CMOG of dreams

for memorial day diane (my former garden guru) invited dianna, cheryl robin, and me to come visit her in corning. i am no fool so we went.

please note that diane is wearing an apron as she shows us around corning.

corning glass corporate headquaters
this is the entry way

wandering around CMOG (corning museum of glass)

some of the glass that stueben made and captured my heart

glass!!!

seriously, how amazing is this
they use acids to do this


dianna and i had to keep up with our training no matter what so we headed out for an 1.5 hour bike ride up NY bike route 17. it was awesome until about 44 minutes into it when i felt something on my tire and then heard my friend tumble into the assphalt.

this photo does not do it justice. dianna was trashed. it was super scary because i turned around and she was splayed out into the highway. we got her out of the road and then she just let out the most guttural yell. her helmet cracked and everything. she decided to ride home even though a guy offered to take us back to town.

dianna bravely riding herself back
she was complaining of a blurry spot in her eye
seriously, this was scary
but we made it back and carried on

from the bridge in corning,

you think you are in france

the happy pus arm

better shot of the injury

corning at sunset

our deliscious meal.
thanks diane for being the hostess with the mostess

corning museum of glass had an exhibit of the glass flowers of harvard
when i heard about it i was completely UNinterested
i just had a vision of kitchy glass flowers
i was BLOWN away

from the exhibit:

Modeling Nature tells a story about glass and its use as an artistic and scientific medium. The Glass Flowers are a unique collection of over 3,000 models of plants painstakingly and accurately crafted in glass by Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, father and son. The project spanned five decades from 1886 to 1936. Recently acquired tools, glass samples, lampworking bench, and personal artifacts from the Blaschkas' studio near Dresden coupled with new research on their glassworking technique are brought together here to paint a more in-depth portrait of the interests and influences of these two unique artisans. The Glass Flowers are described as a marvel of art in the field of science and a marvel of science in the field of art. The unusual properties of glass and how it is worked, and different types of glass found in nature add to the intrigue of how these extraordinary models were created.

"Many people think that we have some secret apparatus by which we can squeeze glass suddenly into these forms, but it is not so. .. The only way to become a glass modeler of skill, I have often said to people, is to get a good great-grandfather who loved glass; then he is to have a son with like tastes; he is to be your grandfather. He in turn will have a son who must, as your father, be passionately fond of glass. You, as his son, can then try your hand, and it is your own fault if you do not succeed. But, if you do not have such ancestors, it is not your fault. My grandfather was the most widely known glassworker in Bohemia, and he lived to be eighty-three years of age. My father was about as old, and Rudolf hopes my hand will be steady for many years yet. I am now between sixty and seventy and very young; am I not Rudolf?

Leopold Blaschka, 1889

these are moths on lavender pollinating

a series on how bees pollinate

this is all made of glass, but it looks really really real

diane loves my bottle

but not as much as she loves tiffany glass
this is the crew in front of a beautiful tiffany window

diane explaining the history of corning.
is this girl in her element or what?

dianna making she she is in each photo
but see how enraptured we are by our fabulous tour guide?

dianna and i decided to see if we could blow glass
these are our foot protectors
molten glass is about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit

the safety briefing from amy
amy has a bachelors degree in glass blowing....

attentive students

the glass colors we got to choose from
this was very stressful for me
i couldn't decide
you can do up to three colors
it is just little glass chunks that melt into the molten glass

here are flame working glass rods

amy getting the molten glass to make dianna's ornament

rolling the molten glass in the colors

ready,

set,

blow

and now you have an ornament

then i had to make my final decision.
i chose the middle one

i am really excited

blowing like i mean it

the final puff

these she is
i made that

then we went to a glass blowing show
this is the thing they shape the glass with
robin licked it

george begins making the bowl

the glory hole
that is what it is called

it is a crazy process and i could explain it all but i won't
you will just have to go see it yourself
but here are a bunch of photos.

they are opening the hole of the bowl here
remember that thing is about 2000 degrees

at the end of the show they give away a bowl via a raffle
we didn't get the one we wanted
but robin had all the luck and got this clear bowl

we were very excited

it was a super duper fun trip and i want to go back soon and do more

i regret not having photos of the best pizza place i have been to in years which is right there in corning. i could have eaten it every meal, but i only ate there 3 times.