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Matt looks for the tin side of float glass.
The production of the wall of cast glass panels and installation into the steel framework will take place thru the spring. Next time you are at the studio, be sure to say hey!
Kiln Tips From Paragon Kilns
>From Paragon Kiln’s Arnold Howard-
Repair bulging elements. Please see Paragon’s video before attempting the repair.
HOW TO GET THE LONGEST LIFE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENTS
The lower the kiln temperature, the longer the heating elements will last.
Long holds at high temperatures add wear to the elements. Use only as much hold time as you actually need.
Contact with foreign materials such as ceramic glaze, glass, kiln wash, and glass separator can ruin an element. Do not coat the kiln walls, lid, or roof with kiln wash; it can flake off into an element groove and burn out an element.
Occasionally vacuum the element grooves. A build-up of dust can overheat an element and reduce its efficiency.
Repair bulging sidewall elements. Elements that bulge out of a sidewall groove are susceptible to breakage since elements are brittle after they have been fired.
Avoid reduction firings (burning carbonaceous materials) in an electric kiln.
When replacing elements, always use new element connectors, and tighten them to your kiln manufacturer’s specifications. Loose element connectors burn out.
Viva Tysons!
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Artist/author/coach Brit Hammer-Dijcks writes about artists and overcoming stagnation in an article in this month’s Viva Tysons! Magazine. Brit had interviewed and quotes WGS’ Robert Kincheloe and Tim Tate.
The article encourages readers to begin creating and is based upon the premise that we are ALL born artists. Picasso said it best: “Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up.”
Click HERE to jump to the full article.
BECon 2011
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This coming June, Bullseye Glass hosts their glass arts conference in Portland, OR. The biennial conference is a great way to see the latest BE glass products, tour the factory and network with other glass artists and educators. Scholarships are available – read below:
BECon 2011
CROSSOVER: A Material Exchange
Exploring the interface between kiln-glass and other media
What can the “makers” in the field of kiln-glass learn from artists working in other media? What lies at the interface of kiln-glass and forms of expression like painting, architecture, photography, digital technologies, printmaking and textiles? Exploring such questions is precisely the goal of the Bullseye Conference, 2011.
WHAT IS BECON?
Every two years, aspiring and accomplished kiln-glass professionals from around the globe enjoy the opportunity to gather, network, compare notes and expand their horizons. That opportunity is known as BECon (the Bullseye Conference).
WHEN IT WILL HAPPEN
June 16-18, 2011.
WHERE IT WILL HAPPEN
Portland, Oregon, USA—on the metropolitan campus of Portland State University, which is central to the city’s vibrant, arts-rich core.
WHO WILL SPEAK
A partial list of presenters includes:
Elizabeth Aro Invorio, Italy
Steve Brown London, England
Bruce Guenther Portland, Oregon, United States
Alex Hirsch Portland, Oregon, United States
Alex Hoare Winchester, England
Munson Hunt Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Tom Jacobs Portland, Oregon, United States
Silvia Levenson Lesa, Italy
Dante Marioni Seattle, Washington, United States
Richard Parrish Bozeman, Montana, United States
Marc Petrovic Essex, Connecticut, United States
Laurel Porcari New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Rick Potestio Portland, Oregon, United States
Judith Schaechter Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Shapeways Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Karlyn Sutherland Lybster, Scotland
Lino Tagliapietra Venice, Italy
Karen Yair Birmingham, England
WHO WILL ATTEND
About 250 artists, designers, fabricators, instructors, and students from around the globe.
PRE- AND POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
Are in the planning stages. Update – click HERE to jump to BE workshops.
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
Bullseye is offering 25 scholarships for students. Recipients can attend the conference for $250, less than half the standard price. To qualify, you must currently be enrolled full time in an accredited university or have graduated from an accredited university no earlier than May 2010.
To apply for a scholarship, please email the following information to marketing@bullseyeglass.com by February 13, 2011:
1) your contact information, including name, website (if applicable), mailing address, and email address
2) your CV or résumé
3) a short paragraph describing how you will use what you learn at BECon 2011
4) four to six .jpg files showing your work (no file larger than 100 kb.)
