Blog / Category_Art & Artists

Each year the Fallbrook Art Center has a showing of glass. Last year I just happened to be there while it was happening and got to walk through. This is a picture from an e-newsletter I got from them showing this year’s display. This picture caught my eye. I think these are amazing. The artist name was not given but if you are interested email info@fallbrookartcenter.org. For more info and more pictures go to http://www.fallbrookartcenter.org/. You can sign up for their newsletter there also.

I guess it is obvious that our logo includes the Fibonacci spiral. Fibonacci was a person, an Italia mathematician in the late 11^th and 12^th century. In addition to other mathematical achievements, he is given credit for the Fibonacci Sequence. The Sequence is where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 (and so on)

It may not seem obvious, but there is a strong connection between this sequence and artwork composition. If you look at our logo and visualize each square as a number that increases in size the same as the sequence you have the Fibonacci Spiral. (or our logo). Another connection is what is called the Golden Ratio or the Divine Ratio. Two quantities whose ratio is the same as the sum of the total to the larger ratio. (does your head hurt?) Just think of it as the Rule of Thirds. It is a way of balancing the composition of a picture. Nicer than just centering something. These pictures come from markmitchellpaintings.com

This week I was waiting on customer who wants to do mosaic something that will be outside. When she asked for the correct products, I could not help but think of this situation that was written about in the Fall and Winter 2017 issues Stained Glass magazine. (Info comes from there and an article in Alabama Living.) All I could think of was “make sure it is weather proof!" This amazing piece of art is located at the Huntsville, Alabama First Baptist Church. It took seven years to complete (1966 to 1973) and contained approximately 1.4 millions pieces of Italian tile – none larger than a thumbnail. This mosaic is giant! There are seven bays and each bay is 18’x45’. It is about 5,600 sq ft of mosaic. It made the news because it was falling apart! A team went in to asses the issues. They determined the problems were: Glass tiles were used instead of smalti, (Smalti are ½-1/3 the size of tiles but twice as thick. Smalti do have a beveled edge) the mounting of the tiles to a netting with epoxy was not the best method, the materials used were of dubious quality, the cements used to install the mosaic were not the best choice, and the methods used to apply the cement and mosaic sections were suspect and probably incorrect. Within a year of the installation glass started to fall! 50 years later the team was trying to determine the best way to fix it. The decision was made to remove the entire mosaic and replace it with new. The design was to be reproduced and this time fabricated and installed correctly! The color palette was to remain the same, but it was allow to increased the depth of color and make some minor corrections to the design. This project is still going on. At the time of the Winter issue of Stained Glass bay two was complete and Bay 3 was underway, schedule to be complete by Easter.

All this info comes from the Epilepsy Foundation site and note that the pyramids rights are protected. I never had the privilege of knowing Kevin, but I know his mom, Patricia Barnes, and I have met his delightful brother and I have even helped clean the pyramids! Trish made this incredible collection of pyramids (out of stained glass, of course) after the drowning death of Kevin when he was not quite 17. These pyramids have been donated to the Epilepsy foundation for fundraising for epilepsy research and hopefully new therapies and strategies to improve the life of people living with seizures. Money raised from the sale of the pyramids fund young researchers called “Kevin’s Fellows”.

INFO FROM THE MORSE MUSEUM

This lamp is not only incredibly beautiful and an amazing amount of work, it was turning point for the Tiffany Studios. In 1902, there was an event in Turin, Italy called the Prima Esposizione, Internazionale d’Arte Decorative Moderna. This event put an emphasis on the aesthetic renewal of everyday objects. Tiffany Studios received a grand prize at this event. One of the designs for the award was for the Wisteria Library Lamp. Electricity was now available. Before electricity, the lamp bases had to serve as containers for oil and limited the design. This transformed a previously utilitarian device in an electrified sculpture. Take a close look at the top of the lamp. There is an intricate bronze vine working its way down the design of the lamp. Just beautiful. This shade was designed by Clara Driscoll, who was the supervisor in the Women’s Glass Cutting Department. Follow this link to learn more about Clara Driscoll. http://morsemuseum.org/louis-comfort-tiffany/tiffany-studios-designers. Wisteria has more than 2,000 pieces which, of course, were hand cut. The wisteria was a popular spring blooming vine in the 19^th-century American gardens and loved by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He planted them in abundance at his Long Island estate called Laurelton Hall.

In one of the articles I read about Oceanside Glass (the new owners of Specturm and Uroborus Glass) they mentioned that one of their first big breaks was getting to replicate the vintage tile for the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle. This interested me on several levels. One is that last year I saw the Roman Baths in Bath England. A fascinating place. Next was that in my mid 20s Patty Hearst was kidnapped. I was riveted to the story. Read the book and was totally on Patty’s side. Then the glass! How thrilling. The article compared this big break to Eric Lovel and Uroboros getting to recreate Tiffany glass for restoration. It also made me think of our early years in the glass business when we got the contract to make air control panels for a state funded program. A lot of good steady work. Certainly not as sexy as doing Tiffany or Hearst work but we were over the moon. I asked my husband how he was going to make this product that was specific in its requirements. “No idea. I never saw anything like it, I don’t think it exists, but it is a great idea”. So, he quizzed every sales person he could and found metal and a gasket that would work. The metal came from a place called Mason (still in business) and the metal number was E208. We named the air control panel an OPE208. The OP was from Oakes & Parkhurst Glass, the name of our business (also still in business). Many competitors tried to get in on that action but could never figure out where we were buying the ope208. Little did they know we were manufacturing them ourselves. They were inside panels, the gasket made them air tight. We could make them with acrylic when they were for older people who might not be able to lift them with glass. They were held on with clips that were hidden behind curtains. Easy on and easy off! We made thousands. Days, nights, weekends. One Thanksgiving afternoon our family helped so we would not miss a deadline since our employees (rightly so) wanted Thanksgiving off! But I digress! This is a picture of the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle. The tile patterns were inspired by mosaics found in the 5^th Century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. Some also represent the marine monster themes that are in the ancient Roman baths. The tiles are 1” square and go ceiling to floor. These glass tiles, called smalti, are either mostly colored blue or orange or are clear with fused gold inside.

