World Art Glass Quarterly Fall 2006 by World Art Glass Quarterly

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6 Savoy Studios: So Much More. . . By Jeremy Walton 18 Melissa Ayotte By Jill Culora 26 Rising to the Challenge: Behind the Legacy of Peter Layton By Kari McClelland 36 Walter Evans: The Artist Behind the Block By Jeremy Walton 42 David Ruth: Suspended in Glass By Nathan Grover 52Museum of Glass By Curt Walton 4

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

features 56

Fall 2006

68 74

56 Century-Old Pieces Reborn at Century Studios By Robert Kendrick 64 Why the Art Gallery is Still Revelant By Marti Edwards 68 The Magic Underneath Rich Samsel By DK Sweet 74 Uroboros Glass Looking Towards the Future By Kat Hartley 78 Bernard Katz By Jill Culora World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

Fall 2006 Publisher Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor Creative Director Staff Photographer Software Consultant Copy Editor

Advertising Foreign Correspondent Accounting Manager Office Administrator Web Manager Web Consultant Staff Writers

Contributing Writers

Consultants

Advisor

Mark Walton Curt Walton Robert Cullen Leann Sirkin Brittany Walton Jared Frisbee Alex Maynes Jamie Robinson Susan Walton Emily Walton Tom Stanton Bob Lim Jennifer Hummel Masud Akram Patrick Thompson (Entrabase) Nathan Grover Jeremy Walton Jill Culora Tina Fontana Susan Walton Marti Edwards Kari McClelland DK Sweet Kat Hartley Robert Kendrick Art Vandalay June Lim Michelle Walton Kathryn Knudsen Anita Schiller Gigi Erickson Nyal McMullin

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Savoy studios So Much

More . . . By Jeremy Walton

Attempting to define or categorize Savoy Studios, because of its broad range of capabilities, is no easy task. In fact, it’s impossible. The studio was established in 1970 by Dan Legree and Sue Grauten in the seaside town of Eureka, California. Since then, Savoy has developed a reputation as a leader in the world of leaded and etched glass. From detailed glass windows, full-scaled backlit ceilings and huge carved glass walls, Savoy has consistently been at the forefront of the field, pushing the envelope and experimenting with new possibilities. Now located in Portland, Oregon, no job is too large or too small for the skilled artisans at Savoy. Since the studio’s inception, its workers have created beautiful lamps and windows, and have finetuned their skills to make enormous pieces such as the domes and skylights for which they are famous, many spanning more than 5,000 square feet. “In the past we were seen as strictly a stained glass studio,” explains Legree, “that’s not all we do, there’s just so much more.” Indeed, there is much more, yet for years the many other facets of the studio have been overshadowed by this otherwise translucent medium. How then does one define the studio’s style of choice? And how might one accurately label its work? “They have a capability to do so many things,” says Marc DeSmet from Jeffrey Beers International of New York – a longtime client of Savoy. “It’s hard to say they have just one specialty.” DeSmet has been able to work with Savoy on a number of different projects World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

over the years and has always been impressed with the firm’s versatility. “I feel comfortable going to them with just about anything,” continues DeSmet. Savoy specializes in art glass at all levels, but they’ve also been able to expand and create woodwork, metal frames and sculptures, as well as a broad range of other products. How did Savoy become so prevalent in so many different fields? “A lot of this has been a natural transformation,” explains Legree, “we’d start out making stained glass lamps, then pretty soon flat panel lamps, resin lamps, metal lamps, parchment lamps, and soon we’d be experimenting with fabrics.” There is a constant sense of innovation on the floor of Savoy’s 23,000 square foot studio. 10

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“We try not to pigeon-hole ourselves into one style,” says Legree. “That’s our distinct place in this market; we offer a variety of products.” “A customer could contract with the studio to do the lighting fixtures in a new restaurant,” continues Legree. “When they find out we do tabletops and tile, they’ll have us do that too.” Through glassblowing, slumping, fusing, casting, leading and sculpting glass, Savoy has been able to create amazing light fixtures of all shapes and sizes. Here the studio’s versatility shines through in creating pieces from small intricate

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

lamps and wall torches to fifty-foot chandeliers. It boggles the imagination to see how these enormous thousandpound structures are crafted and then suspended dozens of feet off the ground. Celebrity chefs such as Emeril Lagassi, Bobby Flay and his Mesa Grille at Caesars and Todd English have all employed Savoy in their restaurants’ décor and illumination. These fixtures have become famous in their own right by safely defying gravity and becoming so much more than just lights. The studio has also demonstrated its prowess in glass etching. When Sue Grauten joined Dan, her prior experience had been primarily with photography and illustration, but she began to experiment by sandblasting her designs onto glass panels. Her first piece went on to be featured in an art show at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel. Thirty years on, Sue has explored nearly every avenue possible in etched glass, from three-dimensional carving to photo-etching. She has managed to unearth a dazzling array of textures and infuse new life into sculpted vessels and large slabs of glass. In more recent years, with the addition of new artists into the studio, she has been able to expand and broaden the possibilities of this unique art. “We have some very enthusiastic and promising new talent at Savoy,” comments Sue, “And I’m glad to pass on this unforgiving and physically demanding glass technique to a willing generation of artists.” With the added help in the sandblasting booth, she has been able to explore other branches of art glass, such as glass casting. Her role now is the principal studio designer. Between commissions, she is creating original sculpted models to be cast in glass by the studio artisans as limited editions.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“They’re able to take whatever we dream up or imagine, and help us make it into reality.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

