June/July, 2012 - Vol. 26, No. 1.
April/May, 2012 - Vol. 25, No. 6.
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In This Issue
Why try moretti? The simplest answer is because it’s fun! Moretti offers a larger palette of colors than borosilicate glass. It is also much cheaper. You can work “Venetian style,” moving the heat in a continuous wave through the piece and bench-cooling it. Moretti also has lower viscosity, different cooling curves, and different COE (coefficiency of expansion), which changes things up and forces you to have a deeper understanding of heat base, the effects of gravity, centripetal force, and how those variables change with different types of glass.
I am a firm believer in the notion that broad horizons lead to greater understanding—that the more types of glass you expose yourself to, the closer you will come to a general understanding of the physical properties of glass. Armed with this knowledge, new techniques become flexible tools instead of static lists of actions. Who knows? You might find a novel design for your production boro work while making a moretti bead. If you are a beadmaker looking to see “what those crazy kids are doing,” you might take a Scott Deppe class and watch your head implode ... so much is possible
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Striking reds make up a family of glass colors that can be difficult to control and understand. Control is especially difficult because many factors go into the final result. Those factors can vary from studio to studio and torch to torch, creating a moving target that’s hard to hit. What might work at your home studio all of a sudden stops working when you visit a friend’s studio, because now you’re on a different torch and using a different kiln. What works on one project stops working for another, and you’re not sure why. But, if you can understand why something is happening, you can usually replicate the effect and improve your results
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A week-long goblet-making class at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, for flameworkers at the intermediate level, drew students at both ends of the experience spectrum. Certain fundamentals of handling borosilicate tubing and rod apply to any level of glassworker and should be of interest to Glass Line readers.
The experience of taking or teaching a class at the Studio exposes you to a myriad of advantages to round out academic lessons. This article discusses both technique and the extracurricular benefits of such classes
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It might be an understatement to say that I have an intimate relationship with gold and silver fuming – even more specifically, the honeycombing technique. Mastering this technique of fuming the inside of a cup with pure gold and silver vapor, and applying dots to an extremely thin bubble, has been maddening and, yet, oh, so sweet at times.
At a certain point in my relationship with the honeycomb technique, I began to look at it as a “martial art” and a “Zen” experience. More than anything in my flameworking career, this technique and application of gold and silver vapor has been my vehicle for growth. I don’t mean to overly romanticize my own experiences with gold and silver fuming, but prefer to define them in more general terms that relate to all flameworkers, no matter their form of this martial art
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This is a pretty simple tutorial. It just takes making a boro bead up a notch and has you do it on a beadmaking tool called the Emiko Big Hole Bead Mandrel. This is a beadmaking mandrel that was designed by Arrow Springs for Emiko Sawamoto. This tool was made for making a large-holed bead. I just make the bead through to the end and round it off, and there you have it: a candleholder. I use sizes 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 of an inch (image 1), but mostly the 3/8 inch size.
It is best to get a pair of these tools, because you may find yourself making candleholders with two holders. It is easier to make two at a time with the same colored rod and soaking time; then they will look the same. Trying to match one from a day earlier is hard
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Hearts — not just for Valentine’s Day anymore. Who knew?
Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas, Chanukah ... These are all times when we get together with loved ones and celebrate them, give gifts of the heart; enjoy good food, good company; and create a lifetime of memories.
Recently I was asked to do a Valentine’s craft show. I had about two weeks’ notice to get my act together and make something for guys to give to their ladies. I was asked if I could make hearts. I had never made a heart before
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The cane marble is a great project to demonstrate many important techniques and concepts. It covers the challenges of working opaque colors that are easy to boil, different ways to encase designs, and the application of dichroic glass. The color design for this marble is kept simple to shorten the steps for this article, but additional colors and layers can be added to enhance the complexity, depth, and character of the marble.
Before building the marble, gather the colors and prepare all the separate elements. Before preparing the stringers, program and start the annealing kiln.
