erm, 'interesting' request from a customer...

[Lush!]

i have a book "knitting with dog hair"

Now I feel sick 

[sea-thistle]

Me too!! could be body parts next

[squirsygirl]

I've just made some beads following a request to put horse hair in them.  I tried burning some of the hair to make ash, but that failed, and stank!

So I made some hollows, stuffed them with the hair, and capped them.

I didn't take any photo's though, they were a last minute thing, but I was really chuffed with them.

Kirsty

[Krysia@No98]

ew hair, ew hair. EWWWWWW

Kirsty, thank got their sealed!! I'm glad you're pleased with them

[lampworklover]

LOL at you lot!

I remember the book, 'knitting with dog hair', wondered who would ever buy it, now I know 

Horse hair in sofas, yes I remember that too; we had an old sofa in our sixth form common room and used to pull the bits out. (One of our friends had his appendix out so we made him a 'wig' from the hair  ).

Whatever I end up doing, i will make sure I don't actually have to touch the stuff!

[Betty the Chook]

Oh dear, I think I'm going to wet myself I'm laughing so much.

[Ian Pearson]

I have sealed horse hair in tubing but made sure there was enough space so as not to burn the hair. I have done this with baby's first curls, dog hair and human hair from all areas. For small items make two seperate pieces of glass and use clear adhesive to fix the two parts together sealing the hair inside, using no heat, one gets good effect. I was reminded of this as I look back on last 20 years glassblowing form my studio. In fact I mentioned it in letter to local newspaper this week, which I hope no one minds me re-producing here. Maybe wrong place but hey ho

"""Dear Sir, May I, through your newspaper thank everyone who has supported "Glass Creations", based on Riverside Road Thurso during the last twenty years and I look forward to "blowing" for the next twenty and more. It was in fact June 26th 1990 that I first lit the flame in the Thurso Glass Studio. A building that was previously known as "Wood Goods and Chattels", and before that, the Highland Omnibus Parcel Office. Like me the building fabric could benefit with a make over and maybe during the next few years will see my flame flicker in a shiny new studio!!!!

It was a dream of mine to manage my own glass studio which turned into a nightmare in 2005 when my wife Maureen, the instigator of "Glass Creations" passed away. Life is like glass that cracks, it can be healed and sealed. The flame never did die just altered direction whilst defending itself from the wind of change.

My gratitude and appreciation is directed especially to all my customers who I acknowledge may not have exactly got what they ordered. One lady asked me to make a sculpture of her baby girl and rejected the finished piece as it was not ugly enough! I have made all sorts of transport in glass from the Royal Yacht, Britannia and fork lift trucks to chocolate covered lorries and a haggis on a raft; I have made the human form in all positions and body parts galore, (yes even the most intimate); Glass buildings from churches and shops to nuclear reactors and castles and every animal ever imagined including a cow giving birth to a sheep have been created in my studio. I have sealed many items in glass tubes including a lobster, pearls, playing cards, pills and even horse hair. One of the strangest requests was for a pair of pigs holding hands for the top of a wedding cake.

My favourite glass item made was a commission for David Gilmour, (of Pink Floyd fame), for a guitar playing "stick man", the photograph of which graced one of his DVD productions. The largest piece I created can be seen in St Anne's Church, Thurso and is an interpretation of the Crucifix rising at over two metres tall.

Celebrating anniversaries are as diverse as memories are clouded but I will raise a glass, (what else would a glass artist do?), and drink to a healthy future.""""

Ian

[lampworklover]

Ian that's brilliant!! (now I have to ask, did they come and 'pose' for their bits to be immortalised in glass? )

[Pat from Canvey]

No, I expect he just stood in front of a mirror. Sorry Ian, couldn't resist.

[Margram]

That list of things preserved in glass puts Damien Hurst to shame!!

[Ian Pearson]

Aye and the mirror being those that you see at a fun fair!!!!!!!!!!!!! Distorts everything !!

Ian

[garishglobes]

Convex then, not concave?!

Ian, that is a brilliant and (as usual) inspiring letter - here's to many more years at the old Wood Goods and Chattels.

[Krysia@No98]

Did they publish it?

[MyPrecious]

not at all like the "interesting" requests i seem to get!.. RFLMAO over here... 

oh, do tell 

I know! I know! I know! Ok, off to hide now...   

[Ian Pearson]

Yes in last Fridays, John O'Groats Journal. Available from your local news agent!
They tend to print anything and this made a change from windmill campaigners, pro and con.

Ian