In the casting process, hand carved clay models are used to make a series of reusable latex molds, with the final plaster mold being used in the casting process. Cold glass is melted into the mold and after a number of days in the kiln, the piece bears the form of the original sculpture. Casting has turned out to be another staple for Savoy; this avenue goes far beyond the work of any one artist. Savoy has its own casting department, which is always experimenting with new techniques. While the studio is very capable of producing almost any piece that is needed, it works with other artists such as Henry Hillman, Scott Schroeder and David Ruth on pieces when the need arises. “We found out you can’t do everything,” comments Legree, “so you might as well collaborate with your friends.” Through the years the studio has outsourced to trusted associates who are worthy of Savoy’s recommendation and stamp of approval. “If I don’t do something, I know someone who does,” explains Legree. “We would hate to see the job go to someone under-qualified, so we really try and look out for our clients. It’s about giving our customers the best bang for their buck.” Dan and Sue have worked hard to develop a strong relationship of trust with their clients, an effort which has helped Savoy land most of its work. “What it takes is personal contact. It all boils down to relationship in business,” comments Jerry Beale, the principal of the L.A. office of Wilson and Associates – a design firm Savoy has worked with over the past several years. “They’ve been outstanding, really quite amazing in their customer service.” “Any time I call, if Dan is around, he’ll make time to pick up the phone and talk to me,” 16

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says Marc DeSmet. “That makes a huge difference when an owner of a company is that willing to help out. H e’s personally involved in every project going on over there.” “Savoy’s great,” continues DeSmet. “They’re able to take whatever we dream up or imagine, and help us make it a reality.” Savoy carries this same capability in its glassblowing. The studio has a large hot-glass shop in which vessels of all shapes and sizes are made to match whatever ideas are conceptualized by its clients. In addition to the hot-glass employees on staff, other skilled artists from the Portland area, such as Ian Gilula and Aaron Frankel of Elements Glass LLC and Lynn Read often help on projects. Le Väs is a unique new series of large architectural vases Savoy is producing that embodies the merging of East Coast and West Coast glassblowing styles. Over the past century on the East Coast, various companies have been manufacturing mass-produced mold-blown pieces. In recent years, due to rising competition from places like India and China, many of these factories have been forced to shut down and sell off their equipment; Legree saw an opportunity. “We bought out some old molds from Lenix Crystal and Pilgrim Glass when they shut down,” says Legree. Some of these molds are very large and are able to produce vases nearly four feet in height. It’s the perfect combination of East Coast mold blowing with custom West Coast freehand design and coloring. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

At many points in Savoy’s history, Dan, Sue and Sam Dakin, the third partner in Savoy, have been able to expand the companies range through opportunities like these. One very important addition was that of the water jet glass cutting system Savoy purchased in 1995. “We spent $250,000 on it and it paid for itself on the first job,” Legree recalls. Keir, one of Dan’s sons, was instrumental in figuring out how to make this equipment work for Savoy’s stained glass projects. This unique and highly-advanced system enables Savoy to upload designs onto a computer which directs the water jet to cut glass pieces. The designs and patterns are stored in the memory banks of the computer. If repairs ever need to be made, even twenty years down the road, the design can be brought up and the broken pieces can be re-cut exactly to size. In the late 1980’s Savoy put a dichroic chamber in the warehouse, in which glass could be fused with vaporized zirconium, titanium and silica to produce an iridized metallic coating on the glass. The process is so unique that many glass studios around the country order this specialty glass exclusively from Savoy. Over the years Dan and Sue have made many savvy investments in the company. This includes not only equipment, but also the hiring of key employees. Their two sons, Keir and Dana, are heavily involved in the business. Keir, now Savoy’s general manager, has been involved for the last 14 years working in every one of the techniques and departments. He has been instrumental in setting up the waterjet and dichroic machine and is now helping to create the company’s computer database. Dana has worked his summers at the studio while in school. Now that he is in college, he has

Photo by Zach Schnepf

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“We have some very enthusiastic and promising new talent at Savoy.”

