GOOD LOOK: Mentors for Students

Actor Dennis Hopper, On Art

Granchio in vetro nella laguna Veneziana

Laura Donefer, Red Deer College, 2006 Part 1

Susan Gott casting glass

Meet The Artist - Sarah Gilbert

Glass Masters at Work: Pino Signoretto

John Ditchfield Glasform pt 1

Glass Blowing - Caliente Hot Glass Studio, San Antonio,TX

" THE CASTING COUCH "

THE CASTING COUCH

interview with ANNA BOOTHE

May, 2010

Q: Could you briefly describe the glass casting process?

The process is anything but brief, but I’ll give it a try. I use several variations of what is a basic kiln-casting process using glass frit. I begin with a positive form, i.e. what I wish to turn into glass, made from either wax and/or clay. The clay is modeled and the wax is either direct-carved or cast in a rubber or alginate mold that has been fabricated from another wax or found object. Next, the positive is invested in a plaster/silica-based refractory mold. The clay is dug-out and/or the wax is removed by steaming. The resulting mold cavity is filled with crushed glass, either randomly or by placing the glass particles specifically. Then, the packed mold is heated slowly until the glass melts. More glass is added gradually at the peak temperature until the glass no longer “shrinks.” When the mold is full and the glass is fully melted, the kiln is programmed to cool slowly in a specific manner relative to the glass type, its thickness and other variables.

When the glass is completely cool, the mold is removed and the cold-working begins!

Of course, I have left out quite a few details.

Q: How did you discover your talent for art/ casting? (When did you do your first cast?)

I’m sure you’re not referring to my crayon and Playdoh period, but I did know that I wanted to be an artist by the time I was 5 when I began taking art lessons at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In terms of casting, I started doing that in graduate school (Tyler School of Art) in the mid-1980s. Before that, I remember being curious about the process when I saw students doing it in the late 70s at RISD, where I was majoring in sculpture.

There was no-one teaching kiln-casting at Tyler when I was there. So, what I learned came from my own crude attempts and from some information I gleaned from a former graduate student whose work partially focused on exploring the techniques.

It’s amazing that as little as 20 years ago, kiln-casting in the US was still in its naissance. Obviously, lots of it had been done earlier in the century, predominately in France under the moniker of the pate de verre movement. But, little had been attempted under the guise of the young studio glass movement, which up until then had its attention directed almost solely on blowing.

Q: Have you attended art school or an art programs or apprenticeship?

As mentioned above, I attended Rhode Island School of Design and received a BFA in Sculpture in 1981. In 1988, I completed my MFA in Crafts/Glass at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

Q: What artists inspire you?

Many! Most of the artists who inspire me are not glass artists. Although, the glass work that most interests me is that made by artists who make me think. I certainly admire and respect the prettiness of much glass art, but inspiration, for me, comes from a deeper place. Those glass artists who often inspire, or have inspired, me include Jack Wax, Michael Scheiner, Bonnie Biggs, Michael Rogers, Judith Schaecter, and Susan Holland,….to name just a few. Honestly, sometimes I am most intrigued by the artists themselves, more than by their work.

Among other visual artists who have influenced my work are Remedios Varo, Francesco Clemente, Kiki Smith, Frida Kahlo, and Kathe Kollwitz, not to mention many writers, filmmakers and musicians, etc.!

Q: How has your art evolved since you first began?

This question is hard and the answer too complex for a short answer. But, if I can mark when I began as being when I seriously began making work professionally and showing it in galleries, then I might be able to make a short stab at the answer.

I see the evolution of my work as being both linear and circular. In other words, much of what I think about now does resonate with thoughts and objects I made 20-30 years ago. Now, however, I am more proficient at process and my work perhaps appears more “polished” and well crafted. Nevertheless, my early work had a raw quality that I still enjoy.

In terms of process evolution, my early sculpture was baked. Much of the work was constructed from bread that I had made myself or purchased as ready-made objects. I discovered that there are other uses for foundry burnout kilns! (As a sidebar, I later spent many years making a living as a pastry chef.) Later, because bread tends to disintegrate, I transferred my baking passion to something more permanent.

Relative to my subject matter, the figure has always been, and continues to be important. Currently, I am interested in using segmented portions of the figure as metaphor.

Q: Has being a woman in the industry influenced your work? If so how?

Yes and no. It’s hard to ignore that I’ve grown into a field that has spent many years being dominated by men, in the studio and educational venues. I have watched that dynamic change, however, through a shifting balance of male and female glass artists moving freely across, artificial but clearly perceived, former technical access boundaries.

