The Festival of Glass: January 2018

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Steuben crystal animals – art, not science

Steuben Glass Incorporated’s signature range of crystal glass animals originated in 1949 with “The Snail” and grew into an ever-growing managerie in the 1950s.

Steuben Glass Snail

The Steuben glass animals are unusual in that they combine the flowing, fluid forms of Art Nouveau and the massive, geometric lines of Art Deco. Neither of these artistic styles was still in vogue by the 1940s, although At Deco was still influencing some architects.

Steuben Glass Trout

Many Steuben glass animals, such as The Whale, The Trout and The Lion, make very striking ornaments. Others are just twee. The Owl is a good example of twee - and we won’t even mention The Koala!

Representation versus replication

Steuben’s glass animals are part of a long history of glass artists creating glass models of plants and animals. However, Steuben’s animals are in the realm of art, not science. Each one interprets its subject in glass, whereas other glass artists have sought to replicate the original plant or animal with scientific accuracy.

For example, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Dresden glass artists Leopold Baschker and his son Rudolph created hundreds of scientifically accurate glass models (to scale and enlarged) of plants and animals for universities and museums. (See “[Glass] Art imitating life” on this blog, 29 January 2018)

Similarly, contemporary Venetian glass artist Mauro Vianello creates meticulous replicas of plants and animals – especially marine life – for universities, research centres and museums. (See “Glass adds a shimmer to summer” on this blog, 12 January 2018) Mauro is Artist in Residence at the 2018 Festival of Glass, where he will demonstrate his glass art magic and teach beginning and advanced glass artists some tricks of his trade.

Steuben Glass – a short history

Steuben Glass Whale

The company originated as the Steuben Glass Works, founded in 1903 by Thomas G. Hawkes, an Irish-American glass engraver, and Frederick Carder, an English glassmaker. They named the company after its location in Steuben County in the south-west of New York state. In 1918, the nearby Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) bought Steuben. In 1933, Steuben created a formula for crystal that was stronger than ordinary glass, with a very high refractive index that made it reflect and refract light better than any other. What followed were Steuben’s ‘golden years’, which ended in 2008, when Corning sold Steuben to the Schottenstein Stores Corp. of Columbus, Ohio. In 2011, Schottenstein closed Steuben, but Corning re-purchased the Steuben brand name; and in 2013, Corning licensed The Corning Museum of Glass to oversee sales and production of Steuben glassware.

SOURCES

Plaut, J. S. (1972) Steuben Glass. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. (3^rd revised edn.)

Steuben Glass web site https://www.steuben.com/

Footnote - the Steuben Lion
The Steuben Lion resembles the lion in the Holden cars current version of the ‘lion and stone’ logo. The logo has evolved significantly from its original, designed for Holden by Rayner Hoff in 1929. It refers to a prehistoric fable, in which observations of lions rolling stones led humans to invent the wheel.

Steuben Lion

Holden's 'lion and stone' logo

Holden's original logo

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Decal Specialists
The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Decal Specialists for supporting the 2018 Festival of Glass - in particular, for sponsoring the "Encouragement - Best in Show" Glass Art Award.

The company manufactures ... well ... decals! Decals can be applied to any solid sealed surface, enabling artists to ‘import’ a lacquered image to the surface of their work. The company stocks a range of images, or they can create custom decals from a customer’s images.

The company makes three types of decal: ceramic decals, for fired glazed finishes; glass decals for transparent or opaque glass surfaces; and ‘non-fire’ decals for use on any sealed surface (e.g. terracotta, woodwork).

Contacts:

6/2 Brand Drive, Thomastown, Victoria 3074

Tel. (1300) 132 771 (03) 9380 7722

E-mail: enquiries@decalspecialists.com.au

Featured Festival of Glass Sponsor: Leura Park Estate

The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Leura Park Estate for being a major sponsor of the Festival’s 2018 Treasure Hunt (8 January to 18 February) and for co-hosting “Twilight Flames” (17 February).

