It is too late – and I am much too tired – for a long post. I will, though, leave you with this photo of the strip bowl master Steve Immerman doing – you guessed it – cutting strips!

The neon session that ended just before I arrived had to complete a group collaboration as their final project. They decided to do an “animated” neon of Michael Jackson moonwalking.

That may not seem suprising given the events and extraordinary news coverage over the last week The weird part is they finished the piece the day before Jackson died.

As a result, the neon sculpture has become a spontaneous memorial with people dropping flowers and small glass objects at the base.

It helps when you start your day at 7 AM and finish after 11 PM (though the studio is actually open 24 hours a day).

Those kind of hours would be impossible (or at least very, very difficult) with a structured class. This, though, is a “residency” which is less about being taught specific techniques and more about having the time, resources and feedback to develop work and share ideas.

This place, the exceptional people in the residency, the dialog with the program leaders Steve Klein and Richard Parrish, the abundance of materials (in large part thanks to the generousity of Bullseye) and even the food — everything is aligned to support the creative process.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be here.

And a view of Puget Sound.

I’m never leaving.

Read about Pilchuck on Wikipedia.