Launch of Drysdale's glass art mural set for 2015

Drysdale's Glass Art Mural - "Welcome to Drysdale" - is gradually taking shape and will be launched officially in 2015.

The mural is a steel-framed sign that says "Welcome to Drysdale" in glass mosaic tiles, surrounded by ceramic tiles depicting moments in the area's history. 

(Background to the mural project: "A mural project for Drysdale" 18 March 2014 on this blog.)

The ceramic tiles are complete. They were created by students at Bellarine Secondary College, led by their teacher Tess Grace and guided by Uncle David Tournier, of Wauthorong Aboriginal Co-op and by Festival of Glass committee members Kaye Clancy and Mercedes Drummond.

The steel and wood frame for the mural is currently being manufactured by local craftspeople.

Building the local community

The Mural Project is a partnership between the Festival of Glass, which is providing overall leadership, and Bellarine Secondary College, whose students are creating parts of the mural; it is supported by the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op and the Bellarine Historical Society; and it is partly financed by local organisations.

The Festival of Glass is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA).

Lisa Neville MP, Minster for the Environment, to open 2015 Festival

Lisa Neville MP, state member for The Bellarine, has kindly agreed to open the 2015 Festival of Glass.

In the recent Victorian state election, Lisa achieved a swing to Labor of 8.4% - the highest in the state. She is now Victoria's Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water.

Lisa has been a good friend and supporter of the Festival since it started in 2011, so we're very pleased that she will open the 2015 Festival of Glass.

Bellarine's glass-related history

The Festival of Glass has launched a new web site: Glass Reflections: the Bellarine and Beyond
 
Glass Reflections will gradually document the glass-related history of the Bellarine Peninsula.

As we've accumulated the information that is in the history so far, many people have said that they had no idea that glass had played such a part in the history of the Bellarine.

The items on the web site are searchable by date, so you can either scan the whole history or go to a specific period.
http://fogglassreflections.blogspot.com.au/

A role for you?
Please help us to build the area's glass-related history by telling us any facts that you know. If you can give a printed or online source for the facts, so much the better! Think of it as a 'wikihistory of the area!
Contact us at dryclift.bigpond.com

Space at the 2015 Fxpo running out!

The 2014 Festival of Glass Expo

Two months before 2015’s Festival of Glass, there are just five sites left at the Expo!

The Festival Expo is at the heart of each year’s Festival and next year’s happens on Sunday February 15. The Expo is proving so popular with glass-workers that exhibition space is booked earlier each year.

 

The Festival committee is pleased with this enthusiasm, of course, but we don’t want to turn away exhibitors. So if you or anyone you know is thinking of booking space at the 2015 Expo, don't delay - book today!

 

An information sheet for potential exhibitors, plus an application form, are on the Festival web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

New three-year funding for Festival of Glass

The City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) will be a major sponsor of the Festival of Glass for the three years 2015 – 2017.

CoGG’s sponsorship will come through its Arts and Culture portfolio, which has invested in each of the four Festivals of Glass since 2011. CoGG's support has assisted the Festival committee to attract more financial investment – principally, three-year sponsorship by the Bendigo Bank, plus several smaller donations from glass companies.

Sponsorship by the CoGG and the Bendigo Bank raises the Festival's status and profile, showing that it is publicly accountable through the council's accounting procedures. This encourages local organisations such as Rotary, Lions and SES to become involved in building an innovative and attractive event that is community-based and community-building.

The Festival committee is grateful for the council's and the Bank’s support, as well as for the public support from local councillors Rod Macdonald and Lindsay Ellis and from local MP Lisa Neville. Let's raise a glass (what else?!) to them all.

Our first Artist in Residence!

The Festival of Glass is delighted to introduce its first Artist in Residence - glass artist Mark Eliott. Mark will run two sculptural glass workshops at the 2015 Festival of Glass:

·      One-day workshop: Monday 16^th February

A short introduction to flame-work. We will use rods of clear and coloured borosilicate glass to make abstract forms, pendants and an animal; and we will also blow a bubble with a glass tube. The class is suitable for beginners, but experienced students will be given more advanced projects.