Established in 1995, the 150 acre Leura Park Estate includes 40 acres planted with premium, cool climate varietal vines, from which grapes are predominantly hand-picked. In the hands of winemaker Darren Burke, they yield the Estate’s renowned Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay wines, as well as Sparkling Shiraz, Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay and Sparkling Blanc de Blanc.

Owners David and Lyndsay Sharpe have designed menus to complement their wines, including stone-based pizzas, seasonal grazing platters (ideal for groups), steak sandwiches and salt & pepper calamari served with a Greek salad. Also on offer is exclusively roasted coffee and an extensive range of teas.

Visitors to Leura Park Estate can relax on the sun drenched alfresco area or on the lawn under market umbrellas, while an open fire beckons on cooler days.

The Estate staff can assist people planning a private function, a party, or a special occasion such as a wedding or work function. For informal occasions, the Estate offers its ‘fabulous, fun, finger food functions’.

Contacts

1400 Portarlington Rd., Curlewis Vic. 3222

(03) 5253 3180 http://leuraparkestate.com.au/

Open: 10.30am – 5.00pm Sunday to Thursday and all public holidays; open daily in January. Live music on Sundays. Bookings recommended.

Thanks to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

Get the latest Festival news

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Festival-of-Glass-189670377738114/

Web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

Blog (you’re here!): http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

Volunteering at the Festival

Our Friends of the Festival online newsletter gives the latest Festival news, with special emphasis on opportunities to volunteer to help. To become a Friend of the Festival, please send an e-mail to: festivalofglassdrysdale@gmail.com

Put “Festival Friends” in the subject bar and put your name and address in the body of the e-mail. Thanks - we look forward to welcoming you!

Monday, January 29, 2018

(Glass) Art imitating life

From the time of the rock artists of Arnhem Land, the natural world has always inspired artists, including glass artists.

Mauro Vianello - Artist-in-Residence at the 2018 Festival of Glass - is a world respected glass artist and teacher because of his extraordinary skill in creating glass replicas of animals and plants, especially marine creatures.

Mauro Vianello Two jellyfish

Mauro’s work draws on that of Leopold Blaschka (27 May 1822 – 3 July 1895) and his son Rudolf Blaschka (17 June 1857 – 1 May 1939). Glass artists from Dresden, Germany, they were renowned for producing glass models of plants and sea creatures.

Generations of Blaschkas had made a range of glass items since the Sixteenth Century, including eyes, jewellery and scientific equipment. In his spare time, Leopold Blaschka made glass models of plants and when Prince Camille de Rohan of Prague saw them in 1860, he commissioned 100 glass orchids.

Leopold Blaschka Sea Anemone

When Dresden natural history museum director Professor Ludwig Reichenbach, saw the Blascha orchids, he realised that glass could be the key to showcasing marine invertebrates (creatures lacking a backbone). In 1863, Reichenbach commissioned Leopold Blascha to produce twelve model sea anemones. The resulting models were a great improvement on those used previously to present such creatures.

At the time, while durable specimens of vertebrates (animals with backbones) could be created by stuffing and mounting them, the only way to showcase invertebrates was to place a live specimen in a sealed jar of alcohol. Eventually, however, these specimens degenerated into little more than colourless blobs of jelly. Consequently, biologists used drawings, pressings, photographs or models in wax or papier maché to represent marine invertebrates, each with its own drawbacks.

Finding success

On Professor Reichenbach’s advice, Leopold closed the family business and established a mail-order business, selling glass marine invertebrates to museums, aquaria, universities and private collectors. The business was a great success.

Blaschka Tubularia indivisa

In1880, Leopold and Rudolf produced hundreds of glass models of sea creatures for the Boston Society of Natural History Museum (now the Museum of Science) and Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1886, Professor George Lincoln Goodale asked Leopold and Rudolf to make a series of glass botanical models for the Harvard Botanical Museum that he was establishing; and in 1887, the Blaschkas signed an exclusive ten-year contract with Harvard to make around 4,400 glass models. When Leopold died in 1895, Rudolf worked alone until he retired in 1938.

