If you would like to contribute to the Octopus Travels project, click the "sponsor an octopus" button and you will be directed to my donations page. Any amount will help make progress towards the next winner being drawn from the Octopus Travels Lotto, and help me reach my goal of sending glass octopus pups to as many places as possible. If you would like to nominate someone to receive an octopus from the Lotto, type "!lotto" in chat and follow the link to the nomination form. Lets see how many countries we can add to the list! https://tinyurl.com/xm67s5yw

As the entire world shifted to virtual contexts, I began to explore what it would take to bring visitors virtually into my studio. For me, the most magical part of glass is when it is molten, and being able to share this magic with people who have never been able to experience it has always been a part of the Lemon Glass Mobile Studio concept. For the past few months I have been planning and gathering the necessary equipment to bring the studio to Twitch. I am very excited to finally be launching, and hope to stream twice a week once I get things wrinkled out.

When I was able to reopen my studio after the winter covid-crisis shut down my first two orders were for glass octopuses--one went to Uganda, the next to Singapore. My head spun a bit at the wonder of things I had made heading off to such far flung places. It made me consider an unintended side effect of covid-distancing: the sudden shift to virtual everything has in many ways equalized all interpersonal interactions, removing distance as a limiting factor. As I have ventured into the world of studio streaming, I have made connections with folks all over the world. Since the initial thought of seeing how many countries I could send octopuses to this year and having a soft launch, I have added octopuses in multiple US states, Australia, Belgium, Japan and Norway. How much of the globe can we fill in together? If you know someone who would love a little glass octopus pup, feel free to either peruse the options on my [etsy shop], or fill out this submission form to add them to the Octopus Travels lottery. I will have an Octopus Travels tip goal running on Twitch and each time it is met, a recipient will be selected from this pool (priority given to addresses in new countries or states that have not been populated on the map yet). In a year where international travel has been impossible (just as I had reached a point in my life when it was within reach), sending these little octopus pups to the far reaches of the globe feels a bit like a proxy for travel. As I send them out, I will be including information about the project for recipients with a link where they can post pictures of their pups in their new homes. Join me in my octopus travels; track the map as it fills in; and let's celebrate the ways this pandemic has shown us how connected we all are, even as it has kept us apart. https://jessicayager.com/octopus-travels/

Tools: Blowpipe: about 4’ long hollow steel pipe for inflating and shaping molten glass Punty: solid metal rod used to transfer work off the blowpipe to work the mouth of the vessel Jacks: a pair of hinged metal blades used to shape hot glass, create constrictions and shape the sides and lip of a vessel. Marver: A smooth, flat surface on which hot glass is rolled, when attached to a blowpipe or punty, to shape or apply or manipulate color. Tweezers: giant tweezers used to pinching and pulling glass, and gripping hot pipe or glass Soffietta: A tool used as a puffer to further inflate a vessel after it has been removed from the blowpipe and is attached to the punty. It consists of a curved metal tube attached to a conical nozzle. The glassblower reheats the vessel, inserts the nozzle into its mouth so that the aperture is blocked, and then inflates the vessel by blowing through the tube. Dragon: I melt glass in a Mini Dragon Furnace by Mobile Glass Blowing Studios. Unlike traditional furnaces, I melt fresh glass each day that I work which greatly reduces the resources necessary to operate a glass studio. The Dragon serves as both the melting furnace and my reheating chamber--which is often a separate piece of equipment. Gather: Taking a gather of glass is dipping a blowpipe into the pot of melted glass in the furnace. The pipe is dipped below the surface of the molten glass and then turned in order to coat all surfaces evenly. It is very similar to using a honey dipper. The pipe is kept turning to keep the molten glass centered as it is brought back to the bench and shaped or blown. Frit: A means of applying color to glass, frit is pre-colored glass powders or granules. Frit is added to the hot glass by rolling a pipe with hot glass gently across a pile, scoop, or design laid out on the marver. Depending on the size of the frit, different degrees of mottling will appear in the color. Multiple layers of powder can achieve a nearly smooth color, whereas chunky larger frit makes for dramatically dappled or swirled patterns in the glass. Color rod: A solid rod of concentrated colored glass, typically about 1” diameter. A chunk of rod can be preheated and then applied to a gather to create smoothly colored glass. Overlay: An overlay is a technique in which a chunk of concentrated color rod is smoothed over a somewhat cooled core of clear glass, encasing it in a smooth wash of color. The overlay is typically gathered over with another layer of clear glass before being inflated. Despite being trapped between two layers of clear glass, this leads to the appearance of a solid color or smooth color fade depending on how it is manipulated (thicker areas will appear darker/denser than areas where the applied color becomes very thin). Reducing Color: A color that reacts with the flames' need for oxygen, causing dissolved metals to come to the surface of the color and create an often iridescent or metallic surface. This can be forced by increasing the fuel to the furnace, starving it for oxygen, forcing the fire to interact with oxygen in the chemical compounds that create color. Not all colors reduce, but colors created by dissolved metals such as copper, silver, and gold tend to do so reliably. Striking Color: A color that appears one way (often clear or pale) before being heated, but upon reaching a particular temperature for a given amount of time “strikes” and develops a much more intense color. These colors can be somewhat unpredictable and take extraordinary control and ability to read and control the temperature of the glass both while working and annealing.

The very first time I was posting anything to YouTube, was to post video of pet hermit crabs in a hermit crab owners forum to ask a question about them. At the time I wanted my YouTube to be anonymous, so needed a username. “Zootilo” came from my attempt to capture the exclamation of the Chef in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (it turns out it was actually “Zut alors,” but I have zero French so just heard it as a sound-phrase that made for a cute Disneyesque swear substitute. Full phrase, was "Zut alors! How could I have missed such a sweet and succulent crab!”). Google translate wasn’t a thing back then, but with the quote I found the proper spelling and am amused by the google translation of “Damn then!” And the suggestion that it’s a "polite exclamation of mild surprise” to be used like “shucks.” Since searchability is key, and Zootilo points more specifically to me than my actual name, here we are... Zootilo! How could you miss such a wonderful stream?!

For currently available items, visit my Etsy shop. I ship anywhere in the world. If there is something you like but isn't quite right, feel free to send me a message and I am happy to consider made-to-order work.