·      Three-day workshop: Tuesday 17^th to Thursday 19^th February.

An introduction to glass sculpting. We will use rods of clear and coloured borosilicate glass and blowing with hollow tubing to make glass ornaments such as figurines, animals, vessels, pendants and abstract sculptures. The class is suitable for beginners, but experienced students will be given more advanced projects.

Bookings are essential: markeliottglass@gmail.com

Introducing Mark Eliott

Mark Eliott was born in New Zealand but grew up in Sydney, where he now lives. His primary medium is flame-worked borosilicate glass (pyrex), which is stronger and less likely to crack when the temperature changes; and his work is inspired by – among other things - plants, animals, marine organisms and people.

As a teenager, Mark delighted in digging up old bottles and this led to an informal apprenticeship at the Minson scientific glass company. Subsequently, he had various jobs, played saxophone in numerous bands and studied Jazz at Sydney’s conservatorium. He returned to the world of glass but continues to play music and incorporates other media into his work.

In 2010, Mark collaborated with animator Jack MacGrath to produce Dr Mermaid and the Above Marine - a 6-minute animated video about a marine biologist who communicates with fish.

(http://vimeo.com/15011787)

In April 2012, Mark and Jack collaborated again in a workshop at Waverley Woollahra Arts School, Bondi, in which participants made improvised forms from flame-worked glass. (“Glass Flame-ation Bondi – the workshop.” [Jack McGrath] http://vimeo.com/49953912)

Mark’s continuing “Music in Glass” project brings together two of the main creative streams of his life. The project draws on his experience of synaesthesia in which sound is simultaneously perceived as colours, forms and textures. Mark has described the experience as follows:

“One piece of music may appear as a monotone wash of grey or brown while another might appear as a broad landscape full of strange forms such as fuzzy red-brown blobs for base notes and banks of stratified patterns for piano accompaniment with shifting tonal colours according to the chordal movement. A saxophone solo may appear as a jagged streak of yellow-blue lightening or a curvaceous meandering form in deep gold, red and purple.”

More information: http://cargocollective.com/markeliottglass

Joining in by putting up!

The Festival of Glass committee is inviting local people to offer a spare bedroom to a 2015 Festival exhibitor. 

Each year, the Festival of Glass offers its thousands of visitors the chance to see displays and demonstrations of world class glass creations, with follow-up classes for those who want to try their hand at being glass artists.

The fifth annual Festival of Glass will start with a glass Expo on Sunday 15 February at Drysdale’s Christian College.  

Some Expo exhibitors - especially those from interstate - come a long way to exhibit at the Expo and/or to run glass-working classes. They welcome the chance of an overnight stay in the area to break their long journeys.

However, there is very little accommodation for visitors to the local area, so at the 2014 Festival of Glass, the Festival committee trialled ‘billeting’ exhibitors in local people’s homes. The response was consistently positive – from both sides - so the committee is repeating the exercise this year.

Join in the Festival of Glass

Billeting a Festival exhibitor is a good way for anyone thinking of opening a B & B to ‘test the waters’. It would also be attractive to anyone who’d like to show off their lovely garden! Perhaps the kids have moved out and you have a spare room.

Putting up an exhibitor is also a goof way to to become involved with the Festival of Glass. Festival convenor Doug Carson said, "If you can offer an exhibitor a night's stay, not only will you assist them, you will also boost the town’s economy – after all, overnight visitors will want to eat and drink and, perhaps, spend some time looking at our local attractions."

  

Festival Co-ordinator Doug Carson:
Tel.: 0418 371308 e-mail: ccd21@bigpond.net.au

Bringing FoG to winter

Glass artists on the Bellarine Peninsula showed off their studios and their skills on the weekend of July 12 – 13.

Nudibranch on fire!

Queenscliff's Seaview Gallery in Queenscliff was host to Nudibranch’s Laurie Young and Christian Arnold, who demonstrated glass torchwork; Glenda MacNaughton ran two classes on glass bead-weaving in Drysdale; while Pamela Manning, of 'Glass Fusion' opened her studio in Queenscliff to the public.

