Using an art exhibition as a bridge between countries, Artomatic, the DCCAH, the City of Sunderland, England and the UK National Glass Center have collaborated to bring together the Sister Cities of Sunderland, England and Washington, DC in a show that celebrates the medias of glass and clay, as well as celebrating the relationships between the two cities.
We are pleased to invite you to attend the opening reception of the International Glass and Clay 2013, on Friday evening, March 1 from 5:30-8pm, hosted at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C.
Visit our special website for more information about the exhibition http://glassandclay.org/ – There are planned events during the show, including demos, roundtable discussions, wine tastings and more!
Charles Bray at the unveiling of his glass and slate sculpture work at Lancaster University, 2009.
It is with great sadness that we learned that UK glass artist Charles Bray passed away suddenly, but peacefully, Sunday afternoon. Charles was the instigator of the Glass & Ceramics course at SunderlandUniversity and supportive founder member of Cohesion Glass network, as well as being a member of the Society of Glass Technologists. In 1976, he attended the Hot Glass Conference at the Royal College of Art which proved a major watershed in the development of Studio Glass in England.
Charles also authored glass art & technology reference books.
Subsequently, he was instrumental in setting up British Artists in Glass (now the Contemporary Glass Society) to promote and support the work of glass artists in the UK.
Charles’ glass sculptures were featured in the Glass 3 exhibit that featured glass artwork by Sunderland, Washington, DC and Toldedo artists held in Georgetownin 2008.
Charles Bray’s glass & stone works were strongly represented in the historic 2008 US/UK joint glass show “Glass 3”.
London, England’s ZeST Contemporary Glass Gallery is hosting BLAST! 2012, the 10th anniversary exhibition of Cohesion Glass Network. Cohesion Glass Network is an initiative supported by the UK’s Sunderland City Council as a way to create a business network for glassmakers and artists.
Tim Tate
To celebrate this landmark, ZeST Gallery has invited eight of Cohesion’s founding members to exhibit their latest artworks and provided the opportunity to select an artist to be a “partner” and show work alongside them.
Roger Tye
These eight artists are Criss Chaney, Dominic Fonde, Zoe Garner, Ruth Lyne, Joanne Mitchell, Claudia Phipps, Roger Tye and Cate Watkinson. They have selected partners whose work they admire, or find complementary to their own, or in some cases they have joined forces to create unique collaborative work, exploring and developing themes and concepts held in common. Some, but not all, of the partner artists are Cohesion members, and all but one of the partners are artists working in glass.
Michael Janis
Cohesion artist Joanne Mitchell chose Washington Glass Studio artist Tim Tate. Cohesion’s Roger Tye is paired with WGS’ Michael Janis. Michael and Tim were both at Cohesion’s studios while in the UK on their Fulbright assignment.
The exhibition features a diverse selection of glass art, including wall-mounted and installation artwork, as well as vessels and sculpture, and embodies a broad spectrum of processes and techniques. The pairings within the show create an exciting dynamic of glass, artistic and otherworldly narratives.
Carrie Fertig
Artist pairings include: Criss Chaney with Robyn Townsend
Artomatic is a multi-week, multimedia arts event held in the Washington, DC area since 1999. Washington Glass School has a long relationship with the DC-area arts showcase of visual art, music, film, performance, poetry and fashion. Tim Tate’s artwork at Artomatic 2000 was seen by the curator of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Museum, and that show both got his work into the Museum’s permanent collection, and his sales at the show provided the seed money that started the Washington Glass School. Artomatic at Tenleytown’s old Hechinger’s space is where Tim Tate first saw the sculpture work of Erwin Timmers and they later teamed up to start the School & Studio. Michael Janis’ first showing of his glass artwork was at the glass room at Artomatic 2004, where the Washington Post’s art critic Blake Gopnick slammed the show in his review “Hanging is too Good For It” – but noted about the glass: “Some of the glasswork looked all right. (Glass is such a gorgeous medium it’s hard to screw it up, and you need some basic training even to begin to work in it.)” High praise indeed. In 2007, the show was held in Crystal City, VA, in the old Patent Office. As a result of this Artomatic, Maurine Littleton Gallery began showing Michael’s artwork.
