class starts today......

I got home too late to post photos and slept too late to post them this morning! We walked all over Venice yesterday and then came back to Murano and went to several glass blowing studios.
Today class starts and then at 3:00 we will catch a vaporetto to Venice to go to Vittorio's studio.

I will do my best to get some more photos up tonight!

Ciao!!!!!!!!

Murano!

OK here are just a few photos from today. I will take more photos tomorrow of the town and our apartment and the views from there!

A shrine I saw when I was walking from the studio to our apartment.

Lucio's sign outside his studio!

Lucio in his studio! Very nice studio. We also went to Cesare Toffolo's gallery and studio today, I had taken a class from him in 1993 at Pilchuck and when I walked into the gallery his wife Teresa remembered me from back then! She got on the phone right away to Cesare and he came and took Whit and I to his studio where his 2 sons were working! His studio is awesome!!! I am going back there this week and will try and get some photos of it then, today I was just too excited visiting with him that I didn't even think about photos....

And I bet none of you knew that I too had a gallery and studio here on Murano since 2000!

Here is the group at dinner tonight! Isn't Tara the cutest (Leah and Derek's daughter for those of you that don't know her). We have a great group here, I am looking forward to our workshop which will start on Thursday.

Just thought I would share with you all what was served tonight at dinner........ I just couldn't eat them.........

Or this guy!!!!! But I did have some great gnocci with cheese sauce!

OK more tomorrow!

Ciao!!!!!!!!

Venice

Flying from Amsterdam to Venice we flew over the Alps, what an incredible site. I would like to visit this area some day!

Now we are in Venice! We are actually staying at a hotel near the airport so we were pretty proud of ourselves that we figured out how to take the bus, and which one to take, to the water buses! Of course neither one of us speak any Italian and we haven't found many Italians that speak much English!

The Rialto bridge photo for Billie!

Shops on and near the bridge.

St. Mark's church

the pigeons!

A narrow walk way on our way to Vittorio's studio! Another thing that we were proud of finding!

A butterfly in the window of Vittorio's shop. It was great to see him again! Graziella, his wife wasn't there so again communication was a problem..... Oh how I wish I could speak Italian, I would love to be able to have a real conversation with him!!!

We are having a great time here. Tomorrow we will meet up with Leah and the students and all get settled into our apartments on Murano where we will be staying for a week. I will do my best to keep you posted on what we are up to.

Ciao for now!

Well we're off!!!!!!!!

We are off this morning for Italy! Leah Fairbanks and I will be teaching a workshop in Murano. We will be in Venice and Murano for about 10 days and then off to Sorano. This is a photo of Sorano, it is located in Tuscany. My father, step mom and sisters will be joining Whit and I for this part of the trip. We have a Villa here and will be doing lots of day trips throughout Tuscany! I will do my best to keep you up to date on our trip. I know that we will have internet in Murano, not sure about Sorano. But of course there is always the iphone..............

Be talking with you soon!

1995

My great friend Kathy was here visiting for a while and yesterday we spent the day in Seattle walking and shopping all over! We stopped at The Securities building because Kathy wanted to see the skylights that I had made back in 1995. This is a photo of 9 of them, there are 2 more sets just like this in the main entry of the building. Each panel is about 3 1/2' by 3 1/2'. They took me about a month to finish them. This was the last job I did in my stained glass career!

Frantz Bash!

This Saturday is the Frantz Bash! It is always a lot of fun and a great party! If you are in the area be sure and stop by!

I will be demoing my mothwing bead there Saturday morning. Pat Frantz, Michael Barley, Sabina Boehm, Kimberly Affleck, and Corina Tettinger will also be demoing some wonderful beads!

I will also bring Jim Moore's Bead Riveting Machine and the new Bead Releaser to show how they work. I have made some beads on 3/16" mandrels and have already cut the tubing so I will also be showing how to silver core a bead.

Looking forward to seeing many friends and making some new ones! And Kathy, Jen, Nicole and Kristi I can't wait for our dinner at Alderbrook!!!!!

Fun in PT

This weekend was our annual summer street fair and crafts show along with the farmers market. As you can see it was a lot of fun!

The above photo is of Andy Mackie. He is one of the organizations that Michael Barley and I donate our money to from classes that we teach each year. Check out his link!

The rest of the photos are from the parade......... enjoy.