Category Archives: roger tye

Never Mind The Bullseye – Here’s The Glass Pistols

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“007 – Walther P99”, Light, Fused water jet cut BE glass, 2010, Dr Magareth Troli – artwork featured in the “International Glass + Clay 2013” exhibit

A number of the UK artists exhibiting in the International Glass and Clay 2013 show (at Pepco Edison Place Gallery -702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC) have come to the opening events and programs. The visiting UK artists have hit DC town running – there have been a number of Glass and Clay show events to keep them occupied!

UK Glass Artist Demo at Washington Glass School during International Glass & Clay
Robyn Townsend’s artwork incorporates glass and metal

Demos by UK Artists:
Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend showed their techniques for metal inclusions and patinas in glass.

Criss Chaney shows how the patinas are formed
Robyn Townsend and Criss Chaney

Over at DC GlassWorks, Colin Rennie, Phil Vickery and Roger Tye wowed the fans of blown glass with a series of virtuoso feats in hot glass. 

UK artist Phil Vickery demonstrates the process for his beautiful glass forms
L-R Colin Rennie, Phil Vickery and Roger Tye at DC GlassWorks
Roger Tye makes a triple incalmo bowl in red, white and blue.

Colin Rennie ended the demos with a flourish!
Whee!
Artists in the exhibit have a get-together at Artomatic founder George Koch’s place. (Top row L-R: Anne Tye, Tom Hurst, Catherine Auld, Roger Tye. Bottom row L-R: Dr Magareth Troli, Phil Vickery, Robyn Townsend, Criss Chaney, Audrey Wilson, Philippa Whiteside, Colin Rennie)

The exhibit continues thru March 23 – make sure you come into the gallery to see this incredible showcase of art from the US and UK.
International Glass and Clay 2013
Pepco Edison Place Gallery  @ 702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Gallery hours are Saturday and Tuesday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Gallery is closed on Sundays. The Gallery Place Metro station is within walking distance of the Gallery. The show is organized by Artomatic and the DCCAH.

Posted in artomatic, criss chaney colin rennie, dc glassworks, DCCAH, demo, england, robyn townsend, roger tye, sister city, UK glass artists, us, washington glass school

Brits To Teach Yanks A Thing or Two (in the glass shop!)

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As part of the International Glass + Clay exhibit that runs from March 1, 2013 through March 22, 2013, a day of free demonstrations of amazing techniques utilized by the visiting artists will be held at the Washington Glass School and at DC GlassWorks Studio.

Saturday, March 2, 2013 starting at 11:00 AM – at Washington Glass School

UK based artists Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend will demonstrate using metal wire and sheet inclusions into cast glass, and painting a layer of metal powders onto the inside mould surface. They will also demonstrate cold techniques for applying metals to a finished piece of glass, and options for patination using common household chemicals.

RSVP for the free WGS event to: washglassschool@aol.com – put “metal inclusion” in the subject line. Click HERE to register online.

Later the same day – 

starting at 2:00 PM at DC GlassWorks (just down the road in nearby Hyattsville) UK glass artists Roger Tye, Phil Vickery and Colin Rennie will be demo-ing their glassblowing techniques.  These Sunderland artists are extremely accomplished glass makers and their demos are always a highpoint.

Phil Vickery & Roger Tye demo at DC Glassworks in 2009

RSVP for the free DC hotshop demo to washglassschool@aol.com – put “hotshop” in the subject line. Click HERE to register online.

What could go wrong?

The loverly accents alone will make the demos like a trip overseas! Its as if Downton Abbey came to Mount Rainier!

Posted in criss chaney colin rennie, dc glass works, demo, phil vickery, robyn townsend, roger tye

Congrats on Creative Cohesion Relaunch

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Artists Phil Vickery and Roger Tye work in Creative Cohesion’s hotshop.

Last spring, Washington Glass School Co-Directors Michael Janis and Tim Tate were in the UK on their Fulbright assignment to the University of Sunderland and the National Glass Centre. The guys also held workshops at the City of Sunderland’s professional artist center “Creative Cohesion”.

Fulbright Scholar Michael Janis introduces the Bullseye Roll-up technique to artists at Creative Cohesion.
UK artists gather for a talk with Fulbright Scholar Tim Tate at the Cohesion Center in March.

 Creative Cohesion is a center for creativity in Sunniside, Sunderland, providing not only studios for artists, but provision for community, arts and business activities, as well as a retail outlet for art. Creative Cohesion runs monthly workshops for professional creative practitioners and is home to graduates from the University of Sunderland who are recipients of the ‘Sunniside Graduate Scheme’.

The Creative Cohesion building was damaged by high winds that caused the adjacent building to collapse onto the center’s roof  in April . 

Last Spring, high winds caused their neighboring building to collapse onto the center’s roof, resulting in a lot of damage. After months of disruption for the non-profit center and its tenants as the repair work was implemented, they are happy to be finally back in full working order, and are holding a Relaunch of the Center on Oct 18!

Artist Frank Styles was commissioned to create the visual graphics on the center’s exterior shutters.

Their celebrations continue in welcoming new tenants, a new logo for the center, the launch of their new website and completion of the center’s shutter artwork by graffiti artist Frank Styles.

There will be happy faces all round on the opening launch day with the building’s face lift, the opening of a new exhibition titled ‘Reconnection’ and entertainment with local glass blowers having a play day in the glass hotshop.

Congratulations to Creative Cohesion on making Sunderland a hotbed of creativity again!

Click HERE to jump Creative Cohesion’s website.

Posted in creative cohesion, frank styles, fulbright scholar michael janis, fulbright scholar tim tate, phil vickery, roger tye, sunderland

Glass BLAST! in London

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Cate Watkinson
BLAST! 2012

COHESION GLASS NETWORK’S 10th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

July 6 – August 8, 2012

Joanne Mitchell

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

Dominic Fonde with Chua Teng Yeow

Zoe Garner with Carrie Fertig

Ruth Lyne with Rachel O’Dell

Joanne Mitchell with Tim Tate

Claudia Phipps with June Kingsbury

Roger Tye with Michael Janis

Cate Watkinson with Emma Hollins

Blast! 2012

July 6 – August 8, 2012

Zest Contemporary Glass Gallery

Roxby Place (end of Rickett Street)

London SW6 1RS

Posted in britain, city council, cohesion glass network, creative cohesion, england, fused glass, roger tye, sunderland, uk

Dinner with the Board of University of Sunderland and More Workshops!

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UK based glass artist Jeffrey Sarmiento shows Michael Janis his artwork. I’m sure he has not yet noticed the panel I’m holding is missing yet.

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“.


Using a CADD program, Jeffrey cleans up the cut-off sections and outlines areas that will be positive or negative.


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

For dessert, Tim Tate said he hoped it would be the traditional English (and to American sensibilities, questionably named) “spotted dick“. We were served a beautiful light custard filled confection that was dubbed “spotted hemorroid” as a way to keep in the spirit of the night.

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.

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Roger Tye

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

Up next posting: One more workshop video link and final thoughts on the Fulbright program.
Click HERE to jump to first posting about the Sunderland trip.


Click HERE to jump to the start of the postings about some of the super-cool UK artists.

Posted in artist covenant, fulbright scholar, glass and steel sculpture, michael janis, Professor, rew livingston, roger tye, social media and art, spotted dick, Tim Tate