Author: Parker Stafford

Education, glassblowing

Using The Booking Calendar

November 20, 2018November 23, 2018By Parker Stafford No Comments

I recently set up a booking calendar to make signing up for classes and events easier for folks. In this post, I am going to provide you a primer on using this calendar.

First, the calendar is situated at differently places when you are on a computer versus a mobile device such as your phone. If you are on a computer, the calendar is near the top of the page along the right sidebar near this post. One a mobile device, you have to scroll past a series of older posts and some social media widgets to get down to the calendar.

When I am looking at the calendar from my phone, I will just scroll fast to the very bottom and then come back up a little way to get to the calendar. You know you have reached the booking calendar because you will see the same as what is in the following image:

This view will show you the days of the week that the calendar allows for classes. Currently we take classes Wednesday through Sunday, and those days have a gray highlight to them. Next, you will notice that there are clocks on some of the days. This indicates that there are some bookings for that day. When you find a day that you are interested in, click on that day right on the calendar and it will darken, just like in the image below:

So in the above example I just selected Saturday December 1st. It already has some appointments booked on that day and next I am going to show you how to know the booked days from the unbooked days by showing you how the times for the day will show up in a drop-down menu just below the calendar a little ways down. That image is next. In the image below you first see the first available time for the day show up (this is a default for the calendar) :

If you look further down, you then see ALL of the available times with a “radio button” (round) that you click to select that time slot.

You will notice that the calendar screen shot above has selected the first time available for that day already because it is highlighted with a blue button.

The thing to know is that the unavailable times are slightly greyed out while the available days are darker black. The calendar will not allow you to book a time that has already been selected previously by someone else.

You will notice that the time slots are divided into 30-minute intervals. This was set up to allow enough time for people making a pumpkin but also for an ornament. The thing to realize is that if you want to come with a couple of other people to blow glass, you will need to fill out this form for each item being made. If you select just one thirty-minute slot and you are bringing five people who all want to make something, we will only have time for one item to be made, so make sure that you fill out the form for each person who is coming.

The forms is fairly short but besides selecting the times for your booking, there are fields for your contact information that look like this:

You will notice near the bottom there is a text field where you let us know which class you are signing up for, and right now it is either pumpkins or ornaments. This helps us to know how to prepare before you come.

After you have entered your information and chosen your time, you will notice a series of oddly placed letters, which you will need to type into the form. This is called a “Capcha” and it helps to foil “bots” that might try to enter information in order to spam out site or my email. Fill this out and you are set.

No money is required when you register. You will only pay once you have your glass safely in your hands. We accept cash, check, and credit card.

Currently we are making both pumpkins and ornaments at a special price, The pumpkins, which are normally $52.00 are available through the season for $42.00. Ornaments, which are normally $31.00 are $24.00 per piece made.

Now that you have found out how the calendar works, you can go to the pages that have been set aside for ornaments and pumpkins to learn more. If you have questions about the calendar, please let me know in the comments section or you can email me at info(at)staffordartglass.com or you can call or text me on my mobile at (540) 605-0034. We look forward to making cool (hot) stuff with you and your family!

Fall Workshops and Classes

September 5, 2018October 27, 2018By Parker Stafford No Comments

If you follow Stafford Art Glass on our Facebook page, you will know about the slew of delays I have had in getting the studio back online again. It has been kind of exciting, in a weird way, if only because of the significant improvements I have been able to work into the studio while waiting. Oh, and the fingers I broke last Fall are doing very well, thank-you (the first of a few of the snarls time-wise!).

Myself, I have tried to remain as Zen about this as possible. While I very much want to have glass available to an eager group who has expressed interest in it, I also know that once I get in the thick of things once the furnaces are turned on and the gas bills keep climbing, it will be harder to make the changes that I have made this past Spring and Summer. These are all great changes, they just took some time (some longer than others!).

As I sit here, the furnace is actually on its second melt, which means that it is producing excellent glass, the doors to all of the furnaces and a kiln have been hooked up to pneumatic foot control (nice for when you are holding a blow pipe),which means they open and close without having to muscle them open and closed by hand. The vent hood has been enclosed for more efficient ventilation, a fan has been wired in for that vent hood, and some other equipment have also gotten some upgrades.

Partial enclosure, part dry-fit of the new hood assembly!

Over the course of the last several months I have ordered over 50 new glass colors, and I put in another order for over half of that amount just yesterday. I have ordered glass color that I think will make for really interesting pumpkins as well as expanded color choices for ornaments, increasing the choices ten-fold. Some of these colors are ones I have not used in my own professional production over twenty years of working in the field (so this is a big step). None of this has been cheap, but it makes for a better experience for all of the people who are eager to sink their teeth into some exciting new offerings at the studio. One of the upgrades has been making sign-up for classes or workshops something that you can do from your phone or computer online.

Beginning the first of October, I will be rolling out my new internet booking calendar. This calendar will be available right here on this blog at http://www.staffordartglass.blog. This calendar will allow you to book classes from the comfort of your mobile device or from your living room. From now until the calendar goes live, there will be upgrades and changes being made to the calendar to make it more useful for most of the classes that will be taught at the studio. Even though it is up right now, changes are in the process of being made, so it is not just yet ready for prime-time (but soon!).

