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Back-issues: Volume 23 Index |
June/July, 2010 - Vol. 24, No. 1.
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In This Issue
- Glass Pocket Jars - by Mark Lammi – Recently I was asked to do a step-by-step article using various intermediate lampworking techniques that would appeal to a variety of interests and skill levels. After thinking about what products I make on a consistent basis that would fall into this category, I decided to demonstrate one of my most consistent sellers: pocket jars...
- Bound Dichroic Cane - by Morgan Schwartz – This demo will illustrate how to make dichroic cane for “blingger marbles.” This cane will yield enough material to make four or five large marbles or 10 to 15 small marbles for attaching. I have made this cane many ways, using regular round rod or Pyrex plate glass, but often had problems with lines on the dichroic, trapping air, or cracking while assembling. One day, I decided to bind the block with wire and place the whole thing in the kiln. That ended up working great, and I have been doing it ever since. After the dichroic cane is complete, you will see how to make a small marble with your cane...
- Sharing a Journey: Questions and Answers - by Paul Stankard – Over the last two years, I’ve met a large number of borosilicate flameworkers making everything from jewelry to glass pipes who are yearning to do significant creative work and explore new boundaries. They have a strong commitment to the independent lifestyle as studio artists and many make their livings through their highly developed skills. They are not satisfied with staying in one creative place and have larger ambitions. I relate to their struggle to channel their technical abilities into something more significant by creating sculpture. What’s holding many of them back, however, is a lack of artistic maturity. Few of them went to art school, and they are often simply unaware of what is considered important work by the larger world of collectors, galleries, and museum curators.
What I’ve been promoting with these Glass Line articles is excellence, but the notion of “excellence” is defined by the community you belong to. You can be an excellent goblet-maker, an excellent paperweight-maker, an excellent beadmaker, and on and on. To be excellent in these tightly defined categories, you need to recognize what is masterwork and be familiar with the skilled artists and craftspeople advancing the tradition with whom you want to strive to compete. You then can take advantage of the respect you’ve achieved in these decorative-arts categories to catapult yourself into the greater glass community. By competing with the past and matching the category’s history, you’ll be at the front of your field.
What does excellence mean in the larger Studio Glass world, or in the wider art world? To find out, you’ll need to immerse yourself in glass art or contemporary art, and enter into a dialog with the legacy of great works by the most significant artists of the past and present. The surest way to expand your audience is by creating work that goes beyond technical perfection and expresses a personal vision that challenges the larger contemporary art community...- Spider Implosion Marble - by Voicu Florin – I am always thinking about making something that has never been done before. I came up with this design while I was cleaning the attic for my new and improved workshop, so I cannot say that no spiders were harmed, but they made a good source of inspiration.
If you are not familiar with implosions, start with simpler designs before moving on to this one...- Floral sculpture evokes “Venetian Wood” - by Carolyn Baum and Ruth E. Thaler-Carter – We usually think of wearable glass art in terms of small-scale pieces such as jewelry – earrings, brooches, necklaces. Glass artist Carolyn Baum has taken the concept much farther and created a stunning costume in glass: her wearable “Venetian Wood.”
Baum, who now has homes and glass studios in Florida and New York, was a middle-school art teacher for 15 years and turned to creating glass art after retiring from teaching. “I am at a point in my life where this is my time. I’m not interested in formal teaching,” she says. “I consider it a privilege to be able indulge myself in this creative, fun activity.” She enjoys sharing what she does and doing demonstrations, but sees those as different from formal teaching...- Hibiscus how-to - by Carolyn Baum – Making glass flowers is one of Carolyn Baum’s passions. She has taken that one item and turned it into stunning creations large and small, from glass-flower jewelry to a complex, wearable glass-art costume piece that incorporates several hundred flowers with wire, floral tape, and yarn that weighs about 20 pounds. She encourages fellow glass artists to take this hibiscus as a starting point and use their imaginations to make more flowers and assemble them into similarly ambitious glass sculptures...
