"Material World" Exhibit Transcends Technique Vs Content

Material World, an exhibition at artdc Gallery (March 12 to Sunday, April 3, 2011) focuses on artists who use non-traditional materials or tradition materials in non-standard ways to produce their work. “The commitment these artists have for their materials and craft lets their processes inform the content of the work, not overwhelm it,” notes curator Stephen Boocks. “While viewers will inevitably wonder how the works were made and will marvel at the technical prowess, the pieces selected ultimately transcend the materials used, allowing each finished object to stand on its own.”
Featuring works by Sherill Anne Gross, Michael Janis, J. T. Kirkland, Matthew Langley, Katherine Mann, and Marie Ringwald, Material World features exceptional work diverse in style and "serves as a testament to the rich pool of talented artists from or with close ties to the DC area,” adds Boocks. “These six artists at varying stages of their careers all have a clear vision of what they’re trying to achieve with their preferred media. ”

The core of this exhibition deals with artistic media - how it relates to the artist's work and why the artist chose that medium to make their artwork. Does the material support the work or does it get in the way? Do all elements work in concert with each other to create a seamless whole? In art, as in most things, it all comes down to a delicate balance.

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Two artists talks will be held: Michael Janis and Marie Ringwald on Saturday, March 19, and Matt Langley on Saturday, April 2.
Gallery hours are Saturdays from 12 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

Material World
artdc Gallery at The Lustine Center
5710 Baltimore Avenue
Hyattsville, Maryland 20781


About artdc Gallery: Located in the burgeoning Arts District in Hyattsville, Maryland, just outside of DC, the artdc Gallery features painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and more by metro DC artists. For more info visit artdc.com.

2011 ISGB Conference in Louisville

The 2011 International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) Gathering will take place in Louisville, Kentucky from July 27th - July 31st. This year's theme is "Diversity and Creativity: Cultural Influences in Glass Beadmaking".

The ISGB Gathering will feature presentations, gallery tours, workshops and opportunities to network. Our torchworking superstar, Rob Kincheloe will be one of the presenters.

Click here to jump to the ISGB Registration Booklet PDF for a listing of the classes and presenters.

Hyperopia Projects' Salon des Glass Refusés Launch Fundraiser

Mentioned in an earlier blog posting, Hyperopia Projects is organizing a show of glass sculpture "Superpostion" in Seattle during the Glass Art Society Annual Conference to exhibit some of the most innovative and out-side mainstream glass and glass-related artwork. It will be held at the Center on Contemporary Art in June, 2011. The show’s jurors are Jack Wax, Jocelyne Prince, Jin Hongo and Michael Scheiner. Using the arts fundraising site of Kickstarter, the organization is seeking pledges to help get the show up and running. They have made a short video to help outline the purpose of the exhibition and how donations will be utilized.

Glass Sparks: Elizabeth Ryland Mears

Elizabeth Ryland Mears is an amazing, award winning, studio glass artist that is a master with flameworked glass. Flameworking is a technique of working with hot glass. Rods or tubes of glass are held in the flame of a bench torch where the glass is softened and then shaped by sculpting and/or blowing. The forms created are limited only by the artist’s creativity and skill, in addition to gravity and the sizes of the bench torch and annealing kiln.

Elizabeth has studied and taught lampworking techniques at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, The Studio of Corning Museum of Glass, and has been involved with the Washington Glass School for many years. Her instructional book of borosilicate glass techniques "Flameworking", was published in 2003 by LARK Books.

The creative work of Elizabeth Mears incorporates several different series; each one relates to and informs the others. In her Artist Statement, Elizabeth informs the viewers of her work that she ”uses the lexicon of Nature images to portray her relationship to her inner and outer worlds”. Her “Bundle of Twigs” series clearly expresses this theme, as does her “Basket” series.

Elizabeth Mears Basket of Past Dreams and Future Fears
Each bundle represents some aspect of her inner world or the outer world, as she relates to it. Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers also speaks of this relationship, “The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet”.

In her “Shelter” series the glass structure of the shelters serve as the protective shell for the work of her inner journey. Each shelter has a different theme.


