tis the season

Happy Holidays All! They are upon us. This year we actually made ornaments and are really pleased with how they have been coming out. Charlie refused to make something round and instead came up with this:

The way the one on the right looks reminds me so much of the cartoon whale shape from my kids books growing up that if we have time I think I need to try making a whale. At any rate they really got us thinking about other ornaments we'd like to do.     Stay tuned! 

This is our new Opaline snowball ornament! This color is so pretty with all the pink and gold highlights typical of a nice opal.  Order the ornaments below via our etsy shop and get free shipping (code: freeshipping)....
Speaking of lovely white opals, I've been getting a palette together for an all white mosaic cup group...
So check in with us again soon, or better yet come see us! Blue Hill Winter Faire is coming up next weekend, and the Craft Boston is the second weekend in dec.  Wherever you are this time of year we hope you are enjoying the holidays.

Portland Museum of Art, Today!

We are packing up some great work to take to our trunk show at the Museum. However if you can't make it we are offering free shipping today on our etsy shop. Just enter  FREESHIPPING at check out and your good to go!

Adorable right?

We made this custom cookie jar for a neighbor in Richmond last year. His wife has a thing for snowmen and so he had us make this for her. Charlie and I made it together and there was a lot of debate: top hat? or wool cap? We compromised (as usual) by doing both (go tandem!), operating under the theory that accessories are fabulous.

Other studio news is our devoted wet saw used for cutting all manner of glass around the shop finally bit it. I bought it ...12 years ago in California for less than 100$ so it served us very well. We tried going out and getting another one similar, and it met it's demise after only two uses. We took this as a message to scale up to something really comfortable and nice to work with Hello: more amps and horsepower....
 So we are awaiting a new dewalt! Woo Hoo!
Other points of interest are our upcoming trunk show at the Portland Museum of Art on Nov 25th (stay tuned to our facebook page for images of work we will be bringing), a show to benefit the Bay School in Blue Hill Maine , and of course one of our favorites: The Society of Arts and Crafts show at the Cyclorama ( i love this building. Originally built to house a painting it has amazing light, and more amazing history).
 We are back at the Brunswick Winter Market this year, and came home from it's opening day this past sat. with fresh lilies, amazing cheese, veggies, a pear galette....I could go on but I'd need to get a second lunch.
Hope this post finds you well, and that we get to see you at an upcoming event!

This Weekend:

Ogunquit Museum Invitational Show

Charlie pulling out decoration for our mosaic line

Thank-You all who turned out for our recent show in Mount Desert Island. It was great meeting new people and seeing familiar faces. If you missed this event we hope to see you at one of our upcoming shows!

Woo Hoo Summer!

It is green lush and beautiful in these parts and after a chilly spring we are finally gardening and beginning our local show tour. Thank You all who have visited us at the gallery or via our new facebook page! If your unable to make it to any of our upcoming shows I have a consolation prize: visit our shop and enter the coupon code Handmade to receive 10% off an order (this is in addition to the price break we give when you buy more that one piece). We have many new designs and sizes to choose from.

color & light

As someone who frequently takes photos of our work here in the studio I'm astounded by my father's take on this recent group of work. He's been a photographer for many years and I'm really amazed when I see his work (as an artist) by what devotion to a single medium can allow a person in the way of expression.
These cups shown above are a limited edition, part of a teal and emerald palette mix I'm doing in limited edition (thus far there are two groups of four completed). The limited edition groups of these palette mixes are something I intend to continue. We did a white group that went to the last Craft Boston show, and I've done a cobalt group that went (as a large set complete with two bowls and a decanter) to our neighbors here in Dresden (via the the Brunswick Farmer's Market).
The range of colors that we have to work with are astounding. Some of the larger works that I create are just too slow and cumbersome . It takes forever to develop the colors...but the cups are great because they are like quick sketches. Satisfying because they feel good in the hand, infinitley useful and delightful in their quirkiness. They are what we aspire to most as "producers": Unique! (all of them)... As their maker this makes them a great vehicle for expression.
We will have this set available at the upcoming Crafts Boston Show this spring. Hope to see you there!

Crafts Boston This Weekend....

Here we go folks!

It's the last of our holiday shows. Society of Arts and Crafts is presenting

Craft Boston at the Cyclorama and we will be there Dec 10th through 12th...