A good program allows enough time to get to the annealing temperature while you are working and still have enough of a hold left to properly anneal the piece when you are finished. It is OK to leave pieces in a kiln at annealing temperatures for extended periods of time. A schedule that works well for this project is
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Several years ago, I decided to try making a shrunken head pendant. I think they are fun to make, and each one has a personality all its own. To dress them up, I have made them with bones through the nose or in the hair. For a feminine touch, I put a bow in the hair and make his-and-hers earrings or pendants. I have also used a tungsten pick to drill holes behind the lips to tie cord or string through. Now you, too, can make your very own shrunken head in the privacy of your own home (or studio) without the mess and long, nasty process that goes into making a real one
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- Glassified Ads - April/May, 2012
- Vol.
25 No. 6.
- Workshop Calendar
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February/March, 2012 - Vol. 25, No. 5.
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In This Issue
A Tiki Sculpture – Getting More Detail by Jacob Lee.
I feel that one of my strongest points as an artist is creating detail, so that’s what I’ve been focusing on lately. This article offers more observations than techniques. Certain things help to create detail, or the illusion of detail. I chose a Tiki sculpture because it is fairly simple, and there is no one right way for a Tiki to look. That allows for variations at every step
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A magical world of glass that would educate and inspire scores of participants for four days—changing a few lives, I think, and definitely pleasing to the glass gods … that was Glass Stock 2011.
I was invited to teach at Glass Stock again in 2011 and I was looking forward to seeing old friends, as well as collecting new photos for future book projects. I was not disappointed! This great event has been hosted by Debbie Crowley every Labor Day weekend for the last nine years in Oregon. Originally held near Deb’s home on the coast (not far from a carnivorous plant sanctuary!), it has been set up at the Eugene Glass School (EGS), with its great facilities and support staff to boot, for the last couple of years ...
This tutorial shows the making of a murrina without covering the image with clear or the color of the base bead.
Please use the image above to study how to make a clam murrina. You can use a star murrina for a starfish. The above diagram shows which photos correspond to the making of which section of the shell
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Amber Cowan is making fantastic glasswork for a $1per pound. Her secret is making rods by melting and redrawing cullet. She recently drove 300 miles to a West Virginia business that sells cullet to the glass industry by the ton and picked out a few hundred pounds to bring back to her Philadelphia studio. That batch consists of varied shards of different pastel-colored glasses and will be used in her new series, “Reincarnate to Wreckage.” She is undertaking all of this activity in addition to teaching flameworking at Salem Community College, teaching glassblowing, and serving as the Flameworking Artist in Residence at the Tyler School of Art ...
This series of article explores various methods of curving the axis of mandrel wound beads. Long ago, I was intrigued by curved beads. I wondered, “How the heck did they do that?” I was told it was done by bending after the bead was annealed, a Tom Holland trick. This simmered on my back burner for years until I started experimenting and soon had a reliable way to bend annealed beads.
This method is ideal due to the ease of cleaning the bead hole, which is reamed while straight. Also, there are no extra costs for mandrels (unlike brass or sleeves), curved reamers, or dies. One disadvantage is that you do have to wait for the bead to anneal the first time before bending it. Also, there is a learning curve to master bringing the bead back up to temperature without cracking it. Practice on simple beads, or ones you don’t care for much. The bead should not be too thick in the middle or it will wrinkle ...
To present the variety and power of glass beads at this moment in the 21st century, Glass Line magazine is dedicating its June/July 2012 issue to celebrating significant works of art in this medium. The competition is international in scope and will identify excellence in this unique glass art category. Publisher Jim Thingwold has invited three internationally respected artists—Sara Sally LaGrand, Barbara Becker Simon, and Paul Stankard—and a historian/scholar, Robert K. Liu, PhD, to select 40 artists/makers representing the best of the best to be documented in a single issue
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This delightful flower bead is a fun way to express a love for nature.
