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While trying to decide who should be the next featured victim, one of our members walked into my office and said "Hello, my name is Alan and I'm a Glassaholic." Since we were both bored, we decided to do an interview.TAGF: Where are you
located?Alan: Greater Phoenix
valley, Arizona The land of cacti, tumbleweeds, coyotes and javelinas
TAGF: Are you married?Alan: Yes, going on 41 years TAGF:
Children? Pets count as children too!Alan: One son Philip, three grandkids
- one of each (Vincent teenager, Heather tween and Cheyenne 3), 2 Cats Merlin
(13) and Samantha (3) and 1 dog a Red Aussie Shepherd - Cinnamon (6), one cat -
Merlin - is the cat from he!! - has no front claws but makes up for that by
being the nastiest biter in the southwest - has caused us to have multiple trips
to the ER to sew up the opening left by his teeth and his annual visits to the
vet are a sight to behold – takes me, the vet's aide and the vet to get him
vaccinated – sounds like we're strangling him (not that I wouldn't mind). One
year the vet had us stay out of the examination room, but they had made the
mistake of putting him in a room normally used for dogs – it had cabinets with
doors – his favorite thing to do is to get into cabinets, and he got away from
the aide (bit her and drew blood through thick leather gloves). They had to use
fishing net to capture him and the sounds coming out of that room where
memorable to say the least. TAGF: How did you get started working with
glass?Alan: Stopped by a stained glass store on the way home from a very
trying day at work. Was talking to the owners and they said - "you know you can
do this too, it's not that hard", so I signed up for a class - that was more
than 10 years ago - I've been hooked since then. TAGF: Who inspires you
the most? Alan: That is really a hard one, I like the work of the old
masters, but then too I like some of the stuff that is really modern. I guess I
like to take inspiration from just about anything. TAGF: Where do you
find your inspiration?Alan: In seeing what others have created out of
seemingly nothing and that gets me thinking out of the box when it comes to
designs. I actually made my SW suncatcher design based on a similar design on
some dinnerware. TAGF: Do you use your own patterns or patterns done by
others?Alan: I have used patterns done by others, but I prefer to design my
own stuff.TAGF: If you design your own patterns, do you use pad and
pencil, software or both?Alan: Mostly use Glasseye software, but have been
know to use pad and pencil. TAGF: What kind of glass do you prefer to
work with?Alan: I have not worked with too many kinds yet - nothing like
drapery glass or even the more heavily textured reed glasses. I really like the
semi-transparent glass, and I also seem to be drawn to the waterglass and
English muffle. But there is nothing like the colors of some of the Youghiogheny
or Uroboros glass. So far I have not ventured into the warm or hot side of glass
– strictly a cold glasser at this time. TAGF: What is the most
memorable piece you've done?Alan: I made a pair of 6"x9" candle holders for
the Chapel at Little Portion Hermitage, John Michael Talbot's community, The
Brothers and Sisters of Charity – that had the community symbol on the front and
stylized wheat on one side with stylized grapes on the other. Sadly last year
the entire Chapel, common center, library and offices burnt to the ground. Just
about everything was lost. I have been looking for the right glass to re-make
the candleholders, but have not had a lot of luck yet.TAGF: What is the
most disastrous piece? Alan: My first attempt at a 3-D star - was not the
worst I've seen, but it ran a very close second. None of the points lined up,
the soldering job was terrible. I have since recycled the glass into other
projects. TAGF: Is working with glass a hobby or a business?Alan:
Up until the first part of May 2009, it was more of a hobby, but since my former
day job no longer requires my services, I'm going for a full blown business. I
plan on using the severance from my former job to get things finalized and the business going. TAGF: If you weren't working with glass, what would you
do?Alan: Well, for the last 40 plus years, I've been playing with computers
- not the desktop kind, the real big mainframe monsters - but I'm really getting
tired of that - so as a keep busy activity, I like gardening - vegetables and
flowers. I have even been known to grind a rock or two into something wearable
(lapidary), but I did not like the trips into the hinterlands to find suitable
material (I'm too cheap to buy the stuff), and actually since moving to Arizona
have not touched anything resembling lapidary. TAGF: No really, why
glass?Alan: Where else can you build something that is totally unique? Oh
the candleholders all use the same pattern, but it is the glass that makes it
unique - no two will ever be the same (unless you use plain float glass).
You can see more of Alan's work at www.dreamweaverglassworks.com
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