Marvin Lipofsky Studio events.

This is late for now, but do check out Marvin Lipofsky Studio's website for upcoming events. http://www.marvinlipofsky.com/ View this email in your browser

Marvin Lipofsky Studios is happy to announce our summer activities for 2014. If you are near by any of these fine galleries, please stop by for a visit.  Prime Time features artworks that span almost 50 years by six Bay Area artists. Approximately eighty pieces include painting, photography, collage and sculpture, represent the scope of their enduring careers in the arts. This field study gives us the opportunity to consider the artists’ dedication and creativity that each has brought to their art practice, contributing to our regional cultural landscape. Artists include: Bella Feldman, Edith Hillinger, Harry Cohen, Marge Rector, Marvin Lipofsky, and Mary Mountcastle Eubank. The exhibition was curated by Patricia Watts, consulting curator for the Marin Community Foundation. June 2 - Sept 12, 2014 Reception: Wed June 18, 2014 4:30 - 6:30 Marin Community Foundation 5 Hamilton Landing, Suite 200 Novato, CA  94949 Mon - Fri 9 am - 5 pm Image: Chico Spring Series 1988 #12, Marvin Lipofsky Photo credit: M. Lee Fatherree The Museums of Los Gatos is proud to present Hot Spot: Bay Area Art Glass, an exhibition that celebrates the Bay Area’s continued prominence as a center for studio glass. With a focus on place and practice, the exhibit features artwork by Marvin Lipofsky, Mary B. White, Johnathon Schmuck, David Ruth, Susan Longini, and Liz Strickland and includes works from Bonny Doon Art Glass, Holy City Art Glass and Lundberg Studios. This exhibition was curated by Marianne McGrath. June 8 - August 24, 2014 Reception: Sunday June 8, 2014 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm The Museums of Los Gatos 4 Tait Avenue Los Gatos, CA  95030 Thu - Sun   Noon - 4 pm Image: San Jose Group 2006 #1, Marvin Lipofsky Photo: M. Lee Fatherree The Mendocino Art Center will be presenting, Silk & Glass, an invitational show featuring the work of Marvin Lipofsky, Natasha Foucault, Mary Edna Fraser, Kale Haschak, Erika Kohr Island, Mickie McCormic, JP Long, Susan Louise Moyer, Liubov Semionova, Cynthia Myers, Merridee Smith, Demetra Theofanous, Joy Stocksdale and Barbara Woods. June 9 - July 7, 2014 Mendocino Art Center 45200 Little Lake Street Mendocino, CA  95460 Reception: June 14, 2014  5 pm - 8 pm Image: Russian Group 2007 #11, Marvin Lipofsky Photo Credit: M. Lee Fatherree Upcoming! This summer, the Schantz Galleries will be presenting a special selection of works from the studio. Check with the gallery for new arrivals.  Schantz Galleries 3 Elm St, Stockbridge, MA 01262 Image: Otaru 1987 #6, Marvin Lipofsky Photo credit: M. Lee Fatherree

Copyright © Marvin Lipofsky Studios 2014, All rights reserved. Stay in touch! Our mailing address is: m.lipofsky@comcast.net Studio: 1012 Pardee Street Berkeley, CA 94710 510.843.7593

Blenko Black Friday Sale!

Some folks will say its much too early to think of Christmas shopping.  .  while others
began the 2014 Christmas Shopping in January.
Blenko Glass yearly has a Black Friday event - often they have glasses and its a great time for children and adult to shop Blenko at discounted prices.
Or have the Dad take the kids to Blenko while you do their shopping then meet up at Blenko later
and take a class or two with the kids.

BLENKO GLASS BLACK FRIDAY SALE will be November 28 - 30th.
Mark your calendar and return for more information or better yet
go to www.blenko.com  and look at the calendar on the Blenko web pages.

Myers flame stoppered optic decanters

HI Hillary,

More of my favorites in Tangerine optic glass. All of the stoppers are optic as well. These three are Joel Myers designs for Blenko from the sixties and early seventies. From the left is a Blenko #717, Blenko #6530-S, and Blenko #653.

Hope you enjoy,
Bruce Specht

Blenko Myers turquoise optic vases

Hi Doc,
A trio of Joel Myers designed optic vases in Turquoise. From the left is the Blenko 64-D optic vase, Blenko #6913 coin-dot optic vase, and Blenko 64-E beehive optic vase. The 64-D I found in an antique shop last week for seven dollars. The random rims are a wonderful organic shape.