Elizabeth Mears Shelter For Endings That Beget Beginnings

One such shelter created at a time of transition in Elizabeth's creative life is entitled, “Shelter for Endings That Beget Beginnings”. The inner objects of this shelter are composed of hollow blown egg shapes which contain the charred remains of cedar wood shavings collected at Pilchuck Glass School from the 30th Anniversary Totem carved while she was at the summer session. The egg shapes can represent new life, and the charred remains, the death of the old life. Liz has commented that her time away at Pilchuck was instrumental in her personal transformation.

In 2002 Liz began a series, which started as a collaboration with her daughter L. Lindsey Mears, a maker of artist books and prints. Elizabeth created the glass sculpture, which later became "books" with her daugher providing the content through her photographs and poetry. Elizabeth is now the sole creator of the glass books, which contain the poetry that she writes. The photographic images chosen are symbols, which represent the experience of her poetry.


Elizabeth Mears Breath

A later series began after the death of Elizabeth’s mother in 2006. One day after that death Mears learned that her mother had been adopted as a newborn. She had never shared with any of her four children this secret she carried and no information exists about her birth family. Soon after this revelation, Liz learned many other family secrets, which prompted a continuing series of glass and mixed media pieces dealing with various aspects of the secrets we each consign to the dark recesses of our lives. In the process of making these pieces and contemplating secrets as a universal theme, Elizabeth looks at how the secrets of life often bind us together more than the parts of our lives which are shared openly. According to Campbell, “...the experience of eternity right here and now, in all things, whether thought of as good or as evil, is the function of life”.


Elizabeth Mears Secrets They Sprout Up and Burst

Liz felt a strong connection to the comment by Joseph Campbell, “If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you”. She was struck by the similarity to a statement she has included in her own writings for many years.

In 2008, Mears was asked by LARK Books to be one of ten master artists to write a chapter for the book, The Penland Book of Glass. In her chapter, Elizabeth writes the following about her personal philosophy of living a creative life, “I am a proponent of the philosophy that when we are born, we come to Earth with a personality and a set of gifts, propensities, and abilities. If we pay attention to them, they lead us along a path to fulfillment. When those things we feel passionate about energize us, energy flows out and then returns to us, altered in some form by its journey. This energy creates a positive dynamic in all directions, reaching and influencing an ever enlarging circle”.

Through making her glass objects and meeting other makers and lovers of glass and sculpture, poetry and photography, the circle of energy continues to grow, and, as Campbell says, “doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be”.

Elizabeth Mears and Robert Kinchloe review glass projects at Washington Glass School.

Elizabeth will be one of the featured artists at Longview Gallery 's exhibition in honor of Washington Glass School's 10 year anniversary. Click HERE to jump to Elizabeth Mears website.

Claudia Rousseau reviews Kirk Waldroff

Kirk Waldroff The Wrens and the Badger, Cast glass, poplar, and LED lighting

Art critic Claudia Rousseau reviews Kirk Waldroff's impressive print-based mixed media sculpture solo show at the Glenview Mansion in this weekend's DC Artnews blog.

Dr Rousseau writes:
"...Waldroff’s contribution to the Glenview exhibit include prints and wooden constructions that hold cast glass panels, that is, glass sculptures that have a print image on them—a technique that Waldroff will be teaching at the Washington Glass School on Saturday afternoons in April. They are created using a revolutionary kiln-casting process so that each is a unique reproduction of a carved woodblock (the kind originally created for wood-cut prints). These are set into wooden cabinets, or deep wooden boxes. There’s even a marvelous headboard with two inset glass panels topping a queen-sized bed right in the gallery.


Kirk Waldroff Unlocking Dreams - bed, maple, birch, cast glass, LED lighting

On the opposite wall are prints on paper from the same block that made the glass panels. Many of these glass/wood boxes are illuminated, but I imagine they would be effective set against a natural light source as well, or placed where they receive sun or lamplight. The warm light coming into the mansion gives them a nice glow. There are also a number of carved and painted wood panels presented as paintings rather than wood blocks. "

"... and the images are simple, but enough to stimulate the imagination. There are no right answers here. The viewer is encouraged to write them from his/her own trove of memories and ideas."

Click HERE to jump to the entire review on DC Artnews.

