Spike your glassy creativity with a little bit of color... exploring the Vivid World of Colors: From Watchet to Bister

by Roxy van Beveran, Festival of Glass committee

Colours have the remarkable ability to evoke emotions, convey meaning, and captivate our senses. From the soothing shades of blue to the fiery hues of red, the world of colours is a vast and captivating realm. In this blog post, we will take a journey through a collection of intriguing colours, each with its own unique story and character. 

Join us as we delve into the enchanting world of Watchet, Pale Blue Gery, Sable Black, Puke, Pompadour, Phthalo Green, Nymphea, Incarnadine, Hooker's Green, Heather, Dun, Delft Blue, Coquelicot, Bordeaux, and Bister.

1.Watchet: Pale Blue Gery: Watchet is a delicate and ethereal colour, often described as a pale blue-grey. This serene hue is reminiscent of the soft hues that grace the sky at dawn or dusk, creating a sense of tranquillity and calmness. Its understated elegance makes it a popular choice for interior design, evoking a peaceful and soothing ambience.

2.Sable Black: Derived from heraldry, Sable Black takes its name from the fur of the small weasel-like animal. This deep and lustrous shade of black exudes elegance and sophistication. Often associated with luxury and opulence, it adds a touch of mystery and allure to any setting.

3.Puke: Dark Brown: Despite its rather unappealing name, Puke is a rich, dark brown colour that draws its origins from the woollen fabric of the same name. While the name may not be enticing, this colour carries a sense of warmth and earthiness, reminiscent of autumnal hues and the comforting embrace of nature.

4.Pompadour: Warm Pale Blue: Inspired by the eighteenth-century marquise and mistress of King Louis XV, Pompadour is a warm and inviting pale blue shade. This colour exudes a sense of refinement and elegance, reminiscent of the grandeur and sophistication of the Rococo era. It is perfect for adding a touch of grace to any space.

5.Phthalo Green: Phthalo Green is a vibrant and piney blue-green colour named after a synthetic pigment. Its vivid tones are reminiscent of lush forests and emerald landscapes. Phthalo Green is often used to evoke a sense of freshness and vitality, making it a popular choice for artistic expression and nature-inspired designs.

6.Nymphea:  Mid-Pinkish Purple: Nymphea is a captivating colour between mid-pink and purple, creating a delicate and enchanting hue. It carries a sense of romance and femininity, reminiscent of blooming flowers and dreamy sunsets. Nymphea adds a touch of elegance and grace to any setting, whether it be in fashion or interior design.

7.Incarnadine: Fierce Saturated Pinkish Red: With its intense and passionate aura, the Incarnadine is a colour that commands attention. This fierce and saturated pinkish-red shade is impossible to ignore. It symbolizes power, love, and desire, making it a striking choice for bold statements and daring designs.

8.Hooker's Green: Hooker's Green is a bright and invigorating green colour, named after the British illustrator William Hooker. Combining Persian blue with gamboge, this vibrant hue exudes energy and vitality. It is often associated with nature and growth, making it a popular choice for botanical themes and eco-friendly initiatives.

9.Heather: Heather, once a pre-twentieth-century synonym for mottled, is commonly associated with a pinky-purple hue. This gentle and soothing colour evokes a sense of calmness and nostalgia. Its delicate tones remind us of the blooming heather fields and the gentle embrace of nature.

10.Dun: Dun is a versatile colour that often describes a grey-brown shade commonly used to describe livestock. This neutral and earthy tone adds warmth and authenticity to any design. It is reminiscent of rustic landscapes and the simple beauty of the natural world.

11.Delft Blue: Inspired by the pottery made in the Dutch city of Delft in the eighteenth century, Delft Blue is an inky shade that carries a sense of history and tradition. This deep blue hue is often associated with elegance and refinement, reminiscent of the intricate patterns adorning Delftware ceramics.

12.Coquelicot: Coquelicot is a vibrant red colour with a hint of orange. The name derives from the French word for the wild poppy, "Papaver rhoeas." This lively hue exudes energy, passion, and vitality. Coquelicot captures the essence of summer and brings a burst of joy to any design.

13.Bordeaux: Deep and rich like the French wine it's named after, Bordeaux is a colour that exudes sophistication and elegance. This deep cherry shade carries a sense of refinement and luxury, making it a popular choice for high-end fashion and interior design.

14.Bister: Bister is a brownish pigment made from burnt wood. It carries a sense of warmth and earthiness, reminiscent of natural materials and rustic charm. Bister adds depth and character to any design, reflecting the beauty of nature in its simplest form.