Hope you and the blog enjoy,
Bruce Specht

Clear pitcher - V

Hello Hillary,

Here is another pitcher.

Last week we learned new technique to pull bottles. Instead of heating and dropping it, this time we heat and pull it with jacks. I then applied a drop foot on it, then included a handle. Here is the final product. My hand slipped the first time, so it got stuck to the bottle. The second time, I got the handle and shape correct. Its my best piece so far.

Regards,
V

Blenko Glass. Collecting or Hoarding?

He who knows
    that enough is enough
       will always have enough.  Lao Tzu


A New Yorker once said to me 80% of all collectors were not collectors but hoarders.

If you own Blenko glass you are not longer enjoying, or have it boxed away.
Why not consider allow new collectors to purchase?

Weekly we hear from new collectors who complain they can't find unique Blenko items.

Last year my parents parted with about 50 items of Blenko.  They donated to the Union Mission - where it was sold to
either collectors or folks who will later sell to collectors.
HJH
www.blenkoproject.org
www.blenkoglass.com 

Be Gentle with the earth. Dalai Lama

Blenko Glass made in Milton, WVa   is in our opinion - that of the Blenko Project a earth friendly company.   Very little is wasted at Blenko.   The unused glass is recycled ( more about this in another post) used by other craftsmen to make counter tops, to melt  for small glass makers etc.

Buy Local always.   Blenko Glass  Milton, WVa. 

Bayliss WV Birthday Design ( my favorite).

Flowers blooming in the Blenko Glass Garden.

Blenko Glass.

The best way to find yourself
Is to lose yourself in the service of others.   Mahatama Gandhi 

Blenko Glass

Remember,  we all stumble, every one of us.   That's why it is a comfort to go hand in hand.  Emily Kimbrough

Blenko Glass handcrafted glass made in USA.   At Blenko everything is a team effort.
Each team works together in an effortless dance to produce one of a kind hand blown glass for you.  Since 2007  Arlon Bayliss has been the creative designer. 

BLENKO GLASS. An American Made Product

  When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh
at the sky.   Buddha

Blenko Glass Water Bottle.   Simple -  Perfect!  

Blenko Myers Honey designs

Hi Doc,
A am sending a nice grouping below to help folks with the color Honey. There can be some variance in the color from almost the wheat color that came in to Blenko's pallet later during Shepherd design period. Shelley is very fond of Honey and so I have been keeping my eye out for new pieces to add to the collection. I had a bit of luck lately and added the three pieces on the left over the past two months as mislist finds on Ebay. All of these are Joel Myers designs from the sixties. From the left you have a Blenko #658 S decanter, Blenko 669 optic decanter with ball stopper, Blenko #6711 S spiral wrapped decanter with ball stopper, Blenko #653 optic decanter with flame stopper, and Blenko 64E beehive vase.

Hope you enjoy,
Bruce Specht

Glass pitcher, and bowl.

Hello Hillary,

I made more things with color. Made another pitcher, and color bowl. The bowl is made by making the basic glass 'bullet'. Then red spiral was added and after that it was quoted with white. 

I ran out of space in lab, so started getting glass home. The way its going, I will run out of space in home soon too. 

Regards,

V

Amethyst crackle blenko

HI Hillary,
A few new additions to the collection that I wanted to share with the blog. The crystal crackle and amethyst pieces came from a northern collection that included a matching canister with lid. The lid on the large jug is questionable but it goes well and should keep the dust out. My favorite of the three is the reed handled pitcher. From the left is a Pre-designer Blenko #442P pitcher, Blenko #443 jug, and Blenko #390 ruffled top vase.

Hope you enjoy,
Bruce Specht

A Unique Bowl

Hello Hillary I have a Blenko bowl purchased about 25 years age. I have not seen a bowl similar to this in recent years. It is part of our Blenko collection which we have collected over the years. This bowl is the centerpiece on our table and is filled with 8 Blenko glass apples of various colors. The apples are of solid glass. I have always wondered if you still have the mold for this bowl. Attached is a photo of this bowl. William Galyean

Glass mistake. Made vase instead of pitcher. V

Hello Hillary,

If you recall I said there are 3 basic shapes; tumbler, bowl and bottle. And you modify them to make different pieces. What people dont realize is when you add color, you change properties of the glass. Glass can handle more or less heat, and behaves very differently. I was tying to make a pitcher with red which is a hard color. Hard meaning it cools much faster than clear glass. So first I didnt heat enough, and the second time, I heated too much and could not control glass. So made a vase instead of pitcher. I just stretched the glass, and cut it to make this. Its about 18 inches tall. Have included blenko angel for size reference. The forest you see is view form my apartment.