Photographer Tracy Lee captured the essence of the Artomatic mystery.
At that Artomatic, drama ensued after Tim Tate’s artwork “The Rapture” disappeared under mysterious circumstances. After the Washington Post “Reliable Source”reportedthe disappearance of the artwork, and newspaper reporter Amy Argetsiner, was sent a ransom demand ($10,000 in monopoly money) from someone named “The Collector ” – along with a “proof of life” photo of the rocket from the artwork in front of the previous day’s newspaper. The reporter went to the late night ransom drop in a city park and tried to catch the perpetrator as it all went down. In the next day Washington Post, the story was almost full front page of the Style section, along with their prime suspects.
The Artomatic ransom note sent to the Washington Post’s Reliable Source
The Post cast dispersions (along with thumbnail mug shots) onto : “Tim Tateglass sculptor, original victim
Why him?: With a well-known flair for publicity, Tate was suspected by many at Artomatic of faking his own sculpture’s disappearance.
He says:”I categorically deny it.”
Alibi: Tate was by our side when we met The Collector at the ransom drop last year, so unless he’s part of a broader conspiracy . . .
Michael Janisglass sculptor, friend of Tate’sWhy him?: Artomatic gossips theorize that Tate’s Washington Glass School colleague may have helped pull off the stunt.
He says:”I’m denying any kind of involvement.”
Alibi:”Michael is too serious” for pranks, says DCArtNews blogger Lenny Campello.
Jesse Cohen art photographer, overseer of the Artdc.org forumWhy him?: Like the author of The Collector’s manifestos, a big booster of the local arts scene; resembles the man at the ransom drop (young white guy, dark hair).
He says:”No . . . I thought it was really crappy of anyone [to take Tate’s art].”
Alibi: Skinnier than the man we saw.
Kirk Waldroff printmaker and glass artist, colleague of Tate ‘sWhy him?: Has The Collector’s build, coloring; his voice mail sounds like the man we talked to on the phone; Tate is a little too insistent that Waldroff can’t be The Collector.He says:[In a voice mail message] “No, I’m not The Collector”; says he’d be glad to talk more but he’s leaving town in a few minutes. (Hmm, getting too hot around here?)Alibi:”He seems too cool to be pulling stuff like that,” says a fellow artist. “He’s in a band.””
Tim Tate created a new sculpture from the returned component, and the work was auctioned for the benefit of Artomatic.Tim Tate later created a new sculpture made from the remains of the old, and it was auctioned for the benefit of Artomatic; the drama of “The Collector” was never solved.
UK artist Stephen Reveley’s fused glass, photo by Caroline Angelo
In 2009 the Artomatic was held at a new building near the new Nationals Baseball Statdium near Navy Yard Metro. This exhibition featured many glass artists from England. That year the Sunderland City Council had sponsored artists represented by Creative Cohesionto show glass, ceramics, paintings, bands and more, as part of the Sunderland, UK / Washington, DC Sister City agreement.
Artomatic 2012 is set to open May 18 – who knows what will be the result of this year’s show!Have a look a the great video made by 2012 Artomatic :
2012 London Affordable Art Fair held at London’s Battersea Park.
The first big workshop, Bas-Relief dry plaster casting at the UK’s National Glass Center had gone well (phew!) The Sunderland arts organization,CreativeCohesion, was participating in the London Affordable Art Fair and had invited Tim Tate and I to exhibit our work in the contemporary art show. Which we readily agreed. Tim, my wife Kay & I jumped on a train down to London, and joined the exhibitors at the fair that had opened a couple of days earlier.
Kay Janis watches the North Sea whizz by on the train to London. Crowd watching is part of the fun of an art fair and at London AAF it included celebrity-sightings of Johnny Depp and Joanna Lumley (Joanna looks loverly, BTW)
Tim Tate’s artwork was featured in the Creative Cohesion Booth. L-R Dinner with the Creative Cohesion artists Kay Janis, Tim Tate, Robyn Townsend, Joanne Mitchell, Roger Tye, Anne Tye
Tim Tate tuckered out on return train trip.