Photo by Brittany Walton

All photos © Savoy Studios 2006

focused on glassblowing torch work and is now learning the business side of the studio. Dan and Sue are confident that their sons, along with the rest of Savoy, will be able to carry the torch in years to come. Through a new generation’s ideas and innovations, the studio will continue on the forefront of design, streamlining the production process and giving clients the best in glass art installations and service. Upon touring Savoy’s facility in Portland, an observer may find artists using the cameo-cut, a style which dates back to Roman times. In another part of the studio, one might find molds reminiscent of Lalique, sculpted and ready for casting. Sandblasters may be found etching, glassblowers creating, and other artists experimenting with elements in the dichroic chamber. Finally, one might find Sue and her team working on conceptual designs for a number of upcoming projects including a 13,000 square foot ceiling, which upon completion would be one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The observer may then begin to see a clearer definition of Savoy Studios. And yet there is still so much more… World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

melissa Ayotte By Jill Culora

Why

do people pick up a particular stone while they walk along the beach? They study it, rubbing their fingers across the weather-worn, finely textured surface before they continue walking, often keeping the piece in their hand. This is an action that enthralls Melissa Ayotte, a trained psychologist, now glass paper weight artisan, living and working in New Hampshire. Ayotte, who is also the daughter of famed glass artist Rick Ayotte, has followed her father’s footsteps in producing some of the finest modern paperweights of our time. But what makes Melissa Ayotte’s weights different is that unlike traditional glass paperweights which are encased in crystal – allowing the internal artwork to be viewed from any angle, Ayotte’s latest pieces resemble stones found on the beach or in the garden. Only a part of the stone has an opening to the clear crystal glass, revealing what’s inside the piece – small-scale sculptures of intricate lacy flowers, birds and amphibians, individually made using lampwork and then assembled and encased in crystal. The new work is clearly a deviation from the norm. “I had to figure out how to make a pottery-like look on the exterior,” says Ayotte. “I took frit and developed a very slow heating technique to apply the frit to the outside. I was after something that would adhere, but not look like regular glass. The opening invites the onlooker to turn the eyes toward what is within. I am aware how my training in psychology influences this aspect of the work. I am not only interested in items of obvious beauty, I am also intrigued by the less apparent or unconscious realm.” “I also wanted to create something that has more of a tactile experience for people. Stones are perfectly organic and beautiful.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Paperweights capture a moment in time. People’s fascination with glass paperweights dates back to 1845 when the glass form first appeared at an Industrial Exhibition in Vienna. The art form draws on the ancient glassmaking technique of millefiori (meaning thousand flowers in Italian) with lampwork and encasing using clear glass. At the time, the paperweights were a popular gift, sold in stationery stores and were reasonably priced. But their popularity fell in the 1860s. Ayotte’s father, along with Paul Stankard, was responsible for a paperweight revival in the 1970s, introducing modern paperweights. Today, an extensive active antique market associated with paperweights, along with the work of contemporary artists, gives the market in general a sustainable quality. “I feel there’s a certain amount of marvel and mystery associated with what we create. Collectors seem to marvel at the dimensionality and organic credibility of the flowers, while the process of encasing the flameworked ideas inside the dome of crystal appears almost mysterious or impossible,” says Ayotte. “Paperweights capture a moment in time. And also the beauty – color and nature, itself, has a draw. People have memories of a particular flower or bird and those memories are held in them. So when you capture something that speaks to them, it becomes personal.” “You place the sculpture in an area where it can be enjoyed. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it has meaning just for you.” Ayotte says she has evolved as a paperweight artisan borrowing a large palette of different lampworked forms from her father, whose technical knowledge spans 40 years. 22

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And also the beauty – color and nature, itself, has a draw. “Every time we flamework an idea into form – birds, flowers – we’ve used a different part of our palette. The palette consists of technical triumphs that involve use of color, development of dimension or simply an advanced skill of hand. My father’s a master – he’s developed an extensive palette which I can work from to make my own advancements.” She says there are both similarities and differences between her and her father’s work. “Aspects of being a woman are beneficial for me. It’s a foothold in the feminine. I’m interested in movement, grace and nurturing– how does the wind affect the leaves? I think about that,” Ayotte says. Working alongside her father since 2000, Ayotte says despite knocking heads occasionally, she finds working together a great joy. “I find it very enlivening to be part of his life-long pursuit.” Although she grew up in the house of a glass artist, Ayotte did not handle the glass until she was in graduate school. Her father always insisted she and her brother go off to try other pursuits. “Growing up we just thought that dad played with fire all day,” Ayotte says. “But I was always amazed. He knew the name of every bird and flower.” It was at first contact that Ayotte describes being drawn into glass as a medium of expression.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“I just loved the material. It’s a flowing process between the artisan, the medium and the idea that you want to create. It’s that interweaving that is so enticing. It’s a science, an art and a passion – all in one.” The fact that she took to glass surprised her. “There’s a fine line between art and the psyche and that whole interplay.” Ayotte is looking to expand and evolve the art form through her stone paper weights – Flora Spheres – vessels that have an emerging bubble of life in them. She’s starting to group them together to make the poetry even larger. She’s refining the skill, heading toward a more earthy look, producing textured and misshapen pieces – “we’re all misshapen, aren’t we?” she says. Though thrilled that others find beauty in her work, when asked of her success, Ayotte hardly recognizes it. “I’m so tied to the process of what I am currently creating that I don’t think about where I stand. What I do care about is how I evolve as an artisan, and whether my new work will be accepted along the way.” “If I can create something that raises the consciousness around the gift that nature gives us, then perhaps the viewer identifies with my message or finds one of their own.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“I feel there’s a certain amount of marvel and mystery associated with what we create. Collectors seem to marvel at the dimensionality and organic credibility of the flowers, while the process of encasing the flameworked ideas inside the dome of crystal appears almost mysterious or impossible,” says Ayotte.