5) a list identifying each work shown in the .jpg files by title of image, title of work, year, technique/media, dimensions, and photographer.
Scholarship recipients will be notified by email no later than February 27, 2011. Once notified, recipients will be able to register for the conference at the reduced rate of $250.
APPLICATIONS
Will open early in 2011.
CONTACT & INFO
Contact conference@bullseyeglass.com for more information.
Click here and here to learn about Portland, Oregon.
Alison Sigethy Solo Show @ The Art League Gallery
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Eco-artist Alison Sigethy’s solo artist exhibit Understory, January 6 – February 7, 2011 will be featured in The Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center on Alexandria’s Potomac River waterfront.
Alison Sigethy draws inspiration from the natural world surrounding her – from her works made from natural fibers to sculptures made from recycled glass. Her multimedia solo exhibit, Understory, will be featured in The Art League Gallery, January 6 – February 7, 2011.
With this collection of works, Sigethy is creating an installation that invites the viewer to explore the often unnoticed, yet essential parts of the forest. She emphasizes the “quiet beauty” of the unseen through layers of glass fungi, collages that evoke the striations of cliff sides, and delicate snowflakes.
Alison works almost exclusively with recycled materials; the majority of her glass comes from the lenses of solar collectors. Dead tree trunks and driftwood collected on her kayaking sojourns are used as anchors for delicate crystalline elements. The use of these salvaged materials reinforces a pervasive theme in Alison’s work: we, as a culture, generate too much waste. How can we reuse “trash” to create something beautiful? After leaving the world of marketing and print production to pursue both art and kayaking, Sigethy was drawn to glass for its various hues and effect on light.
A trip to Greenland in 2006 inspired her to work with recycled materials to create her environmentally conscious work.
One of the Washington Glass School’s instructors, Alison was named Torpedo Factory “Artist of the Year” in 2010.
Understory
The Art League Gallery , Room 21
The Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
Exhibit Dates: January 6 – February 7
Opening Reception:Thursday, January 13th (special performance by Karen Reedy Dance) 6:30-8pm
Artist Talk: 7:00 pm on Thursday, January 20th
Afternoon performance by storyteller Laura J. Bobrow at 1:00 on Sunday, January 23rd
Judith Schaechter Creativity Workshop
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The Sin Eater Glass 25 x 46 x 6 inches
As part of the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series, Judith Schaechter will teach a Creativity Workshop on May 21, 2011. Designed to help artists explore ways to break through “artists block” and expand their creative practice, participants will engage in group discussions as well as individual exercises. On Sunday, May 22, Judith Schaechter will present a lecture on her work in the Grand Salon at the Renwick Gallery. The lecture will be free and open to the public.
Lockdown Glass 21 x 31 x 6 inches
Judith Schaechter, renowned stained glass artist, is the recipient of many grants, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Crafts, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, The Joan Mitchell Award, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and a Leeway Foundation grant. Her work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick and numerous other collections. Judith’s work was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and she is a 2008 USA Artists Rockefeller Fellow.
The Minotaur (detail) Glass 38 x 25 x 6 inches
Creativity is mysterious, miraculous and utterly crucial to an artists’ practice. Because Judith Schaechter herself experienced some difficult bouts of artist’ block, she did a great deal of research into this fascinating and elusive subject. How does one become inspired? How does one choose the one idea to pursue amongst many ideas? Are there techniques to improve oneself creatively?
Ultimately, Judith divided creativity into the following: Inspiration, Perspiration (developing ideas into pieces), Practice (work habits, motivation), Audience and Beliefs.
This workshop will begin with a questionnaire, which should identify areas of interest to the participants. Judith will then share a presentation on what she has discovered. Lively group discussions and individual exercises will follow.