That said, I think I would’ve pursued what I wanted regardless of this dynamic. In hindsight, perhaps it was just luck that I chose to follow a process that was less popular among male glass artists at the time. So, I never felt thwarted or cast aside by what else was going on in the movement.

I used to make work that critics tended to label as “feminist.” However, from my perspective, I was just expressing myself from an artist-in-a-woman’s-body vantage point, without any overt political reference or intention. What I did notice, though, was that that type of labeling had the effect of being dismissive and, in some venues, felt like it relegated my work to a lesser category.

Q: What motivates/inspires you?

I suppose my answer depends on what day it is. My itinerant moods and general interactions with others motivate what I create as much as what I read, where I travel and my daily activities.

Without meaning to skirt specifics, I describe my work as a response to any of the above aspects of my life. So, for example, if I want to comment on a type of interpersonal interaction, I may create an object that emblemizes how I wish to (better) handle a future such situation.

Q: Did your upbringing influence your work?

Absolutely. Probably what influenced me most were the objects and books with which I was surrounded. By avocation, my father was an armchair scholar of ancient Middle Eastern art and history, specifically that of Egypt. So, I spent lots of time looking at books about Egyptian art as I was growing up. Also, he collected antique American glass bottles and paperweights. His mother had gone to University of the Arts (formerly, Philadelphia College of Art) in the 1920s and her paintings hung on our walls. Her father, my great grandfather, was a talented painter and woodcarver.

My mother, and other women in her immediate family, either by avocation or vocation, were or are great interior designers, cooks and seamstresses.

I’m sure all of these propensities are gene related, so I imagine that I was more or less destined to become a maker.

Q: What’s your favorite piece to date? Why?

My favorite piece is entitled “Growth.” I made it in 1988 while I was still in graduate school. It’s one of the pieces I will never sell. Ironically enough, even though it is 22 years old, Urban Glass recently used it for the cover of their Spring Course Catalogue.

The sculpture presents a composite female-screw form (a metaphor for a self-anchoring device). The figure is cast from highway beads that, when melted, left the form pulled and stretched, as if by gravity. It is attached, as if growing from it, to a large vertically mounted cast rock of the same pale grey-blue color. When installed in the ideal space, the piece gets affixed to a twenty foot wide wall, painted the same hue, and is lit softly. For me, the piece is about serenity. It’s timeless.

Q: What is your favorite or most exciting thing about Casting?

It’s a toss-up between pushing the wax around while I watch old movies, and getting suited-up in silver clothing and ill-fitting gloves to masochistically risk losing my eyelashes while I add glass to small openings in my molds. Yesterday, I fired a kiln with 26 small molds, each of which had to be charged with a different color of glass over about a 5-hour period. I add frit with a small bent (so as to create a spout) mandarin orange can and reach into the kiln each time. Casting can get tedious. You have to love it!

Q: What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?

Right now I have a bunch of balls in the air that all add up to trying to make a living in this economy through diversifying my efforts. After deriving my primary income from teaching for 20 years straight, it’s been pretty exciting and humbling trying to make it solely as a freelance artist for the past year.

I parse my time between making several different bodies of work (from decorative one-of-a-kind objects to more complex sculptural forms), doing commissions, teaching short workshops and traveling to do stints as a visiting artist.

Currently, I’m concentrating on making work for a New Mexico exhibit that opens in July.

Q: What is your average day like?

Because my studio is in a barn on the property where I live with my family, my average days are an ebb and flow amalgam of working in the studio and promoting my art or soliciting work through correspondence, etc., coupled with chores, animal attention, tending the gardens and exercising.

Q: Where can your castings pieces be seen?

Presently, my smaller decorative work can be seen at Leo Kaplan, Ltd. (NY), the Corning Museum of Glass (Glass Market), the Toledo Museum of Art (Collectors’ Corner), Kittrell-Riffkind Art Glass (Dallas), the Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh), the Liberty Museum Shop (Philadelphia), and the Works Gallery (Philadelphia). Currently, my sculpture is being shown privately by Judy Youens in Santa Fe, periodically by the Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia and in a variety of intermittent group shows.

Q: Has the recession affected your work/process?

The recession has affected the decisions I make about scale (i.e. cost to make) and the type of designs I pursue. In the past year, I have been making smaller pieces that are “prettier” and less concept-driven. Lower ticket-priced work tends to sell more easily! The larger, more challenging pieces tend to remain on the shelf longer. But, that’s always been true.

Q: What advice can you give to beginning casters?

My advice would be simply to cultivate patience and to enjoy the learning that comes with perceived failure.

