Sunday, January 01, 2012

Happy New Year


Is it possible?


(voiceable.org)

Bear with me now as I connect some dots....


Remember the glass blower at the Düsseldorf Christmas market?


He happens to be a dutchman named Mart Martorell with a private shop in Laren (Gelderland), Netherlands. Since he was in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 10 Debember 2011, when we were there, he clearly gets around.


Here's a YouTube I made of my 30+ best images.
Lucky for me, I was able to stand about 6-8 feet away with an unobstructed view.
I just snapped away, from beginning to end, while a crowd watched him work magic.


The finished prize: an angel inside a glass ornament.

Now, connect my dots for you as I wish you all the happiest of new years with your own guardian angel watching over you and yours every step of the way.



26 comments:

  1. Absolute fabulous series of pictures of the glassblower. I had never seen it from that close.
    We had a delightful day, the weather was great and so much to see.
    Happy New Year to you MLS, Gelukkig Nieuwjaar.

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  2. Astrid: We were so surprised to come upon this booth...especially after not too long ago finding out you had never seen a glass blower in real life doing his thing. This was our big gift of the day. I'm glad we could share it together. Hartstikke bedankt, MLMA.

    Remember how you immediately said afterwards that you could picture yourself doing this once you retire? One of the only things left that you haven't yet done! HA! I do hope one day you can at least try it. You will be a master of it in one try!

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  3. I agree with Astrid here: Absolute fabulous series of pictures of the glassblower! Amazing art really. I hope Astrid will try it when retired, with her talent I'm sure she would succeed very well!

    Thanks for your nice comments during the past year :-)

    Gelukkig Nieuwjaar to you both!

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  4. LCT: Thank you! It remains one of our best Christmas gifts of 2011. Astrid would be so good at this, indeed. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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  5. Wishing you both all the best for 2012, with lots of photo opportunities!

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  6. The angel is lovely. What a talented man! Did you buy one? I think you should have!!!!
    2012 is well on the way now.... it's 8:30pm on New Year's Day and I'm exhausted. I had my friend G here overnight and she stayed for breakfast, then as soon as she left, Callum arrived (My turn for child care) then Isaac and family arrived for dinner along with the twins, then Callum's mum arrived and she also stayed for dinner, and then we put both boys in the tub and into their PJs..... now it's time for me to do the dishes and lay down in a darkened room!!!!!!! A great start to the New Year!!!!

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  7. That's so amazing. I would have been in awe...i may have been so engrossed I wouldn't have taken any pics, how lucky that you're able to capture all of that. Especially love the close up photos in your video montage.

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  8. Anne: Thank you, dear Lady. The same to you and yours!

    Sham: HA! you just tired me out! :) Hopefully things will calm down for you now.

    And yes, what a talented man, this glass blower. Someone else had dibs on this particular ornament but Astrid bought another one that had a tin man (snowman?) inside (shown in my last post).

    Mad: Thank you! We both felt very lucky to see this demonstration, especially since Astrid had recently mentioned she had never seen a glass blower in action. What a Christmas gift for us. :)

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  9. What a beautiful posting for the new year and what a fantastic photo subject. Beautiful shots!

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  10. Ted: Thanks! It was such a fun thing to see. :)

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  11. This is one of the many wonderful things about Europe - that there are artisans like this still doing the things that have been practiced for centuries. The sense of history and craft here is amazing, don't you find? This guy is really an artitst - I've seen glassblowers in France but no one doing this kind of work. Wonderful shots, Ginnie.

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  12. Deborah: The artisans of Europe. YES. It reminds me of the ladies who still tat in America, carrying on the traditions of their g'mas. It was so funny to hear Astrid immediately say, after watching Mart, that maybe she'll do such a thing when she retires. Can't you see it! She would be so good. :) (And I'm just saying that because it's true.)

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  13. What a compelling post - especially the video, which is all over the internet, you realize. ;) I googled Mart Martorell to see if his items were available for purchase, and all I could find were people posting links to your video, tweeting your video, google-plusing your video and so on. Mr. Martorell should give you an ornament for your good publicity!

    It is wonderful to see the craftspeople still at work. I have a crocheted bedcover from a Parisian apartment that was done from thread!. It's not sewing thread, but nearly so fine. It's amazing - and weighs about 20 pounds!

    Here's to a year as finely crafted as your glassblower's ornament! (Hmmm - that may be the genesis of a blog post for me...)

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  14. Ah, ha! I'd read past your link. I found the shop, and am busy learning Dutch. ;)

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  15. SA: So I went and Googled, out of curiosity:
    http://www.frequency.com/video/glass-blower-mart-martorell-at-christmas/27344905.
    I have no clue what that’s about…or anything else like “people posting links to your video, tweeting your video, google-plusing your video and so on.” You clearly know more about the internet than I do!!! Where do you find stuff like that??!!

    But thank you anyway. I think my heart actually skipped a beat. Thank you for that, on this 3rd day of the New Year. :)

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  16. wow incredible craftsmanship. that's a talent one is born with.

    happy new year to you and dear astrid.

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  17. PC: You may be right about being born with such a talent, Maria, though I'm guessing practice also makes perfect. :) Can't you see Astrid doing it?! :)

    Happy New Year to you and yours, too!

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  18. This is beautiful, Ginnie! And I wish you and Astrid a wonderful new year! Many blessings upon you both!

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  19. LOVE this, LOVE the angel.. What a treat! Happy new year! Wow oh wow.. :)

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  20. Tim: Thank you! The same to you and Susan.

    ET: Thank you, dear Jen. This was a real Christmas gift to us. :)

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  21. Beautiful video and photos! The music sounds very like the one in my winter slideshow, Esbjörn Svensson Trio?

    Happy New Year to you both. You must just pinch yourself that you get to live there, with all this at your fingertips. What a year ahead you will have!

    xoxo

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  22. Ruth: Thank you, sister. To be honest, I found the music on my hard drive as a freebie, I guess, and thought it was perfect for this show. And it fit in my time frame like magic. :)

    Yes, I pinch myself all the time! I'll tell you more about that on Skype later....

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  23. Loved the whole video but the image at 2:15 is splendid. Couldn't help think of conception in the womb and the hand of our Creator in each of our lives...

    Happy New Year and I look forward to a FULL year of images form you from the Netherlands!

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  24. Margaret: I think of conception in the womb every time I see these images, so we're on the same page. Thank you for verbalizing it. And thank you so much for your strong vote of confidence! It means the world to me.

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  25. I cannot believe that it has taken me over a week to get back here to comment... I drooled (yes drooled) over your lovely post last week and thoroughly enjoyed the video... then life got in the way and I've been meaning ever since to get back and post a comment!

    I simply LOVE all the photos of the glass blowing... I tried from too far a distance to get some decent images of glass blowing at the Corning Museum a few years back so know how talented you are to have gotten so many marvelous images!

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  26. Victoria: You are such a busy lady! How in the world do you ever keep up with anything??!!

    In the meantime, you always manage to make my day by what you write. As they say, flattery will get you everywhere! :)

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