- Everyone likes stuff that glows! - by Rob Morrison – I have always loved stuff that glowed. I do not know if it was the prizes in my cereal boxes or the glowing stars on my ceiling as a kid that gave me this interest, but, if it glows, it is cool to me. As for flameworking, glow glass can add new dimensions to your existing work, spice up old ideas or techniques … the possibilities are endless...
- Hollow marble tutorial - by Jason Howard – I enjoy the meditative process these simple forms allow me to explore, as they remind me a little of Tibetan sand mandalas. Do a browser search on “mandalas” sometime, and think about the inside-out flares as the circular design; closing the flare is like wiping away the sand, only to us, the sand is in the form of glass. The relationship of a circle to a sphere is based on the mathematical symbol pi. The design inside the flare starts in the center and radiates outward. As in a mandala, the center is the origin of everything. Watch your designs change as you wipe the flare shut, forming a new design as all the lines come together. Hollow marbles are like pi for mandalas!
Here is how I make these hollow marbles...- Hearts on Fire - by Nancy Gant – Everyone loves a holiday. That may be why some of my most enjoyable and profitable beads are my holiday beads. These are simple beads that I can make in collections for holiday earrings and bracelets. This bead is a nice round one that is decorated with hearts...
- Orchid cup - by Eric Edner – Cups are a great format for creativity. Making the cup and foot takes an incredible discipline that can consume you if you have a tendency toward perfection. I think everyone should make cups and feet just to appreciate the masters. Once you get a cup and a foot together, you can put virtually anything in the middle as a stem. That was the first thing I did once I was taught how to make a cup and foot...
- Glassified Ads - April/May, 2010 - Vol. 23 No. 6.
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In This Issue
- Wig-Wag Marble with Raked Back - by Rob Morrison – This demo is a simple wig-wag marble, but the technique has become the basis for numerous functional pieces. Due to the color choices and variety of designs that are obtainable, it is a universal pattern. Look on the Internet to discover numerous artists employing this technique. That is not to say that you cannot still make it your own ...
- Revolution and Evolution of the Matrix Series - by Brent Kee Young – My latest idea came from looking at matrices. I was inspired by seeing a root ball where the dirt had been shaken out—a rat’s nest of wiggly lines—and a pile of rebar from a building being torn down next to my studio. I thought of welding all that rebar together and then cutting it into a preconceived shape, and I devised a way to build such an idea using glass. The physical properties of borosilicate glass seemed, and proved, to be the right choice. Using a simple element—an organically shaped T—and repeating it many times over intrigued me as a way of building almost any form ...
- Awaiting the Thaw - by James Mills – This little guy (Chillin) is fun and easy to make. No two are the same—you are only limited to your own imagination, so get out some glass, start up those imaginations and let’s have some fun ...
- "A New Educational Resource for Flameworkers" - by Paul Stankard – Even with my 50 years at the bench, I had never seen anything close to their level of skill and aggressiveness at the torch. They pushed the process beyond anything I had ever done and took advantage of equipment I did not know existed. Clinton and Scott used torches that could double as flamethrowers, and had annealers to keep components hot. Watching Scott ball up borosilicate glass, shape a life-sized human skull, and decorate the forehead with a Celtic knot band, designed to wrap around the skull, was a new experience for me. Clinton’s demonstration was distinguished by his dance-like motions, which allowed him to manipulate colored borosilicate glass into a six-inch human torso in the giant flame. Matt was the only demonstrator sitting down. He was blowing and shaping a water glass with phenomenal skill and sculpting trompe l’oeil ice cubes that looked totally believable ...
- Look into My Eyes - by Richard Clements – The idea of making heads of animals that had been made extinct by hunters who would hang the remains on a wall to be admired interested me. Once I had the visual image, the eyes turned out to be most important—as with people, animals’ eyes express so much; a slight change of the eyelid can change the whole expression. I was after the “What the !!!!” look of an animal that has just been shot, or somehow has realized it has died and become a wall ornament ...