I just love this piece from the Glass Craft and Bead Expo. The women represent Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. I love the symbolism, I love that Bonnie used women (powerful forces of nature), I love the framing, and how “earth” is escaping the frame. It is truly a great piece. In my opinion a FIRST PLACE!

In celebration of Utah Valley University’s 75^th anniversary in November of 2016, they presented a public art project done in stained glass called Roots of Knowledge. It is a very large permanent display. Ten feet high and 200 feet in length. The mural starts with the dawn of humanity and goes to the present time. It includes ore than 60,000 pieces of glass and made up of 80 panels. More than 40 professional artists, 26 UVU scholars and hundreds of UVU students work on the project under the guidance of Utah artist Tom Holdman and Utah Valley University President Matthew Holland. The lead artist was Cameron Oskcarson. Tom Holdman, a master stained glass artist was the brains behind the project. Want to see more? https://www.uvu.edu/rootsofknowledge/

TIFFANY LAMP 1901. Wisteria

This incredible lamp is on display at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida. This is one of the lamps designed by Clara Driscoll. This lamp was exhibited at the 1902 decorative arts exposition in Turin, Italy. Both this lamp and the Pond Lily lamp won a grand prize for transforming previously utilitarian devices into electrified sculptures from nature. Most of Tiffany designs were oil lamps that required the base to serve as the oil source. Electricity gave more opportunity for design. Clara Driscoll led the Women’s Glass Cutting Department that was established in 1892. It was very progressive for an establishment to employ women. This book, which has become a national bestseller, is a delightful story about the women workers at the Tiffany studio. It is well worth the read.

Every now and then a piece of art work just brings your eye back. I recently was going through some Glass Art Magazines and this edition was showing the 2016 juried art competition winners. How special is this piece? I just love the way the fame did not constrain her. It makes you feel like the spring fairy could just give her toe a little push on the frame and give those beautiful wings a little flutter and she would be off. From the flower petal seat to her flowing skirt to her beautiful hair and sheer lacy wings, this piece is just perfect. Mary Harris you are an inspiration!

1840s—window glass took a step forward from the cylinder method to experiment with cast and rolled glass. This allowed larger sheets. 1800-1900s—John LaFarge and Louis C. Tiffany and glass chemist, Arthur Nash, were having success with color in glass. 1880s-1900—The Opalescent Age of Tiffany and LaFarge saw companies come and go. Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company founded in 1888 and The Paul Wissmach Glass Company Inc. founded in 1904 were the only two that survived and are still in operation today. Looking to repair an old piece of glass and need a match. These two companies are where to start for your glass matching. 1920s saw the Great Depression come to be and the Opalescent Age begin to die. This time also saw more of a need for better window glass and saw the development of the “continuous ribbon” production. Continuous ribbon takes four separate processes and makes them a continuous flow.

1. Mixing the raw materials.
2. Melting
3. Sheet forming
4. Annealing

This creates increased production and more uniformity. The continuous ribbon allowed for “float glass”. The float method replaced the plate method and is the process used to crate the clear class you see in window glass today. It is also the process that Spectrum Glass used. 1950s. The Studio Art movement was gaining. The legendary Harvey K. Littleton Studio of Toledo had students like Dale Chihuly, Marvin Lipofsky, Fritz Dreisbach, Boyce Lundstrum, Dan Schwoerer, and more. These artist did so much to share the American studio glass movement.

This type of work demanded more glass of consistent quality. 1851

Glass Pioneer, Dale Chihuly

Fritz Dreisbach, goblet

A THOUSAND CRANES

Info from Glass Art Magazine and Wikipedia

Japanese legend is that if you fold 1000 cranes you will be granted a wish by the gods. The crane is a symbol of happiness and eternal youth so some believe that the 1000 origami paper cranes will bring you long life or recovery from illness or injury. In Japan the cranes which are strung together are very popular as wedding themes.

GERM’S 1000 CRANES PROJECT

Jeremy Grant-Levine (aka Germ) in 2018 is glass blowing 1000 cranes. Jeremy is being back by $92,000 Kickstarter campaign. This project will take 250 pounds of glass and approximately two miles of wire, totaling $20,000 in materials. When complete the work will on display at the Arch Enemy Arts gallery in Philadelphia. Jeremy is based in Philadelphia and has been flameworking glass pipes for over 13 years. He has exhibited at galleries in Philadelphia, Seattle, New York, Miami and Tel Aviv.