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  • Sea Monster saving shipwreck
  • Night light with Drago & KiKi from my book "Punk Shop Dragon" Electrified art
    Night light with Drogo & KiKi
  • Bison Steampunk desk lamp
    Buffalo Steampunk desk lamp
  • Enchanted Forest Carousel Horse
  • Hidden garden in pocket watch
  • Monster 5 book of Monsters
  • Gold tone dragon eye bracelet
  • Mermaid light that with remote
  • Fairy Garden Necklace with Quartz Crystal Point
  • Pirate Ship Journal
    Pirate Ship Handcrafted Journal
  • Handcrafted Dragon Eye Journal
  • River Pour Serving Tray with Trout
    River Pour Serving Tray with Trout
  • Large Bitterroot River Trey
  • Solar light diorama, Lewis & Clark in Yellowstone with monster in pool
  • Tree of Life Sun Catcher
    Tree of Life Sun Catcher
  • Harry Potter Belt Buckle
    Harry Potter Belt Buckle
  • Book of Monsters Journal
    Book of Monsters Journal
  • Shipwreck light with bottle stopper that also lights up
  • Rainbow Unicorn Handcrafted Journal
  • Koi pond journal
  • Dried Lilies Coaster Set
    Dried Lilies Coaster Set
  • Steampunk belt buckle
  • Blown glass bottle stopper with silicone base
  • Wire wrapped tree of life with gemstones and crystals
  • 4 Elements Italian glass pendant
  • Steampunk wire work chain for hummingbird feeder
  • Mini fairy garden pendant with quartz crystal
  • Dragon Eye Belt Buckle
    Dragon Eye Belt Buckle
  • Blown glass hummingbird feeder with wire worked chain
  • Hummingbird soldered on Steampunk chain
  • Pocket watch stand with wire work and gem stones
  • Dragon eye belt buckle with copper wire work and hand painted dragon eye
  • Handcrafted top hat with wire work
  • Mini fairy garden with gemstones
  • Blown glass rose light under blown glass dome
  • Pixie Fairy light with steampunk wire work and base

 

Check out the book options for my Punk Shop Dragon book series

Bill & Rae Show

Bill and Rae Grout are both artists from Corvallis Montana. We share our lifestyle, work and hobbies with the intent of inspiring others to pursue their passion. From science geeks to glassblowers, we share our unique journey through life spreading love and harmony one piece at a time.

