Contemporary Canadian Glass

By Brad Copping

The view from the Niijima Glass Art Center

There are times when I hate glass, the lazy and derivative designs, and the claims of art with no understanding, the macho and competitive attitudes.  But there are times when I love this material and the community around it.  I have just returned from a tiny island out in the Pacific off the coast of Japan where I was a teaching assistant for Marc Petrovic, an incredibly talented hot glass sculptor and artist I have known since taking Jack Wax’s class at Haystack in 1997, and I have once again been astounded by the connectedness of the world wide glass community.

Kanami Ogata and Joon-yong Kim assisting Ryo Onikubo.

Osamu and Yumiko Noda established and began running the Niijima Glass Art Centre in 1987 at a community owned facility on the island of Niijima 160 km south of Tokyo.  Niijima is probably best known as the location of Japan’s national surfing competition, but it is the stone found on the island that creates the distinctive green coloured glass and is also used as a refractory material.  While one of the centre’s goals is to research the possibilities of using the local silica based sandstone called ‘Kogaseki’ for artistic and industrial uses, it is the associated Niijima International Glass Art Festival that brings the world-wide glass community to Japan on an annual basis to share ideas and techniques and to create with the beautiful green glass.  The Noda’s have created an enviable environment for this annual gathering.  Their warmth and hospitality is infused in the staff they bring to the island for the festival.  The staff-to-student ratio is almost one to one and this year the staff has been comprised of some of the very best of Japan and Korea’s glass artists, most of whom are also professors, including Takeshi Fukunishi, Harumi Yukutake, Joon-yong Kim, and Kyou-hong Lee (check out the staff page on the Festival link above for images of other staff’s work).

Also involved in the festival was the Oregon based artist David Willis.  A highly skilled artist, David began his flame working apprenticeship with Bob Snodgrass in 1994 in Eugene.  Drawing from an intense interest in the natural world, his work addresses on many levels the relationships between people and nature.   The artist in residence for the 23^rd annual festival was the former artistic director of Pilchuck Glass School, Pike Powers.  Pike has worked in glass and many other media, having earned a BFA in Glass from RISD and a MFA in Sculpture from Yale University.  It was very exciting to see people come together to help Pike achieve her ideas during our brief time on the island.

Marc Petrovic at the bench working with Pike Powers, Joon-yong Kim assisting

I was able to connect the glass dots with Joon, one of my fellow teaching assistants, whose work we have serendipitously featured in our magazine.  This was also the case with one of the students in Marc’s class, Kanami Ogata.  As a member of the collective Sandbox, Kanami showed at the Glazen Huis in Lommel, Belgium a year before the Canadian exhibition Tenuous Tenacity took place.  Our translator for the class, Rika Kuroki, whose work has been collected by the Corning Museum, lives part time in Vancouver and part time in Tokyo and is a good friend of Vancouver based artist Naoko Takenouchi.  While it is a real pleasure to be on the other side of this vast planet and connect with people through our small community, it is an even greater pleasure when your own work resonates with people you have not meet before, and this too happened in a very real way.

TA Keiko Hatori guides a local child in use of a flame working torch.

But one of the essential elements that separate this festival from so many other events is the level of the local community support and involvement.  The Mayor and other local dignitaries went out of their way to visit the festival and talk with the artists and students.  They even made sure Pike had the right twine to bind her fish trap piece.  During the festival three two-hour classes for the villagers were also conducted by the visiting artists, one each for adults, teenagers and children.  Again the staff-to-student ratio was almost one to one.  Several open public demos were also conducted.  And at the same time live Ustream broadcasts were being made to the rest of the world.  Local and global, you cannot get much better.

I could go on:  the typhoon, the fish, the onsen… but I will finish by saying how good it was to be able to flip open a computer and type in www.glassartcanada.ca and click on the artists links and be able to share what you are doing with our global community, and of course I did.

For a closer look at the Festival, check out the video!

Pour examiner de plus près au Festival, regardez la vidéo!

祭で詳しく見て、ビデオをチェック！

축제에 가까이 들어, 비디오를 체크 아웃!

“ Niijima, Japon: Les liens de la Communauté

Par Brad Copping

The view from the Niijima Glass Art Center

Il y a certains moments où je déteste le verre et ses designs nonchalants et sans originalité, lorsqu’il se fait passer pour de l’art incompris, ou dans ses attitudes machistes et compétitives. Mais à d’autres moments, j’adore cette matière et toute la communauté qu’elle regroupe. Récemment de retour d’une toute petite île du pacifique au large des côtes japonaises ou j’assistais Marc Petrovic, un artiste et sculpteur verrier à la main au talent incroyable que j’ai connu durant les cours de Jack Wax à Haystack en 1997, j’ai de nouveau été positivement surpris par l’ampleur des liens internationaux tissés autour de la communauté verrière.

Kanami Ogata and Joon-yong Kim assisting Ryo Onikubo.

Osamu et Yumiko Noda ont fondé et pris la direction du Centre Artistique Verrier de Niijima en 1987 dans des locaux appartenant à la communauté sur l’île de Niijima à 160km au sud de Tokyo. Niijima est probablement plus connue au Japon pour sa compétition nationale de surf, mais aussi grâce à sa roche qui donne au verre cette teinte verte caractéristique et sert aussi de matériel réfractaire. Alors qu’un des buts du centre est de se concentrer sur les différentes possibilités d’utiliser de manière artistique et industrielle ce grès local à base de silice appelé « Kogaseki », c’est son Festival International des Arts du Verre de Niijima (Niijima International Glass Art Festival) qui attire chaque année au Japon l’ensemble de la communauté mondiale du verre dans le but de partager idées et techniques et pouvoir composer avec ce merveilleux verre vert. Les Noda ont pu créer un milieu convoité pour ce rassemblement annuel. Leur accueil chaleureux et leur hospitalité sont également insufflés au personnel convié sur l’île à cette occasion. Le personnel est composé pou moitié d’étudiants et comprenait cette année parmi les meilleurs artistes verriers du Japon et de la Corée, pour la plupart également professeurs, avec notamment Takeshi Fukunishi, Harumi Yukutake, Joon-yong Kim et Kyou-hong Lee (vous pouvez consulter les travaux des autres membres du personnel en cliquant sur le lien du Festival affiché ci-dessus).

David Willis spinning open a flame worked dandelion.

On retrouve aussi dans ce festival l’implication de l’artiste David Willis originaire de l’Oregon. Artiste très talentueux, David débuta son travail au chalumeau en tant qu’apprenti auprès de Bob Snodgrass en 1994 à Eugene. S’inspirant de son intérêt particulier pour la nature, son œuvre aborde les différents niveaux relationnels existant entre l’homme et la nature. L’artiste résident à l’occasion de ce 23^e festival était quant à lui l’ancien directeur artistique de l’Ecole du Verre de Pilchuck, Pike Powers. Diplômé d’un BFA en verre (Bachelor of Fine Arts) du RISD et d’un MFA en sculpture à l’Université de Yale, Pike a travaillé le verre et de nombreuses autres matières. Voir toutes ces personnes se rassembler afin de tenter d’aider Pike dans la concrétisation de ses projets durant notre court séjour sur l’île fut très réjouissant.

Marc Petrovic at the bench working with Pike Powers, Joon-yong Kim assisting

J’ai pu nouer contact avec Joon, un collègue assistant qui a eu le bonheur de voir son travail figurer dans notre magazine. Ce fut aussi le cas pour l’un des étudiants de la classe de Marc, Kanami Ogata. En tant que membre du collectif Sandbox, Kanami présenta lors du Glazen Huis de Lommel en Belgique un an avant que l’exposition canadienne Tenuous-Tenacity aie lieu. Notre traducteur pendant les cours, Rika Kuroki, dont le travail est rassemblé au Corning Museum, vit la moitié de l’année à Vancouver et l’autre moitié à Tokyo et est un bon ami de l’artiste Naoko Takenouchi qui habite Vancouver lui aussi. Quel plaisir que de pouvoir rencontrer des personnes l’autre bout de la planète grâce à notre petite communauté, et quel un plaisir encore plus grand que de voir sa propre œuvre prendre de l’ampleur au travers de personnes encore jamais rencontrées auparavant, et cela s’est véridiquement passé.

TA Keiko Hatori guides a local child in use of a flame working torch.