The Blaschkas pioneered many techniques and formulas and experimented with glues, colours and glass. However, neither Leopold nor Rudolph employed an apprentice and Rudolf left no successor. Consequently, some of their techniques and formulas disappeared when they died, making it hard to repair and preserve these intricate antiquities. Even simple cleaning can have devastating effects on the glue and colour.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Curlewis Association Inc.

Members of the Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Curlewis Association (DCSCA) live, work or study in the Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Curlewis areas and they aim to improve local people’s well-being and to improve the natural, social and built environments. DCSCA members meet regularly to discuss how the local community is changing; to work with other local groups and organisations to shape the area’s future; and to represent local people's ideas and opinions to outside organisations.

In 2011, DCSCA initiated the annual Festival of Glass to link the area with a major cultural/social event; and it established a Festival of Glass sub-committee to run the event. DCSCA's intention is for the Festival to offer a new and unique showcase to local glass artists, craftspeople and companies; encourage others to establish themselves in the area; and encourage local glass companies, artists and craftspeople to collaborate.

Contacts:

P.O. Box 581, Drysdale Vic 3222

E-mail: dryclifton@bigpond.com

Blog: http://drycliftdays.blogspot.com

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Glass Fusing

The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful for the support it receives from the Glass Fusing company. Glass artists Ashley Williamson and Bec Schaefer established Glass Fusing because, as they put it, “We decided to sell glass supplies and raw materials because we got tired of having to buy so many of our supplies from overseas, incurring significant freight costs, simply because the products were not available locally at reasonable prices”.

Glass Fusing sells a range of supplies for glass artists doing fusing (of course!), slumping and casting; as well as tools, kilns, findings, books and magazines. The company holds a range of System 96 glass, made by the Spectrum Glass Company and Uroboros Glass. Ashley and Bec have found that, in general, System 96 glass cuts well, fuses well, and tolerates multiple firings without devitrifying. Glass products in the System 96 collection are extremely stable and consistent, designed and produced to be compatibly both technically and artistically. “We find that System 96 glass gives us a great palette of colours”, they said, “as well as an ever-increasing range, whilst being quite affordable.”

Fusing Glass p/l, 5 Hammond Close, Oxley, ACT, 2903

Tel. 0421 444 291 Web: http://www.glassfusing.com.au/

E-mail: via web site

Thanks to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

Latest Festival news

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Festival-of-Glass-189670377738114/

Web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

Blog (you’re here!): http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

Volunteering at the Festival

Put “Festival Friends” in the subject bar and put your name and address in the body of the e-mail. Thanks - we look forward to welcoming you!

Festival favourites grow and diversify

In the eight years of the Festival of Glass, several features have become firm favourites, each one growing and becoming more diverse each year.

The Expo - Sunday 18 February, 10.00am - 4.00pm Christian College, Drysdale.

The Expo is the heart of each year’s Festival of Glass and the Festival’s eight years have seen it grow and diversify steadily. Festival organisers expect the 2018 Expo to attract 4,000 to 5,000 visitors, drawn by a record number of stalls featuring glass art, sculpture, jewelry, mosaics and home ware.

Several Expo exhibitors will demonstrate various glass working techniques and the Festival’s 2018 Artist in Residence, Mauro Vianello, will blow and sculpt glass and talk about his life as a glass master on the island of Murano, in Venice.

Several Expo exhibitors and Mauro Vianello will run classes after the Expo, where complete beginners can try their hand at glass art while experienced glass artists can refine and develop their skills under the tuition of specialists.

The Glass Art Awards – 2018 winners announced at the Festival Expo.

Each year, the entries to the Awards grow steadily each year in numbers and diversity. This is especially true of entries for the Bella Wein Award, which is sponsored by the Clifton Springs and Curlewis Lions Club. This Award is for the entry that captures best the character of the Bellarine Peninsula. (“Bella Wein” is the original Wathaurong name for the area.)

