Daily Art Muse on Elizabeth Ryland Mears

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Large Bundle of Twigs with Knitted Copper Wrap Detail

Glass, Flameworked, Sandblasted, Waxed Linen, Lusters, Copper, Steel
6″h x 26″w x 5″d

The Daily Art Muse blog most recent posting focuses on our own flameworker extraordinaire Elizabeth Mears.
Says Susan Lomuto about Liz’ work “When I found Elizabeth Ryland Mears’ flameworked glass twig bundles and sculptures they resonated with a place deep inside. And so timely, my discovery of Mears’ work. For the last two weeks I have been gathering and collecting bits and pieces of tree branches, bark, pebbles – thinking about how these fragments are as beautiful as the whole. . .”

The Great Wandering

The blog article continues with some of the collaborative work that Liz creates with her daughter L Lindsey Mears. Lindsey is an an artist in her own right creating art books, prints, and assemblages.

Click HERE to jump to the Daily Art Muse blog posting.

Lampworking Class Gets Hot!

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Photos by Mike Raman

The Washington Glass School’s new torchworking classes started off Session A in fine form. The hands-on class works thru the basics of making objects on the torch. Here instructor Robert Kincheloe works with each student to master using borosilicate glass.

Teddie Hathaway heats up her glass skills.

The next beginner’s lampworking class starts in June – Click HERE to read more about the class & schedule.

Glass Line Magazine: Q & A with Paul Stankard

>The May issue of Glass Line magazine has an article by legendary flameworker Paul Stankard, where Paul had sought questions from other lampworkers and the article creates the feeling of a casual discussion with one of the glass greats. Below is a short excerpt from the article:

Sharing a Journey: Questions and Answers – by Paul Stankard –
Over the last two years, I’ve met a large number of borosilicate flameworkers making everything from jewelry to glass pipes who are yearning to do significant creative work and explore new boundaries. They have a strong commitment to the independent lifestyle as studio artists and many make their livings through their highly developed skills. They are not satisfied with staying in one creative place and have larger ambitions. I relate to their struggle to channel their technical abilities into something more significant by creating sculpture. What’s holding many of them back, however, is a lack of artistic maturity. Few of them went to art school, and they are often simply unaware of what is considered important work by the larger world of collectors, galleries, and museum curators.

What I’ve been promoting with these Glass Line articles is excellence, but the notion of “excellence” is defined by the community you belong to. You can be an excellent goblet-maker, an excellent paperweight-maker, an excellent beadmaker, and on and on. To be excellent in these tightly defined categories, you need to recognize what is masterwork and be familiar with the skilled artists and craftspeople advancing the tradition with whom you want to strive to compete. You then can take advantage of the respect you’ve achieved in these decorative-arts categories to catapult yourself into the greater glass community. By competing with the past and matching the category’s history, you’ll be at the front of your field.
Our resident torchwork artist, Robert Kincheloe is one of the artists that is featured in the article with Paul.

If you are a subscriber to the magazine, you can read the article online – click HERE.