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

photographed by Kelly Holinshead, Shutterbug Gallery

The 41st Annual Muskoka Arts and Crafts Spring Members show is on this weekend at the Bracebridge Sportsplex, offering an incredible range of art on Sunday, from 11am to 4pm.  The opening ceremony was Friday evening, and along with many of my colleagues, I was honoured by the judges with an Award of Excellence for one of the pieces I entered in the show.

This is one of my current favorites, an 8" by 12" flat square platter which is part of my Ice Series. It caught the eye of judges Thomas Aitken and Kate Hyde who remarked on the depth of the piece, achieved by the skillful layering of  glass.

It's always a great experience to view the recent work of so many Muskoka artists at the Spring Members' Show; such imagination and skill is evident in the work displayed.  Congratulations to all the participants and award winners, and thanks to the many volunteers who make the event possible!

Spring Beauties!

March 13 2016

Spring beauties (detail)

This is a detail of a piece that was selected by the jurors at the Muskoka Arts and Crafts Spring Members Show,  for an "Award of Excellence for Glass".   

Summer Beauties

It is always an honour to be recognized by one’s peers, who understand that it takes planning and experimentation, and a lot of careful, fine work to achieve this kind of detail in glass.

“Spring Beauties” is available for sale, along with her sisters, “Summer Beauties” and “Autumn Beauties”.  In fact, there is a fourth piece in this series too, featuring trilliums.  I should call it “Spring Beauties Too”!

Spring Beauties Too (detail)