>The Glass School provided a much needed respite for a number of artists after Thanksgiving.
Instead of hitting the malls, glass artist Teddie Hathaway hit the diamond lap wheel.
Teddie Hathaway cleans her bas-relief glass panels.
Nancy Donnelly unloads her glass castings.
Escape to the Washington Glass School.
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>Today was the second class with Debra Ruzinsky, where we got down and dirty with plaster and wax.
You take your carved wax model, and cover it in plaster…
… then the wax is boiled or steamed out of the mold…
It’s called lost wax, but I still see it… everywhere!
And then it all goes into the kiln. Next week we see the results.
>Our lovely neighbor, Margaret Boozer from Red Dirt Studio, visited with her new baby, and we treated her to an old Dutch tradition.
Nancy, Tim, Margaret, Kyle, Nicole and Erwin enjoying “beschuit met muisjes“, basically zwieback and sugar covered anise seeds with plenty of butter to hold it all together.
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Artist Erwin Timmers is working on a new series – where he plans on casting footprints in glass. To achieve a negative in which he will cast a positive image, he had made a clay ‘original footprint’ . Mixing up clay in a cement mixing trough, Erwin began his foot stomping.
Later, Professor Tate joins in the hijinx . It became very I Love Lucy – in fact….
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The BlackRock Center for the Arts gallery is a fantastic showplace consisting of 1500 square feet of exquisite gallery space. With its high white walls and beautiful windows strategically placed, this gorgeous gallery allows in just the right amount of natural light. Black Rock is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive Germantown, MD in upper Montgomery County, about 20 minutes from the Capital Beltway (495).
They currently have a Call to Artists and the call is open to all artists residing in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC over the age of 18. Artwork shown is original artwork only. All work must be ready for sale and to be presented in a professional manner to the public at the time of delivery.
This call will cover exhibits in the gallery from September 2010 through August 2011. An exhibit may include one applicant or a combination of applicants, based on the judgment of jurors (i.e., 1 or 2 wall artists may be combined with a pedestal artist). A jury will select the artists and create eight exhibits to be included in the exhibit year. The jury panel is comprised of and gallerist Elyse Harrison, Jodi Walsh, and Lenny Campello.
Jurying: First Week of December
Notification: Early January
Exhibit Year: Sept. 2010 – Aug. 2011
How to apply: All correspondence will be done by e-mail, so contact Kimberly Onley, the Gallery Coordinator at konley@blackrockcenter.org and ask her to email you a prospectus.
Click HERE to read the prospectus
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Multidisciplinary UK artist Luke Jerram worked in collaboration with glassblowers Kim George, Brian Jones and Norman Veitch to create a stunning series of glass virus sculptures. Created over a period of 5 years in consultation with virologists from the University of Bristol, the transparent glass sculptures were created to contemplate the global impact of each disease and to consider how the artificial colouring of scientific imagery affects our understanding of phenomena.
Beautiful, deadly works.
For more information on Luke Jerram and his work & slide show of other microbes and virus sculptures, click HERE.
>Tim Tate’s artwork is reviewed in an Italian blog : Neural Media Magazine
We have always said that Tim is big in Bologna.
Tim Tate could truly be described as a mixed-media artist. His glass reliquaries are formed from combining glass cases, objects and electronic circuitry, such as speakers, with a small video screen. The screen displays a short piece of work that plays from a DVD player housed in the bottom of the glass case. The DVD player was co-developed by Tate and an electronics optics company in California. The design was inspired by the realization that the artist was not interested in continually repairing his work, and wanted a long lasting conservation design that would appeal to museum curators. The development of the small, compact player also means that the sculptures are much more self-contained and don’t feel as though the technology is imposing itself on the work. There have been a number of these artifacts produced, each combining regularly appearing iconography like hands held in prayer, or fruits. Tim Tate’s work feels as though it might have been found in an old church somewhere, flickering away in the darkness for centuries. Combined with religious iconography, the video images could be telling the story of a saint from any number of religions. These artifacts wouldn’t be out of place in a film by Jodorowsky. They have that same sense of power and playfulness, while imposing a seriousness that comes with the fragility of their structure. There is a sense of combining craft skills with digital media, to evolve a new sensibility that brings something new to both of these often diverse art forms.
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The glass studio in its first HGTV appearance – (from ‘back in the day – May 2005) with guest appearances by Sean Hennessey and Rania Hassan. The first season of the show “I Want That” sought products that they could showcase and market, and the producers had approached The Washington Glass Studio to appear with glass products for the home.
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A great new class has just been added to the Fall Schedule – Lost Wax Casting! This is a great way to make 3-D elements in kilncast glass. Think of the sculptural possibilities! Our instructor for this class was on Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) faculty as Asst Professor of Glass, and will be teaching at Corning Studio next year. More about Debra Ruzinsky in another posting.
Class Class 930 – Introduction to Lost Wax Casting
In this class you will make a vessel form in glass using the lost wax process. Students will begin with a pre-made wax form that they will carve into and alter. Students will be asked to research surface decoration ideas for their project before coming to class, then bring the ideas to class in the form of sketches, xeroxes, magazine clippings, etc. Students will make plaster silica molds and steam out wax. Basic finishing techniques will also be explained. No experience necessary – wear work clothing and closed toed shoes.
| Instructor | Debra Ruzinsky |
| Dates | November 14, 15, 22 |
| Time | 9:30am – 1:30pm |
| Tuition | $350 |
