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PISMO Gallery at Aspen Presents Reverse Painted Glass Panels by Ulla Darni “Paintings from Light” Opening Reception: August 2nd, 2008 6-9pm Aspen , CO, June 27, 2008 -- PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by world renowned artist Ulla Darni. The show opens with an artist reception on August 2, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and the exhibition will continue through September 30, 2008. A native of Denmark, Ms. Darni has led a fascinating life. Her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen led to a seven year position as a designer for Royal Copenhagen Porcelain, an experience which allowed her to develop her painting skills. From there, she went on to work in film and theater in Denmark before moving to New York City where she became a clothing designer and operated boutiques in Manhattan. From the city, she moved to upstate New York where she sold antiques prior to starting her current, successful line of reverse, hand-painted lighting. Ms. Darni’s flair for the dramatic is reflected in her very expressive work. She says, “When I sit at my table in front of a blank shade or my lighted easel, all thoughts leave me. With no sense of time or place, I just begin to paint. Often I am the one most surprised when I see the finished glass. I feel that I have given myself to a greater power. I really did not do the painting, but instead allowed my higher consciousness to flow.” Contact: Sandy Sardella
“The Two Faces of Steffen Dam” Opening Reception: July 3rd, 2008 6-9pm Aspen , CO, June 19, 2008 -- PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by Steffen Dam, a significant figure in the Danish glass movement. The show opens with a public reception on July 3, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and the exhibition will continue through July 31, 2008. Steffen Dam creates two distinct bodies of work. The first is a series of bowls and plates which are blown and then drilled, forming holes in the surface. Through these pieces, Steffen explores the fundamental qualities of glass: transparency and the ability to collect and bend light. The pieces provide magnificent patterns as light penetrates through the precisely drilled surface of the vessel. According to Steffen, “As these have progressed, the objects have become more air than glass.” In defining Steffen’s second body of work he says, “I set the established and traditional techniques aside and started making glass all “wrong” in an attempt to capture the good in the bad. Out of these experiments came the “Fossil”, “Plants”, and other objects – like frozen extracts of chaos to be watched undisturbed.” With his “Botanical Series” it is as if the plants or organisms are frozen in time. Although the two bodies are distinctively different, Steffen says, “These two sides of my work, the accurate and the free expression, could be interpreted as a contradiction but they are not. Each side feeds off the other; the accurate work is the foundation for the free expression – and vice versa.” Contact: Sandy Sardella “It’s All About Beads III” Opening Reception: May 2, 2008 6-9pm ( Denver, CO)—PISMO Fine Art Glass in Cherry Creek North ushers in the summer season with rich colors and a festive spirit in its 3 rd annual fine art bead show. “It’s All About Beads III” opens Friday, May 2 with a special opening reception in the gallery from 6-9 PM. The show continues through the month. The work on display includes lovely individual glass beads, beautiful jewelry, meticulously crafted sculpture, and even a charming quilt with bugle beads. Exciting talents from Japan, Germany, and France join artists from throughout the United States, expanding the scope of styles. The total number of bead makers showing this year increases to over 50 and more than half of this year’s artists will be first time participants. Fresh this year will be the delightful sculptures of Tom and Kathy Wegman who are well known for their creative use of beads in covering everyday items like bicycles, teapots and ice skates. Even we don’t know what they’ll come up with for this exhibition! JC Herrell’s motorbikes will also be featured and Betsy Youngquist and Kim Franklin will return with their wonderful sculptural work. “Jewelry for Giants” by Christine Marie Noguere and the stunning bead work of Karen Paust will also be delightful additions this year. And nationally recognized quilter, Jane Burch Cochran, uses beads in her whimsical piece titled “Deviled and Angel”. Our Japanese artists wowed everyone last year and we’ve invited three of our favorites to return this year – Yuka Kawakita, Akihiro Ohkama and Emiko Tanoue. Claudia Pagel of France and Anastasia Basan, Petra Janssen and Dora Schubert of Germany round out the international contingent. Some of the returning favorites include Kristen Frantzen Orr, Terri Caspary Schmidt, Kristina Logan and Kate Rothra Fleming. Seven artists from Colorado will also be represented. The ground level of PISMO is dedicated to the bead show during May, but take a quick trip upstairs to see some of the gallery’s spectacular, year-round collection of fine glass art. For more information about “It’s All About Beads III,” the artists who will appear in the exhibition, or PISMO’s vast collection, contact the gallery at 303-333-2879 or info@pismoglass.com. A complete list of participants can be found on the events page of the gallery’s website: www.pismoglass.com