All photos © Melissa Ayotte 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

onsidering that prolific London glass

artist Peter Layton recognizes a major focus of his life to be “crisis management,” the next crisis for him to manage, it would seem, is not what to do now but what to do next.

“I end up not doing anything, really, partly because I’m off to the next thing. I get enthusiastic about the next project,” Layton says openly. “I’m good at starting things, I’m not so good at seeing them through and finishing them.” Layton’s true skill at seeing projects through, however, is revealed by the many accomplishments that have evolved from his enthusiastic beginnings. In fact, his whole life has been a collection of beginnings—Layton would rather look to the future than focus on endings. Instead of closing any doors, Layton smiles and says that he’ll just “keep hoping more doors will open.”

Rising to the

The door to his artistic capacity opened properly for the first time when he spent a year in Israel on a course for youth leaders. Taken under the wing of one of his teachers, who was also a well-known painter, Layton soon discovered a dream and, as he puts it, “I started painting a bit, went up, stayed on Kibbutz opposite Mt. Hermon and its snowcaps, and there I was in the fields, imagining myself as Van Gogh.”

Challenge: behind the legacy of Peter Layton by Kari McClelland

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“I’m not out of love with glass by any means,” he assures. “Quite the reverse—it’s a love affair you NEVER get over.” 30

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This dream led him to enroll at Bradford College of Art when he returned to England. From there he moved on to ceramics at the Central School of Art and Design in London. Never one to slow down or stay too long in one place, Layton then accepted a position at the University of Iowa and there found others who shared his enthusiasm. “It was an incredible experience,” Layton recalls. “I loved it. I loved being there. I loved being in the States. I loved the sense of motivation that the students seemed to have, the fact we could work through the night if [we] wanted to, whereas England is very much a 9 to 5 situation, and when the caretaker came around, you left. There, the caretaker came and joined in!” It was in Iowa that Layton discovered glass blowing through a summer course. This early career in glass lasted only a week or two because he “did some pretty ridiculous things,” partly due to his over-enthusiastic approach to the art. Layton doesn’t regret this enthusiasm. Rather, he recalls the experience that stopped him from continuing with glass that summer with great fondness. “I was in there, madly keen to get on with [it], dropped this tool, and, as I was picking

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

it up …, I rolled the hot glass over the back of my hand. And I didn’t feel a thing, just this lovely smell of cooked pork—which was the back of my hand! And I carried on with my piece for a while, thinking, ‘Gosh, I must save this thing I’m making!’ And then I realized how stupid I was being, threw it in the bin, and rushed out for first aid.” Amazingly enough, Layton doesn’t even have a scar from the experience and despite the risk, after that week he was “hooked” on glass. From Iowa, Layton moved on to various universities in California and ended up in Illinois at the Art Institute in Chicago. He spent his time in the States meeting and becoming friends with artists of all sorts— through teaching, shows, and his peers. He continued to encourage the growth of glass 32

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art, holding workshops and inviting the foremost glass artists of the day to come and help teach his students the art. Even after returning to England, where he worked in ceramics and continued teaching, Layton couldn’t stay still. He eventually came to realize that he wanted to move away from ceramics. In fact, it was after an ecologically themed exhibition at the Common Wealth Art Gallery entitled “Please Keep Off the Grass” in which he did “very big sculpture and installation pieces” that he realized he “want[ed] to get back working with [his] hands”—only this time with glass, not clay. “What I loved about the glass was its spontaneity and immediacy, and it was very exciting making decisions as you were working,” Layton says, “Whereas ceramics was quite long [and] drawn out.” Though not cognizant of it at the time, Layton was following in his father’s footsteps; the senior Layton had worked in Prague at a glass factory. Layton, though not opposed to mass production, found his love in “creating personalized pieces, personalized work.” Being inspired not only by other artists or nature, he also found stimulation in “sculptures that had been dug up—pre-Roman or Roman glass that had been iridized naturally,” and he tried to emulate those effects. Following a great deal of trial and error and many hours of research, Layton “discovered iridizing” and “managed to hit upon some really exciting effects.” This iridized glass bought Layton and his studio respect and helped create a market for glass, though he admits that “it was a rather

