We went to the Glass Quarter today via the canal towpath, it was rather beautiful and quiet along the canal, I recommend it for a nice walk out, saw some beautiful dogs too.
We went to Stourbridge to visit the Ruskin Glass Centre I wanted to visit the Red House Glass Cone too, but Wib took so long getting ready we just didn't have time, sadly we missed a lot of the shops at the Ruskin too as it was late when we arrived. They do however have a cafe which serves locally sourced orgainc food, they also do vegan! However I brought some pasta and pesto with leek and mushroom I made in the morning as I'm used to not being able to eat out any more.
So with most of the studios closed, we didn't get the full experience but we did see an awesome guy who engraved and embossed bottles and glasses. You take in a bottle of champagne or a bottle of J.D or Beer or whatever and he would write on it and draw stuff on it, it was so cool, he was working on a wedding bottle when we went in. I wish I had the courage to ask him if me would mind me taking some pictures but I didn't feel it was appropriate. We also saw a guy blowing and molding glass with his hands, in was very hot in that room but what am amazing skill I would LOVE to learn how to do that. We saw a woman painting an enamel bowl thing which was so intricate and beautiful. But my favourite studio there was Kairos Sculpture http://www.kairos-sculpture.com/ check out his website and go visit, such an interesting guy who is really passionate about stone carving and is also really knowledgeable about the stone he uses and it's source and very interesting. You can see on his website many of the sculptures we saw today.
All in all we had a really lovely time today, and I can't wait until my next trip to Stourbridge. Tomorrow is non league day supporting grass roots football so Wib and I will be doing our bit and going to see Halesowen Town play for the first time.
Looks like an interesting day out with some more to come :)
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