Nature in Glass A Delicate Balance Paul Stankard Kelly O’Dell Raven Skyriver
Schantz Galleries 1
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Nature in Glass A Delicate Balance Paul Stankard Kelly O’Dell Raven Skyriver
laborate and exquisite colors, patterns, and systems make nature a marvel of design. Abundance and majesty make it a source of inspiration and tranquility. Its continuum of birth, death, and renewal make it a symbol of life’s transience and mortality’s inevitability. Nature strikes a delicate balance between strength and fragility, sometimes stalwart against, sometimes victim to, the folly of humanity. Nature strikes a delicate balance between the seen and the unseen, sometimes displaying its glories proudly, sometimes teeming imperceptibly beneath the surface. Artists who take inspiration from nature inherently understand these qualities and act as stewards, honoring and preserving our planet. Glass artists Paul Stankard, Kelly O’Dell, and Raven Skyriver are all deeply in tune with their environment and demonstrate how growing up surrounded
by nature can truly get into one’s soul. All three also have a deep appreciation for glassmaking and the unique qualities that make glass a compelling medium for interpreting flora and fauna. Though Paul Stankard graduated from vocational school and worked various jobs in industrial glass early in his career, his creative side loved artistic things like poetry, and the wildflowers of his native rural Massachusetts. One of his favorite Walt Whitman quotes says that “the narrowest hinge of my hand puts the scorn on all machinery.” It is an apt description for someone who transitioned from mechanical work to fine art so successfully. He was drawn to the floral paperweights of 19th century France and present for the revival of this art in southern New Jersey in the mid-20th century. One of its finest practitioners, Francis
Cover (left) and back cover (detail): PAUL STANKARD | Bouquet Cluster Botanical with Masks, 2004 Encased glass sculpture | 4 ½ x 2 ⅝ x 2 ⅝"
Opposite page: PAUL STANKARD | Flowers from Emily Dickinson’s Secret Garden, 2018 Encased glass sculpture | 3 9/16 x 2 ⅞ x 2 ⅞" 3
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Whittemore, happened to be Stankard’s factory supervisor. The two loved to talk about this common interest, though Whittemore shared few insights on his methods of production. So, Stankard applied the glassmaking techniques learned on the job to years of self-study in the art of paperweights to become a pioneer in the field of flameworking.
upbringing. Skyriver grew up on Lopez Island, in the Pacific Northwest, in deep communion with nature. Unforgettable experiences such as catching his first salmon, or a humpback whale feeding off the bow of his kayak, are forged into his psyche and inspire his artwork. He started blowing glass in high school as a means of escaping academia but was quickly seduced by it. O’Dell and Skyriver, who both have extensive educations in glassmaking, met while working together on William Morris’ team.
Stankard’s process—using a torch with pincers, pliers, and other tools to precisely manipulate colorful, thin rods of glass—is about more than just making things. It is a spiritual exercise that brings the artist closer to the essence of nature. The monastic notion of laborare est orare (to labor is to pray) guides Stankard to see the miraculous in the ordinary. Diminutive and detailed meditations, his paperweights display not only a flower’s elegant countenance but the brimming underbelly beneath the soil, paying homage to what Stankard has termed “the mystery of unseen energy and the fecundity of nature.”
Kelly O’Dell sees nature in the long view—its far-reaching past, its captivating present, and its precarious future. Just as the phenomena of past millennia are written in the planet today, the actions of the present create ripples going forward. The Ammonite was a coiled cephalopod that became extinct 65 million years ago when a comet hit the earth near the Yucatan peninsula, altering the weather dramatically and making most life unsustainable. Exquisite shells were left behind, empty homes to animals no longer alive, embedding their intricate patterns in the earth. O’Dell mimics these fossilized impressions in panels, liquid glass melting like a massive glacier, suspending shell slices in perpetuity. Exposed anatomy is writ in delicately blown and sculptured turquoise, maroon, and golden glass, shapes juxtaposed with one another in elegant formations such as butterfly wings.
Realism in his botanicals (carefully sculpted petals, pistils and stamens, and lovingly rendered insects) is coupled with mysticism and imagination (roots that morph into people and mosaic canes spelling words like “seed” or “wet” embedded in the design). The works are simultaneously referential to the idea of what a flower can be, and metaphors for the sacred life cycle of creation and destruction. Hot, viscous glass fills the crevices like dripping honey, crystalizing in the surrounding orb and creating a reverential memento mori in permanent suspension.
In other work, O’Dell revives the Ammonite in glorious dimensions. Glass is blown in varying thicknesses, carved to move light effortlessly through the helix-like form. With her sumptuous palette—at times opaque and creamy, at times delicately transparent, at times dusted with luster—the work blends realism with an aura of fantasy. O’Dell brings this amalgam of scientific accuracy and artistic license to endangered sea creatures of
Veneration of nature also defines glass artists Kelly O’Dell and Raven Skyriver, who live and work together in Washington. O’Dell was raised in Hawaii, where the arts (her parents had a stained and furnace glass studio in their home) and the lush environment were woven into her
Cover (upper right) and back cover (detail): KELLY O’DELL | Aurora, 2017 Blown, sculpted, and carved glass. Carved by Ethan Stern | 10 x 7 x 10"
Opposite page: KELLY O’DELL | (R)evolutions: Chorus, 2017 Sculpted, cut, cast glass, decal inclusions, gold leaf | 27 x 5 x 13" 5
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today such as barnacles, concerned that human impact on the natural world will mimic history’s astronomical disasters. The viewer’s eye dances around the craggy textures, milky colors, and clustered forms of her barnacles, compelling us to protect this threatened species. Themes of extinction and preservation invariably reflect back on the self and our own mortality; O’Dell’s glass pieces memorialize nature’s lost glories, endeavor to forestall future destruction, and contemplate the universal life cycle of life, death, and renewal.
functional pieces in the traditional Venetian style, it is through working with glass that he has found his artistic voice. For him, there is great joy in making beautiful renditions of animals, bringing awareness to, and helping safeguard, the creatures with whom we share our planet. There is also great passion for both the medium of glass, an intriguing substance with many characteristics to learn and cultivate, and the process of glassmaking, a team effort that allows him to collaborate with creative talents.
Raven Skyriver also brings awareness to the fragility of the ecosystem and the risk of endangerment in his breathtaking glass animals. Icons of the Pacific Northwest such as whales, tortoises, seals, and salmon feature prominently in his vocabulary, along with ancient shelled creatures and undulant octopuses. He expertly manipulates glass to express different textures—soft mat seal fur, rough patchy tortoise skin, glistening chromatophore’s cells, iridescent carapaces. Skyriver’s glorious creatures capture a panoply of forms and colors as diverse as marine life itself. Though Skyriver consults reference books and deliberately plans the shapes and coloration of each sculpture to achieve naturalistic accuracy, he also distills each creature to its essence and relishes the whimsical accidents of glass that can augment a piece. Skyriver suggests swimming bodies in their native marine habitat by giving the sculptures fluid movements reminiscent of real life—stretched necks and expansive flippers pushing through the water, arcing backs diving under the surface, waving tentacles riding the ripples.
Paul Stankard, Kelly O’Dell, and Raven Skyriver are more than keen observers of nature; they offer a visceral experience of the sublime but precarious beauty of the Earth. Their glass sculptures immerse us in nature, allowing us to contemplate our mortality and encouraging us to change our way of being in the world. Humans cannot halt, but in fact will eventually be folded into, the inevitable circle of life. But humans do have a choice if they want to be forces of destruction or agents of preservation. The glass art of these three artists guide us in the right direction. Each artist continues to experiment with the medium, taking creative risks in order to better understand themselves, better express their artistic voices, and better shepherd their viewers toward the greater good. — Jeanne Koles
The inherent viscosity of glass, its ability to morph in shape and color, and its seeming weightlessness as light filters through and around it, make it the ideal instrument for Skyriver. Though he originally did
Cover (lower right) and back cover (detail): RAVEN SKYRIVER | Tether, 2018 Off hand sculpted glass | 18 x 6 x 4"
Opposite page: RAVEN SKYRIVER | Adrift, 2017 Off hand sculpted and cut glass | 26 x 28 x 19" 7
Paul STANKARD
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Opposite page: Cluster of Bulbous Forms: Flower, Bud, Honeybee and Figures, 2018 Encased glass sculpture | 4" in diameter This page: Bouquet from Emily Dickinson’s Garden, 2018 Encased glass sculpture | 4" in diameter Paul Stankard photographs: Ron Farina
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Opposite page: Secrets in Emily Dickenson’s Garden, 2018 Encased glass sculpture | 4" in diameter This page: Early Autumn Purple Bouquet, 2017 Encased glass sculpture | 3 ½ x 2 ⅞ x 2 ⅞" 11
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Opposite page: Meditation on Herman Melville’s Garden, 2016 Encased glass sculpture | 4" in diameter This page: Meditation on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Garden, 2016 Encased glass sculpture | 4" in diameter 13
Kelly O’DELL
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opposite page: Anchorage, 2017 Blown and sculpted glass. Gaffed by Jimmy Aderegg | 16 x 10 x 14" this page: Cluster (left) and Vacancy (right), 2017 Blown and sculpted glass | 12 x 11 x 11" and 8 x 8 x 9" Kelly O’Dell photographs: www.acmecreative.com
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Opposite page: (R)evolutions: Verglas, 2018 Sculpted, cut, and cast glass, decal inclusions, gold leaf | 14 x 7 x 4" This page: Sanctuary, 2018 Blown, sculpted, and carved glass | 13 x 11 x 7" 17
Opposite page: (R)evolutions: Shore, 2017 Sculpted, cut, and cast glass, decal inclusions, gold leaf | 15 x 3 x 7" This page: Scarlet, 2017 Blown, sculpted, and carved glass. Carved by Ethan Stern | 7 x 6 x 7" 18
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Opposite page: (R)evolutions: Butterfly, 2017 Sculpted, cut, and cast glass, decal inclusions, gold leaf | 14 x 5 x 13" This page: Origins, 2018 Seven piece solid sculpted glass, bronze, steel hooks | 7 x 6 x 7" 21
Raven SKYRIVER
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Opposite page: Relic, 2017 Blown, off hand sculpted, dichroic and sandblasted glass on stand. Collaboration with Kelly O’Dell | 16 x 6 x 14" This page: Chromatophore, 2016 Off hand sculpted glass | 14 ½ x 16 x 13" Raven Skyriver photographs: www.acmecreative.com
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Opposite page: Gravitation, 2018 Off hand sculpted glass | 21 x 10 x 36" This page: Descent, 2017 Off hand sculpted glass | 35 x 30 x 15" 25
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Opposite page: Mahi, 2018 Off hand sculpted glass | 39 x 23 x 8" This page: Chinook, 2018 Off hand sculpted glass | 30 x 19 x 8" 27
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Opposite page: Entangle, 2017 Off hand sculpted glass | 32 x 12 x 18" This page: Leviathan, 2018 Off hand sculpted glass | 38 x 9 x 24" 29
Artists BIOGRAPHIES
PAUL STANKARD is an internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement. He is considered a living master in the art of the paperweight, and his work is represented in more than 60 museums around the world. In 1961, he enrolled in Salem County Vocational Technical Institute’s Scientific Glassblowing program (now Salem Community College). During his ten year scientific glassblowing career, he became a master of fabricating complex instruments. In 1972, Paul left industry to pursue his dream of being creative in glass fulltime. Over his forty-year artistic journey, he has received three honorary doctorate degrees and many awards within the glass community, most recently the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian's The James Renwick Alliance and Glass Art Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an Artist-in-Resident and Honorary Professor at Salem Community College. Stankard divides his time between flameworking and writing. He is the author of three books; an autobiography No Green Berries or Leaves: The Creative Journey of an Artist in Glass, an educational resource Spark the Creative Flame: Making the Journey from Craft to Art and most recently Studio Craft as Career: A Guide to Achieving Excellence in Art-making.
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KELLY O’DELL was born in Seattle in 1973, raised in Hawai’i, and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. When she was very young, her artistic parents made their living using stained glass, furnace glass, and pressed flowers. While seeking her college education years later, Kelly discovered glass as her primary focus at the University of Hawai’i. The program offered her many opportunities to study at Pilchuck Glass School, and she eventually relocated there as a member of the William Morris Winter Crew. Her work mainly explores themes of extinction, preservation, and human impact on the natural world. RAVEN SKYRIVER was born in 1982 and started blowing glass in high school at the age of sixteen. Raven’s mentor, Lark Dalton, taught him how to build glass blowing equipment and trained him in the traditional Venetian technique. In 2003, Raven was invited to join the William Morris team. He worked on the team until Morris’ retirement in 2007. The experience of working with such a talented group of artists galvanized his decision to follow Glass Sculpture as a profession. Raven produces his work in the greater Seattle area. Raven shows his work nationally and has been featured in group shows internationally. His focus in the area of sculpture, and the depiction of marine life is inspired by his island upbringing, and informed by the creatures that inhabit this fragile ecosystem. Kelly and Raven reside in Stanwood, WA, near Pilchuck Glass school, with their son Wren.
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Nature in Glass: A Delicate Balance
Paul Stankard
Kelly O’Dell
Raven Skyriver
Schantz Galleries contemporary 3 Elm Street, Stockbridge MA (413) 298-3044 schantzgalleries.com
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