As you know, I keep the worst pieces I make each week with me. Am just glad that this week the mistake came out looking good. Although, must admit. It didnt look as pretty before. Another lady I work with cut the top, then I ground the top and base.

You can see how far off I was. I was making a pitcher, and ended up making this.

Regards,
V

PM Estate Sales - Purple Moon Estate Sale

 

Kanawha City Estate Sale

5209 Noyes Avenue - Charleston, WV (Map)

Sunday, August 17, 2014 – Noon to 5pm - 25% OFF!
PREVIEW VIDEO #1* – Living Room, Dining, Kitchen, Sunroom, Vintage Telephone Collection, Art, Bar & More!

PREVIEW VIDEO #2* – Bed Room, Den, Office, Die-cast Police Car Collection, More Phones, Art & More!

This gorgeous home is packed with unique, artful and collectible items! With fine furnishings, antique and vintage Asian art, figurines and collectibles, china and crystal dinnerware, barware (and a bar!), massive collection of antique toy

Blenko Myers designed decanters

Hi Doc,

A trio of Myers designed decanters in Crystal, Turquoise, and Olive Green. These are Blenko #6947.

Enjoy,

Bruce Specht

colored pitcher - V

Hello Hillary,

Here are pictures of pitcher I made. Am still having difficulty with pontils, so you can see the cat-eye where I knocked it off. Thats the next thing I need to focus on.

Regards,
V

Blenko Husted Vineyard decanters

Hi Hillary,
Shelley and I made a trip to Denton, Texas yesterday and guess what we stumbled upon in the first antique shop we visited? I hadn't gone ten feet when I spotted this wonderful Husted designed Blenko #6037 Vineyard decanter in Sea Green. Had always wanted the large version but they can be a little pricey. This one came home for under forty dollars. Goes wonderful with the Charcoal version Blenko # 614 decanter.
Hope you enjoy,
Bruce Specht

Dr Vivek Celebrates August 11th Birthday

Frequently folks will ask me " Who is Dr V?"
Most often they ask " does he work for Blenko"?


Vivek is a PhD  Mechanical Engineer.  He is currently housed at Penn State University where he  as a post doctoral scholar does work with stroke patients. He works in the field of neurology and biomechanics, where he develops math models to identify mechanisms involves in movement control, and the corresponding brain regions related to these mechanisms. Vivek obtained a grant from American Heart Association (AHA) in 2010 for this work.

Vivek has many hobbies including cooking,  hiking, mountain climbing, writing, photography and of course glass. He has collected Blenko and other American Glass  for over three years.   He now is a glass blower,  we often feature his work on the blog.  We've heard from readers that it inspired you to take the glasses offered at Blenko.  Vivek does not work for Blenko,  although he spends many hours each week monitoring blog comments and assisting readers with glass Identification.  Vivek has yet to visit Blenko Glass.

Dr V  also maintains the www.blenkoproject.org  webpages.  He is solely responsible for making available  the entire Blenko Glass catalog collection a part of the Blenko Project website.

Dr V is a frequent contributor to the Heart of Glass Blog


Happy Birthday Dr Vivek Yadav
From :  Heart of Glass


Blenko Husted designed vases

HI Hillary,

 A pair of Husted designed vases. On the left is a Blenko #5824-L in Amethyst with it's smaller version a Blenko # 5824-S in Turquoise. Both of these arrived pretty dirty from their previous owners but cleaned up nicely. Simple forms that Blenko colors just make outstanding and a pleasure to enjoy in a sunny spot.

Hope you enjoy too,

Bruce Specht

SKIP COPLEY . Happy Birthday 60th. Blenko Glass Collector. Myrtle Beach SC

  Someone once gave me a card with this quote:

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving deeply gives you courage.

Skip has been a very generous contributor, sponsor and supporter  to Blenko Project as well as to his family and many friends.

Skip Copley ,  Blenko Collector lives in the Myrtle Beach Area of South Carolina.

He frequently lends us photos of his art glass for use on the blog.

Today he turns 60!   If you happen to see Skip Copley today -  say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Skip Copley -  Myrtle Beach SC

Glass pitcher - V

Hello Hillary,

I  made a pitcher this week. There are 3 basic forms that we learn. Tumbler, Bowl and bottle form. These forms can be modified to make different glass pieces. I either give away or recycle most of the glass, but save some good ones. Here is picture of evolution of my glass making. It started with paper weights, then we did tumblers, then bowls and now bottles. I still have difficulty with pontils and shaping the bottom. So you can see the cat-eye and grinding work to fix it. Also, every week I burn my something, this week it was fingers. Hence, the tape.

