Monday, July 02, 2012

Mart Martorell's Open House

In my last post I wanted to whet your appetite with lots of faces from the glassblower's Open House in Laren (Gelderland), Netherlands back on June 9-10.  By now, Mart Martorell has become our friend...and to think it all started at the Christmas market in Düsseldorf last year!

It so happens Astrid told one of her co-workers about the Open House because she knew Sjarien (pronounced Sha-REEN) was excited hearing about Astrid's experience with blowing glass.  If Sjarien came, she could possibly have a chance to blow glass herself.

And she did!  And her sister came to watch (upper right).
Nothing like passing on the thrill of the moment.

Actually, Sjarien came on Sunday, the second day, so I'm ahead of myself....

After Saturday's festivities, once the huddled masses were gone, the remaining "workers" stayed in the shop/gallery to watch the first Dutch soccer game of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.

 We all quickly went into game mode!

We hooted and hollered.  We did everything right.
But alack, alas, Holland could not pull off the win...then or in their next 2 chances.
HUP HOLLAND was out and buried early on in the tournament.  Sad but true.
Still, we had fun and were able to get to our nearby hotel before 9 p.m.

It was so nearby, we could have walked to the Ehzerwold Hotel from the glass shop.
What a delightful, restful former hospital in the midst of the woods!
We slept 10 hours that night and had all morning on Sunday to just enjoy the place.

While Saturday's open house was for anyone and everyone, Sunday's was specifically for Mart's family, colleagues, and friends as well as random visitors (like Sjarien).  So if you look through this YouTube of both days, the second part is of very special people to Mart, including his parents.


I processed 410 images in an album for Mart to use as he wishes.
Then I reduced it down to 300 images for this YouTube.  That's a LOT!
My first draft was 300 images in 4 minutes at .8 second each.  Way too fast!
Mart told me he wanted all 300 images and didn't care how long it was.
So that's why it's now 7.35 minutes at 1.5 seconds each.
I guess you could say it's something only the attendees will want to see.  HA!
(does anyone know how to slow down the opening slides with credits???)

What a grand experience!  And now Mart will let things settle during the next weeks, after which we'll go back to take individual shots of glass pieces for his website.  It's a story that has no end...yet!  I love it.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Before you go...today is my turn at Vision and Verb again....on Our World is Not Flat!

 ...and other Big-Fish stories.

I was inspired by a blogger friend, Geoff Dunn, to buy a 3cm clear-glass oculus
and take pictures through it.  How fun is that!
The images are upside down through the oculus, so you have to flip them.

How 'bout having the whole world in your hands!
 

17 comments:

  1. I am still impressed by the number of pictures you took and processed in that wonderful YouTube. I know what time it takes, to created something big, like that. I love the collages and it was great to see Sjarien and her sister too. They both loved it. The pictures of the oculus, do make the world upside down :)
    The hotel brought back some child memories to me, amazing how a view or a smell can take you back 50 years.......

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  2. Astrid: It was quite an undertaking, for sure, but well worth it for both of us. The hotel was a total delight...a real gift. It was a nice break between the two days. You know I always appreciate your support, which means the world to me! I'm especially glad your friend could come to enjoy what you/we experienced ourselves.

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  3. Isn't it so wonderful to have a "project!?!" Looking forward to seeing some of your individual shots for his website. Plus this oculus thing has me spellbound! :)

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  4. Robin: I love that we keep having reasons to go back to the gallery. HA! And yes, that oculus sure has me sold on it. Who would have thought!

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  5. Yet another great set of images Ginnie! Am now about to Google "oculus", it looks a lot of fun.

    As for slowing down the credits in the Youtube video the software I use (VideoPad) allows you to change the duration of each image individually. An alternative might be to make the opening credits in a separate file with the duration you want and then cut and paste it to the start of the image sequence.

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  6. Anne Oh WOW. Thanks for the tip in answer to my question. I'll definitely give it a try. I am not very hi-tech when it comes to such things, so thank you.

    You'd love the oculus idea!

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  7. i will have to check that you tube some other time as i can't access anything that has video from where i am right now.

    that's a creative way of taking photos, so much fun too.

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  8. PC: Thank you, Maria. You're a sweetheart!

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  9. Hey Ginnie, thanks again for the mention and of course the wonderful oculus pictures ... can't wait to see what else you create! :-)

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  10. Geoff: You're more than welcome, of course. You may have started something, based on the comments over at my other blog! :)

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  11. Oh so that's how you did that photo. Now I have to figure out what an oculus is.

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  12. Maery: HA! It's fun, isn't it! An oculus in this case is a clear-glass sphere/ball! :)

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  13. That slide show was a TON of work! What an amazing thing you did for him. (loved the little girls eyes peeping one the edge)

    ...and the oculus.. the whole world in your hand... is stunning! I think it is a favorite of mine. Summer has been so busy, and it is 1:00 am. But I had to stop by and get a bit of your blog in my system. I have missed your view of the world and well, the Netherlands is the first place I wold visit in Europe. :) I'll be back to soon to see what else you have been up to. (Oh, and I just realized, I never posted the V&V to my sidebar... I will get on that soon too)

    Oh my, I do many things, just not any one thing well! :)

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  14. Margaret: It really was a lot of work but I loved (almost) every minute of it. It was a real honor. Thank you.

    And you honor me every time you come back here to see what we're up to. Thank You!

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  15. I'm almost an entire month behind at enjoying your lovely images. I promised myself not another day would go by before visiting! (especially since I'm off on another trip as of Wednesday)

    I don't know how to slow down the opening slides on your slide show... but what if you repeated the same 'credit' slide three times in a row and used a fade out transition? Just wondering. (since I have no clue how you put it together anyway, I may be way out to lunch)

    I love the 'people' collages in this post... you put them together so beautifully. Mart must be an excellent teacher to have a novice producing something that looks quite good (as seen in your photographs).

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  16. PS... you make me want to get an oculus myself!

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  17. Victoria: Actually, I have already thought of that re the credits for my next try! I had to keep the entire YouTube at that pace and didn't know how to slow down the credits. But I did think of your idea afterwards. So great minds must thibk alike. HA! I'll see if it works.

    Mart IS an excellent teacher, especially with children. He amazes me every time I watch him. He is clearly cut out for what he does!

    And YES, you would love the oculus, especially for all your fabulous travels! It would be easy to pack. :)

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