October 31st, 2010 by Ron Branch
These beautiful flowers are cut and painted into this latest mirror designed and hand beveled by Micky – with each new piece we see more and more possibilities. She is experimenting right now with different shapes and sizes as well as playing with different design concepts and styles. Its safe to say we are leaning toward focusing mostly on achieving an antique look. This is going to turn out to be a perfect medium in which to translate her outstanding photography talent.
(click on the image to enlarge)
Mirror
October 17th, 2010 by Ron Branch
I’ve been putting color on sandblasted glass for a long time, but this was the first time I ever had to do it with the glass in the vertical. I wasn’t even sure it was possible, and did quite a bit of experimentation and then practice and preparation.
All went well and I managed to get a few pictures of the work in progress which took place in an uncommonly beautiful dentist office – Trust me, you have never seen a dentist office like Aadland Dental in Vancouver – absolutely stunning! It features stained glass windows by Chuck Franklin Glass Studio. (Click the image for a small slideshow).
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On a completely unrelated note, some parts of the website are disjointed right now, especially for users of “internet explorer”… sorry about that. We are doing some re-organizing and adding a couple of new features. It should only take a few days hopefully to iron out the wrinkles. We want to make it clearer to people all the different things we do, and also to consolidate the different mediums into a more comprehensive form – so each one is now going to have its own page. The words you can see in the white box up in the header will be actual links when we’re all done.
Glass Art, Vancouver Wa
October 16th, 2010 by Ron Branch
There’s been another improvement on how I approach photo-realism. This is not a photo-resist process. It’s really just traditional stage-blasting, but taken to an extreme level.
This example (based on Philippe Halsman’s photo “Elizabeth Taylor 1948”) is the first in a series I’m going to be posting. The ones to follow are going to be much more intense, more dynamic, and more detailed.
Portraiture
October 15th, 2010 by Ron Branch
This is the latest mirror designed and hand beveled by Micky. The artwork is sandblasted into the back.
We would love to have some of these in our store … we would love to have anything in our store for that matter. Too much to do – too little time. Perhaps this year will be different. I certainly hope so.
(click on the image to enlarge)
Mirror
October 3rd, 2010 by Ron Branch
Things are getting exciting in the studio regarding stained glass. As a specialist in glass etching I have been kept busy with that pretty much my entire career. On occasion over the years though I have been able to sneak over often enough to become a proficient stained glass craftsman. We’ve had an opportunity recently to significantly expand our art-glass inventory to the point where I can now (for the first time really) build some serious windows.
Click on the image to the left to see some examples of what I’m going to get to work with. Read more
Art Glass, Vancouver Wa
September 16th, 2010 by Ron Branch
This is a small mirror hand beveled by Micky. The artwork is sandblasted into the back. She also added a touch of color to the lettering.
The mirror is for a new retail shop opening mid-October in Portland called “mag-big” that will feature the work of local artists and designers. There will be clothing, jewelry, household items, and more. We are planning on contributing our work there as well.
(click on the image to enlarge)
Mirror, Signage
September 3rd, 2010 by Ron Branch
I’m just beginning to explore the possibilities. The wineglass is a fantastic canvas to work on – it has a wonderful mobility to it. If the lighting isn’t quite right, the viewer is free to hold it up this way or that. This is not something you can usually do with glass art.
This particular glass was quite a chore. I used regular vinyl, which doesn’t like the curve of the glass much. It’s easier though to use thinner materials for detailed work. (click on the image to enlarge)
Glassware
August 18th, 2010 by Ron Branch
This is a fun etching I got to do for Mercury Glass recently.
Click on the image to see a slide show of different stages of the work.
Copyright Mercury Glass Company 2010
Phoenix Az., Sandblasted Glass
These beautiful flowers are cut and painted into this latest mirror designed and hand beveled by Micky – with each new piece we see more and more possibilities. She is experimenting right now with different shapes and sizes as well as playing with different design concepts and styles. Its safe to say we are leaning toward focusing mostly on achieving an antique look. This is going to turn out to be a perfect medium in which to translate her outstanding photography talent. 