Kim Fields graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. She went on to build a career in television production, winning three Emmy Awards while at Chicago’s superstation – WGN-TV. Throughout her career, Kim continued to explore numerous outlets for expressing her passion for the arts.
On a whim, in 1999, Kim took a beginner’s lampworking class. Just a year later she found that working with glass was so fulfilling, she decided to leave her 20- year corporate career behind and devote herself completely to the art of glass beadmaking and jewelry design
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As my reticello exploration deepened, I learned to dissect color fades, stretching a three-color fire-fade into a seven-color variation. Mike Fro’s tube-cane pulls inspired me to develop an extensive color palette. Experimenting with plaids, I discovered a technique to create a Burberry-inspired reticello. Color is a language all its own and sometimes it was easy to find what I wanted to say, but uncovering the proper techniques to communicate it proved difficult. Cadmiums can boil up. Striking colors can burn out. Mike Shelbo’s color work is rooted in his grasp of chemistry and involves an acute insight that dictates how each individual color reacts to the flame. Chemistry proved difficult to master, but, over time, I built up a 27-color range of usable shades—the foundation of my color-wheel.
Hoping to explore pattern work more extensively, I enrolled in a Deppe workshop demonstration through Glasscraft. With Adam G.’s assistance, Deppe demonstrated an artist’s ability to bring ideas to life. Attaining the skills to manifest one’s concepts into tangible pieces requires vision, but, perhaps more, it demands relentless, hard work and perseverance. Deppe’s repertoire illustrates these prerequisites and his workshop inspired my checkerboard pattern
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My path in glass has been a beautiful struggle that has brought many unexpected encounters that I never dreamed could happen. One of the milestones came about with the third Night Blow. It's the realization that "great things come in threes"—great artists, mixing borsilicate with soft-glass education, and Night Blow.
You ask what Night Blow is? Night Blow is borrowed from the glass community in Seattle. The premise has always been to shape the experience of making glass. Our goal—Chad Holliday's and mine—is to introduce this region to the material and the movement, both of which are inherently about community, sharing, and discovery. This year's Night Blow brought together a variety of glassmakers, but all from the same family: the American Studio Glass Movement. It is an event that brings together education in flameworking and furnace glass demos—a collaboration between the two kinds of glasswork, with great people as both teachers and students—in Amarillo, Texas. And this year, finally our time came: to have Paul Marioni return to the event with a list of other participants who made up an all-star glassblowing team
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As an glass artist, whenever I look at a glass sculpture, I automatically analyze how the piece was made. It must be a game we all play. Whenever you get a group of glass artists together, they always share ideas and techniques. This is usually sparked by requests for tips on technique. It is common to hear conversations starting with, “How do you make______?” There are just so many new techniques and styles to see. This sharing of ideas is also what pushes artists to create something new. We strive to create something that will keep others guessing about how it was done.
No matter how complex a piece is, it starts with a basic selection of techniques. This new instructional series will demonstrate some of these concepts, which can act as new building blocks for your own artistic direction
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- Glassified Ads - February/March, 2012
- Vol.
25 No. 5.
- Workshop Calendar
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December/January, 2011/12 - Vol. 25, No. 4.
This issue:
Readers'
comments
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In This Issue
Christmas Tree Topper - by Beau Barrett.
The center for the star is simply a hub—it can be as basic as a clear maria or as elaborate as a hollow, blown patterned disc or ball. Any symmetrical shape can be built as the starting point for customizing the look of your star.
These can also be done as hanging stars by forming one of the tips into a loop. Make them small enough to hang as an ornament or huge enough to fill a window. They get big fast, so be sure to plan them so they don’t outgrow your kiln during assembly...
I think this is a great project to give a tutorial on because it incorporates several different techniques that all can be used individually or combined into many different projects. A vase can be simple and purely functional or extremely complex and artistic. Adding a sculptural element really makes your work stand out. For example, if you have a simple vase and add a glass flower you no longer have a vase where function is the primary aspect but a work of art! Adding even a small sculptural element changes the whole perspective.
