Well, believe it or not, I'm done. I hardly know what to do with myself, I've been immersed in this project for so long. The exhibition, "Art-A-Day", will run May 4-29, 2016. Opening night is Friday, May 6th, 6-8 pm at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon. All three groups, ten of each, have been built, coated with color, slumped and attached to wall hangers. Next I'll photograph each group to use as a rough guide for the gallery folks to use to hang the show. In retrospect, it was wonderful to be able to dive into a new way of working and draw the experiments out over such a long period of time. What a luxury. I think it was a good idea to build three groups, each group having a similar shape and color palette to help it hang together. That gave me a chance to really think about the inspiration for each group and explore a more abstract color application than I've done in the past. I feel like I can stand on this experience as I push into making bigger, more sculptural work. It's a little unnerving to think about showing work that's so completely new for me. But how many chances do you get to be brave and stick your neck out like this? It's probably good for my character (which can always use some improvement). I am finished; I did my best. I will imagine them hanging on a nice, white wall, and sleep the sleep of the just. Steph p.s. I set up my art festival booth in the driveway on a dim day in February (the best I could in the middle of winter - photo above) and grabbed a shot to be used for applying to shows. At that point some of the pieces had not even been slumped yet but I tossed in what I had, to give jury members an idea of the type and scale of the new work. The Art-A-Day project pieces are the rounds and ovals on the back wall and the sail shapes on the right. |
Whew. Somehow, miraculously all thirty shapes have been constructed, fired, covered with glass powders (sometimes twice), fired again to melt in the color. All that's left is the bending/slumping of each one in the kiln and figuring out some simple way to hang everything. Ha! Is that all?
This shape reminds me of waves, sails, splashes. They have really nice puddle and hole patterns, so much like water. So - off I go, to figure out how to bend all these pieces into some kind of fluid form. I'm so curious to know how the other artists are coming along. I wonder what unexpected inspiration is sneaking up on them? I'm just about done with the color layer for the second group of pieces for my Art-A-Day show. They will go through another firing to adjust the colors a bit and develop the patterns, then they will be bent in the kiln into more interesting shapes. This project is proving to be pretty interesting.
I have had a few surprises as I've plowed my way through what will be thirty pieces of glass sculpture. I feel like I'm learning things I didn't expect. For one thing, inspiration doesn't necessarily come first. I guess it's natural to think of the creative process in a linear, predictable way: first, be inspired by something, second, decide what form your inspiration will take, etc. But what I'm finding is that somewhere in the middle of the process, associations to other things is giving me sort of a creative "second wind". Here's an example. Part way into these "shield" shapes, I liked the way there was a kind of vein pattern developing. It started me thinking about minerals, veins of ore and crystal formations. The examples below are all natural colors - perfect inspiration that drove the designs in a better direction. Now that my inspiration is clearer, I'll adjust the colors and patterns to make the work better. It's exciting! In January I spent some time thinking about what my artistic year might look like. I knew I would do fewer festivals this year and concentrate on more gallery work. I knew I wanted to explore more abstract sculpture. I know the only way to strike out and make something new happen is to pay attention to opportunities as they appear. I have decided this will be the year of "YES." And see where it had led already? So glad I said yes. Just a quick post today - the eroded wheel shapes for the Art-A-Day challenge are done. They are flat but I hung them on the wall to get a feel for how they look hung in a group. I might fire a couple of them again later to adjust the colors a bit, but for the most part they are ready to go into the kiln to bend into more fluid, 3-D shapes. When they are bent they will cast shadows on the wall and project light patterns through the holes. So exciting.