Contact: Sandy Sardella PISMO Exhibition of Works by World-Renowned Artist Lino Tagliapietra DENVER, CO, February 22, 2008 -- PISMO Fine Art Glass, Denver's foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by internationally-renowned glass artist Lino Tagliapietra. Lino has long been considered one of the premier glass artists in the world. The show's opening will be March 7, 2008, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the gallery's Cherry Creek North location. The exhibition will run through March 28. Lino Tagliapietra is, without question, one of the most important glass artists of our time. He has had a major and historical impact and influence on the world of glass art. His contribution has been so significant that the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum will host an exhibition of Lino’s work in October, 2008. This will be the first major solo exhibition of a non-American artist at the Renwick. Lino was born in Murano, Italy in 1934. He started blowing glass at the age of twelve, and was a master blower by the time he turned twenty-one. From 1966 on, he worked as a maestro at many important glass factories in Venice, and collaborated with famous designers at the International Glass School. In addition to creating his own work, he has collaborated with Dale Chihuly, and others, creating some of the world’s finest and most intricately blown glass art. For the past twenty five years Lino has played a significant role in teaching Venetian glassblowing techniques to the younger generation of glassblowers throughout the US and the world. He is well respected for his willingness to give of himself and his extraordinary gift. In a world of often secretive and competitive rivalry, Lino shares his knowledge and know-how with unselfish and unbridled enthusiasm, anxious to teach and nurture and effusively contributing to the exchange of skills, techniques and ideas. Contact: Sandy Sardella
Aspen , CO, January 14, 2008 -- PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by Matthew Curtis, a significant figure in the growing Australian glass movement. The show’s opening will be February 7, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and will continue through February 28, 2008. Matthew Curtis creates two distinct bodies of work. The first is a series of vessels which are constructed by laminating thousands of brick-like facets of transparent glass around a blown core. The vessel is then topped with a wide, brushed stainless steel rim. The resulting object reflects light dramatically like a jewel and captures glints of prismatic light. Curtis is also an acknowledged master of the carved layer style of glass art. He begins by blowing layer upon layer of contrasting colored glass. When the piece is formed and annealed he carves, cuts, and drills circles and lines into the glass to expose the underlying colors. Curtis explains, “In employing an opaque veneer, the incisions allow the transparency within the object to become simultaneously a detail and also a point of entry into experiencing the luminous interior.” In some cases the light from one side of the object will actually filter through to the other side, providing a surprising illumination to the matte surface. The forms in this series are elegant and restrained, his surface patterns are perfect and grid-like and the overall affect is very stunning. His palette, which relies on two major colors in each piece, continues this theme of simplicity and strength. With the technical skills of a master Curtis has produced a body of work made powerful in its attention to the perfection of detail. He says, “I feel this work parallels the way in which I experience life. Visually and experientially one can view many objects and situations from a distance, surveying them superficially, yet it is through the details, or the chinks that one is provided with a greater depth of understanding.” Contact:
Isabelle Loeb, Gallery Director PISMO Exhibition of Works by World-Renowned Artist Dale Chihuly DENVER, CO, November 19, 2007 -- PISMO Fine Art Glass, Denver's foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by internationally recognized artist Dale Chihuly. The show's opening will be January 11, 2008, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the gallery's Cherry Creek North location. The exhibition will run through February 29. The show will feature a new Persian wall installation, made of a number of large colorful organic forms in blown glass, as well as new pieces from the Basket, Fiori and Soft Cylinder series. This show will present a number of works in black glass, a recent departure for Chihuly from his familiar richly colored pieces. PISMO is one of the few galleries in the country to