I spent the afternoon with the glass blowers beginning development on this years 2010 Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament! Let me say… It is HOT!… blowing glass in the Summer is talent of its own!…but concentrating on the Holidays in 90 degree weather also takes some extra effort in its own right…

After comfortably conferencing about style at The Gilt Studio, Morgan, my glass blower, and I stepped outside into the heat of the kilns and rolled out some prototypes. I helped hands on, as Morgan rolled out the glass. Using cork paddles that briefly blazed with flames from the heat , I squished the molten solid into a shape that I think will not only complement the Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament Collection as a whole, but also essence of our mission: Luxury of Balance for the Quality in your life!

We have to let our prototypes cool overnight, and tomorrow will reveal to us the future of the Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament Collection!..

I’m looking forward to it!

-Palmer

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In my own back yard!…

Asked to Gold Leaf architectural detail in the entrance lobby to the new Four Seasons Residences that is under construction here in downtown Austin, next door to the The Four Season’s Hotel,  my fabulous crew and I accumulated six full weeks worth of stories, accomplishment, and new friends.

The Project:

Hand gild on-site Aluminum Reveals tucked 1/2 inch deep in between the apx. 4 foot square, Hand Rubbed, Venetian Plaster panels composing the walls of this elegantly understated, yet warmly decorated room, Designed by Abode, that will soon stage as home to at least 100 of Austin’s Elite.

The Story:

Designed, Built and Run by a stellar group of it’s own, The Four Season’s Residences building soon became my temporary home, putting in over 200 hours (of  my own) within the first four weeks. Meanwhile Builders, Technicians, Sales Crew, Concierge, Investors, and even Doormen became my friends. From a Top Secret roof top pick-nick, to undercover behind-the-scenes tours, from midday chit chats of B.S. and Jokes to after hours cocktails,  everyone went out of their way to accommodate not only me, but also my gilding team, to make sure we felt welcome, comfortable… and more importantly, at home.

I could not have been more thankful, as this project certainly put me to the test. Relying on eyebrow tweezers to apply the 1″ cut leafs (due to the inaccessible positioning our surface to be gilded), it took serious amounts of patience, and more importantly, confidence in my stamina to achieve our goal of gilding in its entirety the apx. 860 feet of surface by our deadline: “Yesterday”

I will admit looking up after spending the whole of an hour deep in focus, only to realize a mere 3 feet worth of progress has been made, does certainly provide for a very fertile ground in which the feeling of impossibility and defeat would thrive… However, thankfully, the silly little childhood song “Inch by Inch, Row by Row” wormed its way thoroughly and deeply into my thoughts, and thus whistled my way into Making This Garden, that is The Gilt Studio, Grow at The Four Seasons.

I could not have done it alone. Thank you every one for all of your help and support on this particular project, as well as for your help and support throughout each of the four seasons: Past,Present, and Future!

XoXo

-Palmer

And and extra special thanks to my crew: Mom, Marci, Ruth, and Lynda

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