Mais l’un des éléments essentiels qui différencie ce festival de la plupart des autres événements est le niveau d’implication et de soutient de la communauté locale. Le maire et d’autres dignitaires locaux sont venus visiter le festival et discuter avec les artistes et les étudiants. Ils se sont même assurés que Pike possédait la bonne ficelle pour attacher sa pièce du piège à poissons. Pendant le festival, trois cours de deux heures destinés aux habitants ont été donnés par des artistes invités, un pour les adultes, un pour ados et un pour les enfants. Encore une fois, le ratio personnel/étudiant était pratiquement de un pour un. Plusieurs démonstrations publiques furent réalisées. Et simultanément, des émissions en live étaient diffusées au reste du monde. Local et global à la fois, difficile de faire mieux !

Je pourrai continuer : le typhon, le poisson, l’onsen… mais je conclurai juste en mentionnant à quel point il est agréable de pouvoir allumer son ordinateur et taper www.glassartcanada.ca, cliquer sur le lien de l’artiste et pouvoir ainsi montrer vos réalisations au reste de la communauté, ce que j’ai bien sûr fait.

NATALI RODRIGUES:  PROXIMITY & TOUCH

Discovery Gallery, Alberta Craft Council, Edmonton

April 17 – May 29, 2010

By: Robyn Weatherley

Recent works of Canadian artist Natali Rodrigues were displayed this spring in a stunning solo exhibition entitled Proximity & Touch in the Discovery Gallery at the Alberta Craft Council.  The exhibition displayed pieces that used glass sculpture and printmaking to explore the notion of proximity and touch through corporeal and psychological implications.  Although the majority of the work displayed was glass, one large print functioned as a platform launching the concept into a second dimension.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch

Upon entering the gallery viewers were inevitably situated among the many glass objects in a delight for the senses.  During the initial survey, the diversity in glassworking techniques became apparent.  Rodrigues communicates her ideas through manipulation of scale, surface texture, opacity, form and colour.  There are sleek and aerodynamic objects that one can imagine cutting silently through the air, highly polished works resembling sparkling precious stones and jewels, and coarse and satin textured glass with great likeness to stones found in nature.  Brilliant colours emerge and muted colours retreat.  The desire to touch and explore the objects is almost irresistible.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch Print

Traditionally, touching glass displayed in galleries is not permitted, mostly because of its seemingly fragile and precious nature.  This appears to hold true in most exhibitions of current contemporary glasswork.  The layout and presentation of Rodrigues’ body of work in the Discovery Gallery allowed for a diversion from tradition.  Some of the objects were made accessible to touch while others were encased in vitrines on top of plinths.  This assortment of displays allowed for viewers to get close, touch and explore the hidden facets of some work such as Proximity & Touch #8, a smooth opaque white elliptical object with a small dimple on the surface.  Examining the apparently silky surface with the eyes is pleasantly reinforced when touch is also employed.  The dimple is the perfect shape and size for one to run his or her forefinger back and forth along its surprisingly rough surface.  Tension is built between viewers and the enclosed objects as we can only imagine touching them and the desire mounts to discover what hidden secrets they hold.

Each glass component is aesthetically unique and can function independently; however, what brings greater meaning to the work is the tension or lack thereof in the negative spaces between objects.  Rodrigues has put great care and attention into the design of angles and cuts and how they affect these relationships.  Her work holds strong references to casual interaction as well as intimate connections.  For example, in Proximity & Touch #12, a large opaque black teardrop-shape glass form with a rough surface tenuously balances off centre a miniscule rounded transparent green glass gem.  The depth of the black glass creates such an ominous weight that it feels as though the space between it and the buoyant little gem could collapse at any moment.  In other work, the negative space is neutralized by the angles created.  These works convey a more relaxed feeling and sometimes seemingly no relationship at all to each other.

The relationships Rodrigues has intentionally created between the three-dimensional and two-dimensional objects in her work provokes questions as well as provides insight into how we interpret body language and what constitutes a relationship, no matter how insignificant the connection might seem.  Proximity & Touch successfully translates the intangibility of a variety of relationships into tangible beautifully hand crafted objects.

NATALI RODRIGUES:  PROXIMITÉ ET CONTACT
Gallerie Discovery, conseil des métier d’art d’Alberta
du 17 Avril au 29 Mai 2010

Par: Robyn Weatherley
Traduit de l’anglais au français par Mathieu Grodet
Le récent travail de l’artiste Canadienne Natali Rodrigues était exposé ce printemps dans une superbe exposition solo titré Proximity & Touch à la galerie Discovery au centre des métier d’art d’Alberta. Le travail présenté utilise la sculpture en verre et la gravure explorant la notion de proximité et de contact à travers les expériences du corps et de l’esprit. Malgré que la majorité du travail exposé était en verre, il y avait une grande gravure qui fonctionnait comme une rampe de lancement propulsant le concept dans une  seconde dimension.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity et Contact

En entrant dans la galerie, le spectateur se retrouvait inévitablement parmi une multitude d’objets en verre qui entrainait un plaisir des sens. Au premier coup d’oeil, la diversité des techniques du travail du verre c’est alors avérée évidente. Rodrigues fait passer ses idées par la manipulation d’échelle, de texture et de surface, l’opacité, la forme et la couleur. Il ya des objets élancée et aérodynamique que l’on peut imaginer évoluer silencieusement dans l’air, des objets polis très brillant ressemblant à d’étincelantes pierres précieuses ou bijoux,  et des objets en verre texturés et d’autres satinés rappelant des pierres trouvées dans la nature. Les couleurs les plus brillantes ressortes tandis que les couleurs sombres se rétractent. Le désir de toucher et de s’approprier les objets semble irrésistible.

Natali Rodrigues, Proximity & Touch Print

Habituellement, toucher le verre dans les galeries n’est pas autorisés, principalement en raison de son caractère fragile et précieux. Ceci est vrai dans la plupart des expositions de la verrerie contemporaine actuelle. La manière de présenter l’ensemble des pièces de Rodrigues dans la Galerie Discovery permet un détournement de la tradition. Certains de ces objets étaient accessibles au toucher, tandis que d’autres ont été enfermés dans des vitrines ou des cloches. Cette façon de présenter les objets permet au spectateur de se rapprocher,  de toucher ou d’explorer les faces cachées de certaines pièces telle que Proximity & Touch #8, un objet blanc lisse et opaque de forme elliptique avec un petit creux sur la surface. L’examen de la surface en apparence soyeuse est agréable pour les yeux est confirmer lorsque le toucher est également employé. La forme et la taille du creux s’adapte parfaitement pour qui veux passer et repasser son doigt afin de sentir cette surprenante surface rugueuse. Une tension est créée entre le spectateur et l’objet enfermé sous sa cloche, plus il imagine la toucher, plus le désir de découvrir son secret caché augmente.

Chaque élément de verre est esthétiquement unique et peut fonctionner de façon indépendante, cependant, ce qui apporte une grande signification à ce travail c’est la présence ou l’absence de tension dans l’espace qui sépare les objets. Rodrigues a mis beaucoup de soin et d’attention dans la conception des angles et des coupes, et comment ils affectent l’éspace. Son travail contient de forte références aux interactions occasionnels ainsi qu’à des connexions intimes. Par exemple, dans Proximity & Touch #12, une grande goutte de verre noir opaque avec une surface rugueuse est en équilibre légèrement décentrer sur une minuscule pierre précieuse arrondie en verre vert transparent. La profondeur du verre noir crée une impression poids inquiétant ,comme si l’espace entre la goutte et la pierre risquait de s’effondrer à tout moment. Dans d’autres travaux, l’espace entre les objets est neutralisé par les angles créé. Ces œuvres traduisent un sentiment plus détendu et parfois apparemment aucune relation les uns avec les autres.

Les relations que Rodrigues a intentionnellement créé entre les objets en trois dimensions et en deux dimensions soulèvent des questions aussi bien qu’ils fournissent un aperçu de la façon dont nous interprétons le langage corporel et ce qui constitue une relation, peu importe l’ insignifiance du lien. Proximity & Touch traduit avec succès l’intangibilité d’une variété de relations à travers de magnifiques objets tangibles fait à la main artisanalement.

By Jill Allan

‘Crows’ fused glass with powder drawings by Tammy Hudgeon of Gabriola Island. This artwork was used as the invitation image for Cross Pollination.

The BCGAA hosted some member events this fall:  a members’ exhibition, a Christmas market and fundraiser, and an educational booth opportunity at the Circle Craft Christmas Market.