Claudia Rousseau, Ph.D., teaches art history at Montgomery College, and writes regular critical reviews in local publications.

Kirk Waldroff “Untold Fables” through March 1, 2011
Glenview Mansion Art Gallery at Rockville Center Civic Center Park
602 Edmonston Drive
Rockville, MD 20851
Mon., Wed., Fri. 9 AM-4:30PM, Tues/Thurs, 9AM-9PM
240-314-8682 or 240-314-8660 for information or to confirm hours.
www.rockvillemd.gov/arts

This April, Kirk will be teaching a class at the Washington Glass School that transfers wood block print imagery into cast glass. This amazing process is a great way for print-based artists to take their images over into other media. Click HERE to jump to Kirk's class description.

President's Day Weekend: Lesson 1

In honor of President's Day Weekend - a link to Brad Neely's Creased Comics

The REAL George Washington story - now it can be told:

Recycled Glass Art Workshop

What We Leave Behind (detail) Erwin Timmers
cast recycled glass

Renowned Eco Artist Erwin Timmers will lead the recycled glass Going Green workshop this coming President's Day Weekend.

Green up your life by doing something creative to help the environment!

This class is an exploration into using recycled glass to make sculptural pieces, architectural elements, and tableware. The class will delve into multiple techniques, including casting, fusing and slumping. Glass chemistry, coloration, and firing temperatures will be explained for each particular application. It is a fantastic way to learn aspects of any warm glass work while focusing on recycling!

Once you start down the path of recycled glass, you will see more and more opportunities for experimentation around you. No prior experience is necessary - you are encouraged to bring in materials you'd like to try...and you will leave with several very cool items!

Erwin Timmers
Going Green Class 1043
Dates Sat/Sun/Mon on Feb 19, 20 & 21
Time 10am - 4pm
Tuition $400

Erwin is one of the area’s leading “green artists”. Recycling, waste and how they relate to society are recurring themes in his work. Erwin’s main medium is one of the least recycled materials; float glass or window glass, and he has had to develop new techniques to exploit the properties of this material. His approach to art is multifaceted, incorporating metalwork, innovative lighting and glass design.

I ♥ Valentines

Tim Tate
Sacred Heart of Healing
blown glass 16 x 8 x 4 in. (40.6 x 20.3 x 10.2 cm) Permanent Collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Sacred Heart of Healing was one of a series of nine hearts that Tim Tate created as a tribute to his late mother. Each of these hearts was inspired by an aspect of his mother’s personality. In this piece, the tiny drawings within the flame symbolize her love of natural healing. As a further tribute, Tate was persuaded by one of his students to have a tattoo of this piece inked on his arm.

For more information about this work visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Luce Foundation Center for American Art .

MIT's Exhibition Title Generator

Can't think of what to call the next group show? Want all the latest buzz words to get the webcrawling googlebots attention? Rebecca Uchill of MIT has created a Random Exhibition Title Generator, for all the lazy curators out there.
To try the generator yourself - Click HERE for your new show title. Enjoy!

Call 4 Artists!

Spring is soon, and as we all know, in the spring, an artist's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of "Calls for Entries".

Visual Overture Magazine, a quarterly publication that promotes emerging artists, has begun the entry process for its Summer 2011 Featured Emerging Artists competition. Seven artists (any medium) are selected (by artPark author Rob Jones) and featured in the magazine. Selected artists are presented on a two-page spread with images of their work, interview questions, artist statement, and contact details.

Entries are only $17 per artist – artists to submit digital files electronically. Complete the entry form and get three images to VO by April 18, 2011.

Also-
Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Annual Call
Deadline: February 28, 2011.

Open call for Washington, D.C. metro area artists for Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2011 annual jury for artist members. Drop off date: February 28, 2011. The Torpedo Factory's annual jury will be held February 28 - March 3, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory houses more than 165 artists in combination studio/gallery space. The application form and submission requirements are available on their website. Accepting submissions by emerging and established artists in all media. Direct inquiries to Michele Hoben at mphoben@aol.com.

Who are the jurors?
There are separate 3-person panels judging the 2-D work and the 3-D work. The jurors are highly qualified professional artists, curators, teachers, museum directors and the like, who are independent of the Torpedo Factory. Their decision is final. They will look for work that meets the highest standards of professionalism and promise.
NOTE: This jury process is NOT a critique. Artists will not receive a critique.

