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Novie Trump is a world renown ceramic artist, working from Flux Studios, located right next door to the Washington Glass School. Her poetic sculptural work often involves depictions of nature – presented in unexpected and captivating ways.
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| Novie Trump Escape Installation of porcelain butterflies and ceramic book Ceramic, Acrylic Rods, Steel 60” x 60” x 24”(variable) |
Novie is working on a commissioned artwork piece that came to her via Project 4 Gallery: to create large scale installation that will be located in the new Farmers & Fishers restaurant now being built at the Georgetown waterfront.
Her artwork design calls for many porcelain bees to be clustered around illuminated hives are various locations. The design of the beehive has brought her to the glass studio – and it is a chance for the glass artists to bring Novie over to the dark – or rather – the glassy side.
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| Erwin Timmers offers some adventurous suggestions to Novie, but from the expressions on both her and Tim Tate’s face, they seem unlikely to be incorporated. |
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| A sample of Novie Trump’s porcelain bees |
Novie chose to work with illuminated glass – creating a pattern of cellular hive divisions with frit powder fused to glass, and slumped over a tapered form. The WGS fritmaster – Michael Janis – offered Novie some pointers on how to manipulate the powder.
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| Novie Trump and Michael Janis share a laugh as they work |
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| Novie sifts glass powder onto a sheet of glass |
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| Manipulating frit powder is a delicate operation |
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| Novie Trump and Michael Janis evaluate the glass’ progress prior to loading the layer in a kiln for firing |
 After fusing, the samples are compared by Novie Trump for her preferred selection of color and texture combination |
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| Novie made many studies of the color and textures and tested the samples with light source alternates. |
Bullseye RCBA Gallery Opens Painterly Glass Exhibit
>Bullseye Glass had earlier this year opened their new facility in the California’s Bay area near the Silicon Valley/Berkely/San Francisco corridor of Emeryville, CA. The place is called Resource Center Bay Area (RCBA) and this facility (the third of BE owned centers) offers workshops, supplies and a gallery.
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| RCBA, Bullseye Glass’ new home in California. 4514 Hollis Street, Emeryville, CA |
One of the upcoming exhibits at the RCBA Gallery opens this coming Saturday, Aug 4, 2012. Titled: Facture: Artists on the Forefront of Painterly Glass, a number of the works were shown at BE’s Portland gallery early this year in a show of the same name. The exhibit will showcase kilnformed glass paintings (mostly frit on sheet glass) from the artists Abi Spring, Kari Minnick, Martha Pfanschmidt, Ted Sawyer, Jeff Wallin, and WGS’ Michael Janis.
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Jeff Wallin Residue of a Figure Study kilnformed glass |
from the BE website:
Facture: Artists at the Forefront of Painterly Glass is a group exhibition that explores many of the concerns of contemporary painting, but does this exploration with glass. Painting exists in a continuum with centuries of tradition while simultaneously embracing aspects of sculpture, installation and collage. Painting today goes beyond pigment on a surface; it is an approach to image making that encompasses the ways in which a material is used to construct a work, how an artist approaches a subject, and even how an image is conceived. The artists included in Facture are constructing paintings using glass.
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Michael Janis Observation of Signals kilnformed glass and steel |
Glass, unlike traditional painting materials, is both surface and solid. Value and intensity can be created on the suface as well as volumetrically. Paintings made from glass are image and object; illusion and reality, and these artists, at the forefront of this young method, are scratching at the boundaries of both.
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Martha Pfanschmidt Last Year kilnformed and coldworked glass |
View the exhibition: Bullseye Resource Center Bay Area Gallery, August 4 – October 20, 2012.
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 4, 3–5pm.
Go to map & driving directions
Getting GAS’d Up – Glass Art Society Conference Opens in Toledo
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In recognition of the Toledo Museum of Art’s role as the cradle of the American Studio Glass Movement, GAS will be holding its 2012 conference in Toledo, Ohio, June 13 – 17, 2012.