I will start adding colors next week onwards. Will start to make a colored pitcher.

Regards
V

Blenko Myers spiral wrapped decanter and vase

HI Hillary,

This has been a week for finding missing pieces to fill out different series of designs I have in the collection. On the left is a Myers designed Blenko #6816-CT decanter with a Blenko #6817-CT vase. I have been looking for the decanter for years and was lucky enough to find one recently.  Hard to photograph but a joy to see in person.

Hope you and the blog enjoy as well,

Bruce Specht

Husted flame stoppered decanters

HI Doc,

Husted designs and Blenko Tangerine just go hand in hand. Two examples are these two flame stoppered decanters, the Blenko #6122-S crackled decanter and Blenko #6215 decanter.

Hope you enjoy,

Bruce Specht

Blenko Limited edition pieces

Blenko Festival of Glass--August 1-2, 2014

Limited Edition Pieces
Available for purchase Saturday, Aug 2 at 8:00am
No advance orders, no phone orders
Each piece is numbered and sandblasted FOG on bottom
Each piece limited to 25 numbered pieces available in the gift shop.

Online special
For our customers who can't visit us in person, we will be offering
a limited quantity of our two Limited Edition items for sale on Monday, August 4 at noon Eastern time, 9am Pacific time at shop.blenko.com. Shipping charges apply. No number requests.
There will be a quantity of 25 of each vase available to order.

Hoopy Loopy---10" high approx. $60.00 each
Designed by Arlon Bayliss. This fun vase was made especially
for the Festival of Glass. It combines a thick seabreeze twice-
hooked trail with blending crystal neck and body. The result is a
optical treat. The whole shape shimmies and shakes as our
eyes explore its lively form.

Midnight Illusion Vase---12" high---$60.00 each
Midnight blue blends into a crystal optic base to create a
beautiful classic vase that is a must-have for every Blenko
collector.

Request for 2014-2015 catalog

Dear Readers,

If you are going to Blenko glass festival, could you please pick up a copy of 2014-2015 catalog for us, so we can scan it and post on blenkoproject's website. Alternatively, if you have a copy, could you please scan it and send it to us?

We have been able to have update and most complete collection of catalogs primarily because of our contributors, and are grateful for your help.

Regards,
V

My work address is,

Vivek Yadav,
29 Rec Hall,
University Park, PA-16803.

Blenko Glass festival: Andy Blenko

Blenko Festival of Glass---August 1-2, 2014

Signing Events

Andy Blenko, Vice President will be on hand Friday and Saturday

to sign all Blenko Glass purchases. His schedule is as follows:

Friday 8:30am-10:30, 11:15am-12:45

Saturday 8:15am-10:15, 12:30pm-2:30

Arlon Bayliss Lecture

Blenko Festival of Glass---Arlon Bayliss Lecture
"DESIGNING FOR BLENKO"
Lecture schedule: Friday, Aug 1 1:00pm-2:30
Saturday, Aug 2 1:00pm-2:30
No Charge---All ages welcome---Limited to 25 participants
Location: Blenko Design Building

Arlon Bayliss, Blenko Designer, will show images, videos and share interesting stories about his life working with glass and what it is like to design for Blenko.

Reminder, Blenko festival of glass is 1 week away. Aug 1-2, 2014

If you havent made reservations for blenko festival of glass. Do consider.
It is next weekend, and if you can come and show

Buy american, support local businesses.

Red Bowl and tumbler - V

Hello Hilary

Just got home, here are pictures of glass I made last week. This time I spun out and made a bowl. Bowls, plates etc are made by spinning out the same basic form. I will make a big post about how various glass forms are made, and used later. 

Hope you like these photos.

V

colored glass experiments - V

Hello Hillary,

Here are more pictures of colored glass I made this week. I accidentally made a hat too. Was making a tumbler, but spun too much and ended with a hat. 

We start more color stuff now, so will keep sending pictures. 

Thanks

V

Blenko Glass: Behind the scenes

Recently blenko glass was featured in UNC-TV. Below is the link for it.

Journey to the hills of Milton, W. Va. into the heat of Blenko Glassworks and see first-hand how Blenko handmade glass is created, from start to finish. Each step in the Blenko glass-making process is accomplished by human hand, eyes, and he arts, not by impersonal machines.

http://video.unctv.org/video/2365241806/