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

backward-looking approach and hardly cutting edge, so that it never really caught on with … the craft establishment.” Of course, iridizing couldn’t hold Layton’s attention permanently. He moved from there on to etching and, as he says about his own progression, “gradually, over the years, I suppose, I sort of worked my way around to making what one might call ‘normal’ glass.” Those who have seen the range of Layton’s work, however, would never consider his pieces “normal.” At the Novy Bor symposium in the Czech Republic, Layton created a large glass pyramid, a work that amazed people once it was finished. He remembers, “there were some other wonderful things, [and the pyramid] was of c ourse not the pièce de résistance, but it was a very substantial contribution, and people were very impressed at the time.” These large-scale pieces are where Layton’s heart resides now. He exudes confidence when discussing and showing off his modular constructions and large works, most of which are not solely constructed out of glass. These pieces seem to personify his talents, his love for diverse materials—not just glass—and his careful attention to detail and form. Layton and collaborator Simon Moss completed one such piece, “Janus,” for a cruise ship. Telling the story of its completion, Layton almost glows with pride: “We had a deadline to finish (“Janus”); the ship was almost complete and we were I don’t know how many stories up on scaffolding, threading this stuff through and the lights went out in the middle of the night—three or four in the morning—and they said the scaffolding was coming down at 5 am and we had to be finished. … And we were doing this work in the end with a pencil torch in our mouth, by the light of a pencil torch.… [W]hen that scaffolding came down [it] was the first time we’d seen it complete, up till then it had only been either a model or a drawing, and that was absolute magic, one of those moments that you live for.” While he admits that “every piece is difficult” and “every one is a nightmare in many ways,” Layton claims that anyone can be a glass artist. “Of course,” he adds as a caveat, “some people may find it more difficult than others.… I’m not (a natural blower). I struggle with every piece. It’s kind of a challenge, an adventure.” In addition to this actual challenge and adventure of creating pieces,

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Layton plans on completing more books; his first, Glass Art, continues to be a popular and influential work in the field. He also hopes to be able to open a public access studio in the London area in an attempt to allow more people to gain an appreciation of the art. “My whole ethos,” Layton says, “has been about promoting the medium,… trying to introduce the general public to the work.” His book, studio, and work in general have helped in this quest, but he knows that the market, at the moment, is still “limited.” “Perhaps the ultimate,” he remarks, “will be when glass is like photography in a way, accepted, where you don’t have to be in a specialist gallery—where it’s at a fine art gallery and it’s another medium, accepted like any other. You don’t have to call yourself a ‘glass artist.’ You’re an artist, you happen to be working in glass. It’s moving in that direction, I don’t know how soon it’ll happen. I hope it happens in my lifetime.” Currently Layton is looking to branch out into “more architectural and sculptural possibilities” with Moss. “I don’t feel every piece I make has to have glass in it,” he says. “One day I might go back to clay, and that’s a beautiful medium,” he comments. “Or I’ve enjoyed using metal, [which] has potential where the glass doesn’t—in sculpture and in scale.” Although he is constantly moving on to new—or old—loves, there will always be a place in the world of art glass for Layton, and he will always hold a place for it in his heart. “I’m not out of love with glass by any means,” he assures. “Quite the reverse—it’s a love affair you never get over.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Walter Evans The Artist Behind the

BLOCK By: Jeremy Walton

midst the rolling green hills of

West Virginia

where the Big Sandy meets the Ohio River lies the small community of Kenova. The town has a population of less than 3,000 residents. It is situated at the nexus of three states: Kentucky, Ohio and of course, West Virginia – hardly a place expected to house one of the largest manufacturers of molds the world of blown-glass has seen. The Cherrywood Mold Shop has supplied artists all over the world with the tools they need to make the pieces they are famous for. The shop was officially established in 1983 but its founder, Walter Evans, has been making molds for much longer. Evans is first and foremost a glassblower and began working in the industry at the age of 15 for Pilgrim Glass Co. in January of 1950. He became a master blower in 1959 and worked for a number of years solely with glass. At the 1963 World’s Fair in New York, Walter worked demonstrating his skills in glassblowing at the West Virginia pavilion. Walter was also a skilled cabinet-maker, so when his boss approached him one day to make wooden molds for the glass shop, it was a natural fit. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“I prefer glassblowing but I always did like working with wood,” remembers Evans. It was not long before he was making all of Pilgrim’s molds as well as those of four or five other companies. The 1979 Glass Arts Congress was held at Pilgrim Glass; Marvin Laposky and Henry Halem, while touring the facility walked past the blocking-tubs. “Who makes your blocks?” they asked. “I do,” Evans answered. “Would you take two orders right now?” Soon word spread throughout the country about the cherrywood molds that Evans crafted and some years later Evans quit being a full time glass blower and the Cherrywood Mold Shop was born.

