Tim Tate discusses his imagery and references to students at Duke Ellington School
Tim Tate and Sean Hennessey were invited to speak to the visual arts students of DC’s Duke Ellington School of Arts. The two talked about glass, the business of being an artist and about their work.
Sean Hennessey outlines his process and integration of electronic media into his cast glass panels.
The Visual Arts department offers a sequence of courses in drawing, two-dimensional concepts, painting, sculpture, photography, computer graphics design, and art history. As they develop and progress, students may also choose elective courses in computer graphics, print-making, AP art studio, sculpting, and painting. Students will begin assembling their best works into a portfolio in the 11th grade year as a record of production and to use in applications to art schools and universities.
Tim Tate and Sean Hennessey with art teachers and the principal of Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Upon returning, both Sean and Tim expressed how impressed they were of the artworks and the interest in artwork media by the students of Duke Ellington. Said Tim of the experience of working with the young students – “I’m not sure who was more inspired, Sean and I or them!”.
More interactions between Washington Glass School and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts are being planned.
Have you ever wanted to attend classes at Penland? Not sure what Penland is all about? Come join us for a discussion and power point presentation about one of the most beautiful and supportive artists communities on earth. Topics we will cover are :
~what classes they are offering
~best choices for your experience level
~upcoming scholarships and their application deadlines
~what is the Penland Experience all about
~why are so many artists committed and dedicated for life to help Penland succeed.
Please join us Saturday, Feb. 9th at 11:30am at the Washington Glass School for this labor of love. Few places have influenced the artist at the glass school and the artists of the Washington region as profoundly as Penland. If you are already a devotee, come join us and help spread the word about this unequaled opportunity for artists.
Perlow Stevens Gallery in Columbia, MO is exhibiting new works by glass and mixed media artist Laura Beth Konopinski, from January 5 – March 30, 2013.
Artist reception will be held January 12th from 6-9pm.
Laura received a BFA with glass emphasis from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with professor Lou Krueger (photography). Laura has worked in facilities such as the Pittsburgh Glass Center and the Corning Museum of Glass, which has allowed her to explore the many ropes of the glass-making processes. During 2011, Laura Beth relocated toColumbia, Missouri to begin assisting in the studio of glass artist, Susan Taylor Glasgow while concurrently working on a local farm.Since living in Missouri, she has continued to make glass artwork and has recently integrated her interest of organic materials.
“Everyone’s Spine” Laura Beth Konopinski
Laura’s works incorporate techniques that combine sandblasted imagery complimented with enamels.
“Withholding the Pain of Discovery” Laura Beth Konopinski
Laura states that her works “address concerns of how human emotion relates with the biological world and what that means with a sense of rationale…The transparency and optical qualities of glass provides a canvas that can be dimensionally distorted and layered in depth to emphasize the parallels between these worlds. I create a place that lends itself for an examination of physical components alongside my perception.”
>Deadline: March 13 Pilchuck’s EAiR program supports artists who are making a transition in their professional lives and provides them artists with a place and the time to develop an idea or project in glass, with the potential for realizing a new body of work:
SEPTEMBER 23–NOVEMBER 15, 2013
The EAiR program supports artists who are making a transition in their professional lives. Whether moving from academia to a professional studio practice, taking up a new medium, or beginning a new body of work, artists find this independent residency ideal for contemplation, research, and experimentation. The program provides artists with a place and the time to develop an idea or project in glass, with the potential for realizing a new body of work.
The residency requires a project proposal and supports kilnworking, coldworking, printmaking, and use of mixed media but not hot glassworking. The EAiR program is an independent artist’s residency, so no instruction is available and some glassmaking experience is required.
Residents have access to many Pilchuck studios, including the glass-plate printmaking (vitreography) studio; plaster studio; fusing, slumping, and casting kilns; flameworking torch; and coldworking equipment. No hot glassworking is available.
The residency requires full-time participation by six artists. Residents should expect to partake in communal studio clean-ups and be available to visitors during theAuction Tour, among other activities.
Included in the residency award is a stipend of US$1,000 per artist, open studio space, shared cooking facilities, and a private room in a cottage with shared bath. Materials, instruction, food, and travel reimbursement are not provided.
For more information, please contact Becca Arday, Registrar, atregistrar@pilchuck.comor 360-445-3111 ext. 29
A visiting Australian family did a fused glass workshop this past weekend. The Spiliopoulos family worked with glass as part of their trip across the USA. Washington, DC’s museum culture had them looking for ways to get hands-on in art media.
Two of the students – Victoria and Olivia are from Somerville House in Brisbane, Australia, and lively discussions on the nature of art, craft and design were the order of the day at the glass school. The influence of Australia in the history of fused glass was also touched upon, and the girls were keen to give it a go!
Victoria discuses craft vs art as the workshop continues.
Younger brother Tom incorporated his favorite theme – Angry Birds Star Wars. The couple hours at the studio was the first time since they arrived stateside that he has put down the ipad.
Tom watches Olivia cut glass, and dons protective eyewear.