Bill & Rae Show
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. After heating a good sized gather on a 19mm clear rod, I add very small dots of three different colors. These are then pressed in a bit and covered with a bead of clear to encase. Several layers of gradient fuming using both gold and silver are completed as crossing lines which completes the background coloring. A layer of black separates the inner and outer artwork. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using aqua blue, rich blue, and tan. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. Sometimes there is a failure along the way as happened to this piece. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! This marble will go up on eBay 04/14/2024. My Auction listings are here: (Ebay, username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p=9416 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR4Y7BvvpCQ&t=7178s This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. I make a separate core element starting with gold and silver fumed lines in a tight twist which is then spiraled into a small clear rod. This core is then fused with the main clear rod which vortex marbles are typically built on. The background is filled with rich blue frit in an open structure and then backed with gold fuming and a dark cobalt base. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using sparkling blue, blue green, and amber purple floating over the reflective base. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. Sometimes there is a failure along the way as happened to this piece. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! This marble will go up on eBay 04/07/2024. My Auction listings are here: (Ebay, username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p=9575 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTbVbT9QDkc&t=7318s This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365 Special thanks to https://www.youtube.com/@ScottFichter for the fly in "subscribe" graphics and his helpful OBS Studio videos. And shoutout to https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelFeyrerJr also for great OBS Studio content.
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. I start out by making a separate core element with gold and silver fuming in a dimensional pattern. This core is then fused with the main clear rod which vortex marbles are built on. The background is filled with dark cobalt frit in an open structure and then solid red. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using tan, blue green, and amber purple floating over the reflective base. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! This marble will go up on eBay 03/31/2024. My Auction listings are here: (Ebay, username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p=9175 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYD_ACiZYZ0&t=8890 This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365 And shoutout to https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelFeyrerJr also for great OBS Studio content.
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. I start out by making a pattern impression on the flattened end of a large clear rod using a “florist frog” Then dots of color are added to each point of the impression which will transform into a central starburst design. In the backdrop are wavy lines of silver fume and green backed by a gold fumed mirror base. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using tan, sparkling blue, and gem red floating over the reflective base. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. Sometimes there is a failure along the way as happened to this piece. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! My eBay listings are here: (username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p=8800 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A-S0YeIVIg&t=8997 This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365 And shoutout to https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelFeyrerJr also for great OBS Studio content.
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. I start out by making a stack of clear glass disks fumed with gold and silver that are layered one on top of another. This stack becomes the core of the marble looking into it edge on. The background is filled in with vertical stripes of red and black. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using a teal blue, sparkling blue, and gem red floating over the reflective base. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! This marble will go up for auction on eBay 03/18/2024. My Auction listings are here: (Ebay, username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p=9651 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://youtu.be/MKqkAT7HYuE?si=v0hsT2VjkaYcnoj9 This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365 And shoutout to https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelFeyrerJr for great OBS Studio content.
In this video I create a borosilicate glass vortex marble from start to finish. I start out by making some clear cased stringers with green, silver fume and gold fume. With these I form an open structure which is then collapsed into a dense central core element. More fuming after some shaping, then clear drops added for a background effect. Rich blue crushed glass is added as the final base separating the front design and the backing pattern. The back side is built out in my usual process with raked color lines using an teal blue, tan, and amber purple floating over the reflective base. Learning and exploring new ideas for artistic designs in glass is an ongoing journey. I hope you enjoy this video series showing the whole process. If you are interested in glassblowing and how contemporary vortex marbles are made, this video series has it covered. Please like and subscribe if you find this content useful! This marble will go up for auction on eBay 03/11/2024. My Auction listings are here: (Ebay, username aspenhot) https://www.ebay.com/sch/aspenhot/m.html We have an astrophotography setup in our backyard and a blog full of images taken. The page for the image at the end of this video is here: https://astro.sagecottage406.com/?p= 529 You might like to check out my William Grout channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/WilliamGrout Our Aspen Hot Glass web site: https://aspenhotglass.com My wife Rae has her beautiful children’s books available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rae-Grout/author/B0BWJW4FLC? And her book series website is here: https://punkshopdragon.com Listening to HANA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYD_ACiZYZ0&t=7549 This three camera format was recorded using OBS Studio and edited to include the fourth face cam in Power Director 365 And shoutout to https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelFeyrerJr also for great OBS Studio content.
You can see the full video of me making this 4 element pendant bead at https://youtu.be/pbSg1VBxGlk Thank you for watching “The Makings of a Four Elements Pendant.” I appreciate you taking the time to hang out with me in our torch shop. Our glass art and Steampunk designs can be purchased in our Etsy store at https://www.etsy.com/shop/aspenhotglass. For more about us, check out our websites at: http://aspenhotglass.com http://www.raegrout.com http://www.sagecottage406.com Why the 4 Elements: The Native Americans felt the 4 elements were magical and mystical. The Tibetan culture believed bringing your 4 elements in alignment would bring peace and harmony. A large part of the Asian population believed the 4 elements were so Zen that they added a 5th to bring them all together. I think the four elements are fun. They represent a cross-section of the earth, with water on the bottom, the earth in the middle, air (wind) on top, and fire raging all around. I hope this brings you magical mystical powers, peace, harmony and Zen ~ but most of all I hope it brings a smile to your face and gives you the gift of bliss. My 4 Elements design is Copyright Protected and registered with the US Library of Congress # VAu 967-515. I hope you have a fun and wonderful day. Remember to be kind to each other. Cyber huggies, Rae
Torch Demo of a Shooter Marble by Bill Grout at Aspen Hot Glass using GTT Lynx and Red Max There is a longer version of this marble demo at https://youtu.be/3TPsl2BSDRQ Torch demo by Bill Grout making a Shooter Marble out of borosilicate glass in our Aspen Hot Glass shop located in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. More information about us can be found on our website.http://www.aspenhotglass.com The shooter marble in this video turned out to be 1.2” in diameter and is a basic ribbon twist style. Most common shooters in my collection are 1” for children, but I have some as large as 1.3”. My customers are unlikely to play for real with these marbles, though I think that is unfortunate. Rather than worry about damaging a new marble, I find the character of a well-used marble so much more full of life and memories. This contrasts with the Art Glass marbles I make, which are not intended for play but for collecting and careful handling. Video timeline notes for those interested: 01:30 Forming the blank to build on. This will be one-half of the clear glass. 01:40 Fuming silver onto the clear base. 01:50 Adding some clear lines to trap the silver fume. 02:00 Building the color core layer. The first lines will be seen on the back side, and the last lines will show on the front of the ribbon. Silver Strike 5 and Cherry Red are used here. 03:00 Building up the clear glass to encase the core layer and form the other half of the ribbon structure. This is how color gets inside of glass. It’s all done in layers. 04:22 The first handle is sealed to begin the heat soak and twist. 04:34 A second smaller rod is sealed on the opposite side to give better control and begin tapering the ends, or “terminations.” 05:35 Pulling out the glass with tweezers to clean up the first termination. 05:55 First use of the “marble mold.” This helps to form the round shape but does not exactly mold it into a shape like molding plastic parts! 06:30 Clean up the second termination with tweezers. 06:50 First stage of getting actually round. 07:10 Using just the rim of a slightly smaller hole in the marble mold is the key to a round marble. Lots of rotation at differing angles. 07:30 Transfering the punty from end to end allows one half at a time to be shaped. 07:55 Using lots of heat for a short time allows the surface to “level” while a relatively cool and solid core keeps the overall shape. Too much heat now will distort the overall roundness. 08:10 Final punty transfer. 09:20 Chill punty and crack off. This one was a more solid connection than desirable. The final punty is a “Cold Seal.” Some glass workers prefer a cold seal at each transfer, but I do not. Chasing the random punty failure (hot marble rolling around on the floor) is something I prefer to avoid. Been there, done that! 09:30 Final fire polish of the punty mark. Some leftover marks are just fine, in my opinion, as long as it is fire-polished. It is a reminder that this has been hand-crafted and not machine-made. It is not shown, but the most important thing is getting the ‘hot off the torch’ piece into the kiln idling at 900f. It will then undergo an annealing cycle at the end of the day and be ready for inspection the following morning.
I made this video from one of Bill's videos of him making a Boro implosion pendant in about 2012. It was a magical day in our office. He was working on his implosion pendant video and I was painting a new sign for our store and playing AC/DC box set Bonfiere. He liked the music in the background and decided to use it in the video. This was before YouTube had a major problem with using music in videos. Alas someone complained about the music, Bill had to remake the video and use none copy-protected music. We were bummed. I was thrilled to learn I could now use fun music in these shorts and remade Bill implosion pendy video to fit the 9:16 format. He still makes these implosion pendants. I hope this little short brings a smile to your heart. Cyber huggies, Rae More about us: Aspen Hot Glass is a husband-and-wife collaborative business specializing in blown glass pixie orbs, collector marbles, cabinet knobs, Steampunk designs, handcrafted journals, LED USB table lamps, and wire-woven Steampunk art pieces. Bill and Rae both have scientific backgrounds. In 1993, Bill left the avionics industry to be a glass blower in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. In 2002, Rae left the corporate world to be with Bill and became a full-time artist. In 2016, Rae started incorporating metalworking, Steampunk, terrain builds, and other fantasy themes into the art designs. Together, they live on a small farm that includes orchards, an extensive garden with a greenhouse, a Steampunk shop, a Torch shop for torchwork glass blowing, Bill's Man Cave equipped with an electronics wing, and the Brewhouse, along with the Sage Cottage Observatory for astrophotography. https://aspenhotglass.com https://raegrout.com https://punkshopdragon.com
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To love is to breathe into one’s heart, and Bill and I breathe with fire