At 71, Evans still manages to do most of the work around the shop himself. He’s known throughout the surrounding county for personally cutting down and removing wild cherry trees that farmers want cleared off their land. The relationship is symbiotic; the farmers get the unneeded shrubbery removed and Evans maintains a bottomless supply of cherrywood for his molds. The trunks are then cut to different sizes depending on the type of mold and set aside to be carved.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“I used to hand carve all of them,” says Evans, “then I started doing it on a lathe.” The lathe he uses is large enough to spin 120 pounds of wood while efficient enough to be used by a single operator. “Not much has really changed over the years,” he continues. “The old guys used to do it on a lathe, too.” Most of the work Walter does on his own, just 200 feet from his home in the two story solid oak building he constructed himself. Assistants have come and gone but the lone figure toiling in front of the wood lathe has remained. Evans continues to blow glass, but these days mostly as an instructor. He holds seminars and personally helps to set up studios all around the country. Artists looking for guidance hire Evans to come out to their own studios for a few days and personally instruct them in glassblowing. “The longest one I ever did was in Anchorage, Alaska for three weeks,” remembers Evans. Evans is best known for his personable disposition and his readiness to help out in whatever way he can. On one occasion an artist working in Oakland, California broke a much needed mold and called Walter for help. “I hate to do this to you Walt, but how soon do you think you could get a new mold out to me?” the artist asked. “Do you think you could be at the San Francisco airport tonight?” Evans replied. Walter had already planned to fly out and teach a seminar in Pacifica that evening. He made the mold that morning and hand delivered it that night to a very satisfied customer. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Amidst the pieces of art in the upscale galleries of London, New York and San Francisco, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not difficult to appreciate the skill of the artists who crafted them. However, collectors should also take a moment to appreciate behind-the-scenes craftsmen like Walter Evans, working in a wood shop in Kenova, West Virginia. 42

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David RUTH Suspended in Glass By Nathan Grover

David Ruth spent the morning showing us around his studio. For the past seventeen years Ruth has called this complex of warehouses situated in an industrial quarter of Oakland home. Over seventeen years anyone can accrue a lot of things, but to wander around Ruth’s lair is to be constantly distracted by his accrual. Glass shards and plates wink from shelves and from under dustcoated piles. Gems half-emerged from the rough gather in the corners like jewels from the Arabian Nights. Standing free in the middle of the cement floor is a ten-foot crystalline stalagmite, at once both smooth and jagged, which seems to radiate its own light. It would be easy to imagine Ruth’s work as geological, that maybe he digs these jewels from under volcanoes or from deep sea caverns or from some other unearthly place. But these aren’t nature’s inventions, Ruth quickly points out, nor are they precious materials. “Glass is virtually a throw-away material at this point,” says Ruth. Modern technology has made commonplace what once ranked among gemstones. In fact, Ruth makes his sculptures from discards, everything from discarded eyeglass moldings to salad dressing bottles spilled on the road. What we find in David Ruth’s studio is treasure, but not because it’s been unearthed from our planet’s hard-to-get-to places. It’s precious because it’s been unearthed from the mind of David Ruth. Ruth, far more than a craftsman, is a serious-minded abstract artist in the medium of glass. He’s long been a forerunner in the methodology and art of glassmaking. His art has taken him around the world, and, like a comet, leaving a trail of dazzles behind. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Painting with Glass Ruth has created all kinds of glasswork, from molded glass to thick architectural panels, but he’s probably most famous for his free-standing sculptures, many of which are enormous. The first thing your eye is drawn to in these sculptures is the commotion of swirls and tendrils that seem to swim inside the glass. They appear alive. It’s much like looking into a cross-section of churning sea, a primordial sea whose organisms have not yet taken definite form. These organisms are what Ruth calls “trails.” They are individual pieces of glass that Ruth creates by trailing hot liquid glass from a ladle. He stumbled upon the technique while working at Genesis Glass in Portland in 1976. He was twenty-four years old. “I was their first glass rolling employee,” he recalls. “One of the other guys who worked there, this crazy ceramics guy, took a scoop of glass and instead of putting it in the machine to roll out a sheet, he wrote one of the other employees’ names, J-A-Y, and ran it through the annealer, and it came out. Someone hung it up, and it was there for about six months until I realized I should take that thing and make it into a window, which I did. I still have the window.” 46