Here are some of the classes that will be offered beginning October 1st:

Blow Your Own Pumpkin – offered from October 1st through to November 18th. You can pick a thirty minute slot for a small pumpkin or two slots for a larger pumpkin (I will have examples of these two sizes when we get closer to our class roll-out).
Blow Your Ornament Ball (BYOB) from November 30th through to December 22nd.
Make Your Own Paperweight – available year round.
Make Your own Suncatcher – available year round.
Weekend Glass Blowing Intensive – the first weekend of each month (subject to minimum enrollment).
One-Day Glass Blowing Intensive – the second Saturday of each month (subject to minimum enrollment).

That said, this schedule is just a guide to make things easier for all involved. However, if someone would like to make a pumpkin in January or even in May, all you need to do is look on the calendar and see if the time is available. The same goes for ornaments. If you would like to blow an ornament in October to avoid making something in December, you are welcome to do that. The way the calendar and the classes are set up for single items, I have those designed so that an ornament can be made within a 30 minute booking session (which is how the first calendar is set up—and yes, there may be individual calendars for different classes but I have to work out the coding for that first). Since all classes are individual and include one-on-one instruction (except for the one and two-day intensives) this makes scheduling much easier. In truth, it might only take 15 minutes to make an ornament or suncatcher, but I give you that time to make sure we cover all the bases while each and every person is here. Likewise, a small pumpkin can be made in thirty minutes and a large one can be made in an hour (you would book two thirty minutes slots and let me know that you want to make a large pumpkin when you arrive). The elegance of the way these experiences are set up is that by doubling up on two 30 minute slots is you get the right pricing and enough time to make your piece. It is a modular system I developed that makes scaling up simple and easy.

There are many things I do not know just yet about the full functionality of the calendar and how many options I will be able to include, but right off the bat I know that there are some options as I write this that will be available. For example, this calendar will be able to utilize coupon codes so those of you who follow Stafford Art Glass at Facebook or on other social media sites like Twitter can grab coupon codes that will be announced there and bring them here for making your final booking. To take advantage of these, go to the site for Stafford Art Glass on Facebook, hit “Like” and get the latest codes and updates. We are located on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/Stafford-Art-Glass-273860936858/

In instances where the calendar does not allow for the type of flexibility that I might have hoped, I will be announcing work-arounds in the event that someone wants something custom or different from the norm. But as of right now, I am still learning how to make this calendar as flexible for your use as possible. I am using one of the highest rated booking calendars out there available for the Word Press platform (it even takes payments) so I am expecting a high degree of functionality once I uncover all of the bells and whistles in the next few weeks. Given how this past year has gone, I am a little gun shy about making promises about exactly how I expect something like the new booking system will work. I just know that once I sink my teeth into it, I will be able to work through the software to help bring value to my customers.

If you subscribe to the blog, you will be kept up to date about any new classes or events happening that involve booking your place for an event. While there will also be updates on Facebook, these can easily get buried under new posts. Word Press makes it so that you can receive updates through email as well as SMS (text message to your phone) which can be even more convenient for many of you. I can also provide class descriptions here that may be too lengthy for Facebook readers.

You will find that prices are inclusive for all of our classes. That means no pesky add-ons that you have to worry about. Anyone taking a class also receives 15% off all merchandise in the gallery as a special thank-you for educating yourself about what it takes to delve into the world of glass making.

In the meantime, until we reach the first of October, I will be working to produce samples of a full line of ornaments that will make deciding on an ornament color combination easier once you show for your time slots. I will do the same with sample pumpkin color combinations, too. Then, if you get here and can’t decide what colors you would like, I will have some samples that might make deciding easier.

Thank you all who have been following along for your patience! My hope is that the changes will be welcome and will make everything just a little bit more easy. Here’s to a fun and exciting Fall!

Keep It Hot,

~Parker

#glassblowing #glassblowingclass #newportva #vaglass #vaglassblower #glasspumpkin #pumpkin

Art and Design, Education, glassblowing

Why Art

January 7, 2018July 21, 2018By Parker Stafford No Comments

The Preamble

Note: In late October I began to dig out my studio after having sold my home and moved onto the studio property. While renovating a mobile home on the property originally intended for an employee to live in, I decided the best way to do it was if I lived in it during this period of transition. The studio was packed with belongings and I began to move out the things I wanted to keep and toss what I don’t need anymore.

The glass furnace was in the process of being rebuilt when I had a furnace block fall on my hand, nearly pinning me under the block. This catalyzed an effort to do what I had not done in years past, which was to add automation in the form of pneumatic cylinders controlled by foot pedals to open and close furnace doors. Sounds like a simple thing, and it is, but the implementation wound up being more complicated and drawn out than expected. But then, this can often be the case when engineering “one-off’s”.

The result has been a subtle but important transformation taking place at the studio. The vent hood,which controls the ventilation was also updated in a significant way, essentially enclosing the vent hood completely in order to help make evacuating hot air from the studio more effective. It will result in a more comfortable experience for me, my assistants, and for those taking classes there in the future.