This was the first of three weekends of Open Studios and classes in glass-working techniques that the Festival of Glass committee has organised under the umbrella title, ‘Festival of Glass in winter’ or ‘FoG in winter’.

A moment at the Dax Bead Art class

Doug Carson, Festival of Glass convenor, said, “We’d like ‘FoG in winter’ to encourage people to enter next year’s Drysdale Glass-Art Awards and to introduce them to the skills they'll need to so do. We also want to maintain local interest and involvement in the Festival throughout the year, rather than just in February, when the Festival happens.”

More events to come

Over the weekend of July 19 – 20, Lynda Rogers will run classes in glass mosaics and glass fusing in Leopold, which she will repeat the following weekend - July 26 – 27. That weekend will also see Open Studios by glass artists Glenda MacNaughton in Drysdale, Ros Leishman in Point Lonsdale and Katharine Oliver in East Geelong. The final event of 'FoG in winter’ is a class in glass fusing run by David Hobday in Point Lonsdale.

All the glass artists involved in ‘FoG in winter’ are members of The Glass Trail, which they launched on July 4 to showcase their work and to promote the Geelong area as a centre of glass-related activities. (see 'Message in a bottle launches The Glass Trail' 7July 2014 on this blog.)

Dates, times and addresses of all the events in ‘FoG in winter’ are on the Festival of Glass web site (click on ‘FoG in winter’), which also carries full details of The Glass Trail (click on ‘The Glass Trail’): www.festivalofglass.net.au

Message in a bottle launches The Glass Trail

Around fifty people attended the launch of The Glass Trail at the ‘Totally Shattered’ glass studio near Queenscliff on Friday 4 July.

Roger Grant

Executive Director of Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine, Roger Grant, performed the official opening by reading a message in a bottle – a late nineteenth century ‘torpedo’ bottle that originally held water from the mineral springs at Clifton Springs. Despite the bottle’s age, its message read, “The Glass Trail is now open”!

The Glass Trail is an initiative of the Festival of Glass and Glass Trail members provided an exhibition of their work at the launch. Roger Grant said that overall, arts/cultural events attract more people than sports events and that the Glass Trail – like The Taste Trail - would give visitors to the area another reason to stay in the area, rather than just pass through.

Glass Trail members. Back row:Mark Edwards, Vicci Crowley-Clough, Pamela Manning, David Hobday; Front row: Katharine Oliver, Monica Provan, Lynda Rogers,Glenda MacNaughton

What's winter without FoG?

The Festival of Glass committee is promoting 'FoG in winter' - a series of glass-related events at various venues in the Geelong region between July 4th and August 4th 2014*. 

'FoG in winter' aims to encourage more people to enter the 2015 Drysdale Glass-Art Awards and to introduce them to the skills they’ll need to do so; and to maintain interest and involvement in the Festival of Glass by local people, community groups and businesses.

Each event in 'FoG in winter' is organised by a particular glass artist, craftsperson or business. They nominate the nature of the event, the date, times and venue; the Festival committee will publicise and promote each event, using the web, local media and social media.

Launching 'The Glass Trail' 

The first 'FoG in winter' event is the official launch on July 4th of 'The Glass Trail' - a Festival initiative linking twelve glass artists, craftspeople and businesses in the Geelong area in a 'trail' promoted by a full-colour brochure. For more on the launch and the trail, see 'Launch of The Glass Trail' on this blog (24 July 2014).

Classes 

Throughout the month, there will be classes in various glass-working techniques, including glass fusing and slumping; photographing glass; and glass bead weaving. There will be classes for all abilities, from beginners to advanced.

Each class will be organised and run by a particular glass artist, craftsperson or business. They nominate the date, times and venue; and will organise bookings, fees, etc. The Festival of Glass committee will publicise and promote each event, using the web, local media and social media.

Open Studios

During the 'FoG in winter' period, several glass artists and craftspeople in the Geelong area will hold 'Open Studios' at which the public can view unique pieces of glasswork, talk to the people who created them and, perhaps, buy something that catches their eye.

