The Story of this Marble
Most of my marbles don't have a lot of story to them, but this marble is pretty special to me. Yes, I take pride in all the marbles I make, but this one is even more than just a marble. My girlfriend, Amanda, and I have long dreamed of starting a studio to teach lampworking classes. We love to work with glass, and take great joy when we introduce someone to glass. There is something so magical about seeing someone melt glass for the first time.
About a year ago we got the opportunity. After months and months of delay, the people that were renting us the space decided that they were going to open a studio without us. No explaination or anything. Just out of the blue. Obviously we were taken by surprise and we didn't know what to do, so we stepped back and regrouped and explored all our options. We did some budget cutbacks and got the money together to build a shop at our house. With much help from my parents, Amanda's father and uncle, and some friends of the family, we got our studio finished. It's a pretty scary thought that we are doing it on our own, teaching classes, selling stuff, and basically making a living off of glass. But with a little luck it will work out for us.
Where am I going with this? Well, after we got our studio finished and ready to go, I was at a loss as to what to make. I felt like I needed to break out of my mold and do something I hadn't done. I still wanted something that reflected me and my style, but also represented a new step forward. So, I stood at the torch, thinking. And thinking. And thinking. I sketched a few things and finally came up with an idea. I have always been fascinated with opals. I also love the vortex design. I turned on the torch and started working. I made this marble, put it in the kiln, and then turned off the torch to reflect on the past months and how this marble came to be.
I like to think of this marble as a "birth" or a "new beginning". The opal represents my glass career, and the vortex represents the energy I'm putting out to make my career happen. It took me quite a while to decide to sell this marble. I thought about keeping it, but then I decided to offer it to someone to add to their collection. This marble represents both great joy and great sorrow to me. I hope that whoever gives it a home can get a sense of the emotion I felt when creating it every time they look at it.
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I'm a glassworker from Roanoke, VA. I have been working for a couple years, but as we all know, it's not about years at the torch, it's about hours at the torch.
I'm primarily a marble maker. I also make quite a few pendants, and occasionally some beads.
If you are ever in the Roanoke area, get in touch with me. I love working with other glass artits, and I'm extending an open invitation to anyone that happens to be in the area.
Chad Trent
Roanoke VA
http://www.cosmoglassworks.com
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