The Artist is in Residence

At noonish, we picked Dan up at the airport. When we got home, he showed us his newest creation, a laser cut candle sconce that he designed and a machine built. He rented time on a machine to build this one, but he has already ordered his own machine. It’s called a Glow Forge. It looks like a very successful crowd sourced product. Glow Forge is based in south Seattle. He hopes to get his machine early next year. In the meantime, he is racking his brain for product ideas. There are fantasy / sci-fi gaming related ideas that he is exploring. One of his former colleagues who already has a similar gaming / laser cutting business has offered to sell his ideas. He might pursue this avenue while he waits for his own machine to arrive. He is also entertaining renting time, once his machine arrives. One idea that I like is making 3D topographical maps. The machine’s bed is 20” wide and in theory infinitely long. It will cut almost any non-metallic material, up to a quarter-inch thick: plastics, woods, leather, paper, cloth and chocolate are all good candidates. It will not cut, but will etch both metal and glass. Want to personalize your Mac Book? If you have any ideas, pass them on. “How about etched beef jerky business cards, can it make those?” Sure, and if you don’t get their business, at least you fed them. In the background are two new photos from the other artist in the family, my bro Chris that just arrived yesterday. We opened them as an early Christmas present. Thank you, Chris!