One artist has a unique method for creating shapes out of molten glass, and her process is almost as beautiful to behold as the artwork itself! In a mesmerizing video from the Corning Museum of Glass, Brie Ruais created a one-of-a-kind mold for her sculpture out of sand. Using her hands, she carefully carved a design into the material. Then, a team of assistants helped her prepare the sand with fire and other treatments before the final step took place. Obviously, the most exciting part of the clip was when the molten glass finally got poured into the mold! There’s something so satisfying about watching the glowing substance slowly fill the grooves in the sand. Even more thrilling was when flames erupted from the hot material as it settled over the design! Watch this molten glass sculpture take shape before your eyes! @corningmuseum We were thrilled to welcome Brie Ruais, our 2024 Burke Residency recipient, to The Studio. This was Brie’s first experience working with glass and she explored the dynamic interplay between glass and clay through sand casting! Her unique approach allows materials to express their own states of being, using her body as the primary tool to shape her creations.   In her latest work, Brie experiments with pouring molten glass over sand impressions, creating stunning relief panels that capture the essence of natural and manmade cataclysms. Her art delves into the profound connection between human touch and geological time, weaving the story of Earth’s history with our own.   What a way to wrap The Studio’s 2024 Residency Program! #glasscasting #moltenglass #sandcasting #glassasmr #studioglass #artprogram #artistsoftiktok #tiktokartists ♬ original sound – Corning Museum of Glass Soon, the molten glass was ready to be peeled away from the mold. Team members carefully removed the shape and placed it onto a board. As one person carried the sculpture away to cool, it burst into flames again! This has to be one of the most epic art projects we’ve ever seen. “This was Brie’s first experience working with glass and she explored the dynamic interplay between glass and clay through sand casting!” wrote the Corning Museum of Glass in their caption. “Her unique approach allows materials to express their own states of being, using her body as the primary tool to shape her creations.” Screengrab from TikTok They added, “In her latest work, Brie experiments with pouring molten glass over sand impressions, creating stunning relief panels that capture the essence of natural and manmade cataclysms. Her art delves into the profound connection between human touch and geological time, weaving the story of Earth’s history with our own.” Sadly, you can’t get a good look at Brie’s finished glass art in the video above. You can only catch a glimpse of its shape as team members whisk it away. However, the Corning Museum of Glass hinted that we might get to view the final product in future posts. When one commenter expressed their interest in seeing the completed work, the museum replied, “Stay tuned!!” That sounds promising! In the meantime, you can check out some of Brie Ruais’s other pieces on Instagram. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Artists Pour Molten Glass Over Sand Designs & The Results Are Simply Breathtaking appeared first on InspireMore.

Best wishes to JJ

A post shared on social media purportedly shows a video of Queen consort Camilla revealing that she was born a man. Verdict: False   The video was made with AI. Fact Check: President-elect Donald Trump has criticized Britain for the recent energy tax increase and told them to “Get rid of Windmills,” CNBC News reported. Britain’s Labour Party announced an […]

'Lacks authority to impose sentence'

An image shared on X claims to show the Russian passport of deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. وأخيراً أصبح الطاغية السفاح بشار لاجئاً حقيراً تحت شروط مذلة مع تجريده مما سرقه قيد قرار من السلطات الروسية (يمهل ولا يهمل) pic.twitter.com/fI12tyxiB6 — Dr. Harib Al Rawahi ???? (@Handsomehamed) December 19, 2024 Verdict: False This image is not real. […]

President Joe Biden claimed in a December interview that President-elect Donald Trump is “the only president to ever avoid an inauguration.” Verdict: False Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Johnson all skipped their respective successors’ inauguration ceremonies. Fact Check: Trump blamed Biden’s “Open Border Policy” for two recent attacks in the U.S., including […]