There is a 3$ coupon to visit and show information at this link...

If you are in Maine you can make an appointment to visit our studio...You may even get a demonstration as we are still making work for the show. Fans of the Brunswick Farmer's Market at Fort Andross can visit us there (and enjoy a really great market) from 9-12 this coming Sat. The Brunswick Market is a very well reviewed market with live music amazing farmers, bakers, artisans, choice spices and fresh seafood (among many other tasty snackables, and wearables).. This winter market was recently mentioned in the Portland Press Herald. You can check them out online.

Happy Holidays!

"Out & About" Tour with Five Rivers Art Alliance

This coming fri Tandem Glass will open our doors from 5-8 pm for glass demonstrations. Sat. & Sun the gallery will be open. We are so pleased to be on the Fiver River's Art Alliance they are such a great organization. Tours span Dresden to Bowdoinham with Bath in between. Many artists will be at Fort Andross in a space donated for exhibition. With a great array of arts and events we hope you enjoy the tour and make your way past our Studio Gallery

Fall is here...

Summer flew by this year marked by many fun visits with fabulous people here in Maine. One suprise was a visit to our Booth by non-other than Martha Stewart. I have to admit to being a bit dumbstruck by the whole event. Celebrity sighting usually render me mute and the lead up to her appearance was heightened by an excited and constant hum: "Martha Martha Martha". When she did appear I was content to simply watch her enjoy our work, She even mentioned us with nice photos (#22 & #23) on her blog! This epic event was right after bumping into Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs in my favorite coffee shop The Second Read. I managed to actually speak to him which is just about as epic as the actual sighting. He's a super nice guy! He had just done a show at Fenton Glass so my chance at that bit of spotlight was eclipsed. I'm sort of alright with this because I'm not sure how I'd feel about being filmed....At least that's what I'm telling myself.
It's also been a summer of many friend sightings. Newly back from the Common Ground fair we are happy and exhausted, inspired and ready to light up the studio and get back into the shop. Somehow because it's not September anymore its Christmas. How does that work? We have many sketches of new designs, and so somehow the time in the shop already seems too short. We hope to catch up with you at one of our shows or here at the shop.
Thanks for visiting our blog!

The shops back up! 2100 degrees and rising...

Summertime in Maine is not ideal weather for glass-blowing, which is why this year we scheduled regular shop maintenance for June and July. We figured going to shows hanging out in the gallery with friends and gardening while the weather is lush was a seasonal approach that could work out just fine...

Our experiment has been pretty fabulous! We are available when people come into the shop, and spend time cultivating a big garden, organizing, and oh yeah: ripping out more lumber from of our space and (groan) renovating the studio...

The daily schedule has revolved around a long coffee hour in the morning, finishing up engraving work, getting to know our new galleries, chatting with people and ...gardening. There are some very inspiring things coming out of not just the engraving studio or the garden but the compost pile! It's gorgeous right?

unknown (but tasty) squash variety

The little tendrils get knotted up sometimes when they search unsuccessfully for something to hang onto and climb...I think they would make the most amazing jewelry....

and of course I loooove the color.

Here you can see that inspiration in my recent lights, inspired by the capillary structure of plants....

Being that we are up to our eye-balls in zucchini, cucumbers etc. we are contriving all sorts of ways to eat, pickle, and freeze vegetation. While an Anise Hyssop Mojito recipe may be tantalizing I think the zucchini pancake which can be frozen now then popped into the toaster (to be enjoyed single serving style sometime in february) may be more practical to those of you out there drowning in a sea of zucchini boats (pontoons?)...

I like Alice Water's recipe (she calls them zucchini fritters) but I pretty much mix it up with whatever I've got in the spice cabinet (adding cheese is always super good too)...Her recipe calls for potatoe starch. I like to substitute chick pea flour for a pakora like flavor... this is her recipe below from Chez Panisse Vegetables:

1 pound sm. zucchini

salt & pepper

1 clove garlic

1 sm. bunch chives

Zest of 4 lemons

1 tblspn potatoe starch

1 egg

2 tblpns olive oil

Grate zucchini and salt them. Let stand for 30 minute in a colander. Squeeze the zukes dry w/ your hands or wring them out in a towel. Peel and chop garlic fine, chop fine about 1 tblspn. chives, and grate the zest from the lemons.