In September, the bi-annual members’ exhibition was presented at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown, Vancouver.  This year’s theme was Cross Pollination:

‘With a deft brush movement, flower growers cross-pollinate plants to cultivate hybrids with new forms and colours that delight gardeners. Artists take equal delight in that spark of discovery that captures an insight from work by another artist or in another medium.  Whether exploring a new glass-working technique, meshing glass with another material, or translating a traditional technique into glass, our members are inspired by the work of other artists to extend the range of what glass can express.’

BCGAA report opening of Cross Pollination,.the BC Glass Arts Association’s Members’ show at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletow, Vancouver. September 2010 group photo of the artists

(Back Row from Left – Peter Medley, Michelle Mathias, James Ceaser, Jean Paull, Melanie Rowe, Naoko Takenouchi, Leslie Rowe-Israelson, Waine Ryzak, Suzanne Basnett, Sonya Labrie, Braden Hammond.
In Front – Yves Trudeau, Malcolm McFadyen, Andrew Luketic, Lynne Chappell)

A visitor observes work by (left-right) Naoko Takenouchi ‘Earth, Sea and Air’, Wayne Ryzak ‘Hedical Flames of Passion’, and Melanie Rowe ‘Phylly’.

Collaborations between artists were encouraged as well as works that crossed into new media exploration and combinations.  Visit the web site for more information, to see more of the art work presented and to see who the award winners were:  www.bcgaa.org.

Visitors view wall installation ‘Migrations’ by Jenny Judge, an untitled acrylic painting by Robert Held in the background, as well as sculptural work ‘Gracious Hostility’ by Ed Colberg and fused wall piece ‘Dreamscape’ by Laura Murdoch.

Maria Keating displays her lampwork at the BCGAA Christmas show at Robert Held Art Glass in Vancouver.

Robert Held hosted the BCGAA Christmas Market again this year.  Robert Held opened his studio to the public to help raise funds and public awareness for the BCGAA.  There were demos in the hot shop, “Cooking with Glass”, and a general sharing of enthusiasms as well as selling some work.  There are more snaps of the two-day event on the BCGAA web site.

BCGAA has been invited to participate in Vancouver’s Circle Craft Christmas Market this year as an educational booth.  Works by members will be exhibited as well as a slide presentation of images about members’ work and glass making processes.  Circle Craft Christmas Market has moved into the new Vancouver Convention Centre this year and takes place Nov 17^th-21st.  Malcolm MacFadyen will be hosting the ‘Totally Amazing Glass Show’ during the CCC Market, setting up his portable glass blowing studio where lampworking and glass blowing demonstrations will take place for the entertainment of the patrons.  For more information visit:  www.circlecraft.net.

Robert Held, Chago Vargas and Tara Connors of RHAG prepare a giant snowman during a glassblowing demonstration at the BCGAA Christmas show.

Jill Allan is one of the GAAC Regional Representatives for B.C.  She graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary in 1999.  She currently lives on Vancouver Island, travelling to Chemainus, Vancouver and Victoria to make her work.

par Hélène Brown, Crédit photo Jean-Pierre Lacroix

Chat des artistes

La culture est essentielle à la vie des peuples : elle les soude, les inscrit dans l’histoire, et leur permet de se dépasser, d’innover, de créer de la beauté. Par là même, elle doit être considérée comme un moteur important de la dynamique sociale et économique. Son impact sur la richesse collective est complexe, mais certain.

Dans plusieurs grandes villes du monde, nous observons un phénomène d’exode des créateurs à l’extérieur des quartiers centraux dû à la spéculation immobilière. Les artistes, ne trouvant plus d’espace abordable et adéquat pour y travailler, migrent en périphérie. Et, lorsque les créatifs quittent, nous le savons, c’est toute la vitalité d’un quartier qui quitte avec eux. De plus, dans une économie basée sur le savoir et la connaissance, la force créative représente la matière première de l’innovation. Il s’avère donc peut-être plus que jamais essentiel de contrer ce phénomène, car de là dépend notre place dans le monde, notre prospérité et notre vitalité.

Montréal n’échappe pas à ce phénomène. Bien que la ville se positionne comme une métropole culturelle, elle doit s’engager, en concertation avec les acteurs du milieu culturel, à développer des infrastructures qui vont perdurer dans le temps et soutenir la création. Toronto a vécu ce phénomène bien avant Montréal au début des années soixante-dix et elle a réagi en créant l’organisme à but non lucratif Artscape voué, entre autres, au développement d’espaces abordables pour les artistes.

En 2007, pour trouver une solution durable aux problèmes d’une communauté d’artistes du quartier menacée de perdre son lieu de travail, la Corporation de développement économique et communautaire Centre-Sud /Plateau Mont-Royal (CDEC). en partenariat avec Culture Montréal, fondent les Ateliers Créatifs, une organisation à but non lucratif, dont la mission est de développer et pérenniser des lieux de créations. S’inspirant de Toronto Artscape,  les organismes fondateurs prennent  le pari d’un développement culturel, social et économique harmonieux et inaugurent en décembre 2008, le premier projet pilote des Ateliers Créatifs : Le Chat des artistes.

Le Chat des artistes est un ancien immeuble industriel, dédié à la création, situé au 2205 rue Parthenais dans le quartier Ste-Marie, au cœur d’un pôle créatif en émergence. Il a été acquis par les Ateliers Créatifs et converti en espaces offerts en location aux artistes, artisans et organismes culturels.

Ce projet a été baptisé de façon ironique, en hommage à la chanson de Jean-Pierre Ferland « Le chat du café des artistes ». Cette pièce relate l’histoire d’un artiste qui, en désespoir de cause, offre son corps en pâtée au chat. Le Chat des artistes se veut donc une version plus positive, un élan vers ce qui anime nos quartiers, captive nos regards et ébranle nos idées.

Plus concrètement, le Chat des artistes, c’est 30 000 pieds carrés d’espace de travail, 42 ateliers et aujourd’hui, plus d’une centaine d’artistes qui y travaillent chaque jour.  Le Chat des artistes est un lieu unique de synergie créative grâce à la diversité des pratiques, des expériences (artistes de la relève côtoyant des artistes ayant déjà une carrière bien entamée), des cultures et des générations qui s’y retrouvent. Les pratiques varient allant des arts visuels et médiatiques, à la joaillerie, le théâtre, l’éco-design, la chapellerie, la reliure, le cinéma, le rembourrage, l’illustration et aussi…. le travail du verre !

Ce lieu de création devient, pour plusieurs créateurs qui utilisent les lieux. une manière de sortir de l’isolement et de faire évoluer leurs pratiques respectives par les échanges, la complémentarité et la communication entre les gens. D’ailleurs, des espaces de rencontre comme le hall, le salon et la cuisine commune ont été aménagés afin de favoriser cette vie associative. Après seulement deux ans d’existence, cette communauté devient une véritable ruche qui bourdonne d’activités influençant  positivement l’environnement social et économique du quartier.

Ainsi, ce projet se veut également un outil de revitalisation de cet ancien quartier industriel défavorisé. Lorsque les artistes arrivent dans un secteur, ils l’embellissent, lui donnent une âme et le transforment. L’art est un outil de changement social. Les artistes redonnent vie à leurs espaces urbains et jouent le rôle de défricheurs, ils stimulent la vitalité d’un quartier. Souhaitons que le Chat des artistes soit une source d’espoir et un exemple de l’engagement d’une communauté à accorder aux créateurs une place où ils seront libres d’imaginer et de façonner beauté et émois.

_____________

The Artists’ Cat
The Ateliers Créatifs, a non-profit organization, have converted an old industrial building into studios offered for rent to artists, craft’s makers and cultural organisations. It has been named—in an ironic manner—in tribute to Jean-Pierre Ferland’s work “Le chat du café des artistes,” which tells the story of an artist who in an act of desperation offers his body as meat for a cat.

By Silvia Taylor

Residents Robert Peyregatt and Brad Turner working at Harbourfront Centre's hotshop

The summer residency at the Toronto Harbourfront Center is a scholarship opportunity for students who are enrolled in a in a post-secondary Crafts program. The position provides students with the hands-on experience of working with their craft in a professional studio environment. The experience prepares summer residents for the rest of their academic career and, perhaps more to the point, helps to prepare them for a career in their craft. For the Centre, it is an opportunity to show their support for the next generation of craft students. The centre and its residency can demonstrate to the student participants that contemporary craft is a respected and encouraged art form.

View of the coldshop, and roll-up garage door that provides relief in summer.

