Sunday Reflections: Collabs, Prep Day and Cupdates!
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week. How is it the middle of November already?
We started the week off with a visit by my friend Ian and his girlfriend who happened to be judging the High Times Cannabis Cup. They brought around twenty-eight samples for us to try to help them judge during their two day visit. The obvious winner was our dude Vinscent Van Grow, even though he wasn’t a part of the competition.
Ian and I caught up after not seeing each other for a year or more, and we made a pair of cups that sold right away. One of the cups featured a black and white Fillacello marble from Ian spiraled with amber purple which I put inside of a cup. The other was a fully worked composition notebook themed cup with pink accents and a black and white Retticello on the bottom from Ian. I had a lot of fun collaborating with my friend and I’m stoked with how the cups came out. We have some ideas for some upcoming mail collaborations and hopefully Ian makes it back to Bat Country Studios during ski season!
The Interns
We’ve had the high school interns at the studio a few days this week. They now help with our weekly Taco Tuesday every week. A few of our kids have been working on creating handmade stickers with their art. Some of them feature caricatures of cups we have in stock, and some are abstract art. We’ll be sending these out to collectors as the cups they match get purchased and including some in our mystery boxes. Another few interns are more focused on glass blowing, currently polishing our scraps and learning how to use the torches and tools we have in the studio. A few of the kids built us a new shelf, and one of the girls cleaned our microwave in addition to their regular vacuum and bathroom/dishes cleaning. We’re all just starting to get to know each other and J. Cost and I are optimistic about the group.
Prep Day
Thursday my friends Matty B and Michael Bard came over for a prep day. I whipped up a little head in a cup with Bard, which have been one of our best sellers. They’re fun to make and Bard’s creatures looking up as you take a sip make them a lot of fun to drink out of. We pulled a vac stack on my lathe which had a few hiccups but as a team we were able to salvage a lot of prep. It’s been about five years since I was doing this process on the regular. It’s one of the hottest processes in borosilicate glass with very little room for error. I’m looking forward to getting back into a prep process with my lathe that can yield larger amounts of prep for our studio which just requires a few tools including a vacuum pump. I’m grateful to Matty B for bringing his over to use and I’m already trying to get the next prep day on the books. While I ran an errand Matty and Bard sleeved a big section of experimental green and they gave me a section to use on upcoming projects. I’m beyond grateful to have friends like Matty and Michael who are down to work on team projects at the studio which benefit all of us.
Matty B Pulling A Vacstack
Friday, our friend Dylan came up to the studio to collaborate with J. Cost and hit the slopes. I took laps in the morning for Vail’s opening day which was hot and crowded. Dylan picked me up and we went to the studio where he and J started working on a skateboard deck our interns had sanded for them to paint. They got a base fade down with a clear coat which Dylan took home to work on. He’ll bring it back for J to throw down after the next layers get done.
Dylan and I took a few laps on Vail yesterday before heading into the studio to meet up with Van Grow for the new flavors. There’s not much snow up there, but it’s nice to get a little exercise in the sun while the weather is still nice. It’s definitely not the same as the pow days I enjoyed so much last winter but they’re definitely coming.
CUPDATE
Rone and Cowboy pints sold so fast they were able to make a pair of tumblers that are coming my way. Cowboy is also sending prep to Stephan Peirce for a mug or mugs. Speaking of Stephan, the collaboration he made with Brian Jacobson just sold to my dude Ian. That was one of my favorites Stephan has made. I saw he made one with Karma glass for an upcoming show, and I heard he’s working on one with Snafu right now. There’s also talk of a collaboration between Ian and Stephan so overall lots of exciting stuff going down in Austin, Texas.
Cowboy x Rone Cups
After months of waiting, we have a batch coming our way from @egonglass that I’m thrilled to share with you as well. This first release will feature some clear optic cups, both insulated and standard in addition to a fully worked murrine built pint.
We finalized the lineup for the Vail Cup Collectors Club coming up February 7-9 2020. J. Cost is finishing up the flyer and we’ll be releasing tickets soon! I can’t wait for the third annual event at my studio featuring an all star lineup of artists and sponsors.
That’s all for this week but thanks for tuning in. Enjoy your week!
BB
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