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Trails have proven versatile. They come in all sizes and colors. Depending on the density of the coloring agent, Ruth can trail languid syrupy swirls or tight inky scribbles. He fuses the trails into a body of clear glass where they hang suspended. Here each trail becomes an individual paint stroke; the clear glass encompassing it acting like a blank canvas. In this way Ruth works like a formalist painter. We recognize, just as we would in a painting, the abstract vocabulary of color, texture, movement and stasis, pattern and anomaly, positive and negative space. “I’m so pre-occupied with glass as a medium,” says Ruth. “Narcissus [Quagliata] likes to say he paints with light. I tend to say I paint with glass.” Only this is a painting that you view from the front or behind. It’s a painting that changes at every angle. It’s a painting that interacts with the viewer, a painting that is alive. The sculpture appears to be a frozen liquid (which in fact it is), but as difficult as it would seem to craft the medium, Ruth assures us of his complete control. “Once I’ve organized [the trails] into a design it’s just melting enough to close up the holes. . . . The things I want to be exactly right don’t change much.” And as if to demonstrate, Ruth signs many of his pieces like a painter would, his signature fused into the bottom corner of the glass and perfectly legible as if inked by pen.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Expanding Inner Space Another David Ruth hallmark is size. Ruth’s sculptures are some of the largest glass objects ever created. Making a large glass sculpture is not like making a large marble sculpture; you can’t just order a bigger rock. Working with large pieces of glass has its own difficulties but also, as Ruth has discovered, the potential for deepening one’s art. Speaking of his experience in graduate school, Ruth says, “My experiments with sheet glass and fusing led me to try to make the glass thicker to see more interior space. One professor pointed out that I was working with a metaphor, for which the internal space of the glass was the equivalent to the internal life of the mind. This became my operating mantra, but forced me to come to terms with the casting of thick sections.” Where his colleagues annealed their glass for one or two days, Ruth annealed for weeks, sometimes months. Big glass called for big investments of time and money, and those investments didn’t always pay off. The casualty rate was especially high during the experimental phase, and today he still loses pieces to cracking. “You’d like to bargain with 48

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PG&E,” Ruth muses. “If I sell this piece I’ll pay you . . . Or at least let me get it out of the kiln before I pay you. But no, you’re sitting there paying them off thousands of bucks and you have no idea what’s going to come out. And then it’s a piece of shit. And do they care? Do they refund your money?” Broken glass can lead to emotional scarring as well. In his warehouse, Ruth guides us to a forlorn corner where he dusts off a heavy night-blue piece of glass, one of the many fallen comrades. He cradles it lightly and says, “This was one of the best things I’ve done. After this cracked, that was it, I didn’t return to this thickness for ten years.” World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

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Fortunately, the product has been worth the pain. Ruth has successfully expanded that internal space. Instead of a sheet of glass, which could offer little more than a flat canvas, Ruth now has a vessel. Inside the vessel his paint strokes of glass inhabit three-dimensional space. We’re invited to probe deeply into that strange habitat, to look beyond the surface into that internal life of the mind where the gravity and forms of this world give way to abstract playfulness.

The Right Tools for the Job The final component needed to complete Ruth’s process is to shine the surface of the glass. This is a notoriously tedious job on a normal piece of glass, so on a Ruth-sized piece of glass, the job would be a fitting punishment for the lower circles of hell. After a year and a half of bevel work early in his career (polish work is typically foisted on the underlings), Ruth swore he’d never polish another piece of glass. He kept that oath for ten years. “But then,” he says, “I realized in order to open my pieces up, I needed to get through the surface.” After all, what good is an expanded internal space of the mind if no one can see it? After finishing graduate school in 1986, Ruth escaped to France to hone his art, and it was here fellow glass artist, Jean-Pierre Umbdenstock, took him on a fortuitous tour of an old granite factory, Graniterei du Nord in Aulnoye. “These guys would take on blocks of granite the size of two cars stacked on top of one another,” Ruth recalls. “They were truly up-to-date with diamond tools and automated processes, but combined with old world craftsmanship and attention to detail.” Most notably, these were not tools for tapping glass; these were heavy-duty tools made to get the job done today. Illuminated with possibilities, Ruth asked the obvious question: “Can you do glass?” The Frenchmen shrugged. Why not? Ruth brought in a piece World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

and the stoneworkers polished it in a day. Ruth immediately brought in twenty more. They wondered what they’d gotten themselves into. Soon after his return to the US in 1989, Ruth acquired equipment of his own. The polisher he currently uses is a brawny mechanical arm with diamond-grit heads. With this machine Ruth polishes a ten-foot glass panel in less than a day. The man who swore never to polish again now says, “I’m the king of polish. I do more polishing than anybody.”

New Frontiers If David Ruth’s history of innovation suggests anything, it’s more innovation is yet to come. This glassmaker is already looking forward to a few key projects. Ruth has begun working with the family of borosilicate glasses commonly known as Pyrex. Recent advances in color never before available in the medium have made Pyrex a viable alternative to standard glass. It’s a difficult material to work – to melt Pyrex into a craftable liquid you must heat it to temperatures above three thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and even then it’s stiff – but once the piece is completed, Pyrex can take punishment from the sun that thick blocks of normal glass never could. This opens a new venue to Ruth. “Pyrex is interesting,” he says, “because when [the pieces] go outside, especially if they’re in a place with trees, the sun comes through and it plays on them. They’re marvelous, it’s unbelievable. They’re very activated.” Ruth has also recently received a National Science Foundation grant to visit Antarctica for six weeks. “I’m going to take molds of the ice textures, bring those textures back into the studio and make sculptures out of them. It’s going to be a career-changing experience.” Ruth has worked with molded glass before. In Portland he enjoyed casting molds from the 52