The facility is a small and cozy glass-blowing studio with one pot furnace and two benches at which to work, including access to oxygen and propane. The workspace also includes a garage, colour box, pick-up box, and top and front-loading annealers. On the other side of the studio is a cold-working area consisting of a sandblaster, lathe, lap wheel, drill press, diamond saw, and belt sander. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Harbourfront’s craft studio layout is that it gives pedestrian visitors the opportunity to stop and watch the craftspeople at work by peering over the railing that follows along the hallway. This gives viewers the chance to watch the glass residents and their process in a setting not usually seen.

Harbourfront residents work together as people spectate.

This summer I was thrilled to have been selected as one of the summer residents and I fully expected that the experience would be extremely beneficial and gratifying. I certainly was not disappointed. I found Harbourfront Centre to be an inspiring environment in which a student can work. Moving from an educational setting to a professional environment requires a huge shift in one’s mindset. Suddenly I went from working alongside my fellow students to working side by side with those who are making glass for a living. I was able to observe their lifestyle and understand the degree of effort that goes into being a full time artist. I now clearly understand the sacrifices I would have to make. The residents were each doing it in their own way. In fact, the diversity among the residents was what made my experience so influential. Each resident had his or her own unique aesthetic, experiences, teachers, technique, and use for the material. During my summer residency, each resident helped me out in different ways so that, collaboratively, they helped to broaden my awareness and knowledge of glass.

The experience was not just about the summer residency. I was curious to know what the full time residents gained from having students in the studio. It was obvious to me that I was gaining a lot from the experience but I wondered how my limited knowledge of the material and studio experience could benefit the full-time residents. When I asked a few of them, they agreed that it was nice having a few new faces in the studio and, along with that, some fresh outlook on the material and an enthusiastic approach. They were also curious to hear what we are up to and how we plan to evolve our work.

View of the hotshop from the raised public catwalk.

The summer residency position was an incredible experience that I encourage all craft students to apply for when they’re eligible. My time at Harbourfront has helped me refine my concepts and fine-tune my technical skills. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity before entering my final year in the Sheridan College Glass Program.

By Shirley Rimer

People tell me I’m a very lucky person.   I’ve had the opportunity to travel extensively.   When I return to my studio, my experiences inevitably manifest themselves in my pieces.  I feel I now rely on the stimulation from travel for ideas and direction.  My latest travels have taken me to the beautiful hillsides of Tuscany, Italy, where I apprenticed in a glass studio.

Apprenticeship, as a form of instruction in which a novice learns from a master of craft or art, has existed for thousands of years.  Until the 19^th century apprenticeship was the sole means for people to acquire the skills for almost all occupations.  My tutelage in the studio at Vetrate Artistiche Toscane, in Siena, gave me the opportunity to learn many of the skills required to create artworks in stained glass.

With the help of the Alberta Foundation For The Arts, I spent the month of August, 2010, in Siena.   I rented a small apartment on a narrow little street in the old city.  Each morning I climbed the hill in the sunshine and looked forward to learning and laughter.  Siena was alluring, the people were friendly and the food was delicious.  Fresh pasta, pizza slices and gelato were an almost everyday occurrence.  The weekends were the time for exploration and included a trip to Florence as well as La Meridiana, a ceramics studio in the Tuscan hillside.

Massimo and Gianni Bracciali are brothers who have successfully operated this fused and stained glass venture for the past 20 years.  The studio, where their job is restoration and creation of beautiful stained glass windows, is situated in the heart of the old city.  Massimo apprenticed for several years in a stained glass studio.  His brother, Gianni, has a doctorate in geology.  Their individual expertise has created an environment where one can learn all facets of this exquisite art form.  Their sense of humour was delightful.

A ceramist from Ireland, Shauna McCann, was there to do a one-month apprenticeship with me.  We talked about our lives and our work and how we would like to integrate what we were learning into what we do.  We were equal in our lack of experience and in our ability to learn.

When I walked into the studio, I was immediately taken with the beautiful drawings, “cartoons”, lining the walls throughout the space.  These cartoons are the initial steps in creating the beautiful stained glass windows, which are part of the architecture of churches in several countries in the world.  The finished products can be seen in several churches in Siena, some restorations and some new creations.

Church window in progress.

When I arrived they were in the beginning stages of a commission for a church in Minnesota.  After a short practice session on some ornaments, I was immediately put to work on cutting glass for the new windows.  After the drawings are prepared, they’re redrawn in sections with numbered colors in each section.  Cutting the glass for the windows is very exact; any inaccuracy will cause a distortion in the window.  As time progressed, the cutting became easier and I became excited about being a part of the project.  While I was doing that I watched the cartoons being developed and the glass being put together and painted.

We helped to complete smaller projects in order to learn the leading techniques and finally the cementing.  The most difficult job was painting the glass.  Alberto Positano, the studio painter, did a superb job.  Colors are overlaid and a variety of very delicate and precise techniques are used before the paints are fired onto the glass.

What I learned in the studio will be a part of my future work in clay; both the technical aspects of working in stained glass and the impressions of a charming and very beautiful city.  I look forward to seeing this experience materialize in the pieces I plan to make.  I truly am very lucky!

Shirley Rimer lives in Red Deer, Alberta, where she owns and operates a ceramics studio.  She has been working in clay for the past 30 years and has exhibited her work internationally.   Shirley has travelled extensively, participating in residencies and exchanges in several countries.   Her mixed media work often includes glass elements.

Randy Walker demonstrating blocking technique while students Doug, Bruce and Sylvia look on.

Rogue Wave Glassworks in Chemainus, B.C. hosted an intensive workshop with Randy Walker November 12-14, 2010.  The workshop reviewed basic glass blowing skills, covered surface decoration techniques (powder applications and crackling) and also sculpting the hot bubble.  It was a lot of information to cover in three days but at the end of the session on Sunday everyone was feeling satisfied that they had learned some new techniques and broken old bad habits.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Randy Walker, I highly recommend that you take advantage of that chance especially once you have developed some skills and confidence in the hot shop.  Randy teaches intermediate glass blowers and helps them to fine tune their skills.  In this article, I will describe what I learned about setting up basic blown forms, and in subsequent articles I will cover punties, surface decoration and hot sculpting.

The first two days of the workshop were dedicated to understanding how the glass behaves and how to use heat and mass to achieve the wall thickness and form that you are after.  We began at the beginning – gathering and starting the bubble – and worked on basic forms such as cylinders, cones and pulled bottle necks to manifest in tangible terms the effect of mass on heat.  Randy repeatedly pointed out that there is not one way to work with glass, no step-by-step approach; but that understanding the impact of mass on heat is the key to understanding how to control how the glass moves.  Every contact that we make with the glass is a part of its ‘memory’ or history — once it has a history it is no longer neutral; the heat is affected and various throughout the form.

Of course it is possible and often convenient to use torches to heat the glass but for this workshop we learned methods for blowing out our shapes without torches.  We reviewed posture and body movement; moving slowly when the glass is hottest (after gathering and when heating) to maintain the form, how and when to move quickly to preserve heat, keeping the pipe ‘neutral’ (parallel to the floor), how to anchor our bodies when marvering, bringing a hot bit or bracing the pipe for someone who is hot sculpting and how best to hold tools for the most power and for ergonomics.  We learned how to rotate the pipe with our left hand so that we use the whole bench rail smoothly, a method of hand movement that I will have to practice and practice and practice before I am able to perform it effectively.  This hand movement is hard to describe but we called it the crab walking method.   Randy used lecture time and illustrations to explore the concepts with us before heading into the hot shop for demonstrations and practice.

Bearing in mind that there isn’t one right way to blow glass, I will describe the way that we learned to start out most of the shapes that glass blowers use to make their work.  This procedure ensures that the shoulder of the piece is blown out on the pipe and eliminates frustrating and inefficient catch up work later (when your shoulder and neck are too thick and you are unable to penetrate that area with heat and still maintain control of the rest of the piece).  It also protects the bottom of the piece from blowing out too thin and too fast.

It is important to be mindful of the heat and mass while gathering, making sure to gather an even moil and to consider the effect of the pipe’s temperature on the temperature of the fresh gather.  Once the initial gather of glass has been collected head to the bench but be careful to hold the pipe parallel to the ground so that the gather doesn’t lengthen or move back over the moil.  At the bench use the block to cool the outside of the gather, gently shaping the glass so that the centre of mass (the widest point) is just off the end of the pipe and the bottom of the shape is softly pointed to keep it from spinning outward in the glory hole with centrifugal force.  Then head to the glory hole to even out the heat of the gather.  Concentrate on your pipe rotation speed at the glory hole to preserve the tapered bottom and keep it from spinning outward.  Use your palms to turn the pipe.  Back at the bench, block the glass briefly before you blow and cap the pipe.  We practiced blowing and capping using our left hands so that we could be more efficient with our movements, preserving the heat and saving time.  The bubble forms quickly and the shoulder is thin because the centre of mass at the shoulder holds the most heat and draws the bubble to move there first. The walls are even and the bottom is slightly thicker; the taper has protected it from blowing out.