- 24K Gold Fumed Implosion Marble - by Bashi Alé – The following tutorial is an excellent introduction to the tube implosion technique. I often teach this simple pattern to my students because it not only showcases the fundamentals of marble-making but benefits them by providing added knowledge of fuming, working with tubing, and using a blow hose. These are all techniques that can expand your flameworking repertoire immensely and have you crafting beautiful marbles before the day is through.
The following demonstrates my method for creating a gold-fumed implosion marble ...- Glass Chains - by Malissa Kuznicki – Working with small rods caused me to learn a lot about heat control. Learning how to control thinner glass encouraged me to focus on smaller, more intricate designs than I had previously thought about. The work I’ve been doing on a small scale has strengthened my basic technique and will invariably affect my work on larger pieces as well. As simple as the idea was, it changed how I worked on every piece thereafter. I hope that this tutorial will also help others to expand their horizons.
The glass chain links can obviously be made in any shape. However, I have found that, when the ends of the links are rounded to make more of an elliptical shape, the chain doesn’t make as much noise. I feel that the sound the chain makes when worn is one of its major features; therefore, I continue to make the links more angular ...- Bead With Air Bubbles - by Kohei Kanai – Reprint from the Japanese magazine "LamMaga" #9.
- Glassified Ads - February/March, 2010 - Vol. 23 No. 5.
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In This Issue
- Don't cage me in - by James Lang – This philosophy leads me to my fire-cut cages. The first person I ever saw make a fire-cut cage was Matt Eskuche, at a workshop at Penland School of Crafts. Everyone was amazed that something so simple could look so amazing. I started making these pieces as ornaments and sandblasting them.
Eventually, these evolved into larger spheres of up to 12 inches in diameter. I played around with a few concepts—cages that sit flat, a fire-cut goblet I call the “Alcoholics Goblet.” One day, I came across a color-changing LED light. I held this piece up to it and was in love.
My next concept was the “Aurora Borealis Chandelier,” which evolved in Saskatchewan, after I viewed the Northern Lights and started developing large pieces for a chandelier...
- Sharing the secret to beautiful marbles - by Ron Bearer, Jr. – This was pretty common years ago. Techniques were guarded as family treasures and not shared with anyone. So, I set out to learn the technique on my own. A year later, I had tried just about every concept I could come up with, but could not quite nail it down to the precision and beauty of the marble I had sitting in my collection. Another artist who was passing through stopped by to visit—the perfect time to share techniques, one of which was the secret of the implosion.
These days, this technique is more common and is used by many marble-makers. What is not shared as freely is the way to layer glass into multi-color flower petals with unique textures and designs. I hope this article sparks some new ideas, and leads to wonderful new artistic creations that you, in turn, can share some day...
- “Amago” or Red Spotted Masu Trout Bead - by Naomi Kazawa – Naomi: "many beadmakers in Japan or overseas make fish beads. Why not try making your original fish. I would be happy if this article motivates you to try"...
- Octopus on Coral Base Demo - by Joe Peters – My vision is to incorporate color, detail, and personality into my work; to push the limits of my imagination when it comes to depicting the beauty of nature and its creatures. As an artist, I like taking my work one step beyond. This octopus is an example of that kind of creative venture...
- Day of the Dead Skull with a Crown of Roses - by Cathi Milligan – I never thought I’d make sculptural beads when I started making beads more than 16 years ago, but, sure enough, they have become on of my specialties. It started with hearts, and fruit and vegetables. Then came fish. And then other critters. Soon, I was back to food and holiday items. One of the holiday items that has grown into a popular year-round bead is the “Mexican Sugar Skull,” which makes a great Day of the Dead/Halloween pendant or charm. I like mine to have pretty crowns of roses. Here’s the how-to so you can make your own skulls...
- A Soft-Glass Implosion Rose - by Mark Christensen – As I researched the possibility, I noticed one discouraging factor that kept coming to my attention: All the flower implosion work was being done using boro. It wasn’t until much later that I found some incredible examples of soft-glass implosion work being done. One example was Ellen Black. Her soft-glass flower implosion marbles are spectacular, and the colors and shapes were somewhat different from the boro work I had already seen.