The last two days I've been doing the color firings on a set of ten oval shapes - I like to think of them as eroded shields. I'll post some images in the next couple days. This challenge is turning out to be a lot of fun. Working in a more abstract way is really getting the creative juices flowing. I love every stage - the puddle-y blanks with their unpredictable hole patterns, the fluffy matte powder surfaces and the glossy fired finish. I’ve been invited to take part in an invitational exhibit at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon during the month of May. Curated by Oregon artist Rachel Harvey and titled “Art a Day”, the exhibition challenges six artists to create thirty pieces of art in thirty days. I’ve been experimenting with some new techniques that will lead to larger glass sculptures in the future. I think this challenge will be a good opportunity to explore color and shape in an intensive way and also develop ideas for larger work. I’ve decided to make three groups of glass wall sculpture – ten pieces in each group, three different shapes & color concepts. I probably will approach this challenge a little differently than a painter might, since the work will have to be fired at least three times before it’s done. But I’ll do the best I can and will see how close I can get to finishing in thirty days. Those 30 days might have a few spaces between them, here and there. I'm a little afraid that my propensity for overdoing things is going to come around to bite me at some point. As much as I try to keep the sizes down, pieces just seem to grow - they want to be flamboyant and sprawl across the wall. Oh well, we deal with our character flaws the best we can. Hopefully there aren't villagers with torches in my future. Here's a peek into the process. The photos are, from left to right, sifting broken glass (a by-product of stained glass manufacturing); laying the glass into a shape with lots of open spaces; and that glass shape after firing. I have been working very hard to understand how glass behaves under heat and how that effects glass volume. I am absolutely crazy about the natural patterns that happen when the glass "puddles up" during firing. It reminds me of water puddles, lakes from the air, the coastline of Greece. The initial puddle-y glass shapes for thirty pieces are done and I’ve started adding color to the eroded wheel-like shapes. I sift powdered glass over the initial form and then fire it to 1475 degrees in the kiln to melt the glass powder. The surface comes out looking like enamel on copper, an effect I confess I love. The base color of the glass shows around each hole. Here's an example, shown on the kiln shelf. As soon as all the wheel forms are finished, it will be time to bend and slump them, to give them shape. I see that my painter friend, Lisa Foster, is blogging away about her participation. Pop over there and see how completing thirty paintings compares! I won’t be posting every day like her, but I’ll take photos of every step and will post the high points.
Back to the studio - more about this project very soon! Steph Here we are on the cusp of a new year! You know how it is; you just naturally start thinking ahead to the coming year, dreaming about the new discoveries you'll make and what you might be able to accomplish. Time for me to set some studio goals, but this year is going to be tricky 'cause I'm all mixed up. The abstract glass work has started to come together a bit over the fall and I've been having such a good time, it's hard to stop. I love experimenting with form and volume. It's a relief to break out of the rectangle. I love sculpting again. And I'm learning so much about glass volume and heat effects on different sizes & colors of glass - it really brings out my inner glass geek. I have done over sixty - that's right, sixty - experiments just to learn as much as I can about heat & volume control. Please don't judge.
Well, summer shows are done and I've been photographing all the landscapes in the studio. I've been holed up under photo lights, snappin' away.
This is one of my favorite times of the year - not just the crisp autumn days, which I love. But as soon as the pressure is off and I don't have to work hard to keep up with show sales, I am FREE to experiment on new work all winter long! A little reinvention is good for the soul. I've already been fiddling a bit with new sculpture ideas and it feels GOOD. I can't wait to discover where we're going next (me & my brain). All my available landscapes are on the "Available Work" page of my web site, take a peek when you get a chance! I'll post some glass experiments as they are ready for their public debut. Steph I met a great woman at the Utah Arts Festival back in June. Her friends call her "Turtle" (when I know her better, I will ask why). She is definitely worthy of a unique name. She, (desert girl that she is) oddly, is attracted to art that depicts snowy scenes and she suggested I might want to give it a try. So, for Turtle, I ventured forth to the studio and dragged out a big jar of ground up white glass. Here's the piece still in the kiln - And below is the finished piece, photographed with a little light behind it. It was just a quick shot, leaning up against an acrylic stand. It will be mounted on its panel in the next couple days.
It's my first snow piece ever and it posed some interesting challenges, being so pale in the ground, sky and water areas. I called it "First Snow" because, well, you know. I'm happy with the water & rock effects & I'm eager to do more! I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but there are many tiny white tree trunks way in the background. My work is difficult to photograph - your eye can perceive all the tiny distances between glass layers, but the camera lens, not so much. I guess we just have superior equipment. Well, I'm back from my little show road trip - down to do the Park City Kimball Art Festival in Utah, then on to Ketchum, Idaho for the Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival. In Park City I managed to survive 7000' elevation and a really impressive mountain storm/downpour that left my rug and panels soaking wet. My host in Sun Valley was kind enough to let me unload my van and spread everything out in his yard to dry.
On a high note, Sun Valley is one of my very favorite shows. I love spending the weekend surrounded by really good art. This year I had wonderful neighbors, which always makes the time fly by. It was such a pleasure to look across the aisle and enjoy Gregory Strachov's stunning watercolors (he has control of light effects you simply would not believe) and Gerald Arrington's beautiful ceramic sculptures. Take a look at their work - the two booths were paired perfectly. These folks inspire me to make better art. Next week I'm off to Art in the High Desert in Bend, Oregon - August 28-30. Another top-notch show in another paradise, life is hard. Maybe this time we can skip the thunder & lightning? |
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Steph Mader is a full-time glass artist living on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Archives
November 2022
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