Our time in London was too short, soon we were back on the train to Sunderland, and preparing for my multi-day class “Imagery in Glass” that was held in the Architectural Glass Studio of the National Glass Center.
Outlining the basics for getting detailed imagery into fused glass. Showing the different glass powder tools and how an artist can manipulate imagery. The master level class is tasked with creating a number of sample panels. Students drew inspiration from the view over the river. The first firing of glass powder imagery. Reviewing fused glass samples with class.
Discussing options for creating effects within the layered imagery. Jeffrey Sarmiento created a component layer for the class demo project – the artwork suggests creating bridges between the art communities.
University of Sunderland Artists Part 2:
Jeffrey Sarmiento
Jeffrey Sarmiento was recently appointed Reader in Glass at the National Glass Center at the University of Sunderland. A Filipino-American artist, he holds an MFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. His research has led him to work widely in the US and Europe, having been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship Denmark. He was also a finalist for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award and the Bombay Sapphire Prize. His most recent project is a 600kg glass map, permanently housed in the new Museum of Liverpool.
Liverpool Map Jeffrey Sarmiento and Inge Panneels, 2010
Cate Watkinson trained in 3-D Design, Glass with Ceramics at Sunderland Polytechnic.After leaving college Cate worked in Cambridge and the Channel Islands before returning to the North East to set up her architectural glass studio. Cate continues to run her business, Watkinson Glass Associates, while teaching at the University of Sunderland.
Over the years Cate has built on her experience, optimizing developments in new technologies, including new developments and techniques in construction. She has successfully completed a varied range of commissioned projects from glass public seating in city centers to a 22’ high sculpture for a shopping mall. From a stained glass window for Newcastle Cathedral to a laminated glass screen for the Arrivals Hall at Newcastle International Airport in the UK.
Other research activities include exploring the use of text and light through the public art commission entitled `Total Policing’, a glass and stainless steel sculpture situated at the front of the new head quarters for Northumbria Police in North Tyneside.
Total Policing
Baltic Business Quarter Public art/seating made with recycled glass.
Lookout
Next Up – Creative Cohesion artist development talk, dinner with the Uni Board, and more great UK artists!
>Artists from the UK’s Cohesion Glass Network were some of this year’s Artomatic highlights. The work from the Brits was astounding, and the artists were a fun and energetic force as they stormed the US Capital. Stephen Beardsell cast glass demo
Click HERE to jump to Cohesion Network’s newsletter with their review of the DC arts festival.
Click HERE to read what UK artists Sarah Blood & Joanne Mitchell thought of the show – from an artist’s perspective.
>Artist Stephen Beardsell showed how achieves great depth in his kilncast panels. Working with chunky frits, Stephen layers the colors and inclusions. His talk about the use of strong vibrant colors and generous depth created much discussion amongst the students.
>Karin Walland gave a fascinating demonstration on the casting glass using fine frit powder and freezing it with water to make a paste. Her talk at the Washington Glass School had the students abuzz with the possibilities on their own application of this unusual technique.
>On Sunday, May 31st from 2 to 5pm the Washington Glass School will be hosting demonstrations of glass techniques from two artists from the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, England, Stephen Beardsell and Karin Walland. Stephen Beardsell “Lady in Poppy Field”.
Karin will show how to cast small objects in frozen glass powder (an alternative to the messy lost wax method). Karin holds a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Glass with distinction. She often incorporates recycled glass creating pieces from jewellery pendants to large sculptural installations expressing fragility, loss, brokenness, death and new life in both nature and human experience.
Karin Wallend “Washed Up At The End of The Day”, “Broken Arch”
Stephen graduated from Sunderland University with a Batchelor of Art degree in Glass and Ceramics, and later achieved a Master of Art Degree in Glass. Currently he works in the glass department at the University of Sunderland and also in the National Glass Centre. Stephen will be showing and describing his method of creating great depth with frit casting and inclusions.Stephen Beardsell “Poppy Field group”.
This Seminar/demo is entirely FREE to anyone who cares to learn from these 2 talented UK artists! Please let us know if you plan to attend so we know how many to expect.