Once I knew it could be done without changing to the harder glass, I started devoting more of my time into figuring it out. Again, with limited access to any glass artist, I had to rely on past Glass Line magazine tutorials, which were all examples of boro work, and a couple YouTube videos, also about boro. The principle seemed to be universal, however, and gave me the tools I needed to start doing flower implosions using soft glass. Although the majority of the implosion work I still see is in boro, I hope we see more soft-glass implosion work in the future. There are so many untapped styles and techniques floating around out there that need to be explored and shared...
- Dichroic Filagrano Marble - by Rob Morrison – In the last two months, I have started to produce marbles that I am very proud of and that are starting to be noticed by the collectors. I am pleased that my first article was well-received by the Glass Line community, so I am offering another.
This issue’s demo is something that should be in every flameworker’s set of techniques: the Filagrano. This demo shows how to make a large filagrano marble, but you can pull and twist these into cane to be used for sculpture, marble stock, or anything else you want to make. This also shows how dichroic glass can be added to the marble for some flavor...
- Lined Tubing Tutorial - by Chris Hayes & Matt McLamb – This is the process we use to make our tubing. While there are many ways to accomplish this, and many we have tried, we find “keep it simple” is the best.
This tutorial shows how to make a 3.7-lb. lined tube pull in approximately 45 minutes. The lined tubing can be made at any scale, as large as your lathe can hold it, or as small as you need, as long as the ratios stay about the same. Keep in mind that, when you go really big, you must adjust color ratio or the tubing will be very translucent. The only limit to the length is that of the color rods being used. We find that a select range of different sizes works, depending on the patterns being made. When going larger, it is necessary for two people to work together as a team...
- Digital Imagery on Lampwork Glass - by Sheila Morley – These images can be fused to plate glass in the kiln, and flamed on with a torch. Borosilicate glass (hard glass), COE 104 (soft glass), and all coefficients in between are compatible with very similar results. The imagery is permanently fused with the substrate.
In this tutorial, the bead is the substrate. I placed raw enamel imagery onto a glass bead and cured the pigment in the flame, around 1,300 degrees. The demonstration features two different beads; a flat bead, and a round bead...
- Glassified Ads - December/January, 2009/10 - Vol. 23 No. 4.
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In This Issue
- Planetary Marble using Heavy Wall Tube Encasement Technique - by Rob Morrison – I have applied this technique to make a series of planetary marbles, but this demo can be used to make clear encased color or frit cane that can be used for sculpture or whatever you desire. As always, the technique is only limited by your imagination; the possibilities are endless. This demo demonstrates how to make a planetary marble and...
- Developing a Personal Voice in Glass - by Paul Stankard – The goal of this article is to share information that will complement one’s artistic maturity while searching for a creative identity in flameworked glass.
Making significant work at the torch is a worthy goal, made easier when layering knowledge of the field over years of experience at the bench. One of the ways a creative person develops a personal voice in glass is to get in touch with her/his authentic interests and have the courage to be creative. In a conversation about this subject, glass artist Milissa Montini said, “In the end, a person’s voice is the culmination of their knowledge, interest, and experience,” which makes my point in a very succinct way...
- Clef à Mon Coeur Necklace - by Kim Vredenburg – This really isn’t a complicated piece, but it’s one that looks great when finished. I think this project would be good for those of you who are just starting to work off mandrel. While this particular piece was created using boro glass, the design certainly is doable in soft glass as well. Just remember: If you’re trying this in soft glass, keep it warm...
- Lace-Trimmed Twisted Cane Bead - by Shigemichi Yagi – (Glass: Satake).
This article was originally printed in the Japanese magazine LAMMAGA, Vol. 7. Translation by Emiko Sawamoto. Making a Latticino (Lace Cane or Lattice Cane)...