Toledo is welcoming again artists from around the world to celebrate the achievements of the past and to explore the seemingly endless possibilities of glass. Professor Tim Tate will be on a panel with Matthew Szosz, Alexander Rosenberg and moderated by Andrew Page. The discussion is titled: Post Studio Glass and will discuss how:
The work in glass being shown in galleries and art fairs still focuses on formalist object on a plinth. A new generation of glass artists is breaking with the existing glass art field to apply new strategies. Panelists speak with GLASS Quarterly editor Andrew Page about this generational shift and its implications.
| POST STUDIO GLASS PANEL A Look at the New Parameters for Work in Glass Saturday,June 16 at 1:45-3:15pm in the Seagate rooms 202-208 |
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Click HERE for the conference program pdf.
Blue Spiral 1 Gallery Looks to Studio Glass’ Future
>North Carolina’s Asheville was named one of AmericanStyle magazine’s “Top 25 Arts Destinations” . This week, another of its top galleries – this time Blue Spiral 1 – opens a show that looks to honor the 50th Anniversary of the American Studio Glass Movement.
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| WGS is well represented in the list of artists! |
Blue Spiral has curated the show with an eye to the future of glass with “compelling sculpture [that] speaks to conceptual and narrative directions the medium takes in the 21st Century”.
Artists include a number from the Washington Glass School extended family – Tim Tate, Sean Hennessey, Michael Janis, Marc Petrovic, Christina Bothwell and Susan Taylor Glasgow.
With Erwin Timmers’ work showing at nearby Bender Gallery – its like a Washington Glass School summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains!
“Glass Secessionism“
June 7 – July 26, 2012
Opening Reception, June 7, 5-8 pm
Blue Spiral 1 Gallery
38 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
Saturday – Meet the Artists @ Artomatic
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| Dave D’Orio / glass / Level 8 |
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| Michael Janis / glass / Level 2 |
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| Sean Hennessey /glass / Level 9 |
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| Donna McCullough / metal / Level 1 |
James Renwick Alliance Selects its Artomatic Favs
>The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) is an independent national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing scholarship and education on contemporary American craft, to supporting activities directed toward this purpose, and to encouraging connoisseurship and collecting. The
As part of their mission for the arts, the JRA are sponsors of a workshop/reception “Renwick Alliance Room” in the huge DC Arts Fair – Artomatic. Located on the 11th Floor of the festival, the JRA has planned workshops and talks throughout the month long run of the show (thru June 23).
Members of the JRA has also went thru the 10 floors of artwork – selecting their Top 10 media-based artists for their 2012 Artomatic “Award of Excellence”.
James Renwick
Recognition of Excellence
ARTOMATIC 2012
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Artist |
Work |
Type |
Floor |
Location |
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Brad Taylor |
Chaise |
Wood and Metal Furniture |
8 |
305 |
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Installation |
Mixed Media (Glass) |
8 |
147 |
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Donna McCullough |
Body of Work |
Metal Sculpture |
1 |
152 |
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Helen Baribeau |
Body of Work |
Fiber Sculpture |
4 |
121 |
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Julia Bloom |
Installation |
Wood Sculpture |
7 |
208 |
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Matt MacIntire |
Body of Work |
Mixed Media |
9 |
160 |
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Body of Work |
Glass |
2 |
173 |
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Pierre Davis |
Body of Work |
Wood Sculpture |
10 |
152 |
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Body of Work |
Glass |
9 |
141 |
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Zofie Lang |
Installation |
Mixed Media |
9 |
112 |
Congrats to the WGS/DC Glass artists & all the artists involved in the huge event!
And a big hug to the James Renwick Alliance!
The James Renwick Alliance welcomes the public to join them in a pre meet-the-artists-night reception. Mingle with other craft lovers!
The JRA will be distributing maps they have created to help you find the media-based artists of Artomatic.