The Treasure Hunt – grand draw at the Festival Expo

In just three years, the Treasure Hunt has captured the imaginations of businesses and Treasure Hunters across the North Bellarine. For the 2018 Treasure Hunt, Diane Schofield’s team visited virtually every business in the area, inviting each one to participate. They were met with warm welcomes from past participants and quizzical curiosity from potential ones. As a result, a record 32 businesses are participating in the 2018 Treasure Hunt and have commissioned dozens of glass art prizes, which are on display in their premises.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Clifton Springs and Curlewis Lions Club

Building communities through good practice

Lions Clubs aim to promote understanding, good government and good citizenship and to encourage people to serve their community. For many years, the Clifton Springs & Curlewis Lions Club has supported the Festival of Glass and the Festival Committee is very grateful to for their support. The Lions’ support has been an excellent example of service to community. They’ve been a major element of each Festival Expo; they help to set up and take down the venue and their sausage sizzle tent keeps Expo visitors fed and watered.

Since 2016, the Clifton Springs & Curlewis Lions Club have sponsored the Festival's "Bella Wein" award - part of the Festival's annual Glass Art Awards. The Bella wein Award is worth $500 and goes to the piece of glass art that best interprets the identity of the Bellarine Peninsula. The Award celebrates the continuity between the past and the present - "Bella Wein" is the name given to the Peninsula by the area's original owners, the Wathaurong people.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Bayshore Electrical and Air Conditioning
Bayshore Electrical and Airconditioning services the Bellarine Peninsula and surrounds. Steve has supported the Festival of Glass for several years as a sponsor of the Festival's Glass Art Awards and the Festival committee is very grateful to him.
Contact Steve: Tel. 0400 201 396 Web site: http://bayshore.net.au

Thanks to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

Latest Festival news
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Festival-of-Glass-189670377738114/

Web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

Blog (you’re here!): http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

Volunteering at the Festival

Put “Festival Friends” in the subject bar and put your name and address in the body of the e-mail. Thanks - we look forward to welcoming you!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Glass art mentorship to build community

The 2018 Festival of Glass includes the launch of the Festival’s Mentorship Programme for aspiring glass artists.

The Mentorship Programme is a fresh feature of the Festival of Glass and is aimed at local Year 11 Visual Arts students who are considering careers as glass artists.

There will be two recipients of a Mentorship each year. Each one will receive 5 two-hour sessions of personal tuition by their Mentor over six months. Mentors will be established, professional glass artists, who will be paid for their participation in the programme.

The Mentorship Programme will introduce recipients to a range of ideas, techniques and processes used in glass work. It will also assist recipients to:

· exhibit and sell their work and to compete for Awards – starting with the Glass Art Awards at the 2019 Festival of Glass

· build a professional resumé, starting by participating in the 2018 Festival of Glass and promoting the 2019 Mentorship programme at school assemblies

· contribute to community connectedness and citizenship by building a network of shared interests and mutual respect with other recipients and with other artists.

A bigger picture?

"Welcome to Drysdale" mural

The Mentorship programme will help the Festival of Glass to promote a sense of community and cultural identity on the Bellarine Peninsula. It will increase glass art’s profile in the area, encourage local aspiring glass artists to embed their work in their community and encourage that community to celebrate its young people’s talents.

The Festival of Glass committee is also grateful to the individuals and organisations without whose support the Mentorship would not exist:

· Mark Eliott

· Peter Minson

· Beaders Guild of Geelong Inc.

· OPSM Waurn Ponds

· The Rotary Club of Drysdale.

Each of these individuals and organisations supports the Mentorship Programme’s aim to share skills, broaden experiences and build community; and the Festival committee values their encouragement and support.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Mark Eliott

"Essence of Cloud" Mark Eliott

The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Mark Eliott for his sponsorship of the Festival’s 2018 Mentorship Programme. In 2015, Mark was the Festival’s first Artist in Residence and in 2016 he returned and worked together with Peter Minson as our first joint Artists in Residence.

Mark is a contemporary artist working in glass, stop-motion animation and music. He teaches flame-work and has exhibited internationally and has a strong interest in environmental issues.

Mark’s work has a number of themes. One is mythology and story telling; another is sculptural abstraction informed by, as he puts it, “the dance between improvisation and structure”. A third theme is representing organisms in glass – an interest he shares with the Festival’s 2018 Artist in Residence, Mauro Vianello. Mark also collaborates with Jack McGrath to create “Flame-ation” works that combine stop-motion photography of flame-worked glass with digital compositing.