The Somerville students impress the instructor with their skills at glass cutting.
Mum gets some quiet time working with the ball of energy that is Tom.
Tom makes his tribute to Angry Birds
Looking for some pigs to shoot.
The girls load the kilns with their glass artwork.
References to Klaus Moje? Contemporary Aboriginal art? After annealing the glass work is presented.
If you have not heard the news by now, you will soon. The Boston GAS conference for 2013 has been cancelled. There is no replacement site. There will be no conference in 2013.
From email:
The Glass Art Society (GAS) has held a continuous succession of conferences since its inauguration in 1971. In 2012, we celebrated glass and its history in an extremely successful event in Toledo. Today, after careful consideration and with deep regret, the Board of the Glass Art Society has decided unanimously to cancel the 2013 conference in Boston.
The Board and staff of GAS are committed to developing an excellent conference for our membership and we recognize that our members would accept nothing less. We understand the importance of your investment in the Glass Art Society each year as you travel to attend the conference and want to ensure that you have the best experience possible. Unfortunately, after nearly two years of planning and working hard alongside the Boston co-chairs, we were unable to secure suitable venues and indispensable funding necessary for the conference’s success this June. This decision is due largely to the internal complexity of the interdependent partnering agencies and the unpredictable time factor in which each independent decision had to be deliberated within each partnering entity. Essentially, the process and unforeseen problems exceeded the time frame required to launch and secure a fiscally responsible and logistically and professional successful conference.
This year, GAS will be providing numerous opportunities aside from a traditional annual conference. We have been working hard on new programs and strongly encourage you to keep watch for announcements of exciting events during the upcoming year. Members can look forward to webinars, regional events, tours and an improved web site with new functionalities, offering you a place to increase your knowledge and understanding of the developing field of creative work expressed in the medium of glass. Meanwhile, a strong and redesigned conference is in preparation for 2014, which will retain popular components but will also allow us to plan programs that reflect the expanded field. We will announce the GAS Conference location and dates in February. Also, ongoing investigations into securing an international conference venue continue.
There is much to look forward to in the coming year and we thank you for your continued support. The Glass Art Society is the largest and oldest organization for glass of its kind and the Board is always making their decisions with the organization and its members’ best interest at heart.
Sincerely,
Jutta-Annette Page, Ph.D.
Board President
The GAS website has no mention. Online rumors are that GAS 2013 is cancelled because of lack of funding and issues in appropriate venue acquisition. Bummer.
Jan 10, 2013: Update: Click HERE to jump to Urban Glass’ blog online interview with GAS honchos on what happened to Boston.
The Washington Glass Studio created shop drawings for each cast glass panel based on the original sculpture forms from the US Library of Congress Adams Building.
Sean Hennessey and Marie Schneggenburger
The Library of Congress had earlier this year commissioned sculptured glass doors as the famed institution provides much needed upgrades to the entry of the historic building. As mentioned in earlier postings, the Washington Glass Studio has been creating the artwork panels, collaborating with artists and artisans across the United States, from theatrical set designers to pioneers of the American Studio Glass Movement to make artwork worthy of an icon of the United States.
Washington Glass Studio’s Sean Hennessey works with Marie Schneggenburger and Erin Cumbo to take molds from the original bronze doors. After protection to all adjacent surfaces was in place, each the door bronze sculptures were cleaned and prepped for the mold taking process.
Marie Schneggenburger cleans and masks off the original bronze door sculptures.
The original moldings were sprayed with the silicone rubber matrix. The process took place in the summer of 2012, when the East Coast of the US experienced record high temperatures, and some modifications to the silicone process took place, with a step where we brushed on the material to ensure capture of the intricate detail from the originals. The crew started early each morning, to try and minimize their time in the sweltered sun.
The doors are ready for the mold matrix.
Sean Hennessey applies the silicone rubber with what looks like a prop from the movie “Ghostbusters”.
For a short flickr video of the mold-taking process at the Library of Congress doors – click on the arrow below:
After the molds and their “mother mold” material are removed from the doors, they are brought back to the studio for evaluation.
Tahmurath – the Persian hero – had some of the most complex undercuts that required additional molds of the deepest sections.
Detail from Tahmurath bronze sculpture.
The next step of the glass casting process involves one of the early fused glass pioneers – Ray Ahlgren. Ray Ahlgren’s Fireart Glass Studio in Portland, Oregon developed specialized techniques for the final firing of the cast and laminated panels.
Ray Ahlgren
Ray Ahlgren has been working with glass for over 40 years. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Ceramics from the University of Wisconsin and a Master’s Degree in Fine Art in glass at the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to starting Fireart Glass in 1980 he co-founded Bullseye Glass Company. In the early 1970’s the early Bullseye Glass Company made glasses for the stained glass trade. Founders Dan Schwoerer, Ray Ahlgren and Boyce Lundstrom worked on the problems that arose when melting this type of glass together in a kiln.
Ray Ahlgren and Dan Schwoerer in 1973.