Saturday June 2
5:00pm-7:00pm
The Renwick Alliance Room, 11th floor
Dinner with the Board of University of Sunderland and More Workshops!
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Artist Jeffrey Sarmiento popped into the University of Sunderland’s Architectural Glass studio where our Fulbright workshop classes were being held with an invitation to show how he uses the National Glass Center’s waterjet to cut intricate and delicate glass elements for his artwork. Naturally, I was excited to see 1.) how the waterjet works and 2.) Jeffrey at work.
Jeffrey Sarmiento and Michael Janis
Jeffrey offered to make one of the component layers for the demo piece I was using to show how the sgraffito process can be achieved in glass, and he explained the process. We looked thru some of his images that were in the computer to save time, and selected one of his images of the nearby Tyne bridge that was part of his series “Invisible Cities“.
Jeffrey checks on the initialization of the process.
The pressurized water cuts through the glass and wood support panel.
The grit overflow tub.
The compressor unit located beyond the waterjet machinery.
The verticals of the waterjet cut Bullseye glass panel section are 3mm (less than 1/8″) thick.
Jeffrey pulls apart and assembles the positive and negative.
The connector nibs are pulled off each element.
The panels section loaded and fused in the kiln.
The fired panel integrated into the demo piece.
Washington Glass Fulbright duo of Michael Janis & Tim Tate (plus Kay Janis as chaperone) soldiered on with dinner at the National Glass Centre, hosted by the University of Sunderland Board of Directors. The food at the dinner was a treat – my first Yorkshire Pudding. I was told that Yorkshire pudding and was told the story that the origins of the dish was to provide a cheap way to fill the diners – thus stretching a lesser amount of the more expensive ingredients as the Yorkshire pudding was traditionally served first. The dinner was nothing but elegant.
L-R Fulbright Scholar Tim Tate; Graeme Thompson, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Design and Media; Dr Kevin Petrie, Leader of Glass & Ceramics; (not shown in photo Shirley Atkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Peter Fidler CBE Vice Chancellor & Chief Executive and James Bustard, Director of the NGC).
The Yorkshire Pudding served.
L-R Cathy Barnes, Chair of the NGC Board; Kay Janis; Chris Jobe, Governor of the Board
Though not “lite” in the sense of calories, it was a delectable, light dessert that was served.
It was a lovely, fun evening that was filled with discussions on how we can create opportunities in both countries that would facilitate the exchange artists, ideas and ways we can strengthen the relationships we have developed.
We had time for one more workshop, held at Sunderland’s not-for-profit artist center, Creative Cohesion. This was to be a much more casual workshop, more a conversation – about the differences in the perceived US and the UK approach towards art and education, the changes that social media had on the art world, how artists can survive in tough economic times, the advantages of creating artist covenants.
Anne Tye, the Creative Industries Development Manager at Sunderland City Council introduces Tim and Michael to a packed audience.
The talks were packed with artists from Sunderland, Newcastle – as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland.
Tim Tate tells all.
The evening talk was the last of our scheduled Fulbright Scholar events. Our short project length had us fly out of town the next morning, heading back to Washington very early.
UK Artist profiles Part 3:
Andrew Livingston
Andrew Livingston works as an artist and is also Leader of CARCuos Ceramic Arts Research Center and MA Ceramics Program Leader at the University of Sunderland, The National Glass Center, Sunderland, UK.
Andrew’s work uses a range of media which acknowledges the interface between both traditional practice and new media. His continued exploration aims to challenge and expand contemporary locations in respect of the traditional positioning of ceramics. The integration of digital media and new technologies has become central to his artwork where new media is often positioned and juxtaposed with more traditional elements.
Andrew’s Parallax View series works in creating a fresh perspective on Tullie House‘s porcelain collection and explores preconceived notions of ceramics.
Surfeit 621 621 cast ceramic components, looped video, and drawings made from clay & graphite.
Britannia. ceramic and glass vitrine.