This project definitely covered a lot of different technique and I sincerely hope everyone from the beginner to the advanced glass artist can take something away from this information. I feel it is beneficial not only to the readers, but for myself to break down projects involving individual steps and examine procedure and technique. I am extremely grateful that there is a market out there for this kind of art enabling me to continue to make glass art my life’s work...
Throughout the years, I have had many people ask questions about me and my work, but one of them seems to recur consistently: What do I find to be the most useful in my work, whether it is a technique, tool, or even some sort of inspiration? After all the times I had to try to answer, I found that it really isn’t any of those physical items that are most important. It all boils down to one thing: determination. I’ve found that, no matter what you have available, a bit of determination can almost always get the task completed. Traditional tools may help get the job done quicker, but you can achieve the same results with a strong desire to get it done...
When a new product is introduced into the market, it often holds the key to unlocking the door to new techniques as well. This was just the case for white tubing. White has always been a challenge for the borosilicate flameworker, so, when this tube became available, the first thing in everyone’s mind was not only how it could make current items easier to create, but also what new things can be made that were impossible to make before.
This time of year, I spend a lot of time planning for the holiday season. Most of my glasswork focuses on making Christmas ornaments. Last year, I wanted to make a solid-white ornament with fumed gold accents. Playing with coiling white rod of every type, including layering frits and powders, all ended up with a undesirable result. Some simply did not have the finish and quality that I needed for gallery pieces. Others had the look, but were so time-consuming to make that the value of the art piece would never be received. That all changed when white tubing became available.
This ornament has been a big hit wherever it is displayed. Those of you who make a lot of ornaments at this time of year will appreciate, as much as I do, the fact that these can be made in around five minutes each with a little practice...
I love the look of vintage floral pendants and marbles. In experimenting with different ways to create this look, I stumbled onto this super-easy way to achieve results. Give it a try and enjoy!
“Small and Beautiful”
Call for entries and submissions:
To present the variety and power of glass beads at this moment in the 21st century, Glass Line magazine is dedicating its June/July 2012 issue to celebrating significant works of art in this medium. The competition is international in scope and will identify excellence in this unique glass art category. Publisher Jim Thingwold has invited three internationally respected artists—Sara Sally LaGrand, Barbara Becker Simon, and Paul Stankard—and a historian/scholar, Robert K. Liu, PhD, to select 40 artists/makers representing the best of the best to be documented in a single issue...
I’ve been experimenting lately with various methods of curving the axis of mandrel-wound beads. Each method has pros and cons. The ceramic sleeve method has many advantages.
The sleeve impresses an interesting, industrial-looking woven texture into transparent glass (images 19 & 20). You can reuse mandrels over and over in one working session, and the sleeve can be re-used several times. Working in the middle of the mandrel makes shaping and decorating easier. When used without bead release, the bead hole does not need to be reamed. Even if you are not bending beads, ceramic sleeves are quite useful for making demanding beads that stress bead release, since the sleeve will not fail...
Everyone seems to like turtles. I enjoy making them and they are very popular. The information I found could easily be put together as a meaningful addition to include with your piece.
I have seen many different types of lampwork turtles and I have been refining my style for some time to produce something I feel is unique. Here is my interpretation. Try incorporating different techniques and color combinations into the shell back for some fun and interesting results. I have used nebulas, dichroic galaxies, frit, implosions, swirls, wig-wags, and more for turtle shells...
When the Sonoran Glass Art Academy (SGAA) hosted its 9th Annual Pumpkin Fiesta recently, associate director Alexandra Berger and Flame Shop instructor Renee Wiggins came up with this adorable blown-glass pomegranate bell ornament that is perfect for the holiday season. They thought the pomegranate would translate well into miniature hanging art. To make this project extra-special, they added kinetic and aural elements to the holiday-themed piece...
When I am working on a new subject for the first time, I think of it as a puzzle and try to identify the simple shapes that make up the whole. For example, every new animal begins as a group of forms that are often crude and static. It takes a number of attempts before the piece starts to come to life in glass. I am intrigued by the interplay of shapes and colors that come together in nature.
