Making Art is Making Decisions

“You’re so talented!” It’s a phrase that makers of art hear often, and don’t get me wrong, we appreciate being paid a compliment! But I believe that natural ability has little to do with what we make. True, most artists have a natural aptitude for working with their hands, but what brings our ideas to life is commitment, paying attention, exploring, and making decisions.

Whether a woodturner, a painter, a weaver or a glass artist, what we do constantly is make decisions. Which tool shall I use next? Which product will give me the result I’m looking for here? How much should I use? Should I stop now? Of course, we aren’t voicing the question and formulating an answer. Experienced artists and craftspeople appear to work intuitively because they have internalized the knowledge. We did that part years ago. Whether schooled or self-taught, our so-called “talent” is the result of years of education, experience, research, observation, and lots of trial and error. We develop a relationship with our medium and learn to conform to (or challenge) its boundaries. Most art and craft media require carefully planned technical decisions. For myself, I need to imagine how the firing process will transform what I’m doing. I must remember what I buried under that clear crushed glass, because until it’s fired, it’s opaque and obscures what’s underneath.

And firing glass presents technical decisions relating to the size of the piece, which kiln I’m using, what result I want to achieve; all this and more goes into planning a firing schedule to end up with a chunk of glass that will remain intact for the next several centuries. When I try a new firing schedule, I record the results on a spreadsheet for future reference. Each medium has its own set of decisions to be made, and most “talented” people have been refining their decision-making skills for years. When you admire a well-made, beautiful, challenging, or wonderfully functionally designed “something”, you can also appreciate the skilled decision maker who brought it into being. The final decision they so wisely made? Stop, it’s done!

Remembering a Special Commission, a Treasured Experience.

An image stirred a memory as I was browsing my computer recently.

In 2017, the Huntsville Festival of the Arts approached Brenda Wainman Goulet to design and make several special “Recognition Awards” for folks who had contributed to the Festival in different ways. She reached out to me with an idea for a joint commission; her sculpture and my glass, together! Brenda envisioned a way for our talents and skills to work together. She designed and cast the “Trees and Rocks” base, and I made glass inserts depicting the Northern Lights, with a musical note embossed on the reverse side, that would subtly appear in certain lighting conditions. Brenda was a founding member of Artists of the Limberlost, and her spirit, energy and leadership are greatly missed. I'm grateful that she invited me to share this project with her.

Artist of the Limberlost; One Last time!

Hello Glass Enthusiasts!

I've been absent from Blogger for quite a while, so here's an update.

The pandemic happened, my husband and I got itchy feet, and we made a major life change, moving from Muskoka to Kingston ON.  I also made the painful, but right decision to close my glass studio. After 40 years it was time to retire. My equipment and supplies went to 3 different people, all now exploring the medium of glass in their own ways.

So now I'm in Kingston Ontario, and have been invited back to be a guest artist of Catherine O'Mara, another of the original founders of the Artists of the Limberlost Studio Tour!  I'm excited and grateful to have this last opportunity to visit my old neighbourhood, see old clients and friends, and find homes for some of my remaining work.Here are a few pieces I'll have with me in August.  Hope you can come!

 

There's lots to see on the Tour, studios offer a wide variety of art, and are in pretty close proximity. The Limberlost is a beautiful place for a get-away!  

 

Northern Spirit

Bella Beach, October -  platter

 

Grace

Autumn Sunshine - platter

Functional Fused Glass!

Land Sea Sky

 This recent commission offered a unique opportunity to really exploit the properties of the medium of kiln-fired glass.

 The location is a small home in Huntsville.  Openings had been cut in interior walls to allow natural light to move through the home.  These “interior windows” open into the main living space from a bedroom and a bathroom, so the owners understandably wanted a solution that would provide privacy, look good from both sides, and still let the light flow.
 

Fused glass has a slightly “pebbled” surface on one side from being fired on a clay shelf in the kiln.  This subtle texture obscures the transparency of the glass, so for bathrooms especially, fused glass is an ideal window treatment.

The panels are 37 and 43 inches tall, and just 10 inches wide.  These are challenging proportions to design for. We decided on a beach theme for one piece, and Birches for the second.

For the beach theme I worked impressionistically, incorporated vitreous paint and chunks of glass for texture suggestive of cresting waves, watery depths, and an ambiguous horizon line blending into sky.

Spring Birches

I’ve done birch themed fused glass on many occasions, and each one has its own character.  I particularly like the cheerful Spring colours, and the texture in the birch bark, achieved with vitreous paint and frit.

Spring Birches detail

Highlight of my Career

All Saints', Huntsville Ontario

The past year has been a combination of returning to my roots and venturing into new territory.

My relationship with glass began as a hobby in the 1970’s, but quickly became a passion that has lasted almost 40 years.  I built over 100 stained glass windows for clients, primarily in Toronto, but after I started fusing glass, my stained glass projects became fewer.  Then in Autumn 2017, I was given the opportunity to design and build 2 memorial windows for a new addition to All Saints’ Anglican Church, Huntsville.

19th century Eucharist window

I regarded my first ecclesiastic commission to be both an honour and a great responsibility.  My job was to create windows for Huntsville’s oldest church, a beautiful stone building in the heart of town and an important part of Huntsville’s cultural heritage.  

I would be making a 21^st century contribution to a church that was built in the 19^th century and contained windows from the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  I saw the task as multifaceted: the windows should be rooted in scripture, integrate Christian symbolism, sit in harmony with 2 existing windows in the same space, honour the families sponsoring the windows, and carry a message of, and for, our time.  Every element of the designs must be there for a reason.  All this in addition to practical considerations of light and orientation, which are always present when designing glass.

It was a complex creative and spiritual challenge that lasted several months.  Once designed, I took my time with the physical process of building the windows.  I enjoyed the focused process of decision making, cutting, leading, soldering and finishing the windows, using those centuries-old processes learned decades earlier.  It felt like this was what I had been preparing for four decades.

As glass is cut, it is "waxed up" on a glass easel to see the colours in natural light.

 

Strips of channeled lead are cut and fitted to hold glass

 

The rainbows were made from fused glass

Lead joints are soldered and putty forced into the gaps

On All Saints’ Day, Sunday November 4, 2018, the windows were finally blessed and dedicated in a special ceremony.  I am humbled by the appreciation of the sponsoring families, rector, congregation, and of my family and friends.  I am especially grateful for having experienced God’s grace, working through me.

Me, Ven. Dawn Henderson, Peggy Hern and Brian Hern

Let Your Light Shine, in memory of the Hern family

 

 

He is the Vine, in memory of the Nickalls family

s)