Harlequin Stained Glass Mosaics

The latest exhibitor for the 2012 Drysdale Festival of Glass is Harlequin Stained Glass Mosaics, owned and operated by Sue & Paul Chreszczyk of Hoppers Crossing Victoria. Sue makes a rather large range of mosaics, ranging from birds, butterflies and fish to floral and themed items, many with an Asian background. She will also make house numbers and signs to any client specifications and will also make birds baths, water bowls and other sculptures.

Sue spent 13 years as making a large range of lead light material before discovering mosaics. She says that she enjoys the experience of using a mix of colours and textures, and a variety of materials to create something special and unique for her customers.

Festival award from Wathaurong Glass

On 10 June, Mark Edwards, General Manager of Geelong-based Wathaurong Glass and Arts, presented personalised commemorative glass plaques to members of the organising committee of the 2011 Festival of Glass.

Each personalised commemorative plaque bore the message: 'Wathaurong Glass and Arts. Presented to (name) in appreciation of your commitment to delivering a successful Festival of Glass - 2011'.

At the presentation, Mark Edwards said, 'We thought that the Festival was a great idea and so we supported it from the start. It was a very successful day for us and we're happy to offer these plaques in appreciation of the Festival committee's hard work.' In reply, Festival of Glass chairperson Doug Carson said, 'We're very grateful for these very generous gifts. Wathaurong Glass and Arts was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the 2011 Festival and their striking display of decorative, domestic and corporate glassware, each featuring distinctive Wathaurong images, was one of the highlights of the Festival. We look forward to welcoming them again in 2012.'

The 2011 Festival of Glass was held on February 20 at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. It attracted over thirty glass-related artists, craftspeople and businesses and over six thousand visitors. The 2012 Festival of Glass is on February 19 2012 (venue/s to be announced). For more information: www.festivalofglass.net.au (See also www.wathaurongglass.com.au/)

Photo: Mark Edwards (3rd from left) with some members of the 2011 Committee

State parliament hears of success of Festival of Glass

On March 3, Ms Lisa Neville (member for the Bellarine) made a statement in the Victorian state parliament about the success of the 2011 Festival of Glass.

Ms Neville's statement was recorded in Hansard and is reproduced below. The Festival of Glass committee is grateful to Ms Neville for her interest and support and wishes her well.

Ms NEVILLE (Bellarine) - I would like to congratulate all the people involved in the inaugural Festival of Glass, which was held on Sunday, 20 February, at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. This is a great new initiative on the Bellarine Peninsula and was an enormous success with around 7000 people attending on the day. The festival brought together the artists who work with and use glass, those in the commercial and building industry who design and build with glass, the culture and heritage of local glass and the innovations of glass for the future.

Members of the festival committee were delighted with the attendance, which was a masive endorsement of their dream that has taken 15 months to become reality. The ideas was generated from the Drysdale-Clifton Springs Community Association, and it was part of the Bellarine strategic plan to conduct a community festival. The president of the association, Doug Carson, had the vision for the festival and a willing and hardworking band of volunteers brought this to fruition. There were stalls presenting glass in all its forms, including sculpture, jewellery, mosaic, stained glass, leadlight, moulded glass, slumped glass and etched glass. There was glass at the cutting edge and a blast of glass from the past, with antiques and collectibles. Visitors overwhelmed by the scale and diversity of the glass on show also had a variety of musical alternatives throughout the day.

Sponsors and partners of the festival included the City of Greater Geelong, Bendigo Bank, Drysdale Rotary Club, the Lions club and many volunteers. I was also pleased to provide support for the festival. I thank everyone involved - it was a great day.

Didn't we do well!

Around 5,000 people came to the inaugural Festival of Glass on Sunday 20 February at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. The Festival committee were delighted with the attendance, which was a massive endorsement of a dream that's taken 15 months to become reality.

Thirty stalls presented glass in all its forms, including sculpture, jewellery, mosaic, stained glass, leadlight, moulded glass, slumped glass and etched glass. There was glass at the cutting edge (ouch!) and a blast of glass from the past with antiques and collectibles.

There were demonstrations of various ways to work with glass, including bead-making, glass fusing, kiln forming, beadweaving, copper foiling and leadlighting. Short videos introduced people to the economics and local history of glass and to the extraordinary 'glass harmonica' invented by Benjamin Franklin.