Gaffer Q: What’s your favorite Gaffer Color?

I have several current favorites: Chardonnay, Pale Copper, and Hyacinth.

Gaffer Q: What is your favorite thing about using gaffer color?

I enjoy the clarity and brilliance of the lead crystal and the ease with which it polishes.

Bonus Q: Tell us one of your favorite quotes?

Two quotes:

1. (Posted in my studio) Garrison Keillor: “The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.”
2. Yehuda Amichai: “Behind all this, some great happiness is hiding.”

GAFFER GLASS USA

Einstein Shares His World At Two Weeks Old

EINSTEIN 2 WEEKS OLD

Birth of ... Crab

Glass Blowing Demo featuring Jayne Duryea

JAYNE DURYEA

Pino Signoretto Sculpting a Glass Hand

PINO SIGNORETTO

@ HAYSTACK GLASS SCHOOL 2009

mona & the girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

PAUL STANKARD is TEACH

Visiting Stankard Studio


links below take you to Paul's website & work

visit the OFFICIAL Paul J. Stankard Paper Weight site

&

Paul J. Stankard the early works

mona & the girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

CALL 4 ART

seeking submissions for possible publication in
1000 Steampunk Inspirations
an upcoming book by

Barbe Saint John

Publication date: March 2011

LINK BELOW

CALL FOR ART


Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books is an international publisher of high-quality visual and idea books for design professionals and creative enthusiasts -- crafters, artisans, and designers. (Check out our distinctive books at: www.quarrybooks.com.) We are seeking submissions for possible publication in 1000 Steampunk Inspirations, an upcoming book by

Barbe Saint John

Publication date: March 2011

We are looking for the finest Artisan-made examples in the following categories:

* Costumes and Garments
* Jewelry
* Accessories
* Head Gear
* Time Pieces
* Gadgets and Contraptions
* Vehicles
* Artwork
* Home Decoration

Deadline: June 1, 2010
Acceptance begins immediately; early submissions are encouraged

enjoy friends ...

mona & the girls

Gaffer Glass USA

Daniel Goleman

"GOT YOUR EQ GAME ON"

Meet The Artist Preston Singletary & Marcus Amerman

Collaboration Murano Glass Art

Meet the Artist Alex Stisser

Blown Glass Vase by Todd Cameron

VAN GOGH GALLERY

VINCENT VAN GOGH GALLERY

have a wonderful creative weekend
mona & the girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

GAFFER GIRLS BLOG TALK RADIO

our first show is this morning 4/14/2010 @10:30 PST

no worries if you miss the show it is a podcast and can be enjoyed anytime



CHUCK VANNATTA JOINS US LIVE THIS MORNING ...

Chuck began blowing glass at the early age of sixteen in Honolulu, Hawaii.He currently is creating large and elaborate vessels that are distinctive in their elegant shape and colors. He... has been a regular at Pilchuck since 1986, as a student, teaching assistant, staff, gaffer, and he designed the centerpieces for the annual auction in 1999. Since 1990, he has owned and operated his own studio in Oakland, California. He shows his work nationwide.

mona & the girls

GAFFER GLASS USA

CORNING GLASS MUSEUM BLOG

IS A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN GLASS

have a great weekend

mona & the girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

HILLTOP ARTISTS . ORG

using glass art
to connect young people
from diverse cultural and
economic backgrounds
to better futures

molly the barn owl .. live streaming

glass art from RUFUS BUTLER SEDER

our good friend Pringle Teetor introduced us to Rufus Seder's work ..


awesome innovations in the glass industry ..

Eye Think’s founder, filmmaker, artist, and inventor Rufus Butler Seder, has been fascinated with antique optical toys since he was young. About twenty years ago, he wondered if he could make a new sort of moving picture using no electricity, special lighting, or moving parts. After some experiment, he developed LIFETILES, optical glass-tiled murals that appear to come to life, move, and change when the viewer walks or rides by. For the past 16 years, Rufus has been designing large-scale, permanent installations of these “movies for the wall” in aquariums, science museums, train stations, and other public places around the globe.

THANKS TO EVERY 1 that ENTERED OUR


100TH BLOG POSTING giveaway

CONGRATS TO

DEBORAH SPENCE

he's movn' to ALASKA ..

THANKS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS
for joining in on our fun


mona & the girlS
GAFFER GLASS USA

SCOTT PARRISH Chalcedony glass DEMO

Sunday, March 14, 2010


Scott Parrish will be at the March ORBS meeting for a demonstration on the use of 'Silver' glass. While the use of both striking and reduction glass will be covered, Scott will be focusing on the line of Chalcedony glass from Gaffer Glass. The Gaffer Girls have been kind enough to provide free samples of this amazing glass for everyone who comes.