I find that, when I go back to make a shape or figure that I haven’t made in a while, the new piece has evolved because of new techniques I have developed since the last time. My work becomes more refined and somewhat easier to make. I think that’s true of nature as well. Despite its intricate designs and shapes, nature gives witness to the beauty of simplicity.
Using the natural world as a subject for creative expression gives you an excellent basis on which to evaluate your progress and internalize the basic aspects found in good design. The elements of unity, variety, balance, and harmony, all found in the natural world, provide a wonderful point of reference for an artist...
- Glassified Ads - December/January, 2011/12
- Vol.
25, No. 4.
- Workshop Calendar
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October/November, 2011 - Vol. 25, No. 3.
This issue:
Readers'
comments
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Special Edition:
A Celebration of Excellence
23 artist profiles of some of the most significant borosilicate FlameWorkers:
Christian Arnold
Beau Barrett
Deborah Carlson
Julie Conway
Kathleen Elliot
Ben Elliott
Suellen Fowler
Brayton Furlong
Jacky Geurts
Eric Goldschmidt
Robert Kincheloe
Carmen Lozar
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Magnum Mangkang
Robert Mickelsen
Jupiter Nielsen
Chris Pantos
Joe Peters & Peter Muller
Marcel Rensmaag
Ken Schneidereit
Jeremy Sinkus
Nathan Snyder
Jennifer Umphress
Filip Vogelpohl
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- Glassified Ads - October/November, 2011
- Vol.
25 No. 3.
- Workshop Calendar
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August/September, 2011 - Vol. 25, No. 2.
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In This Issue
Reverse axis Wig-Wag Marble - by Rob Morrison.
The wig-wag marble is one of my favorite designs due to the colors and patterns that are possible. They are still new to me and I am having a lot of fun making them. This is an excellent demo to become more familiar with tube work and its characteristics. It is a great way for the marble-maker to branch out into some patterned tube line work while still making marbles. The glass must reach the correct temperature to twist without folding over onto itself...
In the early 1960s, if you worked in glass, it did not take long to learn the names of, or meet, most of the glassblowers within a 100-mile radius. Two standout pioneers nationally of the four or five who influenced my early career were John Burton, “the father of colored borosilicate glass,” and Harvey K. Littleton, “the father of the studio glass movement.” They showed me a new range of possibilities with glass beyond practical use. Burton’s creative attitudes celebrating hand skills, and his inventiveness, led to a wide range of colored borosilicate glasses that expanded the decorative opportunities for flameworking. As a factory worker, Littleton’s approach to glass was difficult for me to comprehend and be comfortable with. He was teaching glass art-making in a university art school setting and his sculptural expectation for glassblowing was strange but captivating. Both men, one functional and the other conceptual, introduced me to higher levels of being creative in glass beyond scientific glassblowing...
When World Glass presented its first-ever FlameOff in Corning, New York, over the last weekend in May, during the city’s second annual GlassFest celebration, with special guest Paul Stankard, thunderstorms threatened to blow us away and make us soaking wet at the original site — a park pavillion. An emptied parking garage turned out to be the perfect venue for this event, and we hope to keep it going as a street event for years to come...
Creating this chandelier was eye-opening because, in developing it, I realized that there were aspects of torchworked glass that would let me make chandeliers that could not be made with soft glass. I wanted to make a chandelier whose pieces could be supported individually, would not have to rely on the pieces under them for support, and could be positioned while molten. In contrast to Chihuly’s chandeliers, which are sculptural and primarily lit only from the exterior, it was essential, to me, that my designs have interior light sources. Technically speaking, this meant that I had to make them so that they could be wired legally and so the bulbs could be easily changed. This is what I was up against: first, to make something technically sound; second, to find a creative individual voice; and, third, to create something that I had not seen before...