Colours have the power to transport us to different moods, evoke emotions, and tell stories. From the peaceful Watchet to the fiery Incarnadine, each colour mentioned in this blog post possesses a unique charm and history. 

Exploring the vivid world of colours allows us to tap into our creative selves and create captivating designs that reflect our personalities and aspirations. Whether you prefer the tranquillity of blues, the warmth of browns, or the vibrancy of reds and greens, the realm of colours is boundless, waiting to be explored and celebrated.

Samantha Stitz, of Hextasy Glass - featured exhibitor at the 2021 Festival Expo

Samantha Stitz (Sam) lives and works in sunny Brisbane, but has displayed her glass art at markets and exhibitions all over Australia. Her first contact with the amazing world of glass was in 2008, when her mother bought a fused dichroic pendant "I was mesmerized!", she says. "I'm fascinated by its different colours and by the different glass working techniques."

From fusing to lampwork to sculpting

Fusing pendants led her to lampworking (using an oxygen fuelled torch to melt glass) and she started making beads in 2010. From beads, Sam moved on creating glass sculptures, using primarily soft glass. " Soft glass can be a bit temperamental", she says, especially when you are working on large pieces. So I talk nicely to it! I design my sculptures as collections of individual components, to avoid changes in temperature stressing the glass as I assemble the components into the finished sculpture."

 

More recently, Sam has added enamelling copper to her repertoire of techniques. "This is lots of fun to do", she says, "especially in the summer months in Brisbane as it can get very hot and humid - not suitable for spending hours at the torch!"

 

Building community

Sam's new to MadeIt, but she's thrilled to be part of their community. "We all need to support the market for crafts that are handmade in Australia, especially in our currently uncertain world", she says, "There is just so much talent and inspiration out in the community. I'm happy when someone adopts one of my pieces, so I'm happy to support other artists when I'm looking for gifts and homewares."

 

Let's give Sam the final word: "Over the years, glass has brought me so much joy and taught me great patience, perseverance and humility. Not everything you try will work the first time, but practice and hard work will always get you where you want to be. I am largely self-taught, but in the past few years I have attended the amazing workshops by glass masters at the Festival of Glass; and I enjoy teaching and sharing what I do. I hope that you will enjoy my passion as much as I do."

The FoG blog is back!

The 2021 annual Festival of Glass is online, to keep everyone Covid-safe. Festival favourites are still running, but with a radically new look!

 

An Expo with a difference

You join us as we prepare to launch the 2021 Festival Expo on Sunday 21 February. This will be an Expo with a real difference, because it will be totally online.

 

In partnership with Madeit, Australia's leading online craft retail site, the Festival is running two online boutiques between February 20^th and May 21^st - one for jewellery, one for sculptures & homewares. Visitors to the boutiques can browse and buy a range of glass art; they can meet some exhibitors online in "Meet the Maker" sessions; and they can watch exhibitors at work in and online "Demonstrations". Details of these online events are on the Festival's web site.

 

A Treasure Hunt makeover

This 2021 Festival's Treasure Hunt was launched with a High Tea on Monday 11 January at Drysdale's Café Zoo and has attracted twenty five North Bellarine businesses. The original closing date has been extended a week to February 27^th, to accommodate Victoria's recent 5-day lockdown. So there's still time to hunt for treasure!

 

Each participating business is displaying a piece of glass art and a glass 'Tiny Treasure' it has commissioned. A treasure hunter who finds a 'Tiny Treasure' e-mails a photograph of it to a dedicated address (fogTH21@gmail.com); for every ten different 'Tiny Treasures' they find, they enter a draw for the commissioned glass art. On February 28, Festival organisers will live stream the draw from the Festival's Facebook page, then e-mail each prize winner. 

 

Face-to-face worshops!

Inspired by the glass art in the Treasure Hunt and the Expo? Tempted to create your own? Then a Festival workshop is the place to be! Between February 25^th and March 13^th, there are eleven Festival workshops: make leaves and trees and birds and bugs from glass, learn bead weaving, create colourful mosaics and blow glass beads. sculptures and baubles. All the details are on the Festival web site.

 

Most of the workshops are face-to-face, so the number of participants will be limited, to meet Covid-19 safety rules. So if you'd like to attend one, make sure that you book in now to ensure a place - one workshop is booked-out already.

 

Thanks!

