London | Washington Glass Studio

London’s Victoria & Albert Museum collection of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

Big congrats to WGS alum Jeff Zimmer! Jeff is arguably one of the most successful artists from the Washington Glass School. Jeff was a teaching assistant here at the Glass School, and he went to the UK – to Edinburgh, obtaining a Masters degree in glass painting there in Scotland, where he currently lives. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.

Jeff Zimmer ‘To See Ourselves As Others See Us’, enameled and sandblasted glass (mounted on LED), 27″w x 21″h x 7″d, 2012

The piece is called “To See Ourselves As Others See Us.” It was made as half of a pair (the other titled “Ae Fareweel, Alas, Forever”) made for an exhibition titled “Cultural Exchange” organized by the Scottish Glass Society, curated by Mieke Groot and which took place at NorthLands Creative Glass during their conference last year, which is where Reino Liefkes, Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass at the V&A saw the artwork.

Jeff describes his work in the exhibit catalog text :

As an immigrant, I am sensitive to political and social discussions of immigration. Every country experiences the same anxieties. People want to retain a perceived essence of place and culture, but rarely consider the effects on other cultures of their own desires to travel, emigrate and trade. The legacy of emigration is a large part of the Scottish psyche, and the ‘Highland Clearances’ are among the most well known and emotive aspects of Scottish history…

‘To See Ourselves As Others See Us,’ rescales the monumental homesick family from George W. Simpsons’s iconic panting ‘A Coronach In The Woods’ in a broader frame so the impact they have had on the lands that they colonized — often by squatting — can be glimpsed: felled trees, austere and uncompromising religion (the church on the outcrop referencing the notion of ‘the city on the hill’) and a reputation for drunken disorderliness. The title is a quote from Scottish national bard Robert Burns’ poem ‘To A Louse’.

Singer Amanda Palmer (of the Dreseden Dolls) and Jeff Zimmer in Edinburgh.

Washington Post Article by Michael O’Sullivan
Thursday, May 26, 2011

As for other news, Jeff will be traveling to the beautiful Bavarian Forest to teach at Bild-Werk Frauenau. Jeff is also preparing for his debut solo gallery exhibition at Clara Scremini Gallery in Paris in the spring.

In 2011, Jeff was one the artists participating in the Washington Glass School 10th Anniversary exhibit held at Longview Gallery. The Washington Post art critic wrote about the show, singling out Jeff’s work as artwork that “fires up” imagination. It is great to see friends do so well in their passion and career!

Congratulations Jeff Zimmer!

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, Creative Cohesion, 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

Bombay Encyclopedia

Jeffery Sarmiento talks about his work “Ossify”

Ossify 2010 British Glass Biennale Award Runner up

Emotional Leak Jeffrey Sarmiento & Erin Dickson, 2011

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Cate Watkinson

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.