Not a member of ORBS or the ISGB? That's ok....here's a few words straight from the president:
"Anyone can come to the meetings without becoming a member we just ask for $3.00/person which helps cover the costs related to food. You don't have to be a member of ISGB to be a member of ORBS. Our membership fee is $20 thru 12/31 and then it's going up to $25/year starting Jan 1, 2011."

So come on out and join the fun.....see your old friends and meet new ones. Get some free glass and learn something new. And don't forget to join ORBS and become part of a great group of artists who love to share their knowledge and experience.

Hope to see you there!!!!

TIME & LOCATION
Sunday, March 14, 2010
2:00pm - 5:00pm


Aquila Glass School - 1628 N. Columbia Blvd, Unit A, Portland, OR 97217

100 th POST .. this year went by fast ..

OUR 100TH blog POST ...

GIVEAWAY

a

Melaine Moertel
Gaffer Glass lampwork bead

"from mom's private collection"

RULES .......

leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway ...

share with your friends .. (up to 6 of your friends ) ...
they must let us know you let them know to enter ...
so you get the extra chance to win

SO you can have up to 7 chances total to win ...

WHOOT WhOOT ...


winner will be announced March 17th St. Patrick's Day


mona & the girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

join us for the
15th annual BEST BEAD SHOW
feb 3-7

GAFFER GLASS USA

wide assortment of our 96coe lampwork cane ..

lustre's galore ....

STOP BY
we have samples for you at our booth
T-B 6

yes we brought plenty of

G109 CHALCEDONY & G1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY



Melanie Moertel is with us this year ...



the collection Melanie is bringing to the show is SPECTACULAR



mona & the girls

GGG SEPT. 2010 WORKSHOP & RETREAT

Gaffer Glass Girl workshop & retreat

lampwork workshop & retreat

*arriving Sundayafternoon the 5th
*leaving Sunday morn the 12th ..

*BBQ & Band Saturday.... weather permitting...

$2000






2nd shorter workshop is available....

*workshop will start Thurday morn at 10 am
*workshop will end Sunday afternoon at 4 pm

Thurday the 16th - Sunday the 19th

$1500

where :
gaffer girl mom mona's 3 acre home above dexter reservoir ..
right outside Eugene...

* if you fly into the wonderful little Eugene airport
we will be happy to pick you up....


*we will be enjoying each others company for the week ....


our teacher will be Melanie Moertel
m-f ...10-5 with 1 hour for lunch ..


2 evening classes in silver art clay .. tues-thur


* all gourmet meals & wine or beer included

* you will leave the workshop with $100 in Gaffer Glass

* gaffer girl sweatshirt & t-shirt

* DVD with pictures of your week

more fun :

rides in the evening on our 26ft pontoon ..

are you ready to get-away and have some fun.....

we have sleeping accommodations for 8 female students

mona & the girls

Charles Lowrie & Michael Angelo Menconi

Charles Lowrie & Angelo Menconi

manifesting reality... opening your 3rd eye

FALL OVERSTOCK SALE....

FALL OVERSTOCK SALE ..

CALL THE GIRLS TODAY

# 877-395-7600

THE WOOLIES.. who do you love

Northwest Community College Football League provides players a second chance to shine

our Chance Dollahite playing for Green River jc football team starting OT....

6 8" 290 .... getting his chance to shine this year..

YOU ROCK CHANCE....

Northwest Community College Football League provides players a second chance to shine

Posted using ShareThis

Gaffer Girls 1ST KISS OF APPROVAL

Ethan Stern receive's our first

*KISS OF APPROVAL......

Gaffer Girls & friend Ethan Stern at the Pilchuck Auction

MORE OF ETHAN STERN'S WORK............

Gaffer Girls now on Facebook JOIN US

mona & the gaffer girls

GAFFERGLASSUSA

GEORGINA BLACK .. lampwork YOUTUBE

fun Friday with

FIREWORKS STUDIO'S GEORGINA BLACK

this is a really great short video showing how to make a glass bead
thanksGeorgina.....


Corning Museum of glass ....
making glass beads ....



CREATE YOUR DAY... & HAVE SOME FUN

mona & the gaffer girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

20-50% OFF SALE ON SELECTED COLORS..... BAR & FRIT

Just a few pictures from our fun evening out at the Pilchuck auction Friday night...
what a fantastic time we had...meeting some very talented artists that love our glass.

adding to our excitement ...
the centerpieces were made from Gaffer Glass we donated to Pilchuck Glass School....