Awhile back, after I had accumulated a bunch of these “orphan” implosions, I decided to stick them back in the flame and come up with a usable piece. My experimentation led to the discovery of these spiral-pod pendants. They are cute and perfectly respectable “upcycled” items that make a great affordable addition to your show inventory. This tutorial covers the basics of turning an implosion pendant into a spiral pod....
Making Deep-well Marbles - by Scott Thompson.
Marble-making is a fascinating and addicting process of creation. In some respects, you are making a miniature planet or world with each endeavor. I call this piece a “Deep-well Marble,” so named to reflect the deep-well effect that it gives of looking into a deep well of water, air, or the cosmic space time continuum...
A Simple Aquatic Sculpture - by Danny Sullivan.
My point is mainly to emphasize that it is easy to learn skills on your own; I always prided myself in being smart enough to figure things out. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you get the chance to take a class from someone, do so! The expense is well worth it and it will improve your skill sets exponentially.
Now let’s work on an aquatic sculpture...
This article portrays the technique referred to as Reticello, a type of filigree glass developed on the island of Murano sometime in the 16th century. The cane or rods of separate blown vessels are spun in opposite directions, then fused together by inserting one into the other. The result is a intricate net-like pattern. Traditionally, this is preformed at the furnace. The flameworker can create a similar effect at the torch.
There are a few ways to achieve this pattern. The steps shown here are a combination of techniques I have picked up and developed along the way. This method allows for making anywhere from seven to 12 sections...
One reason to mix your own colors is to get those expensive colors at a more reasonable cost. Another is to make your own custom colors. I have found a third reason: the joy of discovering and understanding the chemical reactions that create color in glass. This additional understanding can improve your work and help you create your own special effects
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Realistic Fantasy Eyes - by Jeannie Cox.
I love fantasy art—faeries, dragons, etc.—but also love realism in my pieces. For this reason, I spent months experimenting solely on the eyes for my Dragon Eye and other eye pendants and beads. I wanted a unique, realistic-looking eye, which I could not achieve with murrini. I have developed this multi-step, layered eye—each made individually—to achieve the realism and depth I was searching for...
- Glassified Ads - August/September, 2011
- Vol. 25, No. 2.
- Workshop Calendar
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June/July, 2011 - Vol. 25, No. 1.
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In This Issue
Good Things Come in Small Packages—Creating a Miniature Perfume Bottle - by Amy Trescott.
Although I’ve had a love affair with glass art since I was a youngster, it wasn’t until my husband helped me set up my own studio in 1998 that I began lampworking— and I’m still completely hooked. Over the past 13 years, I have developed a fascination for how the two worlds of science and art come together to give us the wonderful world of lampworking. I’ve been blessed with a loyal clientele over the years and have been fortunate to have my glasswork featured in various books, magazines, calendars, and television.
I look forward to expanding my designs and acquiring new skills as I move forward with my lampworking...
For more than 2,000 years, glass artists have been creating murrini. I am so enamored with the process and resulting art form that I am committed to the continued development of this specialized glass art. (You can learn about my general murrini building process in my demonstration, “’Autumn Leaves in Glass’—Murrine Art Captures Nature’s Design,” in Glass Line, Vol. 22, Number 2.)
The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the ways I have been exploring using murrini beyond marble and paperweight inclusions and the roll-up hot glass process I have used in the past...
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a nebula as “any of numerous clouds of gas or dust in interstellar space.” If you have seen the deep-space pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, you know how incredible this area of the natural world can be. (If you haven’t seen the pictures, you really should.)
I have always been drawn to making pendants. There is something about a small piece of wearable art that brings a certain satisfaction to me. Of all the styles of pendants and marbles I make, one of my favorites — and most popular sellers are nebulas, or galaxy style. They look like a scene from deep space, and no two are alike...