Each glass artist or craftsperson  will nominate the date/s and time/s of their Open Studio;  the Festival of Glass committee will publicise and promote each event, using the web, local media and social media.

More information

New classes and Open Studios are being added to the programme. Comprehensive, up-to-date details are on the Festival of Glass web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

* 'FoG in winter' takes its title from the abbreviation for the Festival of Glass - 'FoG'.

Launch of 'The Glass Trail'

On Friday 4 July, Roger Grant, Executive Director of Tourism Geelong and Bellarine, will launch The Glass Trail – a unique venture linking twelve glass artists, craftspeople and businesses in the Geelong area in a ‘trail’ for locals and visitors to follow.

People who follow The Glass Trail will see a wide variety of glass goods, including jewellery, sculpture and household items, most of them hand-made locally. They can learn something about how these items are made and may see demonstrations of glass workers’ various intricate techniques.

Followers of The Glass Trail will also be introduced to the annual Festival of Glass, including its competition for the Drysdale Glass Art Awards. The Glass Trail has been created by the Festival of Glass, to further its aim of promoting the Geelong area as a centre of glass activity. The Festival of Glass – now in its fifth year – is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA).

The Glass Trail is completely self-funded by its twelve participants; the Festival has co-ordinated the creation of The Glass Trail brochure and is promoting and publicising it.

To see the brochure online, go to the Festival of Glass web site (www.festivalofglass.net.au)
and click the link on the Home page.
 

THE LAUNCH:

DATE & TIME:    4 July 2014, 6.00 – 7.00pm

VENUE:      Totally Shattered Glass Studio,

1480 Queenscliff/Portarlington Road, Point Lonsdale 3225.

Countdown to 2015 Festival begins now!

With just 322 days until the 2015 Festival of Glass, planning has started already!

At the heart of each year's Festival of Glass is the Glass Expo, featuring 50+ exhibitors from across the world of glass; demonstrations of glass-working techniques; the annual Drysdale Glass Art Awards; 'Glass on Film' (short films about glass); and a major raffle and hourly door prizes, with prizes donated by exhibitors.
 
The 2015 Glass Expo will happen on Sunday February 15 between 10.00am and 4.00pm at Christian College, Collins Road, Drysdale, Victoria. The Expo was held at this venue for the first time in 2014, when it attracted around 5,000 visitors, so the Festival committee is very pleased that the Expo will return there in 2015.

From browsing to creating
As part of the Festival, local exhibitors will teach various glass-working techniques at their studios and workshops. This feature was introduced at the 2014 Festival and proved very popular - each class was booked-out well in advance. The addition of these classes means that visitors to the Festival of Glass can now browse exhibitors' diverse glass creations; see demonstrations of some of the techniques used to create them; then learn how to use those techniques for themselves. Information about the classes will be available closer to the time from the Festival web site (www.festivalofglass.net.au).

Getting involved in the 2015 Festival
People can become involved with the 2015 Festival in various ways, depending on their time and interests.
1. Exhibit.
The Festival of Glass is unique in Australia and is an outstanding vehicle to promote your work. Each year, thousands of visitors come to the Festival just to see glass - a captive audience if ever there was one! There is considerable coverage by the local media and a growing presence on regional and national tourism and recreational web sites. See the Festival web site for more information.
2. Enter the Awards.
The Drysdale Glass Art Awards are in three categories: Wearable Glass Art; Non-wearable Glass Art; and Glass-related Photography. Each category has two divisions: Junior (up to and including 18 years of age); and Open (nineteen years of age upwards). See the Festival web site for more information about entry conditions, etc..
3. Join the committee.
The 2015 Festival of Glass committee invites glass artists, craftspeople and manufacturers in the Geelong region to join it.  There is a broad range of jobs and responsibilities, so whatever your interests and time commitments, you can make your mark on the 2015 Festival!
4. Become a sponsor.
Now in its fifth year,  the Festival of Glass continues to develop significant reputation and regard among its exhibitors and visitors, and in the broader glass community. Sponsorship associates you with the Festival's growing reputation and regard. The Festival's success to date is due in no small part to our current sponsors the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank. See the Festival web site for more information about sponsorship options.
5. Become a local business supporter.
The Festival committee works hard to ensure that local businesses benefit from having such a major event in their location. in the past, the Festival committee has agreed cross-promotion arrangements with several local businesses and we hope to expand this significantly in 2015.