Celebrated Czech artist Jiří Harcuba designed the table centerpieces. Considered the world’s foremost master of the art of glass engraving, Harcuba is widely recognized for his role in transforming the traditional craft of engraving to a fine art form. Harcuba worked with a team of 32 artists at Pilchuck’s Stanwood campus this May to create the more than 120 unique artworks that merge his expressionistic style of figurative engraving with the vessel form. Harcuba hand-engraved pieces of graphite that were then hand pressed into pools of molten glass to create the medallions on each hand blown vesse

GAFFER GLASS SALE
BAR & FRIT COLORS

selected glass color bars 20% off

& glass frit 50% OFF...


have a wonderful creative day everyone....

mona & the gaffer girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

LORI ANDREWS .. koi in watercolor ....... SOME BEAUTIFUL INSPIRATION

VISIT OUR NEW BLOG'N FRIEND
Lori Andrews a very talented watercolor artist and teacher...

mona & the gaffer girls
GAFFER GLASS USA

ORDER G-1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY NOW SHIPPING NEXT WEEK

OUR NEW G-1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY TO ARRIVE BY AIR NEXT WEEK..

PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW... It's will GO FAST....

the beads above are made by Deb Batten with our G-109 CHALCEDONY
& our new G-1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY....



GORGEOUS Deb... to see more of Deb's work visit her etsy store ..
Look what I found... a bargain at $30.00 for the set.......



while snooping around her web-site I found she has formulated a new bead release for us all
FIREBIRD FLAMEWORKS sweet release is FOR SALE NOW

REMEMBER wednesday IS skype with the girls at the warehouse day.......

have a great day everyone

mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA

MEET G-1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY

first test beads for our new g-1095 BLUE CHALCEDONY

Deb Batten .. from FIREBIRD FLAMEWORKS did some testing for us
what do you think .. aren't the colors unbelievable...

thanks so much Deb.. they really are GORGEOUS...........


we will keep you posted on when our first batch will arrive..

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY EVERYONE

mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA

G066 RED LUSTER XTRA ..................... Vase by Pringle Teetor

Gorgeous Pringle...
have a wonderful show..

mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA

WIN IT WED.. yeahhhh I know I'm late ;0)

I WANT HER...............

SHE IS MY IDEA OF THE PERFECT GEISHA

my wonderful BLOG'N FRIEND Debbie and her fun blog ..


Mona!!

What a great surprise to see your comment!!

The summer was great...way too fast but wonderful to be "home" for a bit.

I used to say that the States was "the real world" but after this summer, I'm changing

that....here is the real word, the States is where I escape to!! :-D

I saw some glass beading stuff in Denver and thought of you...but now that I have seen what you and your

friends do, I compare everyone and really.....you guys do sooo much better!!!

I think I actually told one lady about your site.....hmmm....i was drinking beer at the same time, so.... :-D

As for the dolls...aren't they beautiful!! may the good-giveaway-Karma be with you!!

And yes...please...share with "your people".....the more the merrier....and maybe more

chances of people wanting these dolls and will help me clean out my area!!! :-D

As for shipping...you might ask the girls what they would advise for me...'twould appreciate it muchly!!

the dolls are fairly light and most of them are attached to the bottom piece of wood...I was thinking bubble wrapping their

little bodies and then stuffing newspaper or popcorn (of the packing kind, you know!) to fill the spaces.....

good enough?

have a wonderful weekend!!!

debbie

*To the powerful women I know.....
Live your life in such a way
that when your feet hit the floor in the morning,
Satan shudders & says....
"Oh Shit ... she's awake!" :-)



WEEEEEEEEEEEEE...........HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

maybe we should call this one

FUN FRIDAY



mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA


ps....

a friend told me the other day she had missed our 30% off sale that we had on cane...
did you miss that sale too .................... please sign up for our newsletters so you don't miss neXt time................

LAMPWORK LESSON with SUSAN CORBETT

in these video's learn how a glass lampwork bead is made...











mona & the gaffergirls
GAFFERGLASSUSA

WORDLESS WED in SEATTLE

mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA


PS...

VISIT MELAINE MOERTEL

A FRIEND NEEDs A HAND.....

HELP GLASS BUDDY .... BRENT GRABER

SURGERY FUND -BUY A SERENDIPITY HEART for $35.00

Brent will be selling 100 of these hearts over the next 2 weeks to cover his surgery..

THANKS FOR HELPING FRIENDS

mona & the girls
GAFFERGLASSUSA