feature an extensive exhibition of Chihuly's work, as the artist has confined most of his shows in recent years to museums and botanical gardens. The exhibition will be the gallery's second Chihuly show in the past three years. PISMO's owner Sandy Sardella credits this to her gallery's 15-year relationship with the renowned artist. Sardella represents work by Chihuly throughout the year in all four of her Colorado galleries. Her Beaver Creek location will also feature a solo exhibition of Chihuly’s exquisite works during this time period. Dale Chihuly is an internationally celebrated glass artist, known chiefly for large compositions made of multiple pieces of blown glass. His work is often characterized by dynamic, organic forms and unusual use of color. The artist maintains an online pressroom at http://www.chihuly.com/pressroom/index.html Contact: Sandy Sardella
VAIL, CO, December 7, 2007 – PISMO Gallery at Vail, Vail’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition of new works by cast glass artist Stephanie Trenchard. The show’s opening will be January 17, 2008, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The exhibition will run through February 7. Stephanie Trenchard’s works are still-lifes in solid glass. She says, “Like poetry, the pieces tell stories without narratives. In the spirit of folk art, the imagery that I create is intuitive and speaks of my own fascination with home, nature, sexuality, art making and death.” Her current body of work reflects her fascination with how women artists approach their craft - how what they create reflects them as women. Their stories are told in glass with each story component encased in its own glass cube thus “preserving” it for the viewer. The blocks are then stacked on top of each other creating a totem or “storybook” that is read from bottom to top. For instance “What Lips my Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why” (image attached) is a tribute to Edna St. Vincent Millay, a great poet and feminist from the early 19th century. This piece reflects her free spirit and the love of nature as well as the bohemian lifestyle of Greenwich Village in the 20's. The chairs are a nod to the past, the Victorian era of style, while the bird reflects the optimism of the new era, an era of free love and promiscuity and finally, mortality. Stephanie starts with a sketch and then sculpts small figures and objects in clear glass. These pieces are then painted with special high-temperature resistant paint and encased in clear glass during the casting process. The assembling process must be completed within minutes due to the nature of the hot glass. Each piece is then annealed (slowly cooled) over a period of several days. By using paints, glass powders and frits, Stephanie is able to achieve luminosity rivaling an oil painting. Contact:
Eva Pobjecka
PISMO Gallery at Aspen presents Paintings in Glass by Roger Thomas ASPEN, CO, December 06, 2007 – PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present a solo exhibition, “New Destinations”, of kilnformed glass paintings by artist Roger Thomas. The show will open with an artist reception on December 27th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and will continue through January 17, 2008. A stained glass artist in the early 1970s, Roger Thomas began experimenting with fused glass in 1984. Glass fusing or kilnformed glass is a process in which individual pieces of glass are melted together to form larger, designed pieces. When creating his glass paintings he works face down beginning with a clear base plate on which he layers glass sheets, crushed or powdered glass, glass strings and shards, working from front to back, from transparent to opaque. With this reverse layering technique, he must not only be able to envision a finished piece; but he must actually construct the piece working backwards. Thomas approaches the glass as a pictorial medium fusing the glass into panels that hang on the wall as paintings. His works range from landscapes to abstractions; “somewhere in between the two” is most meaningful to him. He says, “I choose to work in kilnformed glass because I feel it is a new, unformed medium, without too many rules to learn. That and because its limitations force you to get pretty creative when searching for solutions.” Thomas recently returned to glass after a two year absence saying it is essential to his daily existence, “I think you make art because nothing else completes you. It is not a good career choice; you just have to do it to feel whole.” Contact:
Isabelle Loeb
