Last look: The softer side of glass

The softer side of glass

Kiln glass artist Urve Manuel celebrates the movement of life with colour and light

BY AMEETA VOHRA

Artist Urve Manuel brings her passion for the wilderness into her kiln glass creations.

Urve Manuel was destined to be an artist. Her Estonian grandfather was a fisherman and a farmer. Her mother sewed and knitted most of her clothes and her father did lots of woodworking.

“Back in the day, everything was made by hand, like the baskets to wooden vessels or chests to store food and clothing in and all that stuff,” says Manuel. “I do come from a very strong background, making things by hand, so that’s always been part of our lives.”

Manuel fell in love with working with glass with no formal education or training while attending the University of British Columbia. At the time, her roommate convinced her to take a stained-glass class at a local high school.

Once Manuel took her first class there, she never looked back.

“I would amass a bit of glass and then make some traditional leaded glass panels,” she says. “I’ve always been attracted to it because the glass is so beautiful, and it changes all the time. One piece will look so different from morning to noon to nightfall, and I really love that about it.”

After her parents and two of her brothers emigrated to Newfoundland, Manuel followed suit. Manuel has been in the province for the past 20 years.

Her gallery and studio, The Glass Station, is in Gros Morne National Park in Rocky Harbour. It has been the perfect backdrop for Manuel to incorporate her lifestyle and passion for the wilderness into her art pieces.

“In my work, I try to bring or show people the joy that I find, or the appreciation for the wild countries, animals, plants, all that kind of thing,” she says. “If you came into the gallery, you would immediately get it. I try to bring that joy that I feel in those environments into my work so that other people can appreciate the two even if they can’t get out to the top of the mountain or they’re not going to paddle across the ocean or whatever.”

Manuel finds a lot of pleasure in kiln glass work, a process where heat is applied to melt the glass together as opposed to traditional stained glass where pieces are held together with lead channels. The kiln glass process creates different textures but also a movement in the material that is embraced by Manuel’s creative methods.

She loves to create storytelling with her glass panels. An event this summer, where a house was floated from one community to another, inspired her to create a panel depicting floating houses and children on the shore.

Among her other glass creations are bowls, plates, suncatchers and ornaments that bring some colour into people’s homes. One of her most popular items is glass fish, especially cod and salmon, because Newfoundland is surrounded by the ocean and plays a significant part in the history and culture of the region.

During the holiday season, Manuel will be crafting panels with trees and snowmen, along with star-shaped ornaments, suncatchers and seasonal Mummer panels that are generally colourful and playful.

Ultimately, Manuel wants to share her love of colour with people.

“Whatever I make hopefully will brighten someone’s living space or office space, wherever they choose to put it,” she says. “I don’t have any urban influences. I don’t get influenced by other people’s work, or an environment that someone else might be familiar with. Her influences are very local. It almost doesn’t matter whether someone goes home with a fish, an Arctic hare or a little a bird plate with some snow bunny on it,” she says. “These are all flora and fauna from here, but they’re also presented in a way that’s unique to my take on what is out there.” o