Crucible glass artist Tara Murray wins 2nd place
in Female Flame-Off competition

The 3rd Annual Female Flame-Off was recently held in Berkeley, where competitors from throughout the U.S. participated in the three-day event, competing in three different categories: Functional, Wearables, and Mystery Box. Tara selected Mystery Box, in which a random theme was chosen out of a box. The theme was punk rock, and her winning entry was a set of four small sculptures: an anarchy symbol behind three hands giving a universally understood gesture. An auction was held to sell the pieces, with proceeds going to the New Afghanistan Women Association (NAWA).

Tara teaches adult and youth classes in glass flameworking, and also donates her time to our youth and community outreach programs, giving demonstrations and leading workshops. Much of Tara’s work is focused on creating sculpture and jewelry with a sense of narration and realism, reflecting and re-imagining the natural world within the glass.

To see examples and learn more about Tara’s work, visit taramurray.com

Want to take a class from Rick? You can find him teaching Build a Mandolin or a Ukulele in Just Four Days.

Turner left Gibson in 1992 and ran a guitar repair shop at Westwood Music in Los Angeles where he developed piezo pickup designs, working with Jackson Browne, David Crosby and others. He later co-founded Highlander Musical Audio, manufacturer of piezo pickups for acoustic guitars. He continues to design and build guitars for many professional players such as Lindsey Buckingham, Ry Cooder, David Lindley, David Crosby and Andy Summers. He is a regular columnist for Acoustic Guitar and a former columnist for Bass Player, Frets and Guitar Player magazines. His present company is Renaissance Guitars.

Turner’s designs are considered significant and innovative, and include at least the following:

• invented and patented the graphite neck in 1976, with Geoff Gould who then started Modulus Graphite.

• the use of curved plates on the front and back of his Model 1 electric guitars in order to reduce standing wave hysteresis loss.

• the use of 18v preamps in an attempt to tame the ‘quack’ sound commonly associated with piezoelectric acoustic guitar pickups.

After graduating from prestigious design schools in his native England, Baldwin spent a long apprenticeship learning stone carving and casting techniques. His work is often integrated into architecture, and can be seen in major cities in the UK and Europe.

Check out Barry’s Website for more information on him and his work.

Check out Stone Working Classes to learn how to make your own stone pieces.

“Located in the very heart of London, Grand Buildings stands in the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square. I was commissioned to carve a doorway, standing over 6 meters (20ft) in height, on the Northumberland Avenue elevation, and a total of 27 over life size portrait heads on the Strand elevation.” – Barry Baldwin