Randy drew attention to the way that we used tools such as the blocks and the newspaper and encouraged us to touch the glass as little and as gently as possible (try not to mash the glass with your block or paper; rather, let the glass fall into it) and to roll the pipe quickly and smoothly using the whole bench rail.  To prepare the bubble for subsequent gathers, pay attention to the centre of mass, making sure that it is just off the end of the pipe (shoulder).  Keep the bottom softly pointed so that you can protect it more easily from becoming thin (keeping the bubble from shooting out the end).  After gathering over the bubble return to the bench to block the fresh glass keeping the most mass at the shoulder and making sure that the glass does not fall to the bottom creating mass there that will collect heat and cause the bottom to become thin.

Keeping your pipe parallel with the floor as you move to the bench after gathering will help eliminate the problem of having too much mass at the bottom.  It is better to avoid this than to have to use a lot of tooling (and cooling) to repair it at the bench.  After blocking the new gather head to the glory hole to even out the heat then back to the bench to block and blow.  This inflation is short and sharp to puff up the shoulder and followed by immediate marvering and blowing.  At the marver, start at the tip of the bubble to protect the bottom from blowing out, make it pointy, rest the pipe off the back of the marver and blow short and sharp to puff up the shoulder.  Then marver the tip again, working your way up the side to the shoulder (the bubble should be cone shaped now) and, again off the back of the marver, blow short and sharp.  Keep the angle of your pipe shallow to prevent the bubble from stretching and the marvering brief, using three or four passes, moving quickly so that you don’t lose heat.  Do not marver the actual shoulder (keep it hot) but rather the sides just below it.

Student Bruce at bench starting to pull out the neck of his piece with helpers student Sarah and student Doug.

Randy stressed that the beauty of the bubble while you are marvering is not very important and spending a lot of time on the metal trying to correct an oval shaped bubble is counter-productive as it will just rob heat from the glass.  Your bubble will be too cold after marvering and blowing two or three times so re-heat it and do more marvering if you need to rather than trying to blow the shoulder all the way with a too-cold bubble.  Marver the tip a lot to cool it before you re-heat in the glory hole; the cold pointy angle of the bottom of the piece will keep the bubble from overheating there and allow you to get a lot of heat in the shoulder.  Plus this shape is easy to handle when you are re-heating.  After this step the bubble is cone shaped with a puffed out shoulder and it is time to set up the form at the bench.

For a cylinder, get an all-over heat in the glory hole, paper the shoulder to the width you desire, then paper the sides and get bench air to puff out the bottom so that the width at the bottom of the bubble is the same as the width at the shoulder.  This should result in an oval-shaped bubble with a thin shoulder and a thicker bottom.  Papering the sides keeps the walls from expanding where you don’t want them to.  Point up the very bottom of the oval to protect it from blowing out too quickly and reheat the bubble from the shoulder so that you can drop out the cylinder shape.  When you retreat from the glory hole, hang the bubble to let the shape fall out as you slowly rotate the pipe.  Start at a shallow angle so that the drop out is not more extreme than you want it to be, you can adjust this angle if you want the bubble to fall faster.  Swinging the glass is fun but risky to the integrity of the form and your control over it.

For a cone shape, take the marvered pointy bubble with the puffed out shoulder to the glory hole and heat it in increments starting at the bottom (which you want to be the hottest) and moving up to the shoulder.  As you leave the glory hole, hang your bubble at a shallow angle (adjust the angle as required) and let the cone form fall out.  You can repeat this step until you have the length you are going for.  If you want the bubble to fall out into a straight sided cone (not convex) gently puff out the sides at the bench before you re-heat, making the bubble more of a bullet shape, and the sides will straighten out again as you drop the shape.  If you heat and drop a straight-sided bubble, the sides will curve inward creating a convex wall profile.

For a pulled bottle neck, set up a bubble as previously, making sure that the bottom is pointed and cold and that the shoulder is puffed out.  Get a lot of heat in the glory hole.  At the bench make a trough in the shoulder to make it easier to start the jack line then use the jacks to squeeze down to the diameter of neck that you want, starting to pull out as well when you have the right diameter.  Stop squeezing the neckline and start pulling your jacks outward (to the right) keeping them straight up and down.  Have your assistant puff gently to blow out the shoulder some more as you are pulling out the neck.  Be careful to keep the bubble below the shoulder on centre; one way to do this is to quickly paper (cool) the cone-shaped bottom before you apply the jacks to the neck.  You have to do it in one pull.  From this point on you are working below the shoulder because trying to heat above the shoulder and maintain control over the form is extremely difficult.  Make a crease for the jack line now.  The neck will hold heat for a surprisingly long time, so you might not need to flash the neck and moil until after your first heat and re-shape of the bubble below the shoulder.

Preheating and waxing your jacks is recommended so that the tool doesn’t rob heat and glides smoothly.  If you are making a piece with an abrupt shoulder, avoid hanging the pipe down as you walk to the bench to thin the shoulder in preparation for jacking.  Instead, create a ‘trough’ for your jack line by angling the top of your jacks outward (to the right) and gently sloping the bubble here.  This will make it easier to make the crease line in a large puffed up shoulder.  Once you have a trough, hold your jacks straight up and down to make the break off crease.  You can always use a torch to make this crease deeper when it is time to break the piece off the pipe so leave a wide enough jack line to have stability and control.

Not enough brain cells?  We drank gin to cope at this stage (the end of day two) and rested up for day three.

I know that a lot of this information is common sense and basic to hot shop practice but I found myself surprised by how many inefficient habits I had formed by not analyzing my process.  I think the most important thing I learned is something I already knew but stubbornly ignored:  the concept of mass=heat.  In some ways, it is counter-intuitive – put the most glass where you want the blown form to be thin.  I have always had difficulty blowing out the shoulder so I am really grateful to have broken the bad habits I had around this concept.  I learned a lot about marvering (something I usually avoid because I am not good at it).  I made friends with the marver.  As for the left hand, I will have to practice my turning technique and build muscle for a long time before I see good results there.

For more information about Rogue Wave Glassworks and to find out about future classes, visit their website at www.roguewaveglassworks.com.

Jill Allan is one of the GAAC Regional Representatives for B.C.  She graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary in 1999.  She currently lives on Vancouver Island, travelling to Chemainus, Vancouver and Victoria to make her work.

By Mary-Beth Laviolette

(reprinted with permission from Galleries West Magazine, Summer 2010 (p 36-37))

Angela Bedard, If, photo: artist

It’s possible that contemporary glass is overtaking ceramics as the pre-eminent craft in Alberta – not so much in terms of number of practitioners, but in quality and range of work, breadth-of imagination and engagement with contemporary society and visual culture.  The evidence is in the energies and input of emerging artists, and the ongoing commitment of established artists.

Julia Reimer, Home, photo: John Dean

Organized by the Calgary Glass Initiative, this is the second survey of glass art from Calgary and surrounding aeas mounted at the Triangle Gallery since 1995.  Together with the recent Alberta Craft Council display of Glass 2009 in Edmonton, there is the impression that the instructional efforts of the Alberta College of Art + Design and Red Deer College, as well as the collective and shared studio arrangements of many Alberta glass artists, is paying off handsomely.  Glass 2009 featured $90,000-worth of work acquired for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection – including pieces by Martha Henry, Tyler Rock, Julia Reimer, Tim Belliveau and Ryan Marsh Fairweather, who also appear in this exhibition.

In the last couple of decades, contemporary art glass has sometimes been undermined by a reputation of being like candy floss:  big, decorative and supremely precious.  In Calgary Glass Now, the work ranges from blown to cast to factory-produced (incorporating items like glass teacups and commercial mirrors), and the spirit is less about a precious medium and more about a material, with all its peculiarities.  In that regard, there were some surprising moments, like Lori Sobkowich’s “An Unguarded Prayer.”  Made in response to the turmoil of Afghanistan, Sobkowich transforms a traditional Christian-themed stained glass church window with motifs from central Asia.  Natali Rodrigues’ “Begegnung” resonated in the same way – a deceptively simple plaque of cast and polished glass in which the spiritual idea of grace is given material form.

