Glass Art

More Info From GAS – Resources from their Newsletter

cathimilligan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:36:03 +0000

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…

Events at Corning – Some Soon, Some Not So Soon…

cathimilligan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:59:37 +0000

If you’re in the Corning, NY area tomorrow (I know it’s short notice) go by the Museum to check out a couple of events. There’s the lecture on Tiffany glass, during An Evening for Educators, from 4-5:30. And then hang out for 2300º: Glittering Traditions, where you can watch Kurt Walrath create hot glass goodies. This event is from 5:30- 7:30. Both events are free, just RSVP. There’s also musical entertainment by the band Entrain. Sound like a good evening of glass and music.

Now for the event that isn’t quite as soon as those last two…Corning had such a good time hosting the 2009 GAS conference that they’ll be having their first annual GlassFest next May, 2010. To be exact it’ll be May 27-30, 2010. Read more about it here. I know I want to go. Corning is a great glass destination!

Marble Falls Priest Makes Mosaic

cathimilligan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:04:21 +0000

As I was trolling around Facebook I noticed a post by my crafty friend Jennifer Perkins,of the Naughty Secretary Club, about a priest in Austin, TX that does gorgeous mosaic work. I thought I should share this with the readers of this blog. Check out the original post to find out the whole story at statesman.com. He’ll use empty beer bottles that people leave for him and cut them into small pieces to create his beautiful works of art. He also used tiles and stone, and some glass that he purchases from Italy. It’s very inspiring work.

Check out This Glass Artist on Etsy! West Coast Glass

cathimilligan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:04:13 +0000

cathi milliganGot a tip from a friend about a really cool glass artist on etsy. You know I love etsy if you visit my blog regularly. It’s the best on line venue to sell handmade goods. So, back to this artist…or should I say, these artists. Their names are Craig and Carla Hellemond and they’re call home, Chemainus on Vancouver Island, BC in Canada. I wandered over to their web site and I think their work is stunning! Check it out at www.roguewaveglassworks.com. Cool jewelry and blown glass. They also have a hot shop they rent out. I think I’d like to venture on up and hang out with them sometime. They really create lovely glass. And don’t forget to check out their etsy store at West Coast Glass.

Updates from the GAS Newsletter…Info You Should Know

cathimilligan — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:34:18 +0000

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…

Handmade Glass Bead Trunk Show and The Whole Bead Show

cathimilligan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:02:06 +0000

Amy Caswell

‘Tis the season for bead shows and craft fairs and trunk shows and backyard crafty gatherings. Everyone needs gifts. Crafty types need to sell people those gifts. So here’s a trunk show being held in the Ventura County area of Southern California. Newberry Park to be exact. Creative Castle to be even more precise. There will be six handmade glass bead makers, and for reasons of complete disclosure, I am one of them. If you live near Thousand Oaks, stop by and buy beads by Amy Caswell, Bernadette Fuentes, Jackie Mixon, Cathy McNassor, Debbie Sanders and myself. The show is from 10-5 this Saturday, November 14th.

Jackie Mixon

Now if you happen to be further south, say the San Diego area, you can visit The Whole Bead Show. It’s being held November 13-15. Check out their site for more details. At that show there’s a fine variety of beads, vintage, handmade, and many many more. The Whole Bead Show is a traveling bead show that makes it’s way across the country through the course of the year, even Hawaii. If it comes to your area you should check it out. They usually offer jewelry classes too. Check them out. As I said, ’tis the season. Shop Handmade!!

Stained Glass Pendant Tutorial

cathimilligan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:15:10 +0000

I’m not a stained glass person. I have nothing against it…I just don’t do it. My thing is melting glass. But there are really cool stained glass projects out there that should be shared. Today’s post is a tutorial for such a project. It’s simple and could be your gateway to larger stained glass projects. Stained glass is beautiful and should be appreciated for the work that’s involved. The cutting and grinding and preparing the layout, as well as wrapping each piece with foil and finally soldering each piece into place.