I always hankered for the country life, despite the fact I was raised in the big city. Summers were spent on the family farm, visiting my grandfather out in the barn. It was there that I learned the value of a life of simplicity.  Now that I am out of the big city, living in the country in my own little cabin, my life is much simpler. Turns out, there’s a lot in simplicity that’s connected to preparedness. I thought I’d take some time today to reflect on how the simple life I now live keeps me prepared from day to day for whatever comes my way.  Simple Food I don’t eat fancy out here in the middle of nowhere, that’s for sure. Most days, you will find me eating the basics. The only bread I eat is whole grain Irish soda bread I fry up myself in my cast iron fry pan. Now that I’m well into my fifties, I limit my consumption of any breads. I don’t eat out and rarely eat the highly processed foods that fill today’s grocery stores. Most of that isn’t even food! My fall and winter is continual soup or stew, made with whatever’s on hand, whether it be beans, a butternut squash from my cool room [LINK: https://www.theorganicprepper.com/food-preservation-winter/], or some venison gifted from a neighbour.  Yes, some weeks are leaner than others. By eating with staples, I am prepared to make do with what I can grow and trade for the rest. I eat lean and save my resources for necessities. Every once in a while, I make a point of going without my evening meal. I heard it’s good for you, and you sure won’t be getting three squares during the Apocalypse! Simple Clothing Speaking of necessities, fashion forward clothing is not one of them for me! When I got out of the big city, I breathed a big sigh of relief. I no longer had to dress to impress. Today, I dress solely for comfort and function: all sourced from local thrift shops. I buy what will last for years, and I know how to mend it, should need be. Should that you-know-what hit the ol’ spinner, I have also set aside extras of high quality footwear of every type. Ya, all from thrift shops, too. So, although my wardrobe may look modest on the outside, it has been collected with function and preparedness in mind.  Nature The great outdoors is my food, my entertainment, my friend, and my medicine cabinet. In a former article (my first with the OP!), I shared about how weeds are a great prep in terms of food and survival. [LINK: https://www.theorganicprepper.com/weeds-a-good-prep/]  Because I let a lot of my land go wild, I don’t need to feed any bird seed. The natural plants provide food for the birds in the winter. I enjoy watching them as I eat my breakfast. Even though my nearest neighbours feed bird seed all the time, the birds still come over to my place to forage for the real stuff. I wonder if it tastes better?  I cultivate quiet and peace as I go about my day. I am always honing my observation skills, which are a great prep, in and of themselves. In the simple and quiet way that I live, the trees and animals that I share this land with have become my friends. I observe the tracks of the fox that crosses over here from the forest. I also see rabbit tracks and notice it was running. As yes! It was running towards its burrow under the lean-to beside my shed.  I strive to be similarly in tune with the many plants on my rural lot, bordering on a natural meadow. Each year, I am grateful as well as mindful as I harvest sustainably. One fall a while back, a friend needed some St. John’s Wort. I harvested more than I usually did, and noticed a big difference the following spring. There much less. I learned a lesson from that, and now am careful with the bounty shared with me by the native plants on my land. I take no prescription medicines: only what I make myself. Food is my first medicine, and then tinctures and teas. If I had to leave everything I know behind in a crisis, I know that my knowledge and skill with plants would be valued in any community.  Self-Reliance Yeah, a lot of folks probably think I’m crazy, but I do a lot of stuff that people use machines for. One example is shovelling my snow. Yep, you read that right: I shovel. I don’t push it or blow it. I have a $10 plastic shovel that does the trick.  And when I’m out there in the quiet, shoveling away, I’m getting the exercise that I need to stay fit. I mean, honestly, what if there was no fuel and I needed to fell all my firewood by hand? You bet I have all the tools I need to do that, too. So, I’m the one who does things the hard way, but simple is often hard. Thing is, there are also built in benefits to hard, and I’ll take them all the way to the bank: the preparedness bank, that is!  Unplugged Quite a while ago, I decided to unplug from a society that I felt was, well, just getting out of hand. I don’t take in any of the MSM anymore. Somehow, someone usually spills the beans about any big happenings, anyhow. This decision is about where I put my energy.  I choose to focus on what I can control: What is nearby, helping folks I know, what I can see. That’s it. It feels more manageable. I do not agree with endless profits and unlimited greed. In every way I can, I vote with my money for love and local producers and business.  That may sound simple, but it’s helping me build a strong network of like-minded folks who would have my back if things get tougher.  Unplugging also helps keep my mind ready for anything: calm and resilient.  Complex Isn’t Always Best A simple life that reflects my values also has me well-prepared. For more information on simplicity, you might enjoy this book. Is your life simple or complex? Which direction do you want to head in the coming year, and in what areas? How will you get there? Please tell us in the comments section. The post How a Simple Life Is a Hefty Prep appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Decades of social engineering have transformed America’s armed forces, prompting concerns about the Pentagon‘s warfighting capabilities and politicized culture. It’s the reason President-elect Donald Trump picked Pete Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of defense: to restore lethality as the military‘s primary focus. Fixing the Pentagon won’t be easy, but it’s imperative to restore America’s fighting force. On this episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast,” former Army Ranger Will Thibeau shares firsthand accounts from his service and outlines the startling changes at the Department of Defense since then. “I had a senior officer tell a cohort of my peers and I, after we got back from a deployment to Iraq, that there’s the goal to replace us with black men and women in order to make our special operations unit more diverse,” Thibeau told The Daily Signal. Thibeau, who now directs the American Military Project at the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life, diagnoses the problems—and what it will take to restore the military’s core mission of combat readiness. “The military exists to be lethal and to kill our enemies,” Thibeau explained. “It’s a purpose that puts the military at odds with the values of our liberal society. … And what’s happened, certainly in the last decade or so, is that the military has become just another institution that reflects the values of our civil society. Those are values that are incompatible with an organization committed to lethality.” For anyone concerned about the future of American military power, Thibeau provides a perspective on what went wrong—and how to make it right. In addition to watching or listening to the podcast, read his recent report, “Identity in the Trenches: The Fatal Impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on U.S. Military Readiness” and follow him on X: @WilliamThibeau. The post From Woke to Warfighting: How Pete Hegseth Can Fix the Pentagon appeared first on The Daily Signal.

