile picture. If you're familiar with the facebook, feel free to request a friendship ... I enjoy the tool for networking.
At one point the glass lost its firmness, but I hear it is pretty common. At least that's what Mr. Stisser said to assure me that is was perfectly normal for gravity to take over if I wasn't doing my job. We were able to get it back to a position, so we did not lose the shape we were forming.
I took him at his word.
It's a challenging art, I tell you! The heat is tough for this cold-weather tempered lad, and the amount of air that goes into creating such a simple piece is, well, HARD.
But it's well worth the effort.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
02 January, 2008
Hittin' the pipe
Because the primary method of creating objects is blowing, there are special pipes that are used for the basis of this creation. I'm not accustomed to blowing through a pipe. When a gnome uses a pipe, they put in the tobacco and lazily puff on it for a few hours.
Here I am with, I think Alex Stisser, getting set up to blow. Mrs. Newsom is helping get my stool adjusted to the proper spot. Mr. Stisser is from Galva, Illinois. His family farms, so we had a great conversation between puffs about farming. He said he has a bachelor of fine arts in Glass and Sculpture. I hope to meet his bachelor friend some day to hear his take on Tacoma.
Oh, Mr. Stisser is what they call a 'gaffer'. He's been working on Glass since 1993. 14 years isn't bad, I have some friends who have been doing carpentry and other wood arts since 1854, so Mr. Stisser is well on his way.
We got me to the correct position, and practiced a few puffs. Without any molten glass on the end. At one point, puckered my lips and made a note, a horrible note, come from the end of the pipe. It startled Mrs. Newsom a bit.
I giggled. The pipe is pretty fun.
Here is another view.
Mr. Stisser took the pipe, inserted it into one of the Glory Holes to collect some molten glass. It's rather hot, between 1,149 and 1,260 degrees Celsius (2,100 and 2, 300 degrees Fahrenheit). He took the position of Gaffer, and helped to spin the pipe and shape it as I blew.
Because of the smallness of the pipe hole, it took a whole bunch of diaphragm support and breath control to get the right amount of air into the glass.
In this picture, Mr. Stisser said some humorous statement about a farming machine called a combine, which left me giggling for a few minutes. We decided that perhaps it would be best to let him finish out the creation.
Until Time,
TacomaGnome
Here I am with, I think Alex Stisser, getting set up to blow. Mrs. Newsom is helping get my stool adjusted to the proper spot. Mr. Stisser is from Galva, Illinois. His family farms, so we had a great conversation between puffs about farming. He said he has a bachelor of fine arts in Glass and Sculpture. I hope to meet his bachelor friend some day to hear his take on Tacoma.
Oh, Mr. Stisser is what they call a 'gaffer'. He's been working on Glass since 1993. 14 years isn't bad, I have some friends who have been doing carpentry and other wood arts since 1854, so Mr. Stisser is well on his way.
We got me to the correct position, and practiced a few puffs. Without any molten glass on the end. At one point, puckered my lips and made a note, a horrible note, come from the end of the pipe. It startled Mrs. Newsom a bit.
I giggled. The pipe is pretty fun.
Here is another view.
Mr. Stisser took the pipe, inserted it into one of the Glory Holes to collect some molten glass. It's rather hot, between 1,149 and 1,260 degrees Celsius (2,100 and 2, 300 degrees Fahrenheit). He took the position of Gaffer, and helped to spin the pipe and shape it as I blew.
Because of the smallness of the pipe hole, it took a whole bunch of diaphragm support and breath control to get the right amount of air into the glass.
In this picture, Mr. Stisser said some humorous statement about a farming machine called a combine, which left me giggling for a few minutes. We decided that perhaps it would be best to let him finish out the creation.
Until Time,
TacomaGnome
Gnome under the cone
The e-mail came in rather quietly. It was addressed to me from a Susan Newsom.
I really didn't know what to think at first, but I soon realized her offer of me to come down to the floor of the "hot shop" meant another trip to the Museum of Glass.
But this time, I wouldn't just be outside on a beautiful day ... I would have the opportunity to assist in the blowing of some glass.
Wow.
I was able to get a ride down for the 9:30 a.m. appointment. After some rather intensive security-related questions ... and some ribbing about the shape of my hat and the cone of the Hot Shop (Tacoma cone), I was able to gain admission into the amphitheater.
For those of you about ready to visit Tacoma, the cone is an impressive 90-foot tall stainless steel structure. It has a diameter of 100 feet at its base and it narrows to a 15-foot opening at the top.
I was destined to the bottom.
Before venturing to the floor, it was requested that I put on safety glasses. I obliged Mrs. Newsom. Though the glasses were a bit large, but a resourceful artist modified them so I did not need to worry about them falling off.
With my protective glasses on, I was ready to help make some glass.
I was a bit concerned about the heat. But it should prove to be an interesting time.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
I really didn't know what to think at first, but I soon realized her offer of me to come down to the floor of the "hot shop" meant another trip to the Museum of Glass.
But this time, I wouldn't just be outside on a beautiful day ... I would have the opportunity to assist in the blowing of some glass.
Wow.
I was able to get a ride down for the 9:30 a.m. appointment. After some rather intensive security-related questions ... and some ribbing about the shape of my hat and the cone of the Hot Shop (Tacoma cone), I was able to gain admission into the amphitheater.
For those of you about ready to visit Tacoma, the cone is an impressive 90-foot tall stainless steel structure. It has a diameter of 100 feet at its base and it narrows to a 15-foot opening at the top.
I was destined to the bottom.
Before venturing to the floor, it was requested that I put on safety glasses. I obliged Mrs. Newsom. Though the glasses were a bit large, but a resourceful artist modified them so I did not need to worry about them falling off.
With my protective glasses on, I was ready to help make some glass.
I was a bit concerned about the heat. But it should prove to be an interesting time.
Until Next Time,
TacomaGnome
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