Festival exposure boosts Award-winner's profile

Since Darryl Trezise won a Drysdale Glass Art Award at the 2014 Festival of Glass in Drysdale, Victoria, he has received invitations to exhibit at three galleries, plus exposure in the local press and online.

The 2014 Glass Art Award winners were announced during the Festival’s Glass Expo on Sunday February 16. Darryl’s piece ‘Two Brown Trout’ won the Award for ‘Non-wearable Glass Art’, to great acclaim.*

Darryl Trezise: 'Two Brown Trout'

Later that day, Darryl was invited to display his work at The Tea Tree Gallery in Portland, Victoria. "Belinda (the lady who owns the gallery) said to me, ‘Don’t pack your glass when you get home, just take it straight to The Tea Tree Gallery.'" said Darryl. Then, while he was setting-up his exhibition at The Tea Tree Gallery, Darryl received an invitation to exhibit at Portland’s Julia Street Gallery later this year; and just last week, Darryl received an invitation to exhibit at a third gallery – Local Images Gallery in Penola.

Unexpected press and online exposure

Two of Darryl’s local papers – the Portland Observer and the Casterton News – each ran an article and photo about his Award. The Portland Observer article was on the front page! His Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Darryls-Glass/298552100206317) has received a great many hits and very positive feedback – often from people he’s never heard of! Finally, the Portland tourism organization wants to promote Darryl’s gallery – Darryl’s Glass – through its website (http://www.visitportland.com.au/).

Darryl is convinced that the Festival of Glass helped to generate this sudden rush of exposure. “I believe all this good fortune is due to the exposure the Festival has given me, with great feedback from other glass people and the public”, he said. “It was a huge honour to win the Glass Art Award, because the Festival is a major venue for glass artists across the country. I learnt so much from the day and have even started making new pieces for next year's Festival of Glass!”

Darryl’s Glass is at 5924 Portland Casterton Road, Sandford, Victoria 3312. (0409 217386)

 The Darryl’s Glass web site is packed with a very diverse range of Darryl’s work, plus patterns, book and much more: http://darrylsstainedglasspatterns.com/darrylsglass/

* The other winners of a Glass Art Award were Glenda MacNaughton, for her necklace ‘Ndebele Solo’ ('Wearable Glass Art'); Janet Jenkin, for her photo 'Isola di San Giacomo in Palude (detail)' ('Glass-related Photography'); and Isabelle Hall, for her ‘Beaded Necklace’ ('Junior').

A mural project for Drysdale

The Festival of Glass committee has initiated a Mural Project to create two ceramic and glass public art exhibits in Drysdale.

Uncle David Tournier

 

The first will be a free-standing, ceramic and glass ‘Welcome to Drysdale’ sign located prominently in the town centre. Creating the 'Welcome' sign will give the mural team the knowledge and experience to create the other piece of public art – a major mural.

The second exhibit will be a major ceramic and glass mural with the theme, ‘Bridging Our Heritage: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’ located prominently on a wall in the town centre.

·      ‘Yesterday’ How our past continues to influence the presence. It would refer to the continuing presence of the Wathaurong people – the original inhabitants of the land; and to the continuing effects of Europeans’ arrival.

·      ‘Today’ How we describe our Community today. This would include local institutions, schools, service clubs, sporting clubs, community groups, local businesses and emergency services.

·      ‘Tomorrow’ The hopes and dreams of the community and especially of its young people - our future.