Roger Tye graduated from Manchester Poly in 1975 with a BA(Hons) in 3D Design – Glass and Metal. Roger to concentrate his work on sculptural and installation pieces that integrated glass and other media. Roger is the guiding force of the new not-for-profit artist studio – Creative Cohesion, located in Sunderland. Though Roger often works in creating beautiful traditional blown glass forms, he also works with slate and cast glass.
glass and slate
cast glass sheep, slate and steel
Click HERE to jump to first posting about the Sunderland trip.
London Affordable Art Fair & Imagery In Glass
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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.
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
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.
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!
Fulbright Scholars at University of Sunderland
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Our Fulbright schedule began to fill the days.The first workshop we held at the University of Sunderland’s National Glass Center: “Affecting Sheet Glass – Bas-Relief Imagery in Glass” was filled. The technique of “dry plaster casing” was outlined, and firing schedules were converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius – along with converting all dimensions from imperial to metric. (Why did the US decide to not join the world in the 70’s when we were supposed to go all metricationed?)
Tim Betterton sets up the kilns for dry plaster casting.
After the firing, its like Christmas day as the students eagerly retrieve their kilnformed glass sculptures.
We were able to meet a number of incredibly talented artists that were associated with the University and their work was so strong that we will post some of the work and profiles about the artists in each of the next few blog updates:
Dr Kevin Petrie leads the Glass and Ceramics department at the University of Sunderland. Kevin studied Illustration at the University of Westminster and Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art. He holds a PhD in ceramics and print from University of the West of England, Bristol. Kevin’s first book ‘Glass and Print’ established the crossovers between Glassmaking and Printmaking. The book forms the cornerstone of a period of research that established the cross over between two largely separate strands of creative activity. His second book, ‘Ceramic Transfer Printing’ draws together the great potential of print for ceramics. Kevin has written many articles and reviews for journals such as Ceramic Review and presented his work on glass, ceramics and print in Canada, Thailand, Hong Kong, Denmark, Germany, USA, Australia, and China. He was recently awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his contribution to glass and ceramics teaching, in particular this relates to postgraduate at MA, MPhil and Ph.D levels.
Dr Petrie’s work often refers to the long tradition of graphic ceramic surface decoration at the same time as reflecting contemporary life.
St Pauls Church, kilnformed glass
Cell of Himself, Kiln form glass with printed inclusions, blown glass
Besides his own work as an artist, Dr Petrie is an author, lecturer, exhibition curator, and he is an authority and specialist on contemporary glass and ceramics matters. He has lectured at the following institutions: The University of the West of England, Bristol, The University of Westminster, London, Norwich School of Art and Design, Bath Central St. Martins School of Art and Design, London, Rajabhat Institute Changmai, Thailand, Australia National University, Canberra, Australia, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, Sydney College of the Arts, Australia, Anla Glas, Denmark, Hong Kong Baptist University – Academy of Visual Arts.
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If you are familiar with the first of the DC / Sunderland glass exhibition “Glass3” that was held in Georgetown in 2008, you might have seen James Maskrey‘s work. His work has really transformed into haunting and ethereal work. Social situations, overheard conversations, observed interactions and personal experiences hugely inspire Jim’s work. Tall stories, elaborate hoaxes and peculiar facts, usually from a bygone era, are then translated into glass, often resulting in flamboyant narratives, theatrical compositions or simple objects with a twist. The series below are from a series based on the polar expeditions by Edward Wilson to collect penguin eggs.
The Worst Journey in the World, blown and hot sculptured glass details, 2011. Photo by David Williams
Last Entry,Winter Journey, andThe Barrier, 2011, Blown and solid formed hot glass with printed glass inclusions.
The works poetically and poignantly touches on themes of collecting and hubris. In the austral winter of 1911, Wilson led “The Winter Journey”, a doomed journey to the Emperor penguin’s breeding grounds at Cape Crozier to collect eggs for scientific study. The eggs were supposed to reveal the evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds but their collection nearly killed the journey’s participants. Frozen and exhausted, they successfully collected three eggs and desperately exhausted they returned to Cape Evans, later describing this expedition “The Worst Journey in the World.”