That’s when they discovered incompatibility. To be successful, they then had to figure out how to test for it and get rid of it. The product they eventually developed was a glass that would be compatible with other glasses and withstand multiple firings without cracking during the cooling process. Kilnformed glass moved forward and developed glass into a leading sculpture medium. We were fortunate to be able to include Ray’s expertise and insight into the technical aspects, as well as his meticulous craftsmanship.
Using the silicone rubber molds, Ray made wax figures that were set as per the original mold, correcting any imperfections.
Tahmurath wax original is set up and dam for plaster is built around.
Plaster is then poured around the wax sculptures, and carefully brushed into voids to eliminate air pockets.
Ray Ahlgren details the plaster across the wax as Erwin Timmers looks on.
Ray fills the dam and levels the casting block.
After the plaster sets, the wax is removed from the casting mold, creating the void where the glass blanks will be melted into.
Inside the kilns, glass was fired into the plaster molds.
In November 2012, Erwin Timmers brought the Architect of the Capitol’s Library of Congress team to Fireart Glass studio to see the progress of the castings.
Ray Ahlgren removes a cast glass panel from the kiln.
Ray removes the plaster and explains process to LOC’s Yvonne Gurney.
One of the cast glass panels has the plaster rinsed off for review.
WGS’ Erwin Timmers points out details to Yvonne.
The completed panels were inspected as part of the LOC review.
The Library of Congress project continues on, with site work proceeding through the winter months. Parts of the refurbishment are not cosmetic, including installation of new electronics and security into the historic building. The install of the glass panels will happen in early 2013, and we will post new photos of that process, as well as some great process shots taken at Fireart Glass Studios.
The DC-area knows that StrathmoreHall houses the incredible Baltimore Symphony, but Strathmore is not just for the performing arts anymore – Strathmore features fine visual arts. The organization is in its second season of its Fine AIR program, where the center cultivates local visual arts talent by pairing emerging artists with established professionals in the community in its Fine Artist in Residence (Fine AIR) program and exhibition. Fine AIR residencies last six months, during which time participants expand their craft, build their audience, create a curatorial proposal, solidify their artistic voice and, ultimately, premiere a new body of work commissioned by Strathmore.
“Twisted” Drew Storm Graham
2012-2013 Strathmore class of fine artist-in-residence Drew Storm Graham expands his knowledge of artwork media by working in glass at the Washington Glass School. Multidisciplinary artist Drew Graham’s artwork references imagery steeped in the counter cultures of tattoo and graffiti art. Normally working with airbrushed laminated wood veneers, under the mentorship of writer and artist F. Lennox Campello, Drew has been exploring new artistic possibilities.
Drew Graham begins sifting crushed glass powder onto panels of glass for color samples.
Color, texture, patterns, sequence and how depth can be achieved are the goals of the glass workshop.
The culminating Fine Artists in Residence Exhibition will be on view in the Mansion at Strathmore beginning August 31, 2013.
About Strathmore
Strathmore presents and produces exemplary visual and performing arts programs for diverse audiences; creates dynamic arts education experiences; and nurtures creative ideas and conversations that advance the future of the arts. The hallmark of the arts center is the Music Center at Strathmore, a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex. The Music Center at Strathmore, located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, MD, is immediately adjacent to the Grosvenor-Strathmore station on Metro’s Red Line. For more information, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.
>The Friday Washington Post newspaper had a couple of articles that featured Washington Glass School instructors – Mark Jenkins gives a review of Rockville’s VisArts 25th anniversary exhibit “Review, Review” that featured two of Professor Tim Tate’s glass artwork sculptures.
The Dec 21st Washington Post uses Tim Tate’s “Lexicon Primer” (inset and detail of glass) as the teaser for the VisArts exhibit review.
The Weekend Section also featured Washington Glass Artists – Sean Hennessey and his lovely wife, Rania Hassan.
Rania & Sean – together they are one of DC’s power arts couples
Sean and Rania were judges of the Washington Posts’ Holiday Wrapping paper contest for kids, and the winning design, by Carolin Vorona was featured in the section, along with a pull-out printing of the paper. From the Post article about the selection of the Carolin’s work:“Each of the entries had something I liked,” Hennessey says. “Some had a great use of patterns, others had a sophisticated use of color and many had a fun sense of imagination. The glittery snowmen had a balanced sense of all of the above.”
10 yr old Carolin Vorona’s snowman entry. The judges particularly liked the Western snowman, complete with mustache, hat and horseshoe, but the sensitive and insightful use of the glitter medium cinched the win.
Click Here to jump to the article and photo gallery of the honorable mentions.
>Maryland’s Prince George’s County Arts and Cultural Heritage Division had made purchases of artwork for their permanent collection. Congratulations to Ric Garcia, Celestine Ranney Howes and our own Robert Kincheloe!
“Night Wave” (with detail showing texture) by Robert Kincheloe, fused glass
Robert’s work “Night Waves” is fused glass that references iconic prints in his version of ‘meta-art’
Prince George’s County has further demonstrated its commitment to high-level support for the arts.
Congratulations to Prince George’s County and the artists!