In a large bowl combine the zuks with garlic, chives, lemon and potatoe starch, and the egg lightly beaten. Heat olive oil in a non stick saut'e pan over a medium heat. for each fritter pour a generous tablespoon of the zucchini batter into the pan. They will look like little pancakes. turn after about 3 min. or when golden. Cook 2 minutes on the other side. Drain on paper towels.

Its really good w/ a tart yogurt on top!

Summah Time!

If you haven't been by out studio yet this year we are looking forward to your visit. There has been alot of activity since last year and we are very pleased to share our work with you in this newly opened up space

That's our friend Chris Wagner who has been one of many friends to lend a helping hand to us in all stages of the renovation. Here you can see him with Charlie installing the new front door.

In recent news we easily made it through a very mild winter. Ice fishing was new for us this year. Mostly we got to know more of our neighbors who turn out to be amazing beer brewers and mead makers. I went on a Pad Thai making bender that resulted finally in Locally available (neighbors, garden, fridge) version that I hope to repeat intentionally at a later date. Fiddlehead season is sadly winding down...So I may have to wait a year.

Tandem Pad Thai

In a pan mix 1/4 fish sauce, 1/4 tamarind, 1/4 rice wine vinegar, 1/4 honey (1/4 of the overall amount you desire)

Get some Black Bean Tempeh from Lalibela Farm and pan fry so it's toasty...drizzle w/ tahini

In a seperate pan stir fry garlic, scallions and fiddleheads in walnut oil

add heat...peppers... whatever.

when fiddleheads are getting softer toss in a couple eggs (get eggs from neighbors who mostly let them free range. You'll know from the color of the yolk). Scramble

Add rice noodles. they should be slightly undercooked at this time or you get glop quick.

Toast some walnuts and chop up some lemon balm for garnish (instead of the usual peanut and cilantro).

At this time pour in the sauce and toss in the tempeh. Serve w/ garnish (I was out of lime when I did this.....but hey you could try that.....I might experiment with some fresh squeezed orange juice. The flavor of the tamarind with the walnut and black bean is sooooo rich and yummy, and with the fiddlehead it's great. If you try this or some riff based on what you've got locally available I want to hear about it!

Next up for experiments are anise hyssop mojitos...or rhubarb margaritas whatever comes first.

Craft Boston this weekend...

here's the show link: Crafts Boston hope to see you there!

Charlie has these beautiful space pitchers that are so fine. They are like bright gum balls...
We have a bunch of fabulous mosaic cups to choose from...

Many new, small cherished color experiments are going... Apricot:

These color experiments are new and different than anything I've worked with before. They have involved relearning color as I new it and I've been really excited all over again to pop the annealler open in the morning to see what it was I did in the shop the day before. Many of them are like above just a handheld wine glass. They feel great in the hand, and are one of a kind.

Spring:

Spring is here? That means summer soon! We have had a few days that are close to 60 causing us to rush outside and begin gardening hopefully (spinach). The river has thawed (usually ice covered until late April) and bulbs are coming up everywhere. We have been hard at work wrapping up projects: Lights for Henry & Marty restaurant in Brunswick...

Preparing for Upcoming shows....

... Crafts Boston is coming up the second weekend in April . We are trying our best with all this gorgeous warm weather to stay nose down on the grind-stone. This is a show that is put on by the Society of Arts and Crafts: the oldest crafts org in the country. We were invited to do the show which is a great honor. The second weekend of April you will find us at the convention center showing off some new work. I'm excited because we are being hosted a short 3 blocks from the show: Walking distance! We are looking forward to seeing some good crafty friends, eating tasty food, and hopefully seeing the contemporary art museum which I've been looking forward to for a while.

Above you'll see a glass Charlie and I made as wedding favors for our ceremony. Uploaded onto the Etsy site They are shown just simply like this in a group of two, however they are available (as we made them) all unique, one of a kind cups perfect for wedding gifts or favors. We still run into various versions of them at friends houses.... for us they were boxes that held other wedding swag : Homemade bug-repellant (s0 good smelling one guest drank it).

and a lobster bib...

Winter Work....

AHHHH! Holiday!

