Does anyone know these guys?

Wel- for one - it must be a chinese site --- (the chinese script kept trying to load to my computer)

how about getting your glass from an American craftsman instead of the Chinese?

Cheryl

nntp.earthl> I have had a couple of clients ask me about these guys and don't know what

Actually, if you looked around on the site you'd see that they are in North Garden, Virginia USA

When I looked at the very ordinary junk displayed as "artwork" I figured it was some of Shady's basement bandits.

I don't know if they are in China or not but I just got to see a sample and it is good workmanship. They made me a design for my parents from my photo and it looks decent too. It is 1.5' x 2' and $225 including shipping. I am kind of price sensitive and the other studios have quoted me above 350...not sure where it is made by I think I'm going to try them. I'll post when it arrives.

-A

well...that just about makes a basement bandit obsolete, eh?

Read about them here:

Authense Corporation

If you do custom flat work, then this is just another nail in the coffin for the small studio. Don't kid yourself about how busy you are now. In a couple of years, even if they capture a small percent of our business, it will add to all the other stuff we've lost. How far away is this from designing and ordering your own SG windows at Walmart or Home Depot?

I had the same thought about Home Depot. Until the design-it-yerself Chinese kiosk actually appears in Lowes or HD, I'm thinking the market penetration of this might not be much.

This will likely appeal to the same people who buy "Tiffany" lamps on cable shopping channels, who are basically too lazy to actually seek out a SG studio for something unique. Those quality custom studios like yourself, Java, and Andy probably won't feel too much of a bite. Your customers are discriminating, quality conscious folk who want to see the (sometimes bloodshot) whites of your eyes.

You remind me of the group of economists who have predicted 472 out of the last 3 recessions.

Y'know, just because people can buy drapes and wallpaper and carpets at wal-mart and home depot and carpet wholesalers and the like, it appears to me that there is still another whole layer of cultured folks out there that would die before having that crap in their homes. These are exactly the people i want for customers! So yeah, let the chinese rake the curds off the top of the milk and leave me the cream . I haven't got the time to deal with the low-end customers anyway! De'B... there will never be that many TALENTED glass artists around as it takes YEARS of practice to achieve our skill level (not yours obviously) m

In response to DeBrady....

There lies the difference between you and the rest of the artistic glass world.

In your own words and expression, you are correct. ANYBODY can put this stuff together, you have shown that. To make a living as an "artist in glass" a person better know more than what you so profoundly express. Designing with color and expression takes just alittle more talent than slapping the glass with foil or lead and soldering it together. not all blue is the right blue, and Spectrum, God love 'em, is not the glass to use in all applications, as so many hobbyists believe, just because their distribution process is more efficient.

That is something the Chinese have yet to master. To them it's a job, something to do to feed the family and buy a car and put clothes on their back. The percentage of glass artists in China is probably similar to the same here in the western world, but they don't work in factories there either.

Until you figure that out , you will still have half you oars out of the water.

Adapt? sheesh, don't you get tired of hearing your own voice bounce off the walls? I see you are still suffering from that same illness when last I heard from you...Cranial Rectal Inversion.

To get back to my point, all the bashing aside for a moment.... You SG artist defenders are all missing what I was saying. It's not high end vs low end, or high price vs low price, or upscale customers vs homeshoppers... what it is is yet another piece of our business potentially taken away. I used to make lamps, sell supplies, etc... those things have basically disappeared from my gross. Sure I do high end stuff, but I also do basic cheapie stuff that helps pay the bills as well. Custom ordering from China hurts both ends, and all these items that are going away, only make it harder to thrive. If you read the blurb about them, it states that they also intend on using this self designing ability for furniture, signage, and whatever other markets they can. Just don't make this out to be small potatoes because you happen to be thriving now. Watch your backs.