For more information or to register for any of these programs please e-mail: admin@jra.org
New Work by Erwin Timmers
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Self-Scrutiny by Erwin Timmers24″ x 40″ x 8″ cast recycled glass, steel
detail showing interconnection of cast glass rods and knots
“Self-Scrutiny” is a new wall-mounted artwork by Erwin Timmers made from cast recycled glass and steel pipe. Erwin casts recycled glass into twisted tube-like shapes that he joins and creates forms with steel connectors. On the wall they form a maze that creates positive and negative spaces while highlighting the complex qualities of recycled glass.
detail showing depth of work
Glass for the piece is recycled – sourced from windows, household vases, and bottles. Unlike the glass made specifically for craft and art use, industrial glass is difficult to re-melt. Erwin has developed new techniques to exploit the characteristics of this material.
Erwin writes of his work: “My work references environmental issues of concern to me – primarily I see my artistic process as being involved with the process of recycling to create art…”
“I choose to recycle or reinterpret not only for reflection on environmental issues, but also for fun, play, and ultimately art. My work showcases the possibility and beauty of recycled material, while encouraging the viewer to consider their environmental impact.”
Erwin feels that one of the artist’s most important roles is to reveal the hidden value inherent within a particular object. His work encourages a re-examination of objects around us. By framing the object in a new way, one is challenged to rethink the value of everyday objects and one is encouraged to find aesthetic pleasure from what might seem to be the most mundane and ordinary of things.
In today’s society, the philosophy exists that once something has fulfilled its use, we should throw it away rather than try to find another use for it. Yet, finding new uses for discarded objects is one way to breathe life back into the objects around us. To see art where others see trash is one thing, but to lead others to see that art for themselves is what artists have been engaged in since the turn of the century.
Click HERE to jump to Erwin’s website.
Best Wishes for 2011
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The artists & instructors of the Washington Glass School wish everyone good health, happiness and creativity in the coming year –
Happy New Year!
Jobs Available at Washington Glass Studio
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This person will use deep bas-relief dry plaster casting techniques to help cast glass tiles for a building project. The technique is simple, and we will train the candidate to perform the tasks required, which include:
~ Casting Individual Tiles
~ Cutting Glass Tiles To Size with Tile Cutting Saw
~ Some Lifting of heavy panels
~ Adhering Glass Tiles To Metal Frame
~ Assisting With Installation At Site
This position will take place on Mondays, Wed, and Fridays from 10am to 5pm each day. The pay is $10 per hour. The job is estimated to last approx 3 months in early 2011. During that time, the candidate will have access to the studio and may produce work here.
Position #2 – Small Scale Clay Sculptor
We are looking for a person who is able to sculpt realistic figures of clay. These figures are approx. 3″- 4 “. This is an ongoing project that will continue for sometime. We pay $50 per figure, and go thru many dozens each year. This is perfect for the artist who wants a small money-making job on the side. You just must be proficient with your sculpting abilities.
During the times that you are sculpting, you also will have use of one of the best and most well equipped glass studios in the country.
The most important quality for each of these positions is reliability.
Please contact Tim Tate with a statement of interest & artist resume to: washglassschool@aol.com
What Compels An Artist To Buy Art
>DC based artist Sean Hennessy – writes in his blog “Paint and Plaster“ insights on how he and his wife – artist Rania Hassan – actively collect artwork and how they seek out work from local artists.
I wanted to share something very personal to me. our art collection. not pictures or anything, but the artists that we collect. My wife Rania and I have, over the last few years, been trying to collect works of DC area artists. We’re pretty committed to promoting and supporting local art and we have a lot of great friends that happen to be great artists. Place and community and important to us. We also want to shape our collection into something very personal and a narrative of sorts or our life, people and things that we want to be close to. Our collection is one venue and outlet for our creativity. I’ve talked to a number of people recently that want to collect DC art but were uncertain where to begin. I hope this helps those people… as well as just serving as a list for me to remind myself to buy art… and yes, its 100% subjective…
It is great that these artists choose to support the local art scene. I encourage everyone to go to local shows, galleries and artfairs – there are many ways to support the artistic life of your community.
Click HERE to jump to Sean’s list of artists and what compels him to purchase the works.