This time of year as all the madness of the year comes to a close, and time with family and friends fills our schedule we here at the studio are patting ourselves on the back and letting out sighs of relief. Winter finally has us in her grip and when we arent' keeping warm in front of the studio equiptment we get to burn fires in the wood stove. We are anticipating a winter hunkering down to make work. January promises a visit from the staff at Maine Crafts Association for their staff party. We are encouraging them to don their finest flame retardant cocktail gear (wear?) and bring all their ideas for a collaborative piece. In Febuary we will celebrate our 3 year anniversary in Dresden Mills Maine ! This little town on the Eastern River is full of some great characters, most of whom have embraced us and become very good friends. We are hoping to take advantage of our spot on the river to build an ice fishing shack. This is one of the great winter pastimes that folks here look forward to. It is unclear if catching fish is the intention of this past time: spending time in these sheds on the ice, or just a positive side effect. An incident that increases in likely hood the more time you spend drinking and dangling a line in the water. In any case it's all pleasant, and therefore needs no more critical thought. We can't hibernate forever though and come spring we will be doing the Crafts Boston Show (april 10th). Until then however if you are feeling chilled (or just interested in what we are up to) stop by and soak up some heat!

Upcoming Open House & other meanderings...

Holiday Schedule:

December 11th, 12th, & 13th New Hampshire Crafts Show

Dec 17th MerryMeeting Bay Business Association meets at Tandem Studio 4:30-7:30 pm

Our Studio will be open 10-6 right up until December 23rd

Lately the newspaper is something I moderate in small doses but this morning I came accross an article in the NYtimes that affirmed my belief in the handmade. “People respond much more to authentic, human-centric design now,” said Chee Pearlman, a design consultant. “As opposed to the extruded-plastic sort from China. It’s clearly a time for genuine connection to the objects in our lives.”

What a pleasure it was to read the sentiments from the local food movement have burgeoned into a generalized quest for authenticity in our lives and the objects we use.

Tandem Studio and Gallery Welcomes local businesses for an open house:

December 17th from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Demonstrations from 4:30-5:30 pm

Snacks and beverages while they last!

Goodbye Door!

Before:

During:

After!

We are So Excited to be tearing out this old door! One of our many recent trips to the Building Materials Exchange yielded this glass double door. It has seen some weather, but it was in good enough shape. I roughed it up a bit with an orbital sander and put a fresh coat of "dill pickle" on it. ..Can't wait till we've fined it out completely.

As I write I'm trying to anticipate all that I should accomplish this weekend. We are about to dive into show season and will be doing shows in Freeport, Northport, and Out of state even!: New Hampshire

Nov. 20-22 nd The Artful Gift Lookout Show (look-out!) In Northport Me.

This is a great group of artists and there is an opening night gala event to benefit local charity.

Common Ground Fair + Colby coming up quick..

We have been enjoying some fabulous weather lately here in Maine. It's got us excited for this years Common Ground Fair. We've also been invited to do the Colby Crafts fair. both are coming up quick this weekend!!!!

Last weekend was particularly gorgeous with warm temperatures and a nice breeze. Our neighbors pitched an open house for us and brought food and wine. Many folks who hadn't been to see our place showed up and we had a really great time. We are still meeting our neighbors! The great attendance was largely due to neighbors invites to family and friends. Maine Gallery Guide, Five Rivers Art Alliance and Maine Crafts Association all mentioned us, With Cafe Artist interviewing us on their weekely podcast. It was an excellent first open house and we look forward to doing in again.

Thanks "TryHandMade"!

One thing I love about making a very few special somethings is the connections with people who buy them, their subsequent pleasure in the work, and of course the affirmation of someone enjoying me being creative. http://tryhandmade.com/ just mentioned our mosaic cups on her blog.

Thank-You!

!

This cup is available directly through our studio. You can see more like it on etsy.

Renovation

Here's the wall before (note new work front and center). This will become and "island" with open shelving. Sounds simple right?

Begin Shredding!


Here we go again! Tandem Glass Should be back together by opening day.

Recent Press:

In our local paper The Times Record:


Photo by Troy R Bennett/The Times Record
Thanks Guys!

I had a really great experience last night speaking at Frontier in Brunswick, Me. Publicity for the show featured a picture George Waldman took of me working. This is a great image that is really important in our promotion packet. It's just as important for people to get to know the artist and see them working as it is to see what their working on. The talk was on e~commerce and there were 4 artists total. It was put on by the Five Rivers Art Alliance, and intended to familiarize people with how artists are promoting their work on the web. We spoke about "blogging", sites that sell our work in addition to web sites.