PISMO Hosts Holiday Open House Featuring Local Jewelry Artist Suzanne Williams DENVER, CO, November 18, 2007 -- PISMO Fine Art Glass, Denver's foremost gallery for glass art, will be hosting a holiday open house in their Cherry Creek North location from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on December 1, 2007. The open house will kick off their exclusive representation of local artist Suzanne Williams, who combines glass, gold and silver in her contemporary art jewelry. The artist will be present at the event. Williams is a local Denver artist inspired by her many years living in Colorado. Her work balances both realistic and abstract design elements in a shadow box style, mixing silver and 18K or 22K gold with glass and gemstones. "I think of my shadow boxes as being small visual vacations, transporting people to a different place momentarily," says the artist. Many of her pieces feature miniature scenes of natural or urban settings. "I've found they're catalysts for social interaction; people find themselves in conversations because of a piece of mine that they're wearing." Suzanne Williams will now be showing her art exclusively at the PISMO galleries. PISMO's owner Sandy Sardella says "I'm very pleased that Suzanne has selected PISMO as the exclusive representative for her work. Her jewelry is exceptional--it more than meets PISMO's high standards for excellence and design." The holiday open house will also feature PISMO's well-known signature glass ornaments displayed on three glimmering Christmas trees. The glass ornaments are created by artists from around the world. Williams has lived in Colorado since 1961, and holds an art degree from CSU. She has participated in the last nine Downtown Denver Arts Festivals. Her Web site can be found at www.suzannewilliamsjewelry.com Contact: Sandy Sardella
Murrini Mystique – a Group Exhibition (Denver, CO) In conjunction with the first Denver Arts Week, PISMO Fine Art Glass is pleased to present “Murrini Mystique” - an exhibition of glass art by sixteen glass artists from around the world. The works shown will all feature the use of murrini. Murrini are small cross cut sections of glass, often featuring a pattern or design, used in the creation of a larger glass work. They are formed by bundling and fusing colored glass rods together, then pulling the hot glass to a very small diameter. These canes of glass are then cut into wafers, each piece bearing the original pattern in miniature; a technique that dates back thousands of years. The artists represented will range from emerging artists to world-renowned artists. The works of Martie Negri and Kait Rhoads feature the use of millefiore, a specific type of murrini with a flower-like, symmetrical pattern. Millefiore means a thousand flowers in Italian. World renowned artist Stephen Powell creates large glass sculptures using thousands of pieces of small murrini. He assembles the murrini in a pattern on a metal plate, heats them and then picks them up with a clear gather of glass. The results are massive vessels that stand close to four feet tall. From Murano, Italy, artist Davide Salvadore uses murrini to compose mesmerizing musical instruments. Some locals may recognize the work of Sam Stang, an artist from Missouri who has appeared in the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Other artists included are Alex Abajian, Gary Beecham, Scott Benefield, Paul Cunningham, Claire Kelly, Dante Marioni, Robin Mix, David Patchen, Lynn Read, Richard Ritter and Anthony Schafermeyer. The exhibition will continue through October 31, 2007. Contact: Sandy Sardella 2770 East 2nd Avenue
It's All About Beads, II ( Denver, CO)—PISMO Fine Art Glass in Cherry Creek North ushers in the summer season with rich colors and festive spirit during its 2 nd annual fine art bead show. “It’s All About Beads” opens Friday, May 4 with a special opening reception in the gallery from 6-9 PM. The show continues until the end of May. The fine bead art on display includes lovely individual glass beads, beautiful jewelry, meticulously crafted sculpture, and stunning paintings melding beads with complementary colors. Exciting talents from Japan, Germany, and New Zealand join artists from throughout the United States, expanding the scope of styles as the total number of bead makers showing this year increases to 50. Those who attended last year’s successful event will likely remember Kristen Frantzen Orr, a bead artist who uses a technique of creating color depth by layering transparent colors in the manner of watercolor painting. Orr’s work has appeared in collections around the world. Many of this year’s invitees are new, however, keeping the show modern and fresh. Other notable artists in the show include Betsy Youngquist and James Edward Talbot. Youngquist’s beaded animals and mythological creatures have garnered praise in galleries and art festivals around the United States. Talbot has won awards for the color canopies he fashions in his contemporary beadwork. The importance of the show reaches beyond appreciation of art; PISMO will donate ten percent of its proceeds from the bead show to Project Mercy, a nonprofit organization that promotes community development and self-help programs in Yetebon, Ethiopia. The proceeds will go to the Cunningham Foundation, which supports Project Mercy by sending volunteers to teach bead making to disadvantaged children in Yetebon. Patrons will have the opportunity to make an impact on an international level from their own city. Entertainment and education are a major part of the bead show. On Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6, one end of the gallery will