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Classes Start April 26th!!!

After nearly four years (!!!) of building, I'm proud to announce that Turnstyle Glassblowing Studio is finally up and running!  Classes are already filling up but there are some spots available.  If you're interested, get in touch! The first beginner session is slated to start on April 26th! Dates and times for that course are as follows: Friday, April 26th: 6pm-10pm -Safety Instruction, Short Demo and First contact with the Glass Saturday, April 27th: 10am-6pm -Demo & Intro to Hot-Sculpting/Colour Application -Break for Lunch (1 hour) -Demo & Intro to Blowing Sunday, April 28th: 10am-6pm -Demo & Intro to Bitwork (Handles and Decoration) -Break for Lunch (1 hour) -Final Demo If the intensive weekend workshop doesn't fit with your schedule,...

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Side Hustle Part One: The Auction House

If you've been paying any attention to the studio via social media or otherwise this past year, you've noticed that things have come to a bit of a stand-still in terms of progress. The delays have been largely out of my hands which is frustrating but I feel as though things are back on track since the new year!Lest anyone think I've been loafing in the interim I'm putting together a series of posts titled Side Hustle to illustrate what it takes to keep things afloat when the build doesn't go your way. In this entry: Going Once, Going Twice...Gone!   As I've mentioned in a previous post, I did a stretch of about a year and a half working as...

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Putting in Work

This studio-building business has been a true challenge across the board financially, emotionally and technically.  Definitely the most difficult project I've attempted.  As such, there have been times that I've had to take on side work in order to maintain momentum.  I've recently taken on a job as the floor manager at East-end auction house A.H. Wilkens and I'm absolutely loving it. It's a really fascinating industry and a surprisingly suitable fit for someone like myself with the bizarre and seemingly random skill-set developed over a decade in fine-craft.  It's about as close as I'm likely to get to having a day-job at the V&A Museum.  Poring-over and documenting entire lifetimes worth of treasures is really satisfying.  Speaking of which,...

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A Spooky Month Full of Birthdays and Taureans

Hiya! I missed a couple posts this month but I have a good excuse I swear!  May seems to get crazier every year as more and more May babies (aside from myself) come into my life.  Essentially the past few weeks have been a non-stop birthday party for young, old and newly born.  Now that it's over, it's back to the wonderful grind of launching this studio!  The best part of the month was visiting the Grand Trunk Railway Tunnel (aka The Blue Ghost Tunnel) of St. Catharines with my lady; the lovely Lana Filippone (another Taurean) for her birthday (she's a brave one).   Some say this is one of, if not the most haunted spot in Canada thanks to...

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Get Yours now: GLASS Virtual, Real - By Koen Vanderstukken

A quick post here to let you all know that a former professor of mine; Koen Vanderstukken has just completed a book that he has been working on for the past 8 years and it looks incredible!  I'll definitely be adding it to the Turnstyle Library.  Koen has had a major influence on the Canadian glass scene in his short time here and his accreditations speak for themselves.  I'm really looking forward to cracking into this.  The gallery on the Indiegogo page is gorgeous and I think I'm in for a treat.  Check down below to find out how you can donate towards the publishing and get yourself a copy!

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