The injury to my hand slowed me way down from where I planned on being, but it also opened up a new avenue that I am glad is now largely completed. Despite delays from the engineering firm, I have managed to get all of the automation done that I have wanted to do for years but never did. As a result, I am looking to the Fall of 2018 as a time when I will begin holding workshops again while also beginning production work again after a long hiatus teaching at the university.

I will be baking into my design of my website the ability to see the schedule and register for any and all classes from the convenience of your computer or mobile phone. I am working with a web designer who will be including commerce solutions for purchasing work and for making the process of connecting with the studio more streamlined. Those changes will be rolled out in the Fall, but for updates and important announcements, follow the studio on Facebook HERE.

If the link doesn’t work for your device, copy and paste this link into your browser:

https://www.facebook.com/Stafford-Art-Glass-273860936858/

The “Why” (and How)

We create to express and communicate ideas, feelings, and experiences. The arc of art is so broad and takes in such broad swaths of considerations and mindsets. It’s been used to express religious fervor and religious ideas, political propaganda, social justice (speaking truth to power) as well as recreating the beauty of nature. Art accepts all comers. The only rule is that there are no rules. You get to make your own. How that winds up turning out is really up to the artist, and if you are a professional artist, your ideas need to hit a nerve in order to gain acceptance most often. If, however, you create art as a hobby, you are the freest of the free; you can create just as you wish to create. I have, as I have gotten older, sought a path through both of these polarities because I have found that my greatest discoveries came when I wasn’t worried about the bottom line. It has also served to inform my teaching at the university level as well as in my own studio.

Glass takes years to learn. It is gymnastic in the sense that there is a lot of muscle memory involved, and all of this takes time and patience. The best glass workers have been at this for their whole lives and they make what they do look easy when it is anything but that. When I began introducing people to glass I realized that there is this considerable gap that exists with people and their skill level in glass that disrupted their ability to enjoy the material as an expressive medium. As a result of this, I developed a way of working with students in the studio to help fill the technical gap for the time being and working on what they can do on a technical level straight out of the gate in producing glass objects. This method has resulted in being able to give people from all walks the fullest experience in glass possible without having to spend years developing the requisite skills necessary. Since glass is a very expensive medium, it makes learning very expensive also. Not everyone wants to be a maestro, some are content with running around the block to see what glass blowing is all about.

This process is effectively 75% student work with 25% hand-holding by the teacher. This 25% consists of techniques critical to the successful creation of glass objects and represent a technical level that can take weeks or months to master just one of them. Instead of taking weeks worth of repetition, I pick up that part and we work together to ferry objects like ornaments, suncatchers, vases, bowls, and paperweights to their completion on a first-go. This is also why the workshops have been so popular. Most studios do not provide this level of access to the glass for beginners. I have found that by teaching in this way, I can help provide a closeup introduction to glass without years of preparation and work. For those who are serious about learning glass, they will grab the bull by the horns and do what needs to be done to accomplish that level of mastery. For everyone else, it seems my method as developed works very well for the beginner.

1457717_10151921484841859_304824755_n — A suncatcher made by a first-time student

My process is to encourage the student to follow the glass and what it wants to do. This may not sound like the kind of control that is necessary for a medium like glass, but over years of experience, glass has a quality that when you allow it to be itself, can and does do some really amazing things. Instead of working in a precisely controlled way, I suggest more room for surprises to occur for students so they can witness the expressive potential of glass. As a result there are creations that are far more complex and interesting than if they had been carefully controlled. Don’t get me wrong, control is necessary in being able to reproduce results in a production environment, but this is not what we are doing in a class. In a class we are trying to get the biggest bang for our buck here: we seek to explore as broadly as possible in a very limited time frame. The student, then, gets a snapshot of the potential that glass has. The results are nothing short of amazing, though, and is one reason why even when I am not offering classes, I tend on average to field three to four inquiries a month about classes even though I have not offered them now for a number of years.

Some folks are content sitting and watching glass being made in the studio. The ability to sit and watch glass being blown is free here at the studio. We encourage everyone who wants to to sit in and learn a thing or two. For those who are not content to sit on their hands and watch, there are the classes.

Lindsey applying color on a suncatcher

If you are interested in classes, or just to come watch glass being blown, announcements will be made publicly on my Facebook page. Classes will include offhand glassblowing, and torch worked glass (bead making). Glassblowing will be available first while the bead making studio has to be built around the torches I already have in-house and will take some time to build the tables, venting, and small kilns, tools, etc., in place before classes can be offered. My hope is that I will be offering both by next Fall. Please “like” my Facebook page to remain up to date on events and classes there. For those who want to know when a class is being offered, I recommend also that you email me at info@staffordartglass.com and include “classes” in the subject heading. This will enable me to bring up all of the inquiries over a period of time and respond to them very quickly and easily. And no, we wont spam you. If you want off the list, you will be removed promptly. For the rest, there is the Facebook page below:

https://www.facebook.com/Stafford-Art-Glass-273860936858/

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