- Starting Out as a Glass Artist - by Kathleen Elliot – People often ask how I gain acceptance of my work into galleries. I offer some of my experience in hopes it will be helpful to others starting out.
The first, and perhaps most difficult, step toward having work accepted by a gallery is asking the tough question, “Is my work ready?” I think part of the answer to this question has to come from each artist. Ask yourself: “Am I proud of this work and is it ready to represent me in the world?” Another part of the answer will come from understanding the marketplace and developing a sense of how our work holds up against other art being sold...
- Gathered Fume Filigree Marble—“Cosmic Chaos” - by Christopher Roesinger – I have selected the techniques highlighted in this step-by-step because they will allow the artist to create a visually intriguing marble, or can be used in conjunction with additional concepts to develop a more dynamic array of design...
- Inspiration and Implosion - by Glen Gothard – I still recall the day I became obsessed with boro glasswork: In 2003, Forrest Schunzel, a local glass artist, came to our bead store in Linden, Mich. He wanted to know if I would purchase some of his work for the store. Funds were tight, but I bought a couple of things for myself. I became fascinated with a galaxy marble he made, and wondered how it was created. Soon, I inquired about taking lessons...
- Making a Male Torso - by Jesusita (Jessie) Blanquet – I started lampworking because it was cheaper to build my own studio at home than continue to pay for glassblowing classes and blow slots. After building the studio, I realized that, for me, lampworking was more fun and more challenging, and gave me the opportunity to be as detailed as I wanted to be. In building my own studio, with the help of my partner, the other half of Trevino-Blanquet Glass Art, I learned that regular household items can be some of the best glass tools.
Inspired by Milon Townsend’s work, I wanted to try my hand at making a torso. By creating a piece of the human body, I learned more about the glass and its properties...
- Maestro Pino Signoretto at the Eugene Glass School - by Bashi Alé – This past August, Italian glass maestro Pino Signoretto paid a visit to the Eugene Glass School (EGS). This coming together lasted several weeks and resulted in an impressive body of work that often drew upon mythology and classical Roman themes as sources for inspiration. Artwork such as the detailed “Two Warriors” and the stunning “Resurrection” are currently on display in the school’s George Kjaer Gallery. These pieces and the complete works resulting from Signoretto’s visits to Eugene are open to the public and available for purchase through the school...
- Glassified Ads - October/November, 2009 - Vol. 23 No. 3.
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Special Edition:
33 - A Celebration of Excellence
33 artist profiles of some of the most significant borosilicate FlameWorkers, artist selection and photos juried by Robert Mickelsen, Paul Stankard and Clinton Roman:
David Colton
Scott Deppe
Bandhu Dunham
Kathleen Elliot
Matt Eskuche
Suellen Fowler
Eusheen Goines
Darby Holm
Jason Howard
John Kobuki
Timothy Lindemann
Carmen Lozar
Christopher McElroy
Elizabeth Mears
Janis Miltenberger
Jay Musler
Pakoh
Roger Parramore
Dellene Peralta
Susan Plum
Dan Pratt
Zach Puchowitz
Purcell Nathan
Gateson Recko
Ginny Ruffner
Salt
Steve Sizelove
Milon Townsend
Jennifer Umphress
Travis Weber
Willis David
(This issue will be available online after the printed copies are sold.)
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In This Issue
- Create and Destroy - by Christopher Hurley – It’s amazing what a display can add to your piece. In one way it creates an environment for your piece and can frame your work for hanging, or it simply provides a place for the work to rest. Another great benefit of displays is that they let you use so many different materials. This point benefits the artist in many ways. Our core purpose as artists is to create with whatever we choose, so the more materials we use, the more ways we have to express ourselves and demonstrate our...
- Lidded Incalmo Candy Dish - by Eric Goldschmidt – Incalmo is an Italian term for joining two or more differently colored bubbles together into one bubble. In addition to being a good production piece for me, this candy dish is an excellent skill-builder for my hollow work. I think it’s a great piece for flameworkers to use to build their goblet skills...