2D Jurors for 2011
Zoe Charlton
Vesela Sretenovic
Janos Enyedi

3D Jurors for 2011
Binnie Fry
Chris Shea
Novie Trump

Flame - On! Open Studio Torch Club in Action

Washington Glass School's Flameworking Club in action.
Laughter, stories and creativity. With fire.

Instructor Rob Kinchloe displays his unique talents.

Note to Artists: Get A Real Job!

The Simple Dollar - a personal finance blog has an interesting article about artists and their financial prospects. Referencing a Francis Ford Coppola interview on the risks of making money from the arts, author Trent Hamm offers some insights on the hard facts of what an artist must be prepared to do to make a living from the arts and "follow their bliss" - what they don't teach in art school.

Coppola’s point is that: the fun creative stuff that so many of us do really doesn’t earn us much money at all, at least not most of the time...

Don’t assume your talent or skill will be your money maker for a long, long time. Your talent or skill is going to be your side job – treat it like such. If you go to work, come home tired, and convince yourself to not do anything with it today, you’re never going to make it...

Live frugally... 'nuff said.

Make friends and connections – lots of them. Spend at least some of your time cultivating relationships with people who can help you with spreading what skills you have...

Improve your own social skills, especially in gently promoting yourself. If you’re introverted, this is key. The ability to communicate successfully with others, particularly when talking about yourself while not coming off as a braggart, is an ability that’s vital if you want to get others interested in your skill. So many artists I know claim to be introverts, and shy away from talking about their work. They really MUST overcome this and be able to easily speak (in positive terms) about their own work.

If you want riches, find another career path. Art is wonderful, but it doesn’t channel human effort in a way that generates wealth. A Generous inheritance from a wealthy family is one of the easiest and fastest ways to become rich, but cannot always be achieved.

The best thing you can do if you have talent and are passionate about that talent is to start packaging it up. Contrary to what often seems taught in art school - is not true that if you sell your art, you have "sold out".

The message from the blog posting is "Do what you love, but have a back up plan that you can tolerate to support what you love."

Click HERE to read the entire article.

Glass Fun Facts: Why Is Glass Transparent?

UK Professor Phil Moriarty discusses what makes glass appear transparent in this video by the Sixty Symbols - a collection of videos about physics and astronomy presented by experts from The University of Nottingham.

A photon checks into a hotel. The bell hop asks him " Can I help you with your luggage?" To which the photon replies, "I don't have any. I'm traveling light."

I still have no idea why glass is transparent, but his accent is so good that he doesn't need to pronounce words right. I guess his explanation didn't have enough energy and passed right true me. He must assume I know something about being excited.

Previous Glass Fun Facts postings:

Glass Fun Facts: Gaffer/Composer

More Glass Fun Facts: Bullseye Glass

Float Glass Fun Facts

Glass Fun Facts - Shattered Glass Predicts Weather

Historical Glass Fun Facts - How the Invention of Pyrex and The Studio Glass Movement are Connected.

Hot Stuff - "Lost Foam Process" at DC Glass Works

Robert Kincheloe was at the DC Glass Works aluminum pour last night - working on a series of sculpture pieces. Watch as the molten aluminum is poured into the steel containers containing sand and the original stryofoam forms that are sacrificed as the hot aluminum replaces the original.

click on image to jump to video

Kirk Waldroff - Untold Fables

Kirk Waldroff
Theodulus and the Egret, Part 2 | 2011
left: glass, oak, and LED lighting | 30" x 23" x 5.5"
right: hand-colored woodcut on Rives BFK | 10" x 18"

Printmaker and glass artist Kirk Waldroff has a solo exhibition at Glenview Mansion in Rockville, Maryland (opening reception on February 6th, 1:30pm to 3:30pm).
Kirk is exhibiting new work including prints, print based glass sculptures, paintings, and even a queen-size bed.