Building community through glass

The Mural Project is an initiative of the Festival of Glass. The Festival aims to enhance community well being and quality of life by involving individuals, groups and organisations in creative projects. This makes the Bellarine Peninsula an attractive destination for glass artists, craftspeople and companies, as well as for visitors curious to see their work. Festival-related projects such as the mural support existing local glass-related businesses and encourage new ones to establish themselves here, promoting innovation in the local economy.

The Mural Project is a partnership between the Festival of Glass, which is providing overall leadership, and Bellarine Secondary College, whose students are creating parts of the mural; it is supported by the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op and the Bellarine Historical Society; and it is partly financed by local organisations.

So far, the ‘Welcome’ sign has been designed and Bellarine Secondary College students have been introduced to Wathaurong culture by Uncle David Tournier and to events around Europeans’ arrival in the area. This will assist them to design and create the ceramic tiles that are part of the ‘Welcome to Drysdale’ sign.

'Community Concepts' - Festival of Glass submission

The Festival of Glass committee has submitted a proposal to the City of Greater Geelong's 'Community Concepts' programme.

The City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) initiated the programme in December 2013, when it invited individuals, groups and organisations in the Greater Geelong area to submit proposals for capital works, to be considered for inclusion in the council's 2014 - 2015 budget. Submissions opened in December and closed on January 17 2014.

The Festival of Glass committee is a sub-committee of the Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association Inc., which initiated the Festival of Glass in 2011. Our submission is below.


Name of project: ‘Bridging Our Heritage: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’
Brief description of the project

This sixteen month mural project will create two glass-based public art exhibits in Drysdale. The project is a partnership between the Festival of Glass, the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (which launched the Festival in 2011) and Bellarine Secondary College, advised by Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op and Bellarine Historical Society; and it reinforces Drysdale’s growing national and international reputation for glass-related art, craft and industry. The first exhibit will be a free-standing, ceramic and glass ‘Welcome to Drysdale’ sign on the ‘Village Green’. This will give the mural team the knowledge and experience to create a major ceramic and glass mural with the theme, ‘Bridging Our Heritage: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’.

In practical terms, separate glass/ceramic strands (‘Yesterday’) will be braided together (‘Today’) and then unwound again (‘Tomorrow’). This shows that our ever-changing community includes not only its various groups, associations, schools and businesses but also the continuing presence of Wathaurong people and culture and the continuing effects of European arrival (including the significance of Anne Drysdale and of the mineral springs at Clifton Springs). The braid of ‘Today’ unwinds again into the disparate hopes and dreams of the community and especially of its diverse young people - our ‘Tomorrow’.

Objectives of the project

This project’s objectives support the council’s priorities as follows:

‘Community well being’.

·      To connect different sections of the local community (e.g. clubs, schools, community associations, volunteer groups) in a creative project that enhances the well being and quality of life of the whole community.

‘Growing our economy’.

·      To support existing local businesses by making Drysdale a more vibrant, attractive and distinctive destination for residents and visitors.

·      To promote innovation in the local economy by encouraging the establishment of new, glass-related businesses. This will complement the success that the Festival of Glass has had already in promoting such new businesses.

·      To promote Drysdale – and the Bellarine Peninsula more broadly – as a centre of glass-related art, craft and industry, making it more attractive to artists, craftspeople and companies. This complements the Festival’s forthcoming Glass Trail, which aims to encourage and promote new and existing glass-related businesses in the region.

Street address and suburb: ‘Village Green’ and Hancock Street, Drysdale.

Council ward: Cheetham 

Estimate of total project cost: $14,200 (Phase One: $2,100; Phase Two: $12,100)

Details of community group’s contribution (if any)

The Festival’s mural team will:

·      oversee the design and execution of each phase of the project, including co-ordinating practical, ‘hands on’ participation in each phase by local individuals, groups, societies, schools, etc.

·      seek appropriate permissions from landholders

·      obtain local funding to support council funding. (The team has local pledges of $1,200 already for Phase One.)

Previous project funding

This mural project has received no funding. However, the Festival of Glass has received council funding in each of its four years.

Ongoing maintenance requirements (if any).

The sign and the mural will each be built of resilient materials – glass, ceramics and steel – that will require minimal maintenance.