May 21st, 2015 by Ron Branch

Relief carving by Ron Branch circa 1989 ~ I’d like to do a series of these soon. This is a small piece of flagstone, approximately 8″ x 12″. It has hand crafted mounting hardware by Bill Branch (my Dad).

Between glass and stone I feel stone is the more forgiving medium to work with. As a material, float glass is predictable, as in there are no hidden surprises. As a transparent canvas it is unique, with its distinctly beautiful qualities, but there is no variance from piece to piece… and so it quickly becomes all about the etching.

With stone however, you enter the unknown every time. Oddly though, this is not a source of anxiety. Instead, a great deal of the pressure is off. In those rare occasions that something bad is coming, like a severe crack, or a pocket of nothingness, you don’t see it until it arrives. Blaming yourself for the issue is useless since you really had no way of foreseeing it. Blaming the stone, well… that would just be absurd.

So for me there is a self granted state of acceptance. Besides, most of the “surprises” are often what I like best about the finished piece. There really IS therefore, a strong feeling of interaction, a kind of partnership with the material. By virtue of it’s unpredictable variances, it participates – lending its uniqueness to the art.

Does it sound strange that the more unpredictable material would be less stressful to work with? Think of the difference between what a singer songwriter feels when they perform solo, and when they have others playing with them. This also compares well to say that it doesn’t mean that just because playing solo is more stressful, that the performer doesn’t want to do it anyway, despite that it is not the more relaxing choice.

The analogy easily extends to also cover the subject of collaborating with other glass artists. I so much prefer working with others rather than solo, that it is a large part of my business model for the studio. I think networking with other glass artists and studios that like working this way also, adds more variety into our works, and provides hidden opportunities for unexpected new developments. These interactions have caused some of my favorite leaps in technique.

Working with designers from other mediums is an even more dynamic process. I’d say my favorite of these was working with painter Marlene Bauer on the library jobs in 2010. It inspired me to try things I may not have thought of otherwise. The resulting textures affected permanently many of the ways I etch today, which continue to develop… and to be similarly affected by subsequent interactions with other artists, designers and of course to be fair, every client.

Overall both glass and stone are relatively unforgiving. There is no erasing in glass etching, and you can’t uncarve a stone. Part of being a sandblaster is all about learning to handle stress, with balance, acceptance, and keeping things in perspective.

Sweating over the details of an etching that you can easily ruin in the blink of an eye… while it isn’t exactly bungee jumping, there is a genuine adrenalin rush occurring just the same.

Admittedly it is… fun, especially when in the end it turns out to have been worth the effort, but too much of that kind of fun can wear a person down. That’s why I’d say by comparison, for me there IS actual relief  in carving stone. A bit of corrective therapy perhaps.  

Detail of door panel for Chuck Franklin Glass Studio 2008

October 3rd, 2010 by Ron Branch

I don’t yet have final photos on this yet, because on this one I am not the installer. As soon as I can though I hope I can get photos of the finished product. This is a very special piece in which both sides of the glass are etched to create a 3 dimensional affect. We also provided the border glass in green, blue, and amber.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

Techniques

April 30th, 2010 by Ron Branch

I’m now using “photo resist” which allows for extremely detailed and precise work. It is especially handy for tiny lettering on plaques, awards and signage.

I had to buy a few new things and some specialized materials, but I think the results are worth the investment.

(Click on the image for a larger view)

tools

April 4th, 2010 by Ron Branch

Two years ago when I started creating my home workspace I made a special nook in the office with the hope that someday I might be able to fill it with a very special tool, one that I have wanted for many years. It’s hard to believe it actually happened, the Summa has arrived! The importance of owning our own plotter became obvious over these first few months of working at home. As a glass etching studio perhaps we could have sustained ourselves without one, but as far as diversity of products and competitive pricing, the horizon is now significantly wider.

tools

March 22nd, 2010 by Ron Branch

This is my fifth Paache of this type over the last eight or so years, so they last me a little over a year – not bad considering what I put them through. Its possible that the way I use it causes extra wear and tear – I’ll look into that with this one. It’s the best gun I’ve found so far. It’s not perfect, but it’s close. I’ll be breaking it in with a new freehand portrait technique, hopefully in the next few days. I’m still trying to decide whose face to do – I’m open to suggestions. I do know I would like it to be someone well-known, someone recognizable.

Paache, Sandblast, tools, Vancouver Wa.

March 21st, 2010 by Ron Branch

Sometimes simple projects can be more difficult than they look. One would assume in looking at the lines in this design that they are the simple combination of a line and an arc, but not so. The curve of the arc actually lessens to meet the line – more like an oval.

One of the more difficult tasks in sandblasting is shading large areas evenly. There are no guarantees that your sand will shoot with perfect consistency, in fact I can almost promise you it won’t. Nor is it possible to force the human body to perform with absolute machine like precision. Shadows in the booth can also deceive the blaster into thinking it looks perfect.

These are all reasons that being an adrenaline junky is a helpful personality trait in this business. The challenge in this project was to try to evenly blast the middle areas. Click on the thumbnail to see how it turned out.

door glass, Projects

March 4th, 2010 by Ron Branch

I’ve always relied on writing for peace of mind, brainstorming, problem solving, and channeling creative energy. It feels distinctly recreational.  I hope this will hold true for writing about my work.  With that in mind, I think it’s best I jump in without too much forethought or strategizing, and keep it … recreational if possible.

As a simple introductory post, I’m putting up this old picture I found of some clouds blasted more than twenty years ago. It marked a specific turning point in how I work. I was determined to find a way to get something other than the typical sharp edges created by cutlines , which I did manage to do, but with great difficulty. It took at least another 10 years before I became comfortable with the technique that evolved. In fact, it’s really STILL evolving. It seems like each new project teaches me a little more.

This “blurring of the edges” is useful for depicting so many things that are otherwise very difficult with sandblasting. You can see (click to enlarge) that it is not only the edges of the clouds that are softened, the interior workings are made up of not-so-sharp/not-so-soft forms as well. For some reason it was a long time before I started utilizing this to emphasize depth by blurring elements in the background or even the foreground. Once I started doing it though, it’s now hard to resist.

This car etched for Mercury Glass Co. was the first time that I can think of that I deliberately tried to blur the background to create a depth of field.

At the time I was also using this same technique to create the very controlled looking affects such as the high-light on the edge of the hood which is bright, bold, and somewhat sharp in comparison to the traditionally approached softer free-handed one on the back fender.

January 26th, 2010 by Ron Branch

Here is a job that just came through – clear cabinet door glass with a stained glass pattern sandblasted onto it. It’s what we call a “simple etch” – just peel and shoot. Click on the image to see the steps involved for even the simplest of projects.

This is also called a “single stage blast”. It is basically two-tone, black and white, or in this case – clear glass and solidly sandblasted glass. Often the work involves many more tones, or “shades of gray”. In multi-stage blasting this just means that parts of it are less than solidly blasted.

December 23rd, 2009 by Ron Branch

This is a sample piece I am working on with Chuck Franklin. We are finding just the right “underwater” look for a large project that will end up in a West Palm Beach Florida restaurant.

The end product promises to be quite stunning. Multiple panels of wavy glass provided by Rich Lamothe of Glass Strategies which will be mounted behind some large copper fish made by Eric J Leonard of Springbox. The whole thing will be lit with powerful LEDs. It’s like a big glass and metal puzzle – designed by Chuck Franklin. Produced by Chuck Franklin Glass Studio.