Glassworks looks like a great glass time. They have 3 different working studios as well as a mobile studio. That’s so cool!! There are two galleries and there in the heart of downtown Louisville. They have a really cool thing they offer which is walk up workshops. Come on in and make something. There’s a choice of projects. Make one or two or three and go. You can pick up your project the next day or have it mailed to you. They do parties and group classes. I love this place and I’ve never even been there. And for the GAS conference they’ll be hosting a bunch of events and demos. Can’t wait to go.

Oben Albright

The most recent newsletter is full of information that needs to be passed on to my raders. There’s a bit of show info…video info…and a hot shop in France. Let’s go!! Let’s start with the 8th Annual Ugly Necklace Contest put on by Land of Odds in Nashville, TN. Check out their web site for more info @ www.landofodds.com. You’ll need to come up with something really “special”. The deadline is March 15, 2010. First prize is  a $992.93 shopping spree on their website. Not bad…

Past entry to Ugly Necklace contest

Now let’s go to France to cleanse ourselves a bit…there’s a hot shop for rent in France. Hot damn!! It’s at Luniverre Gallery in Cordes Sur Ciel. For info…www.luniverre.com. So if you’re going to France and need to make some glass…

And the last thing for this post…The Zen of Flameworking, You Tube video’s by Debbie Tarsitano. She’s created a series of videos that give how to’s on flameworking and its meditative qualities. Check it out. And if you haven’t become a member of the Glass Art Society you should…

Carmen Vetter

Just got the new GAS newsletter in the mail so I thought I’d share some of the information they are providing in it in case you haven’t received yours. If you have any important glass information you’d like to share with the newsletter people you need to contact them by December 1st for the March 2010 issue. Email to Katie@glassart.org. I’m not listing everything in the newsletter in this post but will try to get it all out throughout the upcoming week or two.

Boyd Sugiki

First thing I’ll let you know about is an upcoming conference…The Midwest Glass Experience that’s being held at the Third Degree Glass Factory, February 12-14, 2010. For info contact info@stlglass.com. I’ve posted about the Third DegreeGlass Factory in the past. This could definitely be a glass good time. There will be lectures and workshops…

Or how about a one or two month apprenticeship in Tuscany? Uh, yeah!! Check out www.glassisland.com to find out more information. This looks very interesting. If any of you do this please let me know so I can write about it!

And finally…for this post, Remarkable Glass is an upcoming show at Broadfield House Glass Museum c/o Contemporary Glass Society in England and they’re looking for artists. For more information on this show contact www.cgs.org.uk.

Hope this info helps inform you…

Paul Stankard

I know I’ve spoke a bunch about SOFA, it was held this past weekend in Chicago. I’ve spoken about Bullseye Glass and their exhibit there as well as Corning Museum and their Traveling Hot Glass Roadshow. And on a separate post I wrote about Paul Stankard. Well, I’m combining SOFA, Corning and Mr. Stankard in this post. I was wandering on Facebook (where I get some of my information on the World Wide Web) and noticed a post by Corning about an interview with Paul Stankard. I thought I should share that. So here goes…

Here’s the post from Facebook. I’m not sure if you have to be a member of Facebook to view this. Do check out Corning Museum’s You Tube page for a multitude of videos related to glass. It’s amazing information!

This is glass...

Some of the most amazing glass objects were created at the turn of the last century, not this one. Specimens and models of flowers and sea creatures so realistic you can hardly believe they were made of glass. These pieces were made by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son glass working team. Their work can be seen in the museums at Corning and Harvard as well as other places around the world. I stumbled on a video on You Tube that provides a history of Leopold and his son and their work. I highly recommend watching it if you love glass.

this is also glass...

When Harvard saw the flowers and plant life that Leopold had created he was commissioned to create models of sea creatures for the Harvard Museum. I am certainly not doing their story justice so I highly recommend you learn more about the Blaschkas. I know it has made me appreciate the glass technology I am allowed to work with.

and yes, this too is glass...

Swarming Honeybee 2006

Paul Stankard is a glass god. That is a fact. I have been fortunate enough to have met him years ago at the Gathering of the Society of Glass Bead Makers that was in Corning. He was the keynote speaker. His glass work is so incredible and radiates his love of nature and glass. You can watch him work in a clip from the most recent Craft in America episode that’s on You Tube. I found this last night and was just mesmerized by his work. And of course check out his web site for all of his work and even a tutorial. So amazing!

Four Seasons

Check out the root formations in the larger piece. They’re people…root people. When Paul was in Corning he made a bead. He was very proud of the bead. Us bead makers were stunned at how happy he was to make a bead. It had a root person inside it. A little naked man. On the other side there was what looked like a bean, from the outside…but when you looked through the bead you saw that it spelled fertility on the bean. We were in awe off this man. He donated it to the silent auction to help the Society of Glass Bead Making’s fund raising. It went for $3100. Enough said…I wish I had a picture to share with you. Just go to his web site and enjoy! And check out his poetry too!

The Washington Glass School is in Maryland not Washington state like most would expect. And the Washington Glass School is run out of the Washington Glass Studio. They do some pretty cool work. Or hot depending on your perspective. Isn’t funny how something hot can be so cool?

So you want to fuse glass. But how do you get started? Well, I’ve been looking up different sites trying to find well rounded advice on what to do, how to do it and where to do it. I’m going to share a couple of different sites and you can check out what they have to offer and see what works for you. A little from here and a little from there.

First we’ll start with Tammy Powley at about.com and her advice on starting up fusing. Tammy has tons of great advice on jewelry making in general so you may want to sign up for some of her regular newsletters. She covers many aspects of setting up a starter studio which really doesn’t require a lot of space but does require you keep things organized and clean. It is glass you’re going to be working with after all.

The other site to check out is craftstylish.com. She gives good advice on setting up. A lot of the same things are covered but that’s because that information is universal for setting up a small glass fusing studio. In a future posting we’ll cover what it takes to take your studio to the next level. More equipment, glass storage ideas and other goodies.

Over in the resources section of the web site you can find links to suppliers and artists and forums. More info than you need like I said. But very useful info…there’s a calender of events, and of course if you’d like you can subscribe to the actual publication as well as their sister magazines, Glass Patterns and Profitable Glass.

I blog about glass related events and places to go but I haven’t written much about glass art history. I’d like to present a posting ocsasionally on an aspect of how we got to this place with glass. Who first discovered how to melt glass and why. Take out a little mystery…I’ve been to the Corning Museum of Glass and felt rather insignificant when looking at ancient glass work. We are so privileged to have the technology and equipment that we have at our disposal.

Our first trip down history lane is to Mesopotamia where it’s possible the first glass was made accidently while smelting copper about 40 centuries ago. But check out the article on the Musuem’s site as well as their other historical information. It’s fascinating.

But if you’re in the LA area and you need beads, and who doesn’t, come on down to the Bazaar and pick some up. there will be handmade glass, vintage, glass, ancient glass…ethnic, semi-precious. The list goes on. It’s a good time for all!

Matthew Cummings

The Glass Art Society Board of Directors is requesting proposals for lectures, demonstrations, and panels, or suggest a topic or presenter, for the Tucson, Arizona conference that incorporate the theme, Viva el Vidrio. Check out their web site to find out what you need to do to submit your proposal.

And start planning now to attend the 2010 conference which will mark the Glass Art Society’s 40th Anniversary. It’s being held in Louisville, KY. I know I’m making my plans to go. The theme for the conference is “Ingenious Possibility” and is being held from June 10-12, 2010. It should be a fabulous event. Try to attend…