In this demonstration, I’m carving a candle the old-fashioned way, working layer by layer while the wax is still warm and pliable. Candle carving is a dance with time. You have only a small window, about 17 minutes, before the wax cools and sets, so every cut must be deliberate,…
Category: Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
Original works of art, blown glass, stained glass, fused glass, candles, incense, and other handmade treasures, crafted with care at Dancingbird Gallery and Studio.
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Elena and the Magic of Stained Glass
*Photo Credit: Cindy Waggoner Raleigh and Her AI Friend As a glass artist, primarily a lampwork glassblower, I’ve made a few stained glass pieces over the years, but it has never been my main lane. So to say that I taught my wife, Elena, stained glass would be a stretch,…
Coworkers of Christ
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My Profession Is My Work, My Vocation Is My Calling: A Reflection on Being a Worker Priest
My Profession Is My Work, My Vocation Is My Calling: A Reflection on Being a Worker PriestBy +Brian Ernest Brown, CWC I have been clergy for more than twenty-five years, and in all those years I have also been something else: a worker clergy. A bi-vocational servant. A man who…
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Honoring a Life That Meant Everything
My very dear friend and spiritual father Jerry Capel died Wednesday July 23, 2025. The challenge of eulogizing someone so deeply cherished is immense. It’s about more than just recounting memories; it’s about conveying the impact they had on your life. When you’ve shared so much—from breaking bread to learning,…
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Dancingbird Gallery in 2025: An Adventure in Art and Agitation
Dancingbird Gallery in 2025: An Adventure in Art and Agitation Owning a glassblowing gallery in a mall right now feels a little like trying to do performance art on a sinking ship, while someone is rearranging the furniture and charging you extra for the privilege.Between rising tariffs on raw materials,…
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Holy Springs, Open Doors, and Coming Home from Another Direction
Again I find myself returning to the theme of home, how a place can call you back long after you’ve left it, and how returning isn’t always going backward. Sometimes it’s a forward movement from another direction, a circling flight that finally brings you to where you were always meant…
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Heat, Hummingbirds, and the Hazards of Creativity: Notes from the Torch
Heat, Hummingbirds, and the Hazards of Creativity: Notes from the Torch This morning began with clarity, the rare kind. A soft, cooling breeze slipped through the Ozark hills, and for a brief, holy hour the world felt fresh… and so did I. My mind was sharp, ideas were flowing, and…
Dancingbird Gallery & Studio
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Ex Cathedra Studio
On this Feast of the Ascension, I would like to announce the opening of Ex Cathedra Studio in downtown Fayetteville Arkansas. Upon moving to Fayetteville this last summer, I began looking for a space in which to be and to do, whatever I was to be doing or whatever it…