I always hankered for the country life, despite the fact I was raised in the big city. Summers were spent on the family farm, visiting my grandfather out in the barn. It was there that I learned the value of a life of simplicity.  Now that I am out of the big city, living in the country in my own little cabin, my life is much simpler. Turns out, there’s a lot in simplicity that’s connected to preparedness. I thought I’d take some time today to reflect on how the simple life I now live keeps me prepared from day to day for whatever comes my way.  Simple Food I don’t eat fancy out here in the middle of nowhere, that’s for sure. Most days, you will find me eating the basics. The only bread I eat is whole grain Irish soda bread I fry up myself in my cast iron fry pan. Now that I’m well into my fifties, I limit my consumption of any breads. I don’t eat out and rarely eat the highly processed foods that fill today’s grocery stores. Most of that isn’t even food! My fall and winter is continual soup or stew, made with whatever’s on hand, whether it be beans, a butternut squash from my cool room [LINK: https://www.theorganicprepper.com/food-preservation-winter/], or some venison gifted from a neighbour.  Yes, some weeks are leaner than others. By eating with staples, I am prepared to make do with what I can grow and trade for the rest. I eat lean and save my resources for necessities. Every once in a while, I make a point of going without my evening meal. I heard it’s good for you, and you sure won’t be getting three squares during the Apocalypse! Simple Clothing Speaking of necessities, fashion forward clothing is not one of them for me! When I got out of the big city, I breathed a big sigh of relief. I no longer had to dress to impress. Today, I dress solely for comfort and function: all sourced from local thrift shops. I buy what will last for years, and I know how to mend it, should need be. Should that you-know-what hit the ol’ spinner, I have also set aside extras of high quality footwear of every type. Ya, all from thrift shops, too. So, although my wardrobe may look modest on the outside, it has been collected with function and preparedness in mind.  Nature The great outdoors is my food, my entertainment, my friend, and my medicine cabinet. In a former article (my first with the OP!), I shared about how weeds are a great prep in terms of food and survival. [LINK: https://www.theorganicprepper.com/weeds-a-good-prep/]  Because I let a lot of my land go wild, I don’t need to feed any bird seed. The natural plants provide food for the birds in the winter. I enjoy watching them as I eat my breakfast. Even though my nearest neighbours feed bird seed all the time, the birds still come over to my place to forage for the real stuff. I wonder if it tastes better?  I cultivate quiet and peace as I go about my day. I am always honing my observation skills, which are a great prep, in and of themselves. In the simple and quiet way that I live, the trees and animals that I share this land with have become my friends. I observe the tracks of the fox that crosses over here from the forest. I also see rabbit tracks and notice it was running. As yes! It was running towards its burrow under the lean-to beside my shed.  I strive to be similarly in tune with the many plants on my rural lot, bordering on a natural meadow. Each year, I am grateful as well as mindful as I harvest sustainably. One fall a while back, a friend needed some St. John’s Wort. I harvested more than I usually did, and noticed a big difference the following spring. There much less. I learned a lesson from that, and now am careful with the bounty shared with me by the native plants on my land. I take no prescription medicines: only what I make myself. Food is my first medicine, and then tinctures and teas. If I had to leave everything I know behind in a crisis, I know that my knowledge and skill with plants would be valued in any community.  Self-Reliance Yeah, a lot of folks probably think I’m crazy, but I do a lot of stuff that people use machines for. One example is shovelling my snow. Yep, you read that right: I shovel. I don’t push it or blow it. I have a $10 plastic shovel that does the trick.  And when I’m out there in the quiet, shoveling away, I’m getting the exercise that I need to stay fit. I mean, honestly, what if there was no fuel and I needed to fell all my firewood by hand? You bet I have all the tools I need to do that, too. So, I’m the one who does things the hard way, but simple is often hard. Thing is, there are also built in benefits to hard, and I’ll take them all the way to the bank: the preparedness bank, that is!  Unplugged Quite a while ago, I decided to unplug from a society that I felt was, well, just getting out of hand. I don’t take in any of the MSM anymore. Somehow, someone usually spills the beans about any big happenings, anyhow. This decision is about where I put my energy.  I choose to focus on what I can control: What is nearby, helping folks I know, what I can see. That’s it. It feels more manageable. I do not agree with endless profits and unlimited greed. In every way I can, I vote with my money for love and local producers and business.  That may sound simple, but it’s helping me build a strong network of like-minded folks who would have my back if things get tougher.  Unplugging also helps keep my mind ready for anything: calm and resilient.  Complex Isn’t Always Best A simple life that reflects my values also has me well-prepared. For more information on simplicity, you might enjoy this book. Is your life simple or complex? Which direction do you want to head in the coming year, and in what areas? How will you get there? Please tell us in the comments section. The post How a Simple Life Is a Hefty Prep appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Contra Beege: Take the Win