So I went down to LA last weekend, and as I said, I went by Wicked Sands. They have a retail shop in Tarzana, where I scored a Pakoh boombox slide and a Toro fumed trashcatcher (which is the wrong size that I needed so I might be passing this on soon fyi...) for the head.




Six arms in the can, plus the downstem...


I got to meet Ryan, the manager of the store, and he showed me some of his art: Vagina buckles! Yup, you read that right, he casts women's hoo-hoo's then bronzes them into buckles! I love my Owsley buckle, but one of those would be pretty goddamn slick! He does art with other casts as well, like baby's feet and pregnant bellies and such too. I found it all really cool in my opinion, and a great vehicle for expression.

Then on over to the bay, where the real work occurs! There was a blower with a scientific background who was helping the WS crew assemble a giant worked tube with a total of over 60 arms in the beast while I was there, and it was a real treat to get to sit in on! Spike asked that I didn't publish any of the photos, but you can only imagine, and I am sure pics will turn up somewhere sooner or later of the finished monster! Real good folks, and a great operation they have running down there; they are most definitely going to continue making BIG waves out of the Greater Los Angeles area in the industry! Going to start carrying their 10+ arm Tiny Tube line as well, which they have now begun adding worked sections to, wooHOO! Picked up one of the first "Tiny" A/C's they made while I was at the shop; this one was hand-blown as opposed to lathe-made, which they are presently.

10 ARMS IN THAT LIL BASTARD! Big deal you say, well, the can is only slightly taller than a Bic lighter, so that's pretty damn sweet if ya ask me! PLUS the downstem, that's a ton of diffusion in such a compact package! Luke Wilson, God bless him & his "arms."

Got up some worked tubes from WS and some of Spike's sherlocks on the site now, as well as some spoon & jar sets from Sachiko on the Rebel page. New slides by Dustin on the way, made from old borosilicate from cathode ray computer chips or some other odd and unique component. But the colors are simply gorgeous, and Dustin's reversals are extremely tight as always! Dave has been locked into the shop the last few days in a private milli workshop, busy sweating over the creation of a special limited-edition "Bender" milli, and the results of his toil should soon be available for viewing, so don't stray far! And I'm not sure if I mentioned here or not yet, but I have an incredible Salt/Snic collab slide from a recent set they made together on the way, revolving around a dark, biomechanical story they conjured up, so that's even more excitement just aroung the corner!

Funbags

OK, I have been slacking once again on getting a promised post up for y'all lately. Here's a little something to keep you occupied until later this afternoon/evening when I can update the blog in full. 'Cause EVERYBODY loves funbags!!!

Denise Richards' Funbags from Denise Richards

Wicked Sands

I went down to LA this past weekend and got to stop by the Wicked Sands bay while I was in town. I will get to that whole story soon enough, but first I want to give y'all a taste of some treats I brought back:



Some dry sherlys by Spike Mike...

Some tubes with worked sections...

I am going to get this stuff onto the site, then I will be back here to give you a full report on what went down later tonight...

Elephants Oh My!

I been yapping, you been waiting, here it is, JOP's double natural stemless black elephant bub!







True art my friends, make no mistake about it. The revolution is occurring, be sure you don't miss out on it! It was going to go up on the site, but once again it was purchased too quickly. Best wishes and a safe journey to its new home & owner;-)

And this is actually by far my favorite pic of them all...

TEAMWORK!

Mad props to the Rebel/Revere crew, you guys are great! Thanks!

No pics of the big double natural stemless elephant bub yet; it was still in the kiln annealing or cooling down when I left the shop this evening. Tomorrow for sure though...

Do have a few photos of some stuff I got from Josh before he made his way south...

A finger spoon...

A goblet...

And a chicken spoon... All ti-signed "JOP 09"... On the site soon...

Thanks for everything Josh, until we meet again...

I forgot my camera at home today unfortunately so I don't have any pics of any of Josh's finished projects from this past weekend's work of his, so instead let me leave you with this in the meantime...

Since Dead tour is in full swing right about now, in maybe NY or PA I think, here's a hotel on the road that I somehow missed in all my travels:

But if some of the walls of the rooms I did stay in could talk, oh boy, some of the stories they might have to tell...

And this warmer weather, this sudden heat wave, mmm, does it feel good outside. Makes me feel ready to hit the Delta and go wakeboarding...


And to stay cool, I decided on a new haircut, one that allows for excellent ventilation, while still retaining all the charm and character of the mullet.


That's it for now, tomorrow I will post some pics of the double natural stemless black elephant bub that one lucky reader has already claimed, a goblet that is going onto my shelf, and quite possibly, a chicken spoon for the site. Thanks so much to Josh, a true gentleman and artist!