be dedicated to an in-store lampworking demonstration, in which local artists will display their bead making processes for the public. Although the system generally begins the same way, the artists will show inventive ways to make their beads unique. After applying a torch to create a molten ball of glass on the end of a mandrel, or stainless steel rod, the bead maker rotates the mandrel to begin to shape the bead. Through this motion, the glass winds elegantly around the mandrel until the artist begins to find the shape of his vision. From there, options abound—picks, presses, mashers, tweezers, and other instruments can be applied to the glass to shape and twist, draw dots and lines, make indentions and create feather patterns. Some may even use a “paddle” to make waves in the bead. All of this crafting occurs prior to surface decoration, which may include applying ground glass in various colors or different metals to the bead. It’s a fascinating opportunity to see artists at work. The demos will take place 10 AM-6 PM on Saturday and 11 AM-5 PM on Sunday. Local artists will lead the demonstrations, including Beth Johnson, Pati Walton, John Olson, and Cindy Brown. Blending techniques developed for centuries with their personal styles, these bead makers reveal the beautiful art being created in our area. Customers can be a part of local culture and international art at the same time as they discover the perfect appointment for a mantel or end table, or gorgeous gifts for friends. The ground level of PISMO is dedicated to the bead show during May, but a quick trip upstairs allows customers to see some of the gallery’s regular collection of fine art glass. For more information about “It’s All About Beads,” the artists who will appear in the exhibition, or PISMO’s vast collection, contact Sandy Sardella, owner of PISMO Fine Art Glass, at 303-333-2879 or sandy@pismoglass.com
Optical Reflections ( Aspen, CO) – PISMO Gallery at Aspen presents Optical Reflections, the stunning glass sculptures of Christopher Ries. The exhibition runs from February 9-February 28, 2007. An artist reception will be held February 9 th from 6-9pm. Ries’ work, which would have been impossible to produce or even envision even fifty years ago, is the perfect synthesis of science and artistic vision for our time—bending light to his will, he creates stunning abstract sculptures that engage the viewer on every level. Ries who sculpts from blocks of pure lead crystal describes his work in musical terms. I have chosen a pure material and a pure form. It is analogous to singing a cappella. Few singers have such a pure voice that they can rivet you in time and space, but it can be an even more powerful experience than singing with accompaniment and embellishment. The clean lines of a Ries’ sculpture are always pleasing, but it is the internal images that command our attention. They are constantly changing depending on the angle of viewing and the ambient light. However, these internal images don’t actually exist. They are illusions created by Ries’ skillful manipulation of the properties of light and they bring what he calls a fourth dimension to his sculpture. Ries can skillfully cut one notch into the glass that will blossom into an illusion of a 360 degree flower. His work is highly exacting and demands technical perfection at every stage of the process. One piece can take months and in some cases years to complete, but the result is well worth the effort, a pure elegance that sings to the soul. PISMO Gallery at Aspen
Illusions of Glass (Aspen, CO) – PISMO Gallery at Aspen presents Illusions of Glass, the new work of mixed media artist Andrea Dasha Reich and glass artist Debra May. The exhibition runs from December 27th through January 21st. The artists reception is Wednesday December 27th from 6-9pm. Both Andrea Dasha Reich and Debra May work with the illusions inherent in glass. Reich’s mixed media pieces begin with wood, pure pigments of paint and epoxy resin. She builds layer upon layer of paint and resin adding stripes, circles, spirals, slashes, drizzles, drops and washes of color until the finished product is an explosion of color and mirrors the image in her mind. The multiple layers of resin create a reflective shiny surface and the illusion of glass. Reich’s work is appreciated by both the passive and interactive viewer but resonates best with those who bring their own interpretation to the work, seeing cosmic explosions, the beginning of time, a fusion of the world’s cultures, or a universal design. It is not necessary to see beyond the surface of Reich’s work as her paintings, without any interpretation, evoke playfulness and even joy. Debra May’s work in glass has always been about creating the perfect form. That is enough for most artists, but May doesn’t stop with form or even color. Once she’s perfected the form, she feels compelled to transform it. She overlays and blows through the colors, then sandblasts it, cuts into it with a diamond saw and etches it with acid to achieve the effect she wants. Her intricately carved work requires a skilled artist with precise