Blown Glass, Steampunk, and Miniature Terrain Building

Bill and Rae are full-time artists who live in Corvallis, Montana. “We are science geeks to glassblowers.” They both have technical backgrounds in the high-tech avionics industry but left corporate life to live their dream.

Bill became a full-time artist and started blowing glass in 1993. He specializes in the vortex, contemporary marbles, hummingbird feeders, and Pixie Orbs.

Rae left the corporate world in 2002 to be with Bill and become a full-time artist/glassblower. In 2016 Rae began incorporating metalworking steampunk designs and terrain building into her art. She has been building scale model miniatures since the mid-’70s. She loves combining her love of Wizards of the Coast, all the wonderful fantasy/tabletop games, and science-fiction role-playing games like Harry Potter, Magic The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and many more. Rae’s art miniature creatures and dioramas become gaming or display pieces.

Together Bill and Rae live on a small farm that includes orchards, an extensive garden with a greenhouse, a Steampunk shop, a Torch shop for torchwork glass blowing, Bill’s observatory, and Man Cave equipped with an electronics wing and Brewhouse.

They have a Youtube channel ~ Bill & Rae Show ~ that they post how they blow glass, brew beer, make soap, and generally live on the farm. 

Their farm has fantastic views overlooking the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. Together they spread love and harmony, sharing this amazing journey called life.

Their company is Aspen Hot Glass specializing in blown glass hummingbird feeders, Pixie Orbs, contemporary vortex marbles, bottle stoppers, shot glasses, cabinet knob/ drawer pulls, Steampunk designs, terrain build dioramas, RPG creature game pieces, and more. These can be purchased on either their Etsy site or their Shopify site.

 

Bill blowing glass at the Ravalli County Fair
   Blowing glass at the Ravalli County Fair

           This is their home overlooking the Bitterroot Valley in Corvallis, Montana. They live in a private setting that enables them to create, inspired by the beauty surrounding them. Along with their glass blowing, steampunk shops, and man cave, they also have astrophotography. Pictures of the galaxies and nebulas Bill’s photographs can be seen on his blog at sagecottage406.com/astro/astro-blog/