About a year ago, I was browsing through some glassblowing videos on YouTube when I ran across a video on making a hummingbird feeder, by Brian Zingmark (bzglass). I watched the video a couple of times and decided to give it a go. While I was making the first one, I started to think about why you always saw red in these feeders — the feeder was red, the sugar water was red. After a bit of research on the subject, I found that one of the first feeders was designed by Laurence J. Webster of Boston sometime between 1929 and 1935; first produced by an MIT glassblower; and not commercially available until around 1950. I also found that colored sugar water isn’t really necessary, but that the color red is an attractant to the little birds...
At the 11th annual International Flameworking Conference, glass artists from around the globe encouraged students to challenge the boundaries of using glass as a creative medium.
Held at the Salem Community College (SCC) Paul J. Stankard Studio and Lab at the Samuel H. Jones Glass Education Center in Alloway, NJ, from March 18–20, 2011, the event featured well-known glass masters. More than 300 people attended the three-day conference, sponsored by the SCC Foundation and supported by several businesses.
Through demonstrations, slideshows, and networking, SCC glass students and others learned...
We all have our own stories about and reasons for how and why we got into working with glass, just as we all have our own reasons for why we stick with it and make it a long-term commitment. I don’t know how my experiences and reasons compare with others, but I do know that the opportunity to work with glass has constantly challenged my perspective on what it means to be independent, responsible, and creative. It has forced me to look at many aspects of my life as a whole and ask questions that, when properly explored, facilitated learning and growth, and eventually led to a sense of freedom in multiple forms. There have been a myriad of challenges — emotional, intellectual, and technical — over the years. After 10 years of working in this medium, I wanted to share a little of my experience in and perspective on this challenging career path...
Early each morning before sunrise, when I enter the studio, I begin the day with a prayer or meditation by touching the mezuzah that hangs in the door frame. I thank God for the day and ask Him to bless my workplace. This moment is important because I embrace the idea that labor is a prayer. I’m honoring God by realizing my full potential as a human being. I believe that the spiritual, however you define it, should be an essential component in one’s art-making. The studio is more than a place to work; it’s a holy space where the spiritual dimension of art-making nurtures a respect for discipline while working toward one’s personal best.
The tranquility that comes from touching the mezuzah follows me into the studio as I begin the day’s activities, which start with walking to the control panel to check the status of the annealing ovens. I’m proud of my computerized controller. When I think back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, it’s bittersweet because I remember...
Laurie Salopek is a real-life example of a person juggling work, aging parents, and the love of her artistic life—flameworking. She creates her beads and flameworked figures in her home studio while she manages a fulltime “other” career and cares for her parents, who are now in their 80s. “As they get older, they both need more and more attention from me,” she says. On any given day, Laurie will have put in a full schedule, but still takes time to pursue her interest in the human figure and her glasswork—she usually spends about one day a week on her art, with some class time when possible ...
Also included is her tutorial: Making a Cameo Mermaid Bead
At whatiswhatis art studio in Boone, NC, whatiswhatis is both the question and the answer. Whatiswhatis is a think tank that creates an environment for individuals and groups to brainstorm in infinite ways. The studio has ample space for flameworkers, a hot shop, and a metal fabrication area. On a daily basis, artists are creating new age art on many levels at the studio. ...
As Glass Line celebrates 25 years of service to the glassworking community, I would like to share what I think is the most important aspect of fully understanding the process of flameworked, colored, borosilicate glass: the ultimate control over your heat base and flame chemistry. When you truly understand how and why things are working, it is much easier to create what is in your head and push your work to the next level. This true understanding can only come from a little education, some exploration, and the right set-up.
While there is often more than one way to do many things in glass, there is usually only one perfect way to do something. By having inline regulators within easy reach, and by manifolding a little compressed air into your fuel line, you will have a flameworking station that will help you find the perfect heat, not limit your options by running your torch at the lowest common denominator. When it is easier to control your torch, you are more apt to experiment to find just the right flame for the job. When you have just the right flame, your heat base improves and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to do just about everything...
- Glassified Ads - June/July, 2011
- Vol. 25, No. 1.
- Workshop Calendar
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April/May, 2011 - Vol. 24, No. 6.
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