Lessons Learned From Glass Blowing PART 1

Sunday night we had the blessing of watching my good friends Chris and Micah McGahan blow a wonderful, large vase.  It was fun watching and seeing all the effort required to blow this beautiful art form. I marveled at how well they worked together.  A real team!

I also noticed how difficult the work was.  I had no idea how many steps were involved in the process.  I had no idea of the speed it would take at times to get things just right.  The heat that radiated from the glass was significant.  It was literally "white hot".  Nor did I realize how heavy the glass was on the end of the blow pipe.  No wonder Chris and Micah are so muscular!

It was an amazing night and just as they were about to put the finishing touches on the wonderful vase, it  was destroyed.  It all happened so fast.  We were all stunted. We could not even speak.  We were so proud of what they had created.  We were thankful we were there and able to watch the art being created before our eyes.  And when it fell apart we did not know what to say.  We were just sick about it.

I kept thinking about the hot, hard work that demanded strength, imagination, timing, artistic flair, creativity, knowledge, teamwork, precision just to mention a few of the many talents necessary to be an excellent glass blower. Three hours of work went into this creation and they had nothing to show for the effort.

Chris and Micah just accepted it and said, "they don't all make it".  I was amazed at the attitude.  I kept thinking about how hard the work was yet they accepted the failure in stride.  They have only lost two Redento's out of about 30 Redento's they have blown.

Everyday I get to enjoy some of their outstanding work in my office and in my home.  I have a much greater appreciation for my beautiful glass knowing how hard it is to make, all of the effort, all of the skill required.

But I have a FAR GREATER APPRECIATION FOR MY ARTIST FRIENDS!  These guys are GREAT!


ROSS