Untold Fables
New Prints, Print-based Sculpture, and Paintings

February 6 - March 2, 2011

Opening Reception: Sunday, February 6, 1:30pm - 3:30pm
Glenview Mansion Art Gallery
Glenview Mansion at Rockville Civic Center Park
603 Edmonston Drive Rockville, Maryland 20851

Kirk Waldroff has a degree in illustration from the University of Delaware. Kirk’s work has been shown at many area galleries, and was featured in the international exhibition “Glass 3”. Kirk is currently assisting with classes at the Washington Glass School, while developing techniques that combine printmaking and sculptural glass.

"The Elements" at ArtSpace

Sean Hennessy "A Dream Of Flying" cast glass, concrete

“The Elements,” is an exhibition that features the imaginative work of four contemporary artists, Sherill Gross, Sean Hennessy, Sean Lundgren and Alexandra Zealand, opening on Friday, Feb 5th at ArtSpace Herndon.

Anchored in the classic elements of Hellenic physics - Water, Fire, Earth and Air – these artists use the elements as a part of their medium, rather than as the subject of their works.

Each element contains the origin of their work, is part of their work, and even transforms their work. Paper can not be created without water; ironically too much water can also destroy paper. Early fire pits dug into the sand had the side effect of also causing the first forms of glass, when the extreme heat of the fire melted silica. Dirt is the earth, the source of clay, and the root of life. Air is the space that floats between suspended objects, allowing for movement, light and shadow. Air is also the catalyst for physical transformation.

"I think of Fire as light, as heat, and as a metaphorical spark of creativity, a Prometheun gift of consciousness. I use fire both physically and conceptually to create glass and concrete wall relief sculptures inspired by personal interpretations of myth, religions, and a whimsical use of everyday objects.” Sean Hennessey

Sean Hennessey is a sculptor, painter, and glass artist. A graduate of Berea College, Sean worked in professional theatre for ten years and has bridged the theatre and fine arts community since moving to DC in 1997. His works have been seen in many contexts and venues including: The Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, the Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Arena Stage, Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Signal 66, The National Institutes of Health, The Ratner Museum and Artomatic. He’s the owner of Scenic Artisans LLC, a decorative paint and sculpture service, and a resident artist at the Washington Glass School and Creative Arts Center. dcsean.com

The Elements

ArtSpace Herndon

Dates: February 5–26, 2011

Reception: Saturday, February 5 - 6-8pm.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Thursday: 10am-2pm, Friday: 10am-8pm, Saturday–Sunday: 12pm-5pm, Closed Mondays

750 Center Street, Herndon, VA

Tel: 703-956-6590

Reminder: Call for Glass Artwork Entries

Two "Call For Entries" are nearing deadline for glass artists to submit images and info. For those of you that are in need of reminding - here's what's coming up:

HYPEROPIA PROJECTS has a call for entries for a juried show called Superposition that challenges traditional notions of glass artwork. With a broad definition of "glass and glass related", the organizers are looking for artists whose works inhabit so many places simultaneously that they might not fit into any of them. They are interested in works that directly address this condition of being in multiple places at once, as well as projects produced by artists who inhabit the fringes of genres
APPLICATION DEADLINE FEBRUARY 11th
WHEN - June 2011, in conjunction with the Glass Art Society Conference
WHERE - Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle Washington.
JURORS - Jin Hongo, Jocelyne Prince, Michael Scheiner, Jack Wax
APPLICATION DEADLINE - February 11th, 2011 For more information about the exhibition, visit http://hyperopiaprojects.com/

Also:

Saint Louis' Craft Alliance has announced a national invitational and juried exhibition titled "Identify Yourself" - exhibition dates are May 20-July 3 , 2011. Entry Deadline March 25th.
The theme of the show is, “Who are you? What is your history and what makes you, you?”

The curator/juror, noted gallery owner Duane Reed, will be choosing work that explores ideas pertaining to cultural identity, psychological identity or personal narrative. Some of the invited artists include Sonya Clark, Gregory Grennon, Elizabeth Lo, Mark Newport and Joyce J. Scott.

The exhibition will be at the Craft Alliance DELMAR LOOP location: 6640 Delmar Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63130.

Click HERE to jump to the St Louis Craft Alliance artist call.

Put A Bird In It

Episode 2 of IFC's new television show "Portlandia" has a very funny spoof of the crafty application of birds.