richsantaclaus

Sent in my table fee baby!

I have a photo stacking program I used - took less than 30 seconds to stack 212 photos!

a final pix

another pix

I am just back from a 4 day photo vacation about star photography and wanted to share a few pictures I took. Like any of these?

duck, duck, goose, goose

Dyslectic I gsseu!

pesrevate - stick behavior - staying on the same topic over and over and over and over and over again.

Thanks Danny for the info. I agree with Scott too.

I wonder how a seasoned vintage marble collector would feel (you know to whom I refer) IF they were able to find a highly sought after marble of old that was NEVER played with - put into a cotton lined box and sealed away from heat, dust and the elements. Probably they'd think it was polished or torched because it was TOO perfect...lol

You continually refuse to directly speak to the ART what i do specifically and pesrevrate on polishing. You go Galen!

Not necessairly true Galen that it was torched. The person would have to re heat that marble for at least 2 hours because if the didn't, it would thermal shock (exlode). IF the person took all the effort to do the slow pre heting, they would hve the skill NOT to boil the glass. I invite you to come to my workshop so I could show you thermal expnsion up close nd personal. I'd love to her from someone that polsihes marbles to read IF holding the marble in one place for an extended period of time would cause that area to bubble the glass. I agree this marble was vandalized but not necessairly by a torch. IF it was altered by a torch, the person was VERY lucky it didn't explode in thier face.

Get off the defensive kick Galen - stay on point! Speak more about the ART please.

I know it will IF we all keep the discussions professional and stay to the questions asked and not answer them by posting thing that have nothing to do with the question. I keep asking about the ART of the crappy swirls that I clean-up rather than the value of the new work verses what it was worth before I torched it. I am with the side that values the person's feelings about the marble now that it looks 100% better than it did before I reworked it. I put more integrity into NOT trying to reproduce the original marble's look as the maker intended but rather into the new look without all the damage. Trying to copy another's work is something I choose not to do but I sure love to repair damaged marbles and give them a better look than they came tome IF the old glass will allow it.

Who said anything about p[olishing? I am referring to the swirls i TORCH Galen - how about the ART in that - go on, tell me! Also, YOU always worry about a repaired marble's money value and in several of your posts, refer to the LOWER value of the repaired marble! Insulting - no, just fact - go back and count your posts about the $. I'll await your post about the art I do with my torching in taking a piece of "junk" and make it "beautiful" (I am told by the owner) - thanks. Also, I agree with you about the investment issue with marbles.

I like the word "moot!" I am not defensive Galen - it is YOU that is avoiding the ART of repairing old marbles as yet I have not read anything you post about this subject - only the obsession of a marble's $ value. I await your post eagerly about art.

I don't blow glass but I can get up to a 3" marble. I am a lampworker (torch work). At Corning NY, I saw a Josh Simpson marble that was the size of a bowling ball! He is a glory hole glass worker.

This is sad news indeed!

Galen, Galen oh Galen - if it looks like crap leaving it alone will allow it to stay looking like crap - you should know that! Go back and look at what I did with some of those swirls Galen - they certainly don't look like crap now! Remember, try not to hover over what the $$$$$$$ values are, TRY to keep the ART of the glass first and foremost in your mind.

Farid Knot! lol,lol,lol

This is a picture of the STUFF I had to remove from the marbles and accounts for the smaller sizes. If I didn't remove this debris, the remaining glass wouldn't be clear!!! The STUFF has micro sized dirt particles, metals, and the places where hit marks were, cement shards. It's amazing to see this debris in a 1450 degree F flame wearing specialized glasses that eliminate flare from the flame.

Hey, I used to build those plastic cars like that WAY back when!!!!!

1313 used rat urine!...lol,lol,lol

I have a marble marble that came from Marble Colorado and is the same marble that was used for the Lincoln Monument.

I can't imagine the neck size of the woman wearing a 1 3/4" German glass bead! Must be a weight lifter!!! All kidding aside, I have had people ask me to "poke a hole" in a big marble by using a torch. Not wanted to try and I think drilling is the best answer to a person wanting that done. I simply feel that it is the art of repairing a marble that counts in the long run. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do art with these old marbles - bringing a piece of trash with cracks, deep dings, etc. and turning them back into representable round pieces of glass art. I especially like working with sulphides removing the big bubbles and centering the figurine. The unfortunate thing that happens occasionally is the old glass doesn't take the reheating process I use and exploded in the kiln! I do want the collector that it might happen but I hate it when it does. In 107 swirl repairs and 209 sulphide repairs, this has happened only 5 times with the swirls and 7 times with the sulphides. The collector is told the risks and left up to them to decide if the repair will go forth or not.