Contacts:

E-mail: mark@markelliottglass.com

Web site: http://.www.markelliottglass.com

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: Peter Minson

"Ship in a Bottle" Peter Minson

The Festival of Glass committee is very grateful to Peter Minson for his sponsorship of the Festival’s 2018 Mentorship Programme. In 2016, Peter joined Mark Eliott as the Festival’s first joint Artists in Residence.

Peter is the third generation of his family to work with glass and has done so for more than forty years. Initially, he managed the family business making scientific glassware; then he established his own creative glass business, which he combines with importing and retailing glass from Italy and equipment and tools direct from elsewhere.

Peter established a lampwork glass studio in Binalong, near Canberra, 20 years ago and has taught lampworking at the Canberra School of Art, RMIT University Melbourne and Sydney School of Art. He has exhibited extensively and his work is on display permanently in many glass art collections.

Contacts:

Tel. (02) 6227 4312 Mob. 0427 265 034

E-mail peter@minsonartglass.com.au

Thanks to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

Get the latest Festival news

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Festival-of-Glass-189670377738114/

Web site: www.festivalofglass.net.au

Blog (you’re here!): http://festivalofglass.blogspot.com

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Fresh features in each Festival

The Festival of Glass is now in its eighth year and each Festival has fresh features alongside Festival favourites.


Fiona Horne's quirky creatures

A fresh feature of the 2018 Festival is Glass Inspirations - the inaugural exhibition of glass art at The Bungalow restaurant in Drysdale. The exhibition showcases the work of local glass artists and includes hand-made sculptures, jewellery, platters, lights and vases. Every unique, hand-made piece of glass art in the exhibition is for sale.

Glass Inspirations was launched at a High Tea at The Bungalow on January 8 and will run until March. Several of the featured artists have been commissioned to create prizes in the Festival’s Treasure Hunt and so their work is on display in businesses across the North Bellarine. Several of them will also be exhibitors in the Festival Expo on February 18 at Drysdale’s Christian College.

The Bungalow is participating in the Festival’s 2018 Treasure Hunt, so while customers browse Glass Inspirations, they can keep an eagle eye open for The Bungalow’s glass ‘Tiny Treasure’ – a small glass sculpture. When you spot the ‘Tiny Treasure’, The Bungalow will stamp your Treasure Hunt form. Each form with stamps from ten participating businesses goes into a draw at the Festival Expo on February 18, with dozens of unique pieces of glass art as prizes.

Featured Festival of Glass sponsor: The Bungalow restaurant

The Bungalow is open seven days a week. Its “All Day” menu is supplemented by a special dinner menu and both are complemented by extensive beverage and wine lists. All can be viewed on the restaurant’s web site, as can information about The Bungalow’s catering service.

The restaurant is located in – what else – an early 1930s California bungalow on the corner of High Street and Eversley Street, Drysdale. The building has been refurbished extensively and, in a nice touch, the restaurant’s web sit includes a tribute and thanks to everybody who contributed to the transformation.

The Bungalow co-hosted the High Tea on January 8 that launched the 2018 Festival of Glass, is a major sponsor of the Festival’s Treasure Hunt and is holding an exhibition of glass art – Glass Inspirations - until March 2018. The Festival committee is very grateful for this support and looks forward to growing the relationship with Kerry Bell and her staff.

The Bungalow, 32 High Street, Drysdale 3222. Tel. (03) 5216 3025

Monday – Thursday: 7.30am – 6.00pm; Friday – Saturday: 7.30am – 10.30pm;

Sunday: 8.30am – 4.00pm

http://www.thebungalowrestaurant.com.au/

Facebook and Instagram; bungalowrestaurantdrysdale

Thanks also to the City of Greater Geelong and the Bendigo Bank, our Awards sponsors, our Treasure Hunt sponsors and other local ‘in kind’ supporters.

More Festival of Glass information: http://www.festivalofglass.net.au or find us on Facebook