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Find Your Marbles at Orange County Show
Can you imagine paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a marble? Many would think you had lost yours, marbles that is, but many marble enthusiasts are willing to pay just that for a rare Peltier Graycoat, a Golden Rebel, a Christensen Guinea or a Leighton Transitional. The problem is you can't find (or afford) the real thing. But there is hope... now there are marble replicas that can be purchased and used as placeholders until the real ones come along.
Enter Carl Fisher - Carl, whose day job is working for IBM, has in fact taken his marble hobby to the next level. Known as a pioneer in contemporary marble making, Carl produces rare, vintage-looking polymer clay marbles. Originally designed to be placeholders in his own collection until the real thing came along, Carl found out that other collectors wanted placeholders, too, or at least "originals" on a budget.
"My work was driven by my desire to own the originals, but on a limited budget," says Carl, who himself has a collection of rare marbles from the 1800's to the 1960's. "I began experimenting with polymer clay, and reverse-engineered the early and colorful marble designs, and after hours in my 'lab,' my first replica emerged," he adds.
Using his skills as an artist and engineer, Carl can recreate any marble and pattern just by studying it and then "imagineering" it out of clay. The process involves making hand-made "canes" of polymer clay and grafting the pieces together in order to make the folds and striations of the real counterparts. Since no paint is used in the process, each marble made is hand-blended clay and considered a tiny individual work of art. He signs them in silver with a tiny CF logo.
Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Carl moved to Temecula, Calif. in 2008 so that he could expand his marble-making business. He will be exhibiting at the Southern California Marble Show which will be held on Mar. 20, 2010 at the Wyndham Anaheim Park Hotel located at 222 W. Houston Ave. in Fullerton, CA 92832. Show hours are 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and admission is $5 per person (kids are free). Vintage glass marbles, as well as contemporary marbles, will be on display and for sale to the public. For exhibitor information, contact Rich Shelby at (951) 212-4435 or by email at richshelby@ca.rr.com.
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