For visitors, there was more to do than just look and admire, browse and buy. Lots of people brought glass items to the popular Old Glass Roadshow. Voting was fierce for the titles of best glass-related story, poem, song, painting or photograph and for best glass jewellery; and the raffle prizes (glass, of course) were so attractive that the raffle tickets nearly ran out!

Visitors overwhelmed by the scale and diversity of glass on show had a variety of musical alternatives throughout the day. The Festival showcased four local acts - The Gems, Judy McGovern, Paper (the band formerly known as Steer) and a local barbershop quartet.

The Lions sizzled almost as much as their sausages, but Rotary were as cool as their drinks; and the baked potato man ran out of potatoes - in front of a Potato Shed! 'This has never happened before', he said and booked-up for next year!

Finally, the Festival's commitment to sustainability was evident in various ways. A public drinking fountain dispensed with the need for plastic bottles and was accompanied by tips on being water-wise; extra rubbish and recycling bins kept the whole site clean and were accompanied by tips on recycling; and each stallholder was asked to think about the amount of energy consumed in their products and the nature of their packaging.

Thanks to our sponsors, including the City of Greater Geelong (Arts & Culture) and the Bendigo Bank for their support.

And now ... the organising starts for the 2012 Festival of Glass!

Festival exhibitors invited to 'go green'

Festival of Glass exhibitors are being encouraged to highlight their 'green' credentials.

The Festival committee is inviting each exhibitor to provide some or all of the following information as part of their exhibit:
• How much energy is consumed in making their products
• How much energy is saved by using their products (where appropriate)
• How they minimize packaging and/or how they use recycled or re-used materials as packaging.

Each exhibitor is, of course, free to decide whether and how to display that information. Some of them may not know how much energy is consumed or saved by their products; and some may be unable to minimize or re-use packaging - we are dealing with glass, after all!

For its part, the Festival committee is 'going green' by doing the following:
• increasing the number of recycling bins at the Potato Shed; prominent signs will encourage their use
• distributing information from the local council about responsible rubbish disposal and recycling
• providing a special water fountain where people can drink and can refill their water bottles; brochures about water conservation will be nearby!

The Festival committee - part of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) - is taking these steps to support one of DCSCA's major projects, 'Going Green on the Bellarine'. This project aims to promote and develop the local area as a showcase for tomorrow's 'green' economy by:

• inviting local businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money by installing efficient lighting, heating and insulation
• pressing the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to ensure that its planned massive expansion of the local population is accompanied by a range of new jobs, to prevent the area becoming a 'dormitory town' for Geelong and Melbourne;
• lobbying for the local area to be part of any evaluation of electric vehicles' potential to reduce greenhouse gases.

Glass artist profile: Angela Robinson (Govinda Design)

The Festival of Glass is very pleased to welcome Angela Robinson, the name behind Govinda Designs - one of Melbourne's leading producers and installers of leadlight windows.

Angela started making leaded glass windows in 1991, working for her father's double-glazing company in the West of Ireland. She was the company's main designer and created many leaded windows and doors, including 42 windows for The Lighthouse Hotel in County Donegal.

Angela returned to Australia and completed a BA (Textile Design) in 1995 and worked as a Textile Designer for the next 15 years. In the last two years, she has returned to leadlighting, designing and making leaded windows through Govinda Design.

On this page is a small selection of Angela's work - see more at the Festival.

Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/

Glass artist profile: Lucy Cleary (Ozzie Mozzie Mosaics)

The Festival of Glass is very pleased to welcome Lucy Cleary - the name behind Ozzie Mozzie Mosaics (www.ozziemozziemosaics.com.au)

Lucy began making mosaics in early 2006, to cover an outdoor area in the home she was planning to build. 'I quickly became obsessed with this wonderful art form', she says.

Lucy's work often features natural elements, and also shows the influence of the seven years she lived in Korea. She uses a variety of materials, in her work, including stained glass, smalti, fused glass and a variety of natural materials.

On this page is just a glimpse of the wide range of subjects and styles in Lucy's mosaics.

Festival of Glass: https://sites.google.com/site/afestivalofglass/