control. May’s work is difficult and time-consuming to produce: one vessel might take as much as 40 hours to create. The result? Stunning vessels with designs deeply etched into glass the colors of a brilliant sky at dusk. May’s work evokes images of the deep canyons of the Southwest or tongues of fire leaping up the side of a bowl. The reflections are equally dramatic and often create the illusion of a separate piece of work. For more information about Debra May, Andrea Dasha Reich or “Illusions of Glass” contact Isabelle Loeb at PISMO Gallery at Aspen at 970-920-1313 or Isabelle@pismoglass.com. Oh my gosh – live birds in a glass gallery! (Denver, CO) –PISMO Fine Art Glass presents Australian artist Noel Hart’s colorful glass vessels and abstract paintings. The exhibition, “Parrotism,” reflects his love and appreciation of parrots worldwide. The exhibit will open with an artist reception on Friday, November 17th from 6-8pm and will continue through December 8, 2006. As for the live birds…the artist reception will also be a benefit for The Gabriel Foundation, a parrot welfare organization. It will be a fun and informative evening with a fascinating mix of art, art patrons, parrot enthusiasts, and a plethora of tropical birds from Cockatoos to Macaws accompanied by their expert handlers. Hart has graciously donated one of his extraordinary glass vessels to be auctioned (silently) during the reception to raise money for The Gabriel Foundation. In addition, PISMO will donate 10% of its sales that evening to the foundation. Noel Hart, who will be in attendance at the opening, lives half way around the world in Australia. His brilliantly colored art is inspired by his passion for the parrots and tropical birds that surround him at his home in the sub-tropical rainforest near Byron Bay in Northern New South Wales. Hart’s interest in tropical birds began more than 20 years ago. With their vivid colors and plumage, he continues to find parrots a fascinating subject, although his representation of parrots has changed quite dramatically over the years. He says,
Hart is comfortable working in many different media, but he has been concentrating on blown glass and oil paint on linen for the last six years. As he continues to create both on canvas and with glass, each medium begins to take on the properties of the other. His large, expansive canvases are feasts of brilliant color that have a glassy appearance and his glass pieces are painterly canvasses that seem lit from within. The glass work is very complex and requires a team of skilled artisans to complete. One vessel may have more than 40 gathers of brilliantly colored hot molten glass that Hart manipulates much like a painter uses a brush. The Gabriel Foundation is a Colorado nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization that promotes education, conservation, rescue, rehabilitation and adoption for parrots everywhere. The Gabriel Foundation’s new 35 acres sanctuary for parrots is a state of the art facility in Elizabeth, Colorado. For more information on The Gabriel Foundation visit www.thegabrielfoundation.org For more information about Noel Hart, “Parrotism,” or fine glass art contact Sandy Sardella at PISMO Fine Art Glass at 303-333-2879 or sandy@pismoglass.com Recent TV press about Noel Hart's Parrotism show at Pismo; "Art...Inspired By Parrots” on 9NEWS
"Parrotism Exhibit at Pismo Gallery" on 7NEWS
TRUNK SHOW--Mariquita Masterson of Houston What: Trunk Show-Mariquita Masterson of Houston What fun! John Wright, jewelry designer with Mariquita Masterson of Houston, is bringing a large collection of Mariquita’s elegant jewelry to PISMO Fine Art Glass, August 9th, from 11am to 4pm. For those who know and those who would like to know Mariquita’s jewelry, this is a trunk show you won’t want to miss. You’ll see a large collection of glass art jewelry from Mariquita Masterson. You’ll also meet Wright, one of Mariquita’s designers and an expert in glass jewelry. At the trunk show you can purchase or order jewelry from the show or work with Wright to create a special order, which is always easier to do in person. This is couture jewelry. The craftsmanship and quality are excellent and each piece, as you should expect with couture jewelry, is unique allowing the designer room to be creative within the Mariquita style—a style that is totally recognizable even from a distance. Mariquita Masterson grew up in Mexico City, was fascinated with glass as a child and loved to watch the glass blowers working at a local glass company. In the 1980’s she was chairing a museum ball in Houston and visited a local glass blower whom she’d hired to design unique vases for the event. There Mariguita spotted chunks of gorgeous glass that the artist didn’t plan to use and let her have—and quite by accident her new career was born. It wasn’t long before Mariquita was showing her first collection of unique jewelry. With its brilliant colors and shapes, Mariquita’s jewelry is elegant and fun at the same time. It also mixes and matches with what you already own as it works well with precious stones, wood jewelry, other glass