Mas Pollo... FELIZ 4/20!

Josh did a goblet demo and a chicken spoon as well today...






Scored a little over 2 ounces of moldavite this evening! Don't worry about googling that, it's Czech for "crazy-ass space meteor rock." Some for me, some for Dustin to attach to glass.



A new artist joining us @ SHINOBI GLASS, Sachiko, from RGS. Some gorgeous pendants and some spoon & jar sets coming up next, along with JOP's finished work...


Hope everyone out there has a safe, happy, and healthy 4/20 celebration doing whatever it is y'all find yourselves doing today - PEACE!

New Eush spoon up on the site BTW...

Josh was busy today working more on his stemless bub...





(^^My fave - the lightsaber-wielding Jedi stance!)

Exciting, exciting...

Plus I overheard discussions of a JOP/Revere/Strobel collab piece today as well...

Poncedellechron came by today also, with some of his classy wooden slide racks, and I simply had to grab them all. Walnut & maple, they sure look awful nice, a couple for the office, a couple for home - even got a nice big round single holder that will hold my monster Krypto slide too! Thanks bruddah - look forward to checking out one of your bubs next time!

JOP

Had Josh Opdenaker (aka JOP, aka Colonel Sanders) at the Revere shop today, making some sort of elephantine piece from what I saw going in and out of the shop all day. This Philly talent is relocating in SoCal, and that is sort of exciting for us on the West Coast I must admit. Famous for his chicken-themed pieces, it is always an honor to meet an artist as talented as Josh. I, as well as all others who were present I am sure, are eagerly looking forward to see what becomes of his present project over the weekend...



Stopped by N3RD's place down in San Jo this eve for a bit, thanks mucho for the generosity and kindness extended, as well as your hospitality homie - big thanks! Peeped some new AWESOME glow-in-the-dark slides that I am most definitely going to get up on the site ASAP!

Everything @ SHINOBI GLASS is 15% OFF from now UNTIL 4/21 12 NOON PST!!!

On Deck...

Heidi Chapman, more Eush, new Revere 2-layer "windows," and a lil sumthin' -sumthin' in the works by DD Sherpa...

Who's ready for 4/20...

Slacker

Hey, I'm tired, gimme a break. I will get new stuff up on the site in the next day or so. What you may ask? Let's see, there's some photos of some of the recent color schemes and designs Dustin has been using lately for his vase tubes, some new slides by Koji, some sherlies by Dave, as well as a insanely beautiful dichro aquatic bubble bottom tube he made, and a wild dry by Eush to top it all off, how does that sound?!? In the meantime, here's a little taste...

Deppe Weekend

Two weeks ago at Revere Glass School we got to host one of the premier glass artists out there today, Scott Deppe. Many of you probably already know this, and saw pics as well, but here it is regardless. Hailing from Northern Washington, Scott really needs no introduction, as is work is some of the most creative as well as intricately constructed in his field today.

I was an instant fan the first time I saw his work online, and got to check out some of his older work while in Vegas for the AGE recently that MediCali from SoCal had on display:


There were also had two more aliens on the other side which you can't see; one was lighting a tube for the other!


This was the bottom of a giant bubbler; at the bottom of the photo is the bottom of the bub, and the top is the doughnut mouthpiece; Scott told me this piece was meant to hang on a wall with the bottom showing like that.

He brought two tubes to the workshop to display; this first is a retti set that is so painstakingly tight that it boggles the mind!





The next, a rainbow swirl that makes you feel like you recently ingested several mics of LSD at a Dead show in 1986 if you stare too long.





If you were wondering, these pieces retail upwards of $2000. Yeah, at those prices you might think the letters stood for "So Much Dough," but they are obviously his initials, ha. Last but not least, he also brought a glass skull with a Celtic headband.


During the workshop he made a belt buckle to demonstrate his cyborg-like, seemingly laser-guided retti skills. Meticulous to a "t", he arduously and monotonously applied tiny color rod after color rod to create the intricate tiny designs you see in his work.



He also made this skull and flames dry piece, another obviously recognizable theme to his work.





He finished the weekend by making this really detailed leaf section for what he said would most likely be the bottom of a smaller beaker, man, sure would love to see the finished product! It was awesome to see such talent in action behind the torch, and look forward to see what further creations Scott comes up with in the future!




Got to also finally meet N3RD, who lives just south of me, and he hooked me up with that glow-in-the-dark slide, and Kevin Murray, who has just joined the SHINOBI GLASS line-up! Check out the bub that he made during the workshop on the website now! Great to meet all those that I did that weekend, and keep doing what you're doing y'all!

Next up: I know it's way overdue, but a lil Vegas/AGE/CHAMPS review, and what's NEW @ SHINOBI GLASS!