Thanks to all our sponsors - especially the City of Greater Geelong (Arts & Culture) and the Bendigo Bank - for their support through what has been a difficult year for all of us. Thanks especially to Regional Arts Victoria (RAV) for assisting glass artists from regional Victoria to participate in the 2021 Festival.

 

For full details of Festival of Glass events: https://www.sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass

Bigger Expo attracts bigger crowds

Around 4,500 people attended the 2019 Festival of Glass Expo at Christian College in Collins Street, Drysdale on Sunday 17 February.

Fifty artists and businesses showcased a wide range of glass art and Expo visitors could try their hand at creating jewellery, mosaics and leadlighting, in between watching the presentation of the Glass Art Awards and the draw for the Festival’s Treasure Hunt prizes of specially commissioned glass art.

Continuous demonstrations by the Festival’s three Artists in Residence - Karina Guevin and Cedric Ginart from Montreal and Davide Penso from Murano - drew big audiences. Some young spectators were invited onstage to receive their first lesson in glass blowing, to everyone's delight!

In the week before the Expo, Karina Guevin and Cedric Ginart ran their three-day workshop on using borosilicate glass "More is Better" (a Festival first) and over the ten days following the Expo, Davide Penso will run classes for beginning and experienced glass artists.

Rounding off the 2019 Festival in march will be a series of workshops by Bellarine glass artists. Topics will  include fused window hangings (David Hobday), bead weaving (Janet Jenkin) and glass mosaics (Diane Schofield), as well as glass enamelling and even glass garden art! Full details are on the Festival web site.

International artists blow glass, draw crowds

Internationally renowned glass artists Davide Penso, Karina Guevin and Cèdric Ginart captivated a 90-strong audience at “Twilight Flames”, an evening of spectacular glass blowing and sculpting on Saturday 16 February at The Range, Curlewis.

Davide Penso holds his glass seaweed

As the audience watched the artists melt, pull, shape and cut molten glass into fantastic creations, they enjoyed finger food and drinks from The Range, while door prizes of wine donated by Leura Park Estate added to the evening’s excitement.

Davide Penso is from Murano, Italy and was Artist in residence at the 2017 Festival; Karina Guevin and Cedric Ginart, from Montreal, Canada are visiting Australia for the first time.

Karina Guevin & Cedric Ginart

“Twilight Flames” is a highlight of the Drysdale-based Festival of Glass, which is held each year at venues across the North Bellarine. “At ‘Twilight Flames’, people can meet world class glass artists and watch them create unique glass art”, said Festival convenor Doug Carson. “We hope that it inspires our local artists to stretch their imaginations, just as they stretch their glass.”

Montreal comes to Drysdale

Glass artists Karina Guevin and Cèdric Ginart from Montreal are Artists in Residence at the 2019 Festival of Glass and their presence has added a distinct flavour to the events.

Karina and Cèdric are world renowned for their remarkable creativity, skill and - yes - humour in blowing and sculpting glass, especially their extraordinary hand-made glass goblets. This is their first visit to Australia and before they started work, they explored some of Victoria's surf beaches.

Karina creates a rabbit

Between Wednesday 13 and Friday 15 February, their “More is better” workshop at Drysdale’s Café Zoo introduced people to the techniques and skills required to work with borosilicate glass and their demonstrations showed just what is possible with imagination and ambition!

Cèdric creates a goblet

On Saturday 16 February, Karina and Cèdric joined Murano glass master Davide Penso - the Festival's other Artists in Residence - in “Twilight Flames”, a spectacular evening of glass blowing and sculpting that attracted ninety people to The Range, Curlewis.

The two artists finished their stay on Monday 18 January at 5.30 with “Torch and Talk” – an evening of demonstrations and conversations at Drysdale’s Café Zoo.

A Guevin-Ginart goblet

Black horse leads the field

On Sunday 10 February, the sounds of clinking bottles and gasps of surprise came from the fourth annual Historic Bottle Evaluation at Drysdale’s old courthouse.

David Bruce

The Bellarine Historical Society and ABCR Auctions had invited people to bring in any old bottles for experienced glass valuers David Bruce and Travis Dunne to appraise and value. This free event was part of the 2019 Festival of Glass and attracted around fifty hopeful locals.

David Bruce said, “We always look forward to this event, because in the past, people have brought in some real treasures. This year's standout item was a Black Horse Ale bottle, produced around 1860 by the Kent Brewery in Sydney and today worth between $600 - $700."

Black Horse Ale bottle