The Glass Leg Table web gallery is now open (click on photo)

Every time I describe this table to people they pause and ask me incredulously " it has glass legs?" but oddly no one pauses in front of an all glass door with the same incredulity. Another common question I get is: "Are glass legs strong enough?" Let me put it this way... You could dance the tango on that table without coming near to their breaking point. Glass is a very strong material, somewhat brittle, but very strong.

I have always loved cast glass especially when it is set into some other material. I first tried the idea of a wood mortise and a glass tenon in 1999 with the Anderson bench (below). The legs on the bench were glass to wood which proved difficult to glue. For this, my second glass leg piece, in order to make the wood to glass joint stronger, I decided to use steel flanges as both structural and framing element. Not only do they make the legs stronger but they allows the table to be disassembled for moving or flat pack shipping.

The gallery documents some of the many steps in the creation of the Glass Leg Table. Click on "view" for price and ordering information. You may see many more of my pieces at www.glassmarcus.com

Anyone want one in black walnut?



The Anderson bench

Fun with shuffle

Some people like to shuffle their ipod, I like to shuffle my colours.

Blogger has this cool function where you can do a random shuffle of your blog's colour pallet. I'm not sure if this appeals to my gemini nature (easily bored) or my ADHD nature (easily distracted).

Probably both.

(The management is not responsible for retinal damage caused by vibrating colour contrast)

A view of the studio

This shot was taken during the construction of a pair of fireplace mantle covers for a home in the Granville Rise area of Vancouver. The dominant wood used in these pieces is paduk, an incredibly bright orange wood. Most of the wood came from a huge plank two inches thick and twelve inches wide which I re-sawed into boards 5/8 in. thick. After this project the every surface in the shop was orange! As you can see, I've amassed quite a large collection of antique and collectable hand tools, many of which I still use.

My precious...

Teaser

Yes, drape shelf is coming. I promise. Just not today. These things take time... one must be patient.



Very patient



Soon



Maybe tomorrow.



Evening.

Bats in your burrs?

One burr, two burrs, THREE LEETLE BURRS HA HA HAAA ( lightning flash and thunder clap)

I've been getting requests to post this story from last year so here it is...

Last summer I was digging up weeds when I saw what looked like a little
black pouch hanging from a large burr plant. My guess is that the little puff ball was dive-bombing
a moth and pulled up too late. It was stuck to a cluster of burrs breathing fast.
At first I thought it was eating aphids or something but it started to bite
at the burr in it's face and struggle to free itself. I ran to the house
to get the camera and some tiny scissors. It was really tricky to avoid
cutting the wing skin as I was snipping burr hooks. The skin was so soft
and flexible and so thin as well. The body was only about an inch and a half
long. As I was cutting away It was furiously biting at the burr and it
kind of squeal-clicked at me as it tried to free itself. I managed to get all but one
burr removed, trying carefully to not touch the bat. Those little guy's faces are
all teeth. I then clipped the branch so they fell together into a cereal
bowl. It seemed to rest for a couple of minutes before finally freeing
itself from the last burr, awkwardly climbing out of the bowl and flying away.

My friend Alison later identified it as a little brown bat. Who knew they were so darned fuzzy?

amoeba

The challenge here was to create a shape which looked both organic and stylized and had the ability to contain objects or act as an ashtray. The central shape is surrounded and bordered by a linear texture hinting at human attempts at measurement and catagorization and manipulation. Putting objects in the amoeba references human use of nature as beast of burden. But wait... the amoeba is seemingly escaping through the linear mesh. Run! run for your life!

It's a blog new world for me starting today

Being on Bowen Island gives me the opportunity to be close to nature but at the same time somewhat far from clients and family. This blog will help those who are interested to keep up with myself and my work. I plan to include nature, home building, teaching, design, humour and political posts here. I do not believe in separating my work, life and my political opinions. All these things together make up who I am so here they are.

I have been working on some new designs which will be available for the first time online. My first posts will be regarding these. I may also later post on some past works with descriptions.

ciao,
marcus