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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:26:11 +0100

Well, the planning and preparing to convert the third bay of the garage into a workshop took much longer than I ever anticipated it could. We finally ''broke ground' in mid-September and we are over 50% finished already. There are some custom parts that need to be made, like the odd sized front window, the propane shed, and the exhaust hood, and then there are little problems like getting the gas company to call us back about line pressure. The walls and electrical wiring are roughed in and the AC unit, heater, and various exhaust and air replacement vents have been installed. Once we get an answer about the gas line pressure, natural gas can be piped to the heater and we can move to the next phase. The new estimated finishing date is early November. I have been taking photos of the process at every step along the way and will post them once the project has been finished and the torch is back up and running.

NEW! Burton Art Studios store on etsy.com

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:24:06 +0100

As planned, the new Burton Art Studios store on etsy.com is online. I'm still working out a few issues, like shipping costs, but over all I'm pretty happy with things there. I'm slowly getting work posted for sale and more will be coming as soon as I deal with a camera problem--I dropped my Canon A590 while I was in Japan and the impact knocked a battery contact loose. As a result, the camera will take about 2 photos before shutting down due to a 'dead battery'. The battery is fine; the contact isn't sitting right. So I need to get this repair so i can continue getting picture of my work to post to etsy.

My new shop is BurtonArtStudios?.etsy.com. Please take some time to look it over. I have currently only posted a few items, but I'll be posting more as soon as the camera thing above gets fixed. My etsy store will only carry in stock ready to ship items. Items for sale at BurtonArtStudios?.esty.com will be the exact items pictured. This will be true for production pieces as well as my one of a kind creations. I have never been a fan of buying anything sight unseen and I don't think anybody should be in that position. I like being able to offer my work for sale in a way that makes you confident that what you see is exactly what you will get. It allows you to decide if the idiosyncrasies and eccentric details of a specific piece make that piece right for you. It allows you to compare different examples of the same design to find which one of several very similar items is the one you want. Now, I say "very similar" instead of identical because I hand craft all items offerred at BurtonArtStudios?.etsy.com and the hand crafting process permits small variations to occur even in a single production run of a simple design. This makes every purchase a very personal experience even in the impersonal setting of an online store.

happy shopping!
Chuck Burton

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:48:14 +0100

A lot is going on and the changes are all for the better. In Spring? 2008, I began my sabbatical. Initially, I was supposed to have a year off from traveling and shows to take some development classes, try some new things, and work on the website. What actually happened, however, was that my wife and started looking for a house.

I had outgrown my hothead torch and needed to move to one of the 2 new torches I had acquired in anticipation of some time off to develop new designs and work. Unfortunately that required me to find a larger, better ventilated, and better lit space to work in. The basement workshop was just not adequate anymore. My wife was running out of room in her office and the kitchen had always been too small for her taste. So we went house hunting.

What was supposed to take a month or two took almost six months. Needless to say I wasn't getting any design work done nor was I in any classes to enhance my artistic techniques. The packing, moving , and unpacking devoured another 2 months.

We had planned to be moved before July 4th and to have my new workshop space ready by the end of September, but the delay in even finding a place pushed building the workshop into summer 2009 and my sabbatical extended for another year until 2010.

It's June 2009 and we're making progress. We've gone through the zoning and building codes for our town. I've overcome delivery problems concerning oxygen tanks and storage problems concerning propane tanks. We've figured out the requirements for the structural, electrical, ventilation, and lighting systems. We're getting estimates. Ground should be broken by July 15. Metaphorically speaking, that is. We are remodelling one of the three bays in out attached garage as it meets city code and zoning, my needs, and my wife's aesthetic requirements.

More information as it becomes available.

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NEW! Burton Art Studios store on etsy.com

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