- Fish Scale Bead by Ryo Ono - by Ryo Ono – Step-by-step Japanese fish scale beads tutorial. Translation by Emiko Sawamoto...
- Perception is the Medium - by Mark Lammi – When asked by a collector what I considered to be my primary medium, I responded by saying, “I work in the medium of perception.” I went on to explain that my work is driven by the idea that perception is the medium, rather than glass, paint, canvas, or the material itself. Everybody has a different interpretation or feeling in regard to art and I think, as with everything in life, it’s all relative to one’s perception. This line of thinking stems from my firm belief in another one of life’s great philosophical truths: that nothing is exterior to the mind. I like to view the space between the object and spectator as being active, and I encourage the viewer to create his or her own interpretation of the work. Oftentimes, that’s where the beauty lies. This relationship...
- International Hot Glass Invitational 2009 - by Bashi Alé – Las Vegas was hotter than usual this April as 12 teams of determined flameworkers gathered at the South Point Hotel and Casino to participate in what is being hailed as the largest flameworking event in history—the International Hot Glass Invitational (IHGI), held April 3–4 and attracting more 1,100 spectators and a large online audience watching the proceedings unfold live. The competition was held in conjunction with the annual Glass Craft and Bead Expo, which ran from April 1–5. The Expo was open to the public and drew an impressive crowd of more than 8,000. The show floor was packed with inspiring glass art, some of which was on display in...
- Paperweight Magnifier - by Annie Benjamin – Harry has been working in the field of glassblowing since 2004. He has brought his own unique style and skill to this field. His focus has been mainly on creating art-glass marbles. He has been selling his wares at juried art shows, local galleries, and flea markets. In a short period of time, Harry has developed quite a following and is an up-and-coming artist to watch. Here’s how to make one of Harry’s Paperweight Magnifiers. ...
- Caged Artifact Bead - by Louise Little – Copper electroforming on glass beads caught my attention when I took a class with Kate Fowle Meleney. I immediately fell in love with the organic effects that could be achieved by this technique. At about the same time, I started experimenting with metal clay. I wanted to produce some unique findings to enhance my glass bead jewelry. I thought it would be great if you could actually fire glass and...
- “Estilo Eclectico” - by Mark Lammi – As an artist, I have always found glass to be incredibly appealing. I am fascinated with the material—its many uses and seemingly endless possibilities. This has led me to create all sorts of various items and products that I can incorporate into my daily life and numerous interests. That’s why it’s no surprise that my love of lampworked glass would naturally coincide with my newfound love of building custom lowrider bicycles...
- Floral Beads with Bullseye Glass - by Denise Koyama – Nothing says “Spring” quite like flowers, and some of the prettiest floral beads can be made easily with Bullseye glass. The vibrant color and translucent quality of this COE 90 glass line makes blending easy and yields an endless array of subtlety, perfect for nature studies (figure 1). For reproduction’s sake, I used standard production colors for this tutorial, but, if you have access to the odd lots, some colors that are excellent for flowers are Lily White, Peony Pink, Blue Violet, Orange Blossom, Very Fine Purple, Orange Lollipop, Wild Mulberry, and Hawaiian Punch. Experiment with different colors layered over each other; opaque over opaque, transparent over opaque, or thin over thick. In addition, some of the mixed color rods have subtle variations that produce different effects. Note that some colors may react chemically with others. Sometimes the results are pleasing...
- How to Make an Octopus - by Tim Lindemann – I use borosilicate, or Pyrex glass, for my lampworking or flameworking art. Borosilicate melts at a higher temperature than most of the glasses traditionally used for glassblowing and, therefore, needs to be worked in a torch. For coloration, I use colored glass rods, frit and powder, as well as silver and gold fume. The recent technological developments in lampworking equipment and materials have allowed me to pioneer new techniques and create bold, original works that would have been impossible to make in years past...
- Glassified Ads - June/July, 2009 - Vol. 23, No. 1.
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