Sunday Reflections: A Displaced Rib, Cupdates and Moving Forward in 2020
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week.
My shoulder and neck have been killing me for the last few weeks. I thought it was a minor tweak that would go away after a few days or a session with my massage therapist. I was wrong. Yesterday I saw my acupuncturist who works in a chiropractor’s office. During my session, my acupuncturist and I could both feel the immediate relief and after my session her partner popped my rib back into place because apparently it was out. I’m still feeling a lot of tightness but hopefully I’m in a turn towards recovery. Fortunately, it hasn’t snowed the last few weeks so it’s been easy to abstain from snowboarding at Vail. I missed out on riding with some visiting cousins but we got to hang at night and they came by the studio for a demonstration and a tour.
Unfortunately (for my shoulder), we got over a foot of snow at the end of the week and I caught laps with my buddy Taylor on Thursday and Friday. Rob (Log Glass) joined us Thursday and it was good to catch laps with my shopmate after being on different schedules the last few months. The powder was amazing. We caught some incredible first tracks in the back bowls and challenged ourselves in the trees after that. It felt amazing to be back on the hill despite my shoulder pain, and I’m glad I didn’t make it worse by overdoing it.
Between all my appointments and the hill, I’ve been on the torch a little bit as well. Most of my time has been spent preparing for the third annual Vail Cup Collector’s Club with J. Cost and things are looking great! Luke (@__poppa___) came over one day to catch up and we put one of his fumed marbles inside a cup. I’ve made a few of those with his prep I found in my drawer last month but it was nice to have him over to hang out while I put one together.
I’m building inventory for my show. It’s hard for me to hold back products instead of releasing them right away. I say this both in regards to the financial challenge, as well as emotionally. Every time I make a cup I want to show it to my collectors and I’m so grateful to have collectors who are excited each time I make a cup. My first instinct when I open the kiln is to share what I’ve made, so the next month will be a challenge for me.
That being said, I’m working on some heaters for the show, and after speaking with the artists on my lineup I know they’re all bringing the heat as well. I really can’t wait to see what we all come up with.
I didn’t really make a resolution this year. I’m sticking to my plan and trying to improve myself every day. 2019 was challenging for so many reasons. I’m trying to use last year as a learning opportunity in order to become a better person and build a better business.
I need to spend less time on my phone. It’s hard to balance that one when my business depends on me being on my phone. I’m definitely investing in a good pair of Bluetooth headphones, so when I am on the phone I’m hands free. I’m also working on taking intentional breaks from the phone beyond when I snowboard.
CUPDATE
This week, soft glass was all the rave. We sold out of Watermelon Tumblers from Kimberly McKinnis. Don’t worry, if you missed them we have more on the way!
We’re down to one of six cups from twenty-one year Bradley Howes who is studying glass in college. Brad reached out to me a few weeks ago asking me if I would carry his cups. Once we discussed the terms he sent me a variety pack to try out and they sold right away! It’s exciting that we had such a quick success and he’ll be working on more when he gets back in the hot shop this semester. He also told me he hopes the next batch come out as nice as these because it’s his best colored batch to date.
We’re waiting on photos of the new cups from Ryan Irish (Like Minded Glass) but his old inventory has been selling every week on the website. Yesterday we sold his fully worked dichroic pint glass with the signature brain stamp, but I’m super excited to show you the next batch of pints that glow in the dark and my first mugs from Ryan.
Reda has been editing a few cups a day and sending them over so we’re slowly adding inventory to the site. Usually we do a lot at once but this is working better for everyone’s schedule on our end. Thanks for being patient. If there’s something you’re waiting for don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know and we’ll do our best to keep you informed.
Shawn Waggoner is finishing up her video about Bat Country Studios. If you don't tune into Talking Out Your Glass, Shawn is offering incredible coverage of the glass industry and I'm honored to be working with her and her team. We'll post links of our segment as soon as it goes live. Sign up on for our e-mail list to get notified!
As always thanks for tuning in,
BB
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