This project from about.com’s jewelry making page, and is by Tammy Powley. As I said, this is a simple project and has the potential for a lot of projects. This is for a pendant but there’s no reason why you can’t make links for bracelets or necklaces or make two that would make great earrings. You’re only limited by your imagination on this one…and maybe what glass you have on hand

SOFA Update…a Little Corning…a Little Paul Stankard

cathimilligan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:33:42 +0000

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!

If You Need More Glass Beads…Babe in Oakland, CA

cathimilligan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:51:45 +0000

Glasscapes by Mingo and Asho

Glasscapes by Mingo and Asho is one of the many exhibitors at Babe – Bay Area Bead Extravaganza. They make blown beads among other glass goodies but this is what they’re most known for. And on a side note, I love these guys. Super people as well as talented glass artists! And that’s what Babe is filled with. Glass isn’t the only type of bead you can find here but some of the best bead makers come out to this show. It’s held in Oakland, November 14-15, 2009 and if you’re in the Bay Area part of California I think you should go. Think of the holidays! You can do all your Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza shopping in one place. Also you can take classes. How fun is that?

Leah Fairbanks

Some of the other fabulous glass bead artists that will be attending are…JC Herrell, Leah Fairbanks (a goddess by the way!), Lisa Kan, Karen Nan Designs (fused glass), Jujee Beads…and so many more. Check out the exhibitor list!

JC Herrell

Blaschka Glass – A History of Glass Models

cathimilligan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:27:38 +0000

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...

Craft in America – Paul Stankard

cathimilligan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:01:28 +0000

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!

GAS at SOFA

cathimilligan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:53:29 +0000

Klaus Moje from the Bullseye Gallery at SOFA

I’ve mentioned SOFA, the International Expositions of Sculptural Objects and Functional Art Show because of the appearances of Bullseye and the Corning Museum of Glass’ Hot Glass RoadShow. This post is about GAS, the Glass Art Society being at the show. And why wouldn’t they? Art glass is functional. What they are offering is discounts for the show if you renew your membership. If you’re in the Chicago area this weekend check it out. I sure wish I could. There will be so much interesting art. And functional of course.

Ted Sawyer at the Bullseye Gallery at SOFA

What Do You Do With Glass?

cathimilligan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:57:21 +0000

My passion is glass. I melt it and form it into cute beads…pretty beads…sometimes beads that blow my mind. I also fuse glass into objects…functional art. A sink…a lamp…plates and bowls. Then there’s mosaic. Bits of glass and tiles adhered to objects and walls and surfaces. It’s all about color and form and function regardless of the technique used. What do you do? How do you make your glass sing? This is a bit of audience participation…we’ve done it before. Inspiration was the last bonus bead blog. So this one will be about what you do with glass. The first five comments I receive will get a set of beads I’ve made. Little accents. Some fabulous Double Helix glass. Maybe Terranova, one of my new favorites. Maybe Kronos. Could be Triton. Maybe Aurae. Your comments will determine your beads. But there are no bad beads…

Hot Glass Show at SOFA Chicago

cathimilligan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:50:11 +0000

I mentioned the SOFA show in an earlier post about Bullseye Glass and their exhibit. For those who missed that post, SOFA is the Sculptural Objects and Functional Art show that’s held around the country a couple of times a year. The next show is in Chicago and will be held next weekend, November 6-8, 2009. The Corning Museum of Glass will have it’s traveling Hot Glass Road Show there demonstrating glass blowing. How cool is that? Check out their page on the Museum’s web site to learn more about them. And check out the videos of what they do. Here’s a link to their video from the SOFA show in 2003. Very impressive. They have a full glass studio for blowing in a trailer they can just drive up to the venue. WOW!!

Roll ups – Glass Blowing at The Washington Glass School

cathimilligan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:51:17 +0000

I picked up both of these blog posts through Bullseye’s Facebook posting. They’re from the Washington Glass School. These are pretty cool. The bacon and eggs roll up is hysterical. You do know what a roll up is, yes? For those who don’t, it’s when you take a sheet of glass, usually fused glass and roll it up to be blown. You’ll see in the pictures. It makes transferring patterns and such to glass blowing possible. A really great technique. So check out the different blog postings…

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?