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weathered tree roots he discovered on walks outside of town. Molding is a far different process for an artist who likes creative input with the glass at every opportunity. Molding from found objects in nature lets nature do the sculpting, and this is exactly the appeal of the technique, says Ruth. This way he can interact with the forms he sees around him. In this light, Antarctica makes perfect sense for a guy like David Ruth. It’s no wonder that a man so pre-occupied with the medium of glass would find himself attracted to the most glass-like forms on earth. And it’s also no wonder that a man who has created some of the largest pieces of glass ever seen would find inspiration in the magnitude of icebergs. “People can’t take much from Antarctica,” he says. “You can take pictures. And you can take a few scientific samples. I don’t think anyone has done what I’m doing.” He will no doubt be a pioneer in bringing Antarctica to the masses huddled around the equator.

All photos by Scott McCue & Brittany Walton- © David Ruth 2006

Ruth leaves for Palmer Station in November. Despite his enthusiasm for the trip, dangers do lurk in the back of Ruth’s mind. There are no resorts on the cape of Antarctica. He’ll be required to hand over a full set of dental x-rays, and the literature encourages him to have his will in order. Ruth has much more work to do, and there’s no telling how his mind will be activated in the presence of icebergs, so we wish him an incident-free trip. But we can’t help think, if David Ruth does disappear and is discovered years from now perfectly suspended in a giant column of blue-green Antarctic glass, he’ll probably be found smiling. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Museum of Glass

By Curt Walton

he Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art is a new institution dedicated to the presentation and interpretation of contemporary art with a sustained concentration on the medium of glass. Designed by acclaimed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the $48 million Museum engages audiences in the artistic process and serves as a symbol for the redevelopment of Tacoma, a historic and scenic city on the shores of Washington’s Puget Sound.

An immediately identifiable cultural landmark, the 75,000-square-foot building is Erickson’s first major art museum in the United States and features his trademark use of concrete integrated with glass in provocative Modernist forms. Erickson’s exceptional ability to design large-scale contemporary buildings in response to their environment is exemplified in the Museum’s horizontal profile that ascends in a series of platforms from the banks of the Thea Foss Waterway to a rooftop plaza. The Museum’s most distinctive architectural feature, a tilted 90-foot-tall cone wrapped in stainless steel, punctuates the skyline and serves as an icon for the Pacific Northwest. Inspired by the wood burners of sawmills that once proliferated the region, the shimmering cone symbolizes the city’s transformation from an industrial to a cultural center. The Museum houses 13,000 square feet of gallery space, outdoor exhibition space, a 180seat theater, an experimental studio for educational programs, the Hot Shop Amphitheater and a museum store and café, as well as a serene rooftop plaza with panoramic views of the city and waterfront. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

John Timothy (Tim) Close has recently become the new director of the Museum starting this past May. As director, Close oversees the continuing development of the Museum of Glass as it begins its fifth year of operation. Opened in July of 2002, the Museum has attracted 760,000 visitors to date, surpassing initial projections by a significant margin. It is particularly noted for its large Hot Shop Amphitheater, a glass studio where visitors watch artists working with molten glass, as well as its exhibitions and exceptionally innovative education programs. In the Education Studio and Gallery, students participate in interactive and creative hands-on learning activities, taught by both visual and performing artists. To enhance learning, outreach programs and active partnerships with the schools place Museum resources in the hands of teachers and students. The Museum exhibition schedule includes works by internationally known artists, who illuminate trends in contemporary art. The exhibition program offers artists and audiences the opportunity to experiment with and experience a full range of media in the visual arts. Clear, expert commentary in the form of interpretive text panels, docent programs, guided tours and other programs ensure a Museum experience that is meaningful and engaging to visitors. “This is an incredible opportunity to strategically lead the Museum into its important fifth year and beyond, expanding its operating platform onto the national and international stage.” stated Close. “I am especially attracted to the creative energy of the Museum—and of the community that recognizes the intrinsic power of art.”

All Photos © Museum of Glass

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“Infinite endless labor makes the masterpiece” - Louis Comfort Tiffany

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Century-old Pieces reBORN at

Century Studios By: Robert Kendrick

ouis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) is recognized among the most prominent names in the history of art glass. The complicated simplicity of his designs spanned the Victorian, Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements to form an opalescent backdrop to the events of the turn-of-the-century. Among the many in Tiffany’s wake who emulate his tradition of artistic composition combined with labor-intensive craftsmanship is Century Studios. The company was formed in 1986 by two classmates at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell. Even in the beginning, although relatively inexperienced with stained glass, the two were experimenting with Tiffany lamp designs, trying to accