Article & Photos by Autumn Schanil
Earthly Trades Works of Two Women Using Natural Materials
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As technology and consumer demand increased, large factories and machines began to replace small shops and people, slowly losing the connection between buyer and artist. Fortunately, there are still artists keeping artisan trades not just alive, but thriving, and as society is beginning to again desire knowing the artist who made their desired piece - talented, local artists are making a comeback.
he art of glass-making dates back thousands of years to Mesopotamia, but many historians and writers believe the art dates back to even earlier times in Egypt and northern Syria, with some of the earliest objects found being small beads and pieces of jewelry. Now, glass is found all around us: windows and doors in our houses, the glasses we drink out of, the windshields in our cars, light bulbs, mirrors, vases…the list goes on. All of these things exist in our world each day without us putting much thought into the process of how they’re made, let alone how the glass itself is actually formed. For Glass Artist, Signe Ballew, the process is what called to her the most. Born and raised in Damascus, PA, Signe
grew up on the river’s edge before heading off to Alfred University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts, passionately studying glassblowing. “I think the initial interest was that it [glassblowing] seemed like magic, and I wanted to understand how it worked,” Signe explained. “There’s something about working with glass, especially hot, that is just unlike any other medium I’ve worked with. One minute it’s extreme‑ ly malleable, like honey, the next it’s hard as a rock. The chemistry make-up of glass is fascinating.” Glass is one of the world’s most versatile human-created materials, and it’s created from liquifying sand, but don’t expect to go to the beach and be able to melt sand with fire. Sand melts at 3090 degrees Fahrenheit, and when it cools
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