Hey friends!

Today was dedicated to illustration edits of trimming a vessel. The following is a sample page.

The end of the month I am headed to North Carolina for three weeks to film a downloadable video that coincides with the book!

I will throw together a table of contents soon to give everyone a better idea of the entire scope of the book.

Goodnight,
​Steve

Good afternoon,

Image edits are coming along slow and steady. I really want to make sure the process illustrations come across as clear and accurate as possible. It is quite the undertaking of re-editing each individual illustration, but I've been having fun working through explanations with three different views at the bench as well as translating motion in the images.

I am predicting about 750 process illustrations upon completion. 

The past few days have been dedicated to the different techniques of making holes in blown glass objects. Of course, there are many aesthetic, functional, sculptural, and problem solving reasons to make holes. The following are select example images of a few processes: the jack line and bonk, tweezer spring, and spot heat and blow. Next, I will be editing the tungsten section.

From my own experience, I learned these techniques during my second semester of glassblowing at Illinois State. Even though I didn't full comprehend some of the techniques at the time (because of my skill level), the knowledge stuck with me and made much more sense with practice and experience. This section will be another invaluable tool in the back pocket of the next generation of aspiring glassblowers.

Follow me on Instagram: @ciezkiglass
​
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
Happy New Year,
Steve

Gooooood evening!

I'm settled back in Cal City after a cross country drive from Arizona to Illinois. My visit in Colorado Springs with my bro, his wife and my 5 month old niece was amazing. I went snowboarding on the Rockies for the first time at Copper Mountain. What an incredible experience.  Then, I did a quick stop at Illinois State to reconnect with my old professor John Miller.

Today was the first day I picked up on the book after travelling. The text and illustrations will continue to get edited over the next 5 months. I am hoping for a May 2017 release.

My book tour plans for the middle to end of 2017 are already in the works. Things are coming along!

I redrew the illustrations for a jackline. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Steve

Hey!

I'm in the process of moving from Phoenix, AZ back to my home town Cal City, IL. I will stop in Colorado Spring along the way to visit my niece! It'll be wonderful to see my family this Christmas. Can't wait!!

The plan is to refine the text and images for the book one last time, send it out for a couple more peer reviews, self-publish, order a large print run, and drive around the country to studios and universities on a book tour the middle to end of 2017. Give a shout and I'll put you on my list of destinations. I plan to travel coast to coast as well as a stop at the GAS Conference. 

My most recent chapter, which I have overlooked for a considerable amount of time, is heating in the glory hole. I'm explaining spot heating (hiding the piece next to the door) and faded heat. Here's a few images that'll be contained in the chapter.

I always love feedback! Thank you to the few of you who sent messages.

Enjoy your weekend!
Steve

Good afternoon!

I am proud to announce that I am one of two recipients of the Creative Fellowship at Canberra Glassworks in Kingston, Australia January-June 2018!!

Here's a link to the announcement on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/canberraglassworks/posts/1014527878656515

​This opportunity will provide continued development of my "Speaker Tower" and "Sweet Spot" series as well as research, experience, and observation for my second book: Advanced Glassblowing Techniques.
I can't wait to personally share my first book with the glass community in Australia!


The Intermediate book is coming along. My wait list is growing. I am blown away by the amount of support and kind words I have been receiving from all over the world.

One of the most recent chapters was dedicated to all things torches! Enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram: @ciezkiglass
​
Thanks for reading,
​Steve

Good evening,

Glass has a simple yet humble characteristic about itself. It reshapes light.

Thirteen months is a long time. Its the longest I've spent consistently drawing in Photoshop. Over this period, I've seen my drawing/illustration skills improve. I've witnessed the progression of my mark making abilities to visually describe the glass process. In many regards, I think these gestures are emerging from the fluid motion necessary to physically shape the glass.

I consider each of these process illustrations a work of art.

Steve

Good Evening,

I've been busy with editing images lately. I am very very close to a stopping point!

Upon completion, about 700 hand drawn process images will encompass an average of 210 pages of detailed explanations of common glassblowing techniques. 

I'd like to share a cluster of images that I worked on today. All of these images were drawn, scanned, opened in Photoshop and refined with a mouse pen.

Thanks for visiting. Night.
Steve

Good evening!

The realization of the book is getting closer and closer!  I have a few more pages of process images to refine in Photoshop! Today was dedicated to bottles!

If you haven't already, leave me a message to get put on the wait list.

Have a lovely night,
Steve

Good Afternoon!

The last three weeks have been incredible! Eskisehir, Turkey was amazing. I was accompanied by Colin and Julia Webster from the UK and Nobuyuki Fujiwara from Japan to lead Odunpazari's 4th International Hot Glass Festival. The three of us demonstrated throughout the week to share our private practice techniques with the audience and glass community.
I had the opportunity to spread word about my book as well as share the hard copy I am editing. I also spent one of the days visiting and working in the hotshop at Anadolu University. What a fun experience! 

Thank you to all the people who made this visit possible and so wonderful! To all my new friends: I hope to meet again very soon.

​​​
After Turkey was SOFA Chicago. This was my fourth year showing at the exhibition. I was honored to be represented by Adam Blaue Gallery this year. It is always wonderful to see family and friends during this show! I had the opportunity to demo and narrate on the Corning Museum of glass Hot Glass Roadshow again. Thank you for the demo!

Photo cred: Terie

​
Now on to the book! I am back in Phoenix and working towards a July release for the first book! Super exciting!
I am continuing to redraw the scanned images in Photoshop. 

Blow Punty:
Here is a little example of how I want the final process pictures to look. The images in the right column are the original scanned drawings. The images on the left are the edited Photoshop ones. Before and After pic! Of course I still need to add the explanations.

Enjoy the day! Spread the word!
Steve

Good evening,

The past week has been crazy! I was at the opening at Ken Saunders in Chicago, IL. Thank you for everyone who came out to check out my newest glass work. It's a beautiful show! Ken did a wonderful job.

​After that, I hung out with my good buddy Mike D. up at New Trier's glass studio. A fresh relaxed mindset and good help allowed me to begin a new direction in my glass work: the Propaganda Speaker Tower series! A sporadic trip down to Illinois State University resulted in further experimentation in this new series. Big shout out to John Miller for giving me time in the studio. It was great to visit the university I called home for five years of my life. What a wonderful trip down memory lane! Another big shout out to Garrett, Marissa, and Tyler who worked their butts off with me while I was there. 

Finally, I am working hard on this edit game. I still have plenty more image edits and additions, especially coloration for heat. Here's a few pages from the color overlay section.

A few more days and I'm off to Turkey as a visiting artist for a week, and then back to Chicago for SOFA.

Enjoy your week,
​Steve