I'll be doing it again for Maine Craft Association :

Please call them should have any questions. Their number + email are just above in the flyer. Having more than one artist speak about how they handle online marketing was a great aspect of the talk. I'm thinking of having a follow up talk at my studio where people can get together to discuss how to set up blogs...Stay Tuned!

tandemglass.com is live...

The Web Site is up! Although still under construction...
Our links to the right will take you there.
Stay tuned!

New Year: New Work:

Charlie's pitchers have a new bright color application.....

These pitchers are crafted from one bubble. When filled with water/iced tea/wine the liquid rises up into the handle as well and really shows off the form....

The transparency is great for enjoying iced teas with blossoms. My other favorite use for the clear ones is as a decanter...



I continue to make these clear cups despite how long they take to etch. I just finished this one. It was really tough to photograph! The lenses are very large, and the whole form has no bubbles (intentional or otherwise)...

Open Studio and Show listings:

Open Studio Dec 6th & 7th at Tandem Glass:
Sat 10-4 & Sun 10-3 Our gallery is open to the public
Call for more info: 207-737-2781

We are ( in addition to glass) selling auction tickets for a 26.5 pound Turkey. This lovely bird was raised just down the way from me at The Bridge Farm proceeds Our brave (and cute) Dresden Fire Dept.

Imagine pouring gravy over that bird with this guy:

Down the road: Christmas Cove will be open selling their really great stockings etc.

For those of you in Portland: We are doing the MECA/SEA SHOW
We will be sharing a booth with Ingrid Bathe, a talented ceramicist. I love her work and can't wait to how it looks next to our glass! This show will benefit Maine College of Art, and has about 120 artists.

In Boothbay Harbors Opera House:
Called the "anti-mall experience" This craft show offer food, music and of course great crafts. The building is also really cool.

I think that about wraps it up for shows and open studios! Here is Dresden the weather has been beautiful, and we are still waiting for snow!!!

Smokin...

It's been a great couple months for studio upgrades and reconstruction. Charlie took apart the furnace which has served us faithfully for a year and half, and we freshened it up with a new crucible and some fresh insulation. You can see we really got some serious use out of it. Those rocks inside it are glaciers Charlie chopped off the sides where glass had leaked out and mixed with refractory.

He also installed this absolutely beautiful cook stove next to my lathe. This spot is the coldest working area in the building and this puppy is going to keep me going throughout the winter. I'm hoping to get some pizza making skills as well. Many people who saw this stove set up in the showroom had memories of somebody making biscuits in a stove like it, or have a relative who heats their house with one.
We've already gotten good use out of it even though it hasn't been that cold yet I was sweating near it yesterday finishing up some new cups:

heading off to San Francisco:

Here are a few of the peices I'm bring to the American Craft Council show at Fort Mason:


These "saphron" and orange ones shown have a few bubbles that will probably mean I lower the price on them a bit. The White one in front here has a large "sister", they are so minimal.....

I never liked white before...never liked working in clear, and am now I'm enjoying both.

After what feels like a life time of picking bubbles out of molton glass because they are a "flaw" I started including them on purpose. This series celebrates High/Low:
low being the "bubble" an indicator of glass that has not melted perfectly.
high being: cut crystal/glass, done on a lathe, skilled hands etc.
In these pieces the bubble is included on purpose, and the bigger the better! Here I'm exploiting them both as a lense. I particularly like laying them over eachother, so they magnify one another.



I've been really into wabi sabi for the past few years. Wabi Sabi is not about "sloppy" it requires making something perfectly and then including something imperfect intentionally. Wabi Sabi reflects on impermanence, age...being human...

What's cookin?

Mad packing is what's happening at Tandem Studios. Terrill is off to SF soon. She'll be in the Alt-Craft section of the American Craft Council Show....Around the shop things are looking rather sparse. We enjoyed a show in Bar Harbor recently called "directions", meeting fellow artisans and relishing the gorgeous location. Time Warner welcomed us back into the studio with a camera and we look forward to seeing what will be a short segment on their program "Maine Street". Stay tuned, as we will post it here......

Signage!