I had a post here for August and I seem to have deleted it. I think the gist of it had to do with my 2 and a half week stay at the Penland School in North Carolina.

I went there to attend a class they were giving on lighting entitled: Beyond Neon. I have a project that I intend to finish now that I have taken the class that I needed a light source for. I thought a neon type light would be perfect for that application.

My first rendering of ANYTHING. Rhinocerous  has a Mac beta version that I have been using. Very cool stuff and way more user friendly then AutoCAD.

Anyway, I digress. The class was a great experience. It wasn’t cool enough that it was in Penland NC, but it had some really cool instructors and teaching assistants. The students also added some very interesting ideas to the class and presented some cool challenges that were solved by the staff.

Wayne Strattman giving a class demo on borosilicate tubing work.

Wayne was one of the teachers and is a world renown high voltage lighting expert. His glass working skills are pretty incredible. He gave a lot to the class in the way of time and personal knowledge. He really helped those that were interested in pushing the ideas they had.

One of the great things about Penland is the fact that you are able to really immerse yourself in the art environment. Next door to our studio was the hot glass studio and those guys were doing some really great work.

Pouring molten glass in the Hot Glass studio.

David Wilson is a Penland area artist and electrical engineer. He was a very hands on instructor and gave a lot in the way of personal time, equipment, experience and ability. He took the time out to give each student a session in the hot shop blowing a glass object.

David Wilson doing his thing. Julie Kumar looks on. Julie is probably one of the most talented three dimensional artists I have met. She was constantly challenging the instructors with her ideas.

David Wilson also was instrumental in getting everyone to participate in the class projects and Renegade Neon projects.

David mounting student tubes in the class sculpture.

Student Mary Sue and visiting artist Ken, sewing student project in the weaving studio.

The student project during the day.

Glass sculpture on the knoll at night.

The TA’s during our session were the best. David Smith came to set up the shop and did some great demos on neon work. He was also able to spot problems we were having with the borosilicate work and knew just how to help us overcome them.

David Smith demoing in the Neon shop.

Chris Coyle, another area artist practitioner of Neon, was up early and stayed late everyday making sure the tubes were right. She gave so much of her time and knowledge. I probably would have had a difficult time getting through there without her being around.

My Finished tubes.

Last morning at Penland

October is here and so is the cool fall weather(HA) and that makes it perfect for scootering! Problem is I have never had a scooter.

I have been working for my brother trying to catch up on bills and such being that the art furniture business, like most luxury sectors, is struggling. While on the job one day the kind homeowner was walking by with some (3) Razor type mini scooters that she was tired of finding in the yard around her house. I happily offered to take them from her. My brother got one, since he too didn’t have a scooter, and I took the other two.

Discarded scooters in my truck.

One of the scooters was a Hotwheels and he other was a real Razor! The hot wheels was really nicely constructed but carried this ominous warning:

Now I fit the age thing, but the weight thing? Like what old guy is going to weigh 132 or less?? and I’m sure there is a safety factor but I like to jump scooters and do tricks on them. My potential weight could be way over 200 pounds. I was going to have to modify my scooter. First I wanted to combine the two and make one with the coolest parts. I like the all aluminum scooters so mine was going to have as much aluminum as possible.

Combined scooter in front, partsmobile in back.

Note the Razor gooseneck and front fork. The only steel parts now are the front fork and the fender.

Now a great journal entry would include step by step pics and explanations, but screw that. Here’s the finished product. I did beef up the main frame by adding a strip of aluminum to the underside and each rail  and completely welding the edges so there are triangular structures running the length of the frame. I also cleaned and lubed the gooseneck bearings and installed new ABEC 7 bearings in the wheels.

I hope your October is going well too. So get out there and scooter. Also, wear a helmet!!!!

Cheers.