The Sandwitch - Rayzist Classes with Butch Young

Begins with light frosting using progressively more complex stencils. These techniques are then added to various levels and ultimately combined with coloring and gilding applications, for a satisfyingly complex finished product.

This class will feature the most commonly used leveling techniques combined with advanced overlay applications. This process results in accents and intricate design elements blasted after the initial image is carved, thereby allowing a crispness of detail impossible to achieve by any other means.

If you are an artist interested in translating your medium to glass, you will receive the guidance and techniques necessary to create your vision in glass. Using glass as your canvas, an entirely new product evolves before your eyes. Even if you are not yet an artist, an appreciation of beautiful art is adequate to begin your journey in decorative sandblasting. This Erte piece, translated from one of his works is a perfect example of what is possible.

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All too often, those unfamiliar with decorative sandblasting, confuse depth with carving. As I frequently tell my students, a baboon can achieve depth, but, a good carving requires that each pull be shaped before moving on to the next. These classes will concentrate on the shaping necessary to leave a clean sharp line between pulls. We will gold leaf at least one of the finished products. These classes will be three fairly long, intense days, and, will cost $1500.00. All materials, including unlimited glass and gold leafing product will be covered by the class tuition. Please call or email me for further details. More info, such as lodging locations, etc., will be provided in the next week.

This first image is a carving of Daffy Duck for Warner Bros. My design partner, Eileen Borgeson, did the transitional artwork necessary to achieve a professional finished product.

Good carving is a true art form, and, requires a great deal of patience, practice, and skill. Although you will not become an expert carver in such a short period of time, you will become familiar with sequence of blast, how to achieve basic shaping, and a good grasp of gold leafing. The practice part is up to you when you go home. But, to me, nothing is more satisfying than a complex carving project.

This image is one of several mermaids from the nine-panel underwater extravanganza commissioned by Bally's Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas. Please note the shaping of each of the scales on the tail, and, the clean, sharp lines in between. Also, the end of her tail is beautifully and smoothly carved with pristine lines between each of the sections. This is a good example of what I believe to be well-shaped pulls separated by very crisp lines. Ms. Mermaid is an original Eileen Borgeson creation. We have had many, many successful collaborations throughout the years. Although you will eventually learn to take almost anything, and, turn it into a really fine carving, sometimes it really helps to have a talented artist in the wings.


			Where decorative sandcarving is a way of life