Sunday 5/1/22
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week. It’s better that way.
Shit. It’s May today. Time has been flying by.
Lots happening in the cup world lately. My friend Ian helped put on a cup show yesterday with his shopmates Geoff and Steve that looked like some serious heat down in Austin Texas! I have been trying to get Ian @holdingolden to make cups since we met over five years ago. We have made a few collaborations together and we have lost a few more ambitious collabs over the years. Ian has made a few other cups but this past month he got into Cup Crush Mode with Steve @indo_glass and Geoff @g.d.glass and I couldn’t be more excited to have some of the work coming my way to share with all of you. To illustrate how excited I am I will share a short anecdote.
On New Year’s Day this year at a relatively early hour I video called Ian. When he answered I quickly said “It’s time to get to work”. I told him jokingly that I had him on the calendar for January 1 2023 and if he started right away he might actually make the deadline. This is an ongoing joke where Ian insists to me that he wants to make the most baller cups and I tell him I am just waiting patiently. For the last few years I have always made sure he knew that I was holding a space to release his work years down the line because he can say he wants to make cups all he wants. Now he is finally making them. This is definitely work you don’t want to miss. The reason I know Ian is going to make some of the sickest cups in the game is because Ian low-key has a sick cup collection himself. He and I discuss the market often, and share a passion for collecting and creating. All jokes aside I know the main reason that Ian has not released many cups yet is because of the time and attention to detail he puts into his work and he wants to release work on the level of quality that he also collects. He told me recently (and Stephan Peirce directly) that he just wants to be heady like Stephan. I’d say he’s getting there and I think you will too when you see the work.
I blew glass a little this week. I drove to Denver and Boulder at some point for meetings and a photo shoot. It’s all kind of a blur this week. I have been planning the Denver Cup Collectors Club Pop-Up at Purple Haze which is happening next Saturday May 7 at 4pm. If you are in Colorado you don’t want to miss this one. The first 20 people to make a purchase will be getting a goodie bag from our sponsors and the brewery next door will be filling up your cups. We have other fun games and surprises for our first ever Denver Pop-Up. Special thanks to Chris and Purple Haze for partnering with me to make this happen!
I am also planning another VIP drop on GlassGrab with Boots and SALT for later this month. There will be some solo work from both of them as well as a few collaborations that I can’t wait to see. I am also simultaneously planning my summer show the Vail Cup Collectors Club Mug Mania at Bat Country Studios in Minturn for June 25. VIP tickets will be on sale soon (like this week hopefully) so stay tuned on Instagram for announcements about that. I say this every time, but the lineup for this summer’s show takes it to another level and I can’t wait to share the work and spend the day with you.
My dude Jeremy OLDGREED has been my go to guy lately for everything beyond what Marta and I can handle in a day. Almost every day Jeremy gets a FaceTime from me with a list of instructions and details for merch orders or flyers or deliveries. Every week Jeremy makes the trip up to Vail to help with projects at the studio and deliver embroidered sweaters and shirts and now brand new DV sew on patches. He has been making all of my flyers lately, which are now more than ever before. I have virtually no computer skills and it is a miracle I can get this blog posted myself (for years I actually made my brother do it for me every Sunday until he forced me to learn the drag and drop system). Jeremy interprets my jargon into exactly the images I see in my head for these posters and flyers, which I understand is not an easy task.
I am grateful to have a team that I can rely on. My photographers Skinny and Graham have consistently kept our content up to date and fresh. Marta supports me at the studio to keep things running and keep me alive. I get so caught up in the work sometimes (all the time) that I forget to eat or sleep. There is always a matcha latte in the fridge for me and plenty to eat, as well as her constant reminders about the things I need to do which she sets on her phone. People tell me Siri could do that for me but I don’t trust the internet. I do acknowledge that Marta uses simples things like reminders on her phone to do the same thing, but I feel like if another person is aware of what’s going on there is more of a chance that if I forget or miss a reminder there is a backup plan.
I recently met a “neighbor” named Bob from Red Cliff. Bob is a multi media artist and welder who came by my studio and then invited me to his. I went to visit his iconic purple shop with “crap” the way he refers to his stuff and creations all over the front yard. We chatted for a bit and planned some collaborations that will be unlike any work you have ever seen from me before. We are hoping to have a few things made for the Summer Mug Mania show June 25. I am really looking forward to that project.
This week I am going to blow more glass. LOL
I am going to try. I am currently in the middle of building a fully worked pint glass collaboration with prep from Isaiah Inner Force. After that I have prep from Matty B waiting to be made into another collab that will probably become a mug for the summer show. I also took on a recent commission (a very rare situation for me as I typically don’t take on commissioned work). Once the details are confirmed I need to get that finished ASAP before things get too hectic at the studio.
Sometime this week we have special guest Glass Game Strong Thomas coming to visit the studio and catch up about cups. This dude has been hyping glass for a long time and I am stoked to learn more about his thoughts on the cups coming out of the scene today. We have been trying to find a time for him to come visit Bat Country Studios for a while and this week things finally lined up.
With all these big projects on deck I am once again asking for your support. After breakfast today I will be at the studio running Sunday Specials but I am also offering a special opportunity. If ten people make a purchase on my website separate from the Sunday Specials deals (and some people have already started making purchases for whom I am very grateful) then I will pick one person at random from those that makes a purchase to receive a gift out of my personal collection.
Thank you all so much for your support from clicking the like button and sharing my content to purchasing work and contributing to my studio or brand behind the scenes. I couldn’t accomplish this on my own, and I am truly so grateful to all of you that have helped to make my vision a reality.
Enjoy your Sunday,
BB
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