James started working with glass in 1990. After graduating in 2000 with a Three Dimensional Design BA (Hons) degree in glass at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design he was appointed as Artist in Residence at the Surrey Institute. In 2001 James joined the Glass and Ceramics department at The University of Sunderland and graduated with an MA in Glass with distinction in 2004. Jim was recently named as one of the artists that will exhibit at the British Glass Biennale 2012.
Coming Next – London Affordable Art Fair & Imagery in Glass Class and featured Sunderland Artists: Jeff Sarmiento, Cate Watkinson and more!
Washington, DC Fulbright Scholars Connect with Ancestral Home of President George Washington
>As our time in the UK continued, Fellow Fulbright Scholar Tim Tate and I were invited to speak with students from St. Anthony’s – a technical specialist college in Sunderland.
Tim Tate & Michael Janis talk about the future of the arts to students at St Anthony’s in Sunderland, England.
After meeting with the students, Sunderland City Council’s Catherine Auld then took the DC crew on a quick jaunt to a couple of scenic spots that are around the city of Sunderland. First stop, the Town Hall and Indoor Market of Durham.
Tim Tate and Kay Janis at the Durham Town Hall.
Durham Town Hall and Market place were on the site since the Middle Ages. The current building dates from 1800’s.
Kay Janis seeks out notions from the indoor markets.
Nearby is the famed Durham Cathedral. The magnificent Romanesque structure dates from the 10th century, and boasts fine stained glass panels.
Durham Cathedral (and denim jeans artwork installation).
Catherine Auld, Kay Janis and Tim Tate at the Cathedral’s famed “Sanctuary Knocker”.
“Daily Bread” stained glass in Durham Cathedral by Mark Angus, 1984.
More importantly, the Cathedral, cloisters and grounds were used as some of the sets in the Harry Potter movie series.
Professor Tate as Harry Potter and the Fulbright Scholar, 2012
Washington Old Hall
The Saxon Origin of the Washington Family Name: This was, in fact, where the purely Saxon name of Washington derived. Among the first to bear it were the descendants of William de Hartburn near Stockton [-on-Tees], who came to live in the manor now known as Washington Old Hall as long before as 1183.
At that time, people in England and elsewhere had no surnames as we know them today, and were most often identified by the locations in which they lived. “Washington” was one of them. The name originally meant “the estate of the Hwaes family.’ “Hwaes” in its turn was the name of a Saxon chief, while “ynga” meant “family” and “ton” – a typically Saxon suffix – stood for “estate.” These three terms were linked and given a tinge of French since, like many prominent families in England, the new Washingtons sought to identify themselves with the French Plantagenet kings who succeeded the Normans and ruled England after 1154. The result was the original form of Washington – “de Wessyngton”.
Washington, DC Fulbright Scholars Tim Tate and Michael Janis pay homage to the Washington Old Hall in Durham County, UK.
Washington Old Hall was pulled down and rebuilt by the Bishop of Durham, who purchased the property from William de Wessyngton in 1613.Sadly, though, some three centuries later, it had become very dilapidated. The Hall was condemned as unfit for human habitation, and destined for demolition. It was fortunately saved from demolition by a committee specially formed to preserve it, and after thoroughgoing restoration work, the Hall was officially opened in 1955 by the then American ambassador, Winthrop W. Aldrich. Two years later, the Hall was taken over by the National Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving places of historical interest or natural beauty.
Garth Clark lecture on Ai Weiwei ceramics
The next morning, Garth Clark, noted art historian and critic – who the Washington Glass School has posted about his thoughts on the Death of Craft previously – gave a fascinating and provocative lecture about the work of Chinese bad-boy ceramic artist Ai Weiwei.
Click here to jump to first part of the Fulbright Journey blog posts.