and especially pearls. That adaptability has always been part of Mariquita’s vision. Today Mariquita Masterson has a loyal clientele across the country. Prices for the collection range from $200-$3,600. “Fish Out of Water” Exhibition July 1st-July 21st at PISMO Gallery ( Aspen, CO) –PISMO Gallery at Aspen presents glass and metal artist, Densaborou Oku’s new work. The exhibition is July 1 st –July 26th. The opening reception for the artist is Saturday, July 1 st from 6-9pm. The Narrow Road to Oku is a classic work of Japanese literature written by Matsuo Basho some 300 years ago. Ostensibly it is about a long journey to the town of Oku, but it is also a journey into the interior, deep inside what makes all of us human. With his new work, the Samurai Series, Densaborou Oku takes us on an artistic journey to his interior experience. His fish are out of water, nothing but a head and skeletal bones; but they are very much alive, their bones ever so slightly bending, propelling them through the flow; their brilliant colors stippled with water reflected sun. Oku’s fish force us to look inside to the very structure of being. He sculpts the bones from molten glass. For the fish heads, he searches for old metal objects that have outlived their usefulness. Out of this conflation of the fragility of glass and useless objects, Oku creates new life, an artistic reincarnation. About his new work, Oku’s friend, former teacher and mentor, artist Steve Tobin writes: “…Cast bronze and fabricated steel fish heads, expressively oil painted, combine with multi colored blown glass vertebrae to create quirky lifelike personalities. Seeing the anthropomorphic qualities of discarded metal implements such as an antique stove, a butcher’s meat grinder and an art deco lamp base and more, Oku laboriously restructures them into lifelike characters that spark to life when combined with fleshy blown glass bones. While using a methodology that is quite Frankensteinian in process there is nothing awkward and stuck together about the result. Personalities emerge in the sculptures that resemble eccentric people one would hope to encounter in a crusty fishing boat in the Sea of Japan or in a bar where fishermen might lure their salty pals. They are the many faces of Oku. Source: The Urban Glass Art Quarterly, Winter 2005-2006 PISMO Gallery at Aspen is located at 433 E. Cooper Avenue, Aspen, Colorado. PISMO’s First Fine Art Bead Show Opens May 5th (Denver, CO) – Just in time for Mother’s Day, PISMO Fine Art Glass in Cherry Creek
North is opening their first fine art bead show, “It’s All About Beads” on May 5th, with
an opening reception from 6-8 P.M. The show will feature more than 30 of the nation’s
top bead artists, who have created gorgeous beads, which are sold separately or in
jewelry. The show also features sculptures and original paintings created from glass The first beads appear around 40,000 years ago. For the most part, perhaps due to
their ubiquity and utilitarian purposes, the art of beads has largely been ignored. In
the United States, that began to change in the 1960’s, when a few bead makers
fascinated by the malleability and beauty of glass began to create artistic glass beads. A handful of bead artists in the show use blown glass techniques, but most use a
technique called lampwork to create their beads. Using a torch they create a hot ball
of molten glass on the end of a glass rod. They wind some of the hot glass around a
narrow stainless steel rod, and continually move and twirl the glass in and out of the
flame to keep the glass in a pliable state. Then the fun and artistry begin as the bead Elizabeth Johnson uses the same technique (a hot flame) to create her meticulously realistic fruits. Johnson is showing individual glass berry beads including her raspberries, strawberries, and yellow Ranier cherries that are stippled with a ripe red blush. One of her stunning necklaces is made with glass gooseberries and raspberries and strung with green tourmaline, a precious stone, and 14k gold. Kristen Frantzen Orr often takes hours to create a single bead. Her lush, almost tropical, beads are reflections of her love of nature and her background as a watercolor artist. She often works in collaboration with Maggie Roschyk, a master bead-weaving artist who uses Orr’s beads in jewelry that Roschyk designs. Some of the bead artists in the show use a furnace and blow or sculpt hot glass to
form their beads. They include Bill Glasner, Connie Grant, Ralph Mossman, and Mary
Mullaney. Glasner is best known for his blown glass vases and perfume bottles, as is
Grant. Both are newcomers to bead making but doing stunning work.
Ralph Mossman and Mary Mullaney are a skilled glassblowing team and also
husband and wife. Their Chevron beads are made by building up layers of color on a
blowpipe, stretching the resulting glob into a long tube, cooling it and then using
lapidary techniques to turn the tube into finished beads. |
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Copyright
© 2007 Pismo Fine Art Glass. All Rights Reserved. |
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