There was also real substance in Jamie Gray’s commentary-rich, “Have Your Cake,” and Tyler Rock’s “Cannon,” as well as “Catch” from his Riel Rebellion-inspired Almighty Voice series.  For visual impact, Gray’s large-scale wall-mounted work, with its image of outstretched hands, was the more effective of the three works and I wondered if Rock’s two artefact-filled bell jars were too small in scale for their content.  Martha Henry’s flameworked figurative sculpture of bird women featured in “Metamorphosis” also raises questions of scale.  These mythological figures were beautifully executed, but teeny-tiny, tipping over into cuteness.

It should be mentioned that Rock’s and Gray’s work would have looked fine in a contemporary art exhibition, crossing the arbitrary and sometimes silly divide between craft and art.  Other work that easily made that leap – Robyn Weatherley’s photograph-laden “Retrieval” which investigated memory, and the gender themes of Liz Bowen’s bodily “Ornamentation of Sustainability.”  In a more modernist temperament, there was also Robert Geyer’s stunning minimalist composition of pulled glass rods, “Alberta Color Gradient,” with its references to 1960s colour field painting.

A few words should be said for glass art of a purer sort, the kind that revels largely in what this material excels at, especially with light and colour.  David Blankenstyn, Bonny Houston and Barry Fairbairn have each contributed a vase-shaped work – a more traditional format – but given their sheer beauty, is anything else really needed?  Glass veteran Jim Norton’s “Floor Lamp” is far more elaborate in function and appearance, but it’s also part of the reason why there is much that glows in this latest survey.

By K. Leah Duperreault

Ryan fishing

Ryan Bavin has been producing blown glass fish for more than ten years.  Growing up, he spent a lot of time fishing.  His grandfather taught him how to fly fish, including how to tie his own flies, when he was six or seven years old.  This is where his fascination with fish started.  Many weekends were spent on the local lakes and streams fishing for several varieties of trout.

Ryan and Pat working

Bavin Glassworks was founded in 1988 by Ryan’s father, Pat Bavin, in the small BC town of Windermere.  Ryan started working with his dad in 1989 at the age of 15, learning how to blow glass.  Several years later in the mid 1990′s, a couple of things happened.

Firstly, in the winter of 1996, Ryan spent a couple of months with his brother Marc road-tripping down into Mexico.  Every day was spent in the ocean, surfing and snorkeling on the tropical beaches.  Seeing all the brightly colored fish in the ocean made Ryan think that they would be fun to make in glass.  All the bright colors and interesting shapes would be an interesting challenge.

Secondly, shortly after returning home from Mexico, Ryan went on the first of what would become several trips to the Pilchuck Glass School.  Here he was exposed to some more advanced techniques in the blowing and sculpture of hot glass.  After returning from Pilchuck in the summer of 1996, Ryan began to experiment with the process of making fish in glass.

Bull Trout

The first fish were tropical in nature.  Tropical fish were relatively easy to make as you could make them almost any shape and color combination and they would look like a tropical fish.  Before long Ryan became more interested in making the fish that he had always known and grew up fishing for around his home.  Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout, as well as Bull Trout and Whitefish were what he was more familiar with.  So, when he could get the chance and be assisted by his father, he started to work on making more indigenous species of fish.  The early trout were usually clear, with spots and eyes sandblasted on once the piece had been annealed.  This was because it was difficult to get the color on the fish in the right location.  Over several more years, Ryan tried various techniques for applying color.  Gradually, he formed a color technique using mostly cane and powders.  And as the colors began to develop, he became more proficient with the other aspects of making the trout as well.  He then began working on creating the subtle differences of body shape and color between the different species.

Dolly Varden Detail

Ryan believes that glass is about as good a medium as you can possibly use to make a fish.  “The fluidity of the medium really lends itself to the natural movement of creatures that live in water,” he says.  “While I’m working in the hotshop, the piece is naturally moving all the time.”  He laughs, “It really comes alive on the end of the punty!”

The first major show of the Bavin glass fish was in November, 2008.  Rod Green of Masters Gallery in Calgary became interested in the fish and offered to have a show.  The Bavins were excited by the prospect of having a show in such a prestigious gallery.  Working hard throughout 2008, Ryan, assisted by his dad Pat, produced 25 fish for the November show at Masters.  The show was an overwhelming success, selling out in two days.

This show gave Ryan the confidence that he needed to continue to work on making fish out of glass.  He is still producing trout, and has started to produce a species of Pacific salmon as well.  “Eighty years ago, Pacific salmon used to make their way up to the Columbia River all the way past Invermere to the headwaters of the Columbia,” he says.  The salmon no longer make it this far upstream due to the damming of the river; however, a landlocked version, the Kokanee, still run up sections of the river every fall.

Sockeye

Ryan still enjoys getting out and going fishing for the local species of trout, and now has renewed interest in learning about the fish and studying their aquatic environment.  Introduced species, interbreeding, and changes to the very waters in which they live are changing the fish.  The fish that Ryan now finds in the Columbia River Basin are quite different from the ones his grandfather fished for a couple generations ago.  “By studying the fish, I have learned a lot about the area in which I live,” says Ryan.  “It makes me realize how interconnected everything is, especially with water.”

Ryan blowing

Ryan blows glass at his family’s studio, Bavin Glassworks, in Invermere, BC.  He still works occasionally with his father but is now assisted by other people as well in the growing glass community in the Columbia Valley.  Leah Duperreault has become a regular assistant with the fish for the last couple of years.

Check out bavinglass.com for more information about Bavin Glassworks!

Tärnaby, Sweden

12 October 2010

My name is Monica L Edmondson and I live in Tärnaby, a small village around the Arctic Circle in Sweden. After 4 years of studies at Canberra School of Art in Australia, I returned to the north to establish a glass studio and workshop.

I will use my own position as a contemporary glass artist as an example to show how a culture with strong ancient traditions has to be allowed to change and evolve in order to survive. I belong to the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia and Russia, the Sami people. There are around 70,000 of us in four countries. We have our own language and culture. I believe a living, strong and rich culture is gained by having the knowledge of the past and using that knowledge to create something which talks about the society as it is today.

One of the reasons I started to work with glass initially is because of its transparency and resemblance to the cold. For me, transparency is one of the most important qualities of glass. It gives a weightless feeling; at the same time it can express a space in which the object’s own personality lives. And glass is brought to life by heat. My work has a close connection to the landscape and nature – and, as we have winter 6 months of the year around the Arctic Circle, it’s a landscape of ice and snow.

And it is the feeling of that winter space I’m trying to express through kiln- and coldworked planes of transparent glass, not necessary how it looks … and somewhere in that winter space there should be a core of warmth, a heart or centre of fire which for me is my Sami heritage. This is where all the colours come into my work.

The composition and use of mainly primary colours in the murrini part of my work originates from my area’s costume. To wear my Sami costume is always very special; it gives a sense of beauty, a sense of belonging and pride.

It is interesting to study the costume through time and to see that what we call traditional today has in the past constantly changed depending on not only what kind of materials were available but also how other cultures influenced it. Even fashion has influenced it … the length of the costume for women has gone up and down depending on what’s happening on the catwalks around the world.

This new creativity is not always welcome in a community with strong, old traditions. Some people are afraid of losing part of the distinctive Sami culture if so-called traditional materials, colours and patterns are not used. I appreciate that the traditional knowledge and skills are still alive but if we keep on solely in this so-called traditional manner, the Sami culture is more appropriate in museums than within the world in which we live today.

All cultures have a spiritual sphere

All cultures have a spiritual sphere that provides an explanation of life and the meaning of living. And the spiritual thought of all cultures comes from the thought and philosophy of many generations.  I think we all need to look back now and then, to try to understand previous generations’ ways of thinking, living and expressing themselves – to be able to understand ourselves and what we’re up to now.

Some of this exchange of what I call cultural information between generations is taking place through verbal storytelling. It alarms me to realise that this verbal tradition is quickly fading away in today’s society due to internet, TV and social media like Facebook and Twitter. Different generations don’t sit down together to talk and tell stories as much any more.

In a glass, video and sound installation titled Luodda, which is Sami for tracks or paths, I have simply picked out one of the stories I heard as a child and re-told it in a way that suits my own life today. It is a story about skiing in a snow storm; about trust and about the wonders of our nature (view it here: http://vimeo.com/7182612).  It is scary and it includes a Sámi way of musical expression called joik. The installation Luodda – Track is my way of interpreting the story and aiding its path into the future.

Maybe “my world” could look confusing from the outside; this notion of nature and tradition, generations and the past, as well as the present multi-cultural international society in which we live, and not least the future and how our world will look in 50 years’ time. But for me it’s not that confusing. It is just how it is.

Editor’s Note:  The video clip is taken from the installation Luodda-Track.  It tends to recreate an experience of both being there and not being there and is best viewed with the volume turned up high.  For more information on Monica Edmondson, please check out her comprehensive website at http://www.edmondson.se/eng.htm. The Technique section of this magazine does a great job laying out her working process for anyone interested in Bullseye murrini, fusing and the “roll-up.”

Un reflet de la culture Sami dans le verre contemporain: Monica Edmondson en Suède Nordique

Tärnaby, Suède

12 Octobre 2010

Glass artist Monica L Edmondson, Photo and copyright: Micke Rutberg

Je m’appelle Monica L Edmondson et j’habite à Tärnaby, un petit village suédois proche du cercle polaire. Après avoir étudié 4 ans à l’Ecole des Arts de Canberra en Australie, je suis repartie vivre dans le nord pour y monter un atelier verrier.

Midwinter at glass workshop and studio, Bäcknäs Tärnaby

Mon cas d’artiste verrier contemporain est un bon exemple pour démontrer  pourquoi une culture aux valeurs traditionnelles fortes se doit de changer et d’évoluer pour pouvoir survivre. J’appartiens à la communauté aborigène vivant au nord de la Scandinavie et de la Russie, les Sami. Nous sommes environ 70,000 personnes réparties sur quatre pays. Nous possédons notre propre langue et notre culture. Pour moi, avoir une culture vivante, forte et riche s’obtient en prenant en compte les choses du passé et en utilisant ces connaissances pour créer quelque chose en rapport avec notre société actuelle.

Au début, l’une des raisons pour laquelle je me suis mise à utiliser le verre était sa transparence et sa ressemblance au froid. Selon moi, cette transparence est l’une des qualités les plus importantes du verre. Cela lui donne une impression de légèreté et  parallèlement confère à l’objet un espace dans lequel vit sa personnalité. De plus, le verre prend forme grâce à la chaleur. Mon travail se rapporte fortement aux paysages et à la nature – et comme  à proximité du cercle polaire nous avons 6 mois d’hiver par an, c’est un paysage de neige et de glace.

Size each one: around 30 x 40 cm x 6 - 10 cm high, Technique: Sandcast and coldworked glass, Photo: Simon Edmondson

C’est ce sentiment hivernal que j’essaye d’exprimer avec l’arche– et des surfaces de verre transparent travaillé à froid, et non pas forcément ce à quoi l’hiver ressemble vraiment… et quelque part au centre de cet environnement hivernal, se trouve un noyau de chaleur, un cœur ou un brasier représentant mon héritage Sami. C’est à ce moment que les couleurs entrent en jeu dans mon œuvre.

Title: Blizzard, Size: 3,5 x 48 cm diameter, Technique: Hotworked murrini, kilnformed and wheelcut glass, Photo and copyright: Micke Rutberg

Lorsqu’on étudie les costumes à travers les époques, on remarque avec intérêt que ceux que nous considérons de nos jours comme traditionnels ont en fait subit une évolution constante au cours du passé et ont varié en fonction d’une part des matériaux disponibles, mais aussi des autres cultures environnantes. Même la mode les a influencés… la longueur des vêtements portés par les femmes varie selon les pistes de défilés qui ont lieu à travers le monde.

Cette créativité innovante n’est pas toujours la bienvenue dans une communauté où les traditions anciennes sont solidement ancrées. Certaines personnes craignent la perte des caractéristiques typiques de la culture Samy si les matériaux, les couleurs et les motifs dits traditionnels, ne sont pas utilisés. Je suis consciente de l’importance du respect des valeurs traditionnelles et de leurs qualités mais si nous poursuivons uniquement dans cette optique du prétendu respect de la tradition, alors la culture Sami trouvera plus facilement sa place dans les musées que dans notre monde actuel.

Title: Cylinder, Size: each one around 32 x 6 cm diameter, Technique: Kilnformed, hotworked (roll-up) and wheelcut glass, Photo and copyright: Micke Rutberg

Toutes les cultures possèdent un coté spirituel sensé apporter des explications au sens de la vie. Et cette pensée spirituelle pour chaque culture provient des réflexions philosophiques de nombreuses générations. Je pense que nous devons tous regarder de temps à autre en arrière pour essayer de comprendre la manière de penser, de vivre et de s’exprimer des générations précédentes – afin de comprendre qui nous sommes et ou nous en sommes.

Ce passage d’informations culturelles entre générations se fait en partie par le biais de récits racontés à l’oral. Je constate avec inquiétude que cette tradition verbale est rapidement en train de disparaître de nos jours à cause d’Internet, de la TV et des réseaux sociaux tels que Facebook et Twitter. Les différentes générations ne s’assoient plus ensemble pour parler et se raconter des histoires comme auparavant.

Title: LUODDA – TRACK, Glass, film and sound installation, Photo: Micke Rutberg

Dans une composition vidéo sonore et verrière intitulée Luodda, signifiant chemin ou voie en Sami, j’ai simplement sélectionnée une des histoires que l’on me racontait étant petite et je l’ai retransmise d’une manière correspondant à mon propre mode de vie de nos jours. L’histoire parle de ski dans une tempête de neige, de la confiance et des merveilles de notre nature (vous pouvez la voir ici : http://vimeo.com/7182612). Elle est effrayante et contient une forme d’expression musicale Sami appelée joik. L’installation Luodda- Les Chemins est ma façon d’interpréter cette histoire et de l’aider à se transmettre dans le futur.

Title: Silhouette, Size: 63 x 128 x 26 cm, Technique: Hotworked murrini, kilnformed and wheelcut glass, Photo: Henrik Lindvall

Peut être que « mon monde » pourrait sembler confus de l’extérieur, cette notion de nature et de tradition, des générations et du passé, ainsi que de la société internationale multiculturelle dans laquelle nous vivons actuellement, et enfin le futur et ce à quoi notre monde ressemblera d’ici 50 ans. Mais pour moi ce n’est pas du tout déroutant. C’est simplement ainsi que sont les choses.

Glass installation Villa Bergnäset, 6 glass panels x 50 x 60 cm, Hotworked murrini and kilnformed glass, Photo: Henrik Lindval

Note de l’éditeur: Le clip vidéo est extrait de l’installation Luodda-Track. Il tente de recréer une expérience simultanée de présence et de non la et se regarde mieux avec le volume élevé. Pour plus d’informations concernant Monica Edmondson, veuillez consulter son site Internet détaillé http://www.edmondson.se/eng.htm. La section Technique de ce magazine retrace remarquablement bien ses méthodes de travail pour qui voudrait en savoir d’avantage en murrine Bullseye, fusing et « roll-up ».

By Lynne Bowland

I figured I might as well blow my own horn this issue!  Last summer was my 11^th summer running a gallery featuring work done by Canadian women.

My biggest issue since I moved the gallery to New Brunswick six years ago has always been getting people to stop their cars and come in!  The five previous years I inhabited a little shack on a beach in Saskatchewan.  There I got walk-in traffic who could stick their greasy little noses all over my windows prior to making the decision about whether to come in or not!  I owned the building but leased the land, so after four years the village, who owned the land, decided they wanted me to operate the business for six months instead of two and a half.  Well since I don’t see the point in sitting in an unheated building by myself for three and a half months of the year shivering, and after arguing with the council the entire fifth summer, I sold the building.  The new owner turned it into a coffee shop, which is now open four or five months.

For three of the five years I ran the gallery in Saskatchewan I was living in New Brunswick, so I commuted 4000 km twice a year.  Living at the beach was great.  The cabin was 1 km away from the gallery.  I locked the door at night and went home!

In New Brunswick we built a room onto the house to use as a gallery.  Big mistake; it doesn’t matter how many “Closed” signs you have out, if you’re home and they can find you, YOU’RE OPEN!  Never count on sitting and eating supper in peace.  I’ve been gotten out of bed at 7:15am because the prospective customer was sure I’d be there.  However, the nice part is that I can spend time between customers working in my garden or making glass beads.  So that I can keep track of visitors I have a baby monitor inside the door and receivers all over the place.

I also think there is a stigma attached to coming into a business inside someone’s house.  For myself, I’m more likely to stop at a gallery that appears to be a stand-alone building than a house.  We just had a wonderful summer.  I thought that that would generate more traffic; instead I think everyone was so thrilled to see the sun that they spent the summer beachcombing!

A Sample of the gallery's Jewellery

I think I survive and actually make a profit because I don’t hire anyone to work for me (yes, I am open 7 days a week in the summer; this year that was 98 days straight!).  I buy almost all my stock outright, I have a theme, and I don’t just sell local work, so my stock is different from all the other maritime galleries.

I also have a lifetime guarantee on all of my jewelry and beads.  If a glass bead chips or breaks I will replace the entire piece for free.  If the cable that a bracelet is strung on breaks I restring it and replace missing pieces for free.  I feel that though glass is fragile, if it’s being made into jewelry it should be durable enough to be worn (sales of my work in the gallery usually end up being close to 40% of total sales).  I also knit and felt.  It’s amazing how many felted hats you can sell on a hot summers day!

The only advertising I’ve found that actually draws in customers is road signage.  I do get return customers but most people in the summer just see the signs and stop.  I’d love some feedback on what other small-out-of-the-way galleries do to lure in the elusive customer!

Lynn Bowland lives and works in Deer Island, New Brunswick.  You can find her website here www.fireballbeeds.com and her blog here here http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.com/.  She welcomes your comments.

Feedback from Member’s Survey indicated that members want to see:

- Technical articles:  flameworking, fusing, leaded and  stained glass, more about processes.

- More on emerging, mid-career artists, visiting artists, Canadian artists visiting other countries.

- More regional coverage.

- Projects involving community exposures.

- More on local studios, how to survive, marketing, promotion, how to write a grant.

- International residencies that GAAC members have attended.

- Feature on nation-wide glass graduates each year.

Don’t think you’re a writer?  You can be!  Go ahead and write it down.  Let GAAC’s membership know about what is happening in your area. Contact your Regional Representative with your ideas or submissions for Contemporary Canadian Glass.  Here’s how you can help:

Submit articles about yourself, your studio, your processes, your inspirations – write about what is happening in your area, or an artist you admire or that inspires you.

Are you bi-lingual?  It is our mission to provide all magazine articles in both of our official languages.  If you can help, please contact Copy Editor, Jamie Gray, at jamiegray@shaw.ca.

How to Submit an Article

It is important that the documents for any article be sent in ONE email with the following in the subject line:  GAAC-MonthYear-Article Name (example: GAAC-August2010-Feeding My Work Article)

Included within the e-mail, should be:

Text:

- a Word document or text file with the file named after the title of the article (eg. feeding my work.doc)

-within the body of your text, mark with a number [1], [2], [3]… the spot where the corresponding image should be embedded.

- any hyperlinks should be embedded within the body of your text

- at the end of the document please include a list of tags (metadata) for your article def. tags Please list them separated with commas (eg. brad copping, glass, gaac president, ontario, artist, apsley)

Images:

- maximum of 8 with a minimum of 2 curated images (good quality)

-  jpegs, 72 dpi, 1025 pixels in widest dimension

- image file(s) named with the article title and numbered to correspond to your image list (eg.  01feeding my work.jpeg, 02feeding my work.jpeg, 03feeding my work.jpeg)

- an image list titled to correspond with the name of the article (eg.  feeding my  work.ImageList.doc)  **list your images in the order that they should appear in your article

Photo Details and Credits:

- make a list and put it in a Word document or text file

- number it to correspond to each image

- include image title, image details (if it is artwork ie-dimensions, year), photo   credit/photographer

- if it is not an image of artwork, please include a caption that describes the image

Videos:

- post videos on Youtube and send the link with a brief write up and description

2011 Publishing Dates

February – articles submitted by January 15

May – articles submitted by April 15

August – articles submitted by July 15

November – articles submitted by October 15

**Submit earlier for translation for bilingual articles – if possible submit both French and English.

Regional Representatives

Prairies: Kai Scholefield – info@kaigallery.ca

British Columbia: Jill Allan – jilbella@yahoo.ca

British Columbia: Leah Dupereaux – leah@glassduck.ca

Ontario: Steven Tippin – steve.tippin@gmail.com

Quebec: Catherine Labonté – catwin10@hotmail.com

Atlantic Region: Lynne Bowland – glassrod@nbnet.nb.ca

Magazine Contacts

Managing Editor: Sally McCubbin – sallymccubbin@gmail.com

Copy Editor: Jamie Gray – jamiegray@shaw.ca

Editor at Large: Benjamin Kikkert – benjaminkikkert@gmail.com

Publisher: Arron Lowe – ideasinglass@gmail.com

Directives de soumission pour le magazine Contemporary Canadian Glass

Les commentaires des  membres ont indiqué qu’ils veulent voir apparaitre:

-  Articles techniques: travail au chalumeau, de fusion, le verre au plomb et vitrail,     plus sur les processus.

-  Plus sur les artistes émergents, les artistes à mi-carrière, les artistes invités, les artistes canadiens qui visitent d’autres pays.

-  Une couverture plus régionale.

-  Projets implicant une exposition communautaire

-  Plus d’informations sur les studios locaux, comment survivre, marketing, promotion, comment remplir une demande de subvention.

-Résidences internationale ou les membres du GAAC ont assisté.

- Un article sur les diplômés du verre de chaque année à l’échelle nationale.

Tu ne crois pas êtres un écrivain? Tu peux l’être! Vas-y, prend ton crayon. Permet les membres du GAAC de savoir ce qui se passe dans ta région. Communiquez avec votre représentant régional avec vos idées ou observations sur le verre comptemporain Canadien.

Voici comment vous pouvez aider.

Soumettre des articles sur vous, votre studio, vos processus, vos inspirations – écrire sur ce qui se passe dans votre région, ou sur un artiste que vous admirez ou qui vous inspire.

Vous êtes bilingue? Il est de notre mission de fournir tous les articles de magazine dans nos deux langues officielles. Si vous pouvez aider, s’il vous plaît contacter Jamie Gray, à jamiegray@shaw.ca .

Comment soumettre un article:

Il est important que tousnles documents pour un article soit envoyé dans un seul courriel avec le texte suivant dans la ligne d’objet: GAAC-moi-année- Nom de l’article (par exemple: GAAC-Aout2010 source d’inspiration pour mon travail)

Doit être inclus dans le courriel:

Texte:

-  Un document Word ou un fichier texte avec le fichier nommé d’après le titre de l’article (par exemple: source d’inspiration pour mon travail.doc)

- Les liens hypertexte devraient être intégrées dans le corps de votre texte

Images:

-  maximum de 8 avec un minimum de 2 images (bonne qualité) jpegs _, 72 dpi, 1025 pixels la plus large dimension

-   Fichier image (s) nommé avec le titre de l’article et numérotées afin de correspondre à votre liste d’images (par exemple 01 source d’inspiration pour mon travail.jpeg, 02 source d’inspiration pour mon travail.jpeg, 03 source d’inspiration pour mon travail.jpeg)

-  Une liste d’images intitulé correspondant avec le nom de l’article (par exemple: source d’inspiration pour mon travail.ImageList.doc)

Détails de la photo et les crédits:

-  Faire une liste et la mettre dans un document Word ou un fichier texte

-  Le numéro qui correspond à chaque image

-  Comprennent titre de l’image, détails de l’image (si elle est œuvre d’art -dimensions, année), crédit photo / photographe

-  Si ce n’est pas une image d’œuvres d’art, s’il vous plaît inclure une légende qui décrit l’image

Vidéos:

-  poster des vidéos sur Youtube _ et envoyez le lien avec une brève description et description

2011 Dates de Publication

Février – des articles soumis pour le 15 Janvier

Mai – articles soumis pour le 15 avril

Août – articles soumis pour le 15 Juillet

Novembre – des articles soumis pour le 15 Octobre

** Envoyer le plus tôt possible pour la traduction d’articles bilingues – si possible présenter à la fois français et en anglais.

Représentants régionaux

Prairies: Kai Scholefield – info@kaigallery.ca

Colombie-Britannique: Jill Allan - jilbella@yahoo.ca

Colombie-Britannique: Leah Dupereaux -  leah@glassduck.ca

Ontario: Steven Tippin – steve.tippin@gmail.com

Québec: Catherine Labonté – catwin10@hotmail.com

Région de l’Atlantique: Lynne Bowland – glassrod@nbnet.nb.ca

Contacts Magazine

Rédacteur en chef: Sally McCubbin – sallymccubbin@gmail.com

Rédacteur: Jamie Gray – jamiegray@shaw.ca

Editor at Large: Benjamin Kikkert – benjaminkikkert@gmail.com

Editeur: Arron Lowe – ideasinglass@gmail.com