The Last Week....

Its been a busy last week...we've had final projects, a trip to Terezin, and trying to fit in all those little things not checked off our lists yet. Last Friday a group of us decided to go to Terezin, which is about an hour outside of Prague. Terezin was a Jewish ghetto and labor camp during the Holocaust. The city had this eerie beauty about it that is hard to describe in words, you really felt like you had stepped back in time to a different era. Saturday was very relaxing, we walked around, went to Peterin Hill and enjoyed the city for one last weekend all together. Finally this week, which has been crazy!! We have all been making mad dashes to finish our final projects, for our exhibition tomorrow. Tomorrow is our final last get together, we have our exhibition in the morning and dinner as an entire program tomorrow night. Pictures to come later, but now its time to go enjoy this amazing city during these last fleeting moments...

Oh Berlin.....

This past weekend a few friends and I went on a little adventure to Berlin!! I'm in love with that city, its absolutely amazing with so many things to do. The first thing we did though was go on a bike tour (which I highly recommend), with Fat Tire Bike Tours. The tour was awesome, we hit all the major attractions in Berlin:

Replica of Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin Wall

Tv Tower

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Victory Column

Brandenburg Gate

Saturday was museum day, we went to the Bauhaus Museum and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews Museum. After getting lost a few times we finally made it to all our destinations. Berlin was absolutely amazing and I would definitely go back in a heart beat! Happy Tuesday Everyone!!!

The Glass Route.....

So this past weekend my fellow classmates and I took a little field trip along the Glass Route in North Bohemia and lets just say it was amazing!!!! We left early Friday morning and hit the ground running, our first stop was the factory/workshop/studio of Lhotsky in Zelezny Brod. Just a little fyi Lhotsky is one of the most famous glass artists/producers in the world. Libensky and Brychtova (famous famous glass couple!!!) go to Lhotsky to get their pieces made.

Then we were off to his gallery, and then the Zelezny Brod town museum which probably has one of the largest collections of Brychtova and Libensky pieces.

After a few more glass shops and museums we headed to our hotel for the evening.

Saturday we were up and running again and this time to the home/studio of Iva Ouhrabkova.

Then we headed to Noby Bor, where we made a few stops at some museums, but then it was off to the highlight of the day Ajeto!!! (Ajeto is a museum/gallery/workshop that is world famous for glass blowing).  We all were paired with a master and got to blow glass!!!!

My Master

Finally game Sunday, we stopped at a few museums and workshops. Our last major stop was TGK (glass producers/manufacturers) This places was crazy, they do massive projects for people all over the world, like glass ceilings for a pool in Dubai. Not many pictures here due to privacy issues of the clients!! After a tour of the factory we headed to the store, where was amazed at all the glass!!

 It was a great weekend with an awesome group of people!!!

What I've Done So Far.......

This is a quick little update on the pieces I've made so far:

My second piece after the mold:

My Kio Fish:

My Disk:

All you have to do is put a bunch of glass into a flower pot and let it melt through the bottom and you get this cool looking disk. We're going to take the disk and slump them into a clay mold we made, after we we move its little tower of glass. This was just a quick little update on the projects so far, but we have many more to come. Like.....glass blowing this weekend, a final project combining the old and new, and starting next week we get to chose our own projects :)

The Trip to Switzerland.......

This weekend Mary and I decided to take a little vacation to Switzerland! Of course it was gorgeous:

We left Prague Thursday night and after a night of traveling and one change we made it to Interlaken, Switzerland just before 10 am on Friday. The first thing we did was book a canyoning trip that afternoon....lets just say everyone should try canyoning at least once it their life, it was so much fun. We repelled, jumped, and slide down canyons.

After our fun field afternoon, we checked into our hostel to get ready for dinner. We walked around and eventually landed at some restaurant down a side street and the food was sooooo good. After that we were stuffed! So we headed back to the hostel and hit the hay early because we had a long day ahead of us, starting at 5:30 am. We caught the first train out of Interlaken headed to 'The Top of Europe', which is the highest rail station in all of Europe. The trip takes about 2 hours up some winding tracks, but finally you reach the snow covered top:

I don't think we were quite prepared for the cold (aka I had capri's on):

After a few hours at the top we slowly made our way back down to Interlaken, then it was time to head back :( We caught a train to Basel and then an overnight one to Prague, but we made it back in one piece and a weekend we'll never forget.

Here are some pictures from the first couple days of class: 

My Desk

My First Piece :)

Koi Fish Out of Clay

Getting Ready For  Plaster Bath

All Done and Ready for Some Glass!!

Some of our tools we use

Unfortunately the koi fish is till cooking away but he'll see you guys soon!!! Also, we have made our first stainless steel mold and jewelry today!!!