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Debra Ruzinsky
Sugar Bomb #3; Cast glass, 2011
Debra Ruzinsky
Bombshell, 2011
Debra Ruzinsky‘s cast glass artwork was recently praised by the Washington Post Art Critic Michael O’Sullivan in a review of glass sculpture that was on exhibit at Long View Gallery. In the review, Michael wrote: “My guilty pleasure sits all the way in the back of the 5,000-square-foot gallery… There you’ll find two small sculptural works by artist Deborah Ruzinsky, mounted on pedestals in front of large glass doors that, on sunny days, suffuse the room with light. The works’ titles, “Sugar Bomb #2” and “Sugar Bomb #3,” are apt. Cast in green and orange glass using Jell-O molds and artillery shell casings, they’re pure, explosive eye candy.
Staring at it, I feel like a monkey in front of a ball of shiny, shiny tin foil. Isn’t contemporary art supposed to be ugly — or at least less superficial?…
On the one hand, glass is pretty. It’s hard not to like the way it looks: the luminous color, the way it plays with light. On the other hand, maybe glass is only pretty. How do we know that the beauty is also capable of brains? The rest of the show is proof that it is.”
Debra checks her cast glass wafer ramp for smoothness.
Check back later for links to the Brattleboro Museum show.
Upcoming Class in the "Lost Wax" Process
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One of the most sought after glass techniques – Lost Wax Casting is coming soon to the Washington Glass School!
This is a great way to make 3-D elements in kilncast glass. Think of the sculptural possibilities!
Glass guru Tim Tate uses this technique to make sculptural glass elements that are part of his blown & cast glass reliquary artworks. The detail and control of of the form allows for the creation incredible works of art.
A view of some of Tim Tate’s cast glass elements made with the lost wax process.
Our instructor for this class, Debra Ruzinsky, was on the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) faculty as Asst Professor of Glass, and has just come back from teaching this technique at the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass.
Debra Ruzinsky works with the students on preparing the plaster encasement.
Have a look at the course description below – this could be the most interesting class you take this year!
Class 1021 – Basics of Lost Wax Casting
In this 3 day class we will make a sculptural vessel form in the “lost wax” method. Students will begin with a pre-made wax form that they learn to carve and alter. Students are asked to research surface design ideas prior to starting, bringing sketches, magazine clippings, xerox’s, etc.
Example of student lost wax work.
Lost Wax – Found!
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Debra Ruzinsky’s great Lost Wax Casting class finished up their projects in the cold shop. Here are some images of the students and their work.
Great New Addition to the Glass School
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Our newest instructor at the glass school is Debra Ruzinsky. Debra recieved her BA in design from the University of Californina at Los Angeles, and her MFA in Glass Sculpture from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She has been working in glass since 1982. She serves on the publications committee of the Glass Art Society, and was Visiting Asst. Professor of Glass at RIT for the 2008 – 2009 academic calendar year. She has previously taught at the University of Oregon Craft Center, and will teach at the Studio at Corning in 2010.
Her work is part of the collection of the Seto City Museum in Seto, Japan, and the Glasuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark, as well as the RIT Wallace Library Purchase Prize Collection, and some private collections. In the summer of 2008 she was an invited artist-in-residence at the Seto City International Ceramic and Glass Art Exchange program in Seto, Japan. She was included in the 2009 MFA Exhibition at Urban Glass in Brooklyn, NY and Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass at Hawk Galleries in Columbus, OH through Fall 2009.
Debra will be teaching Introduction to Lost Wax Casting this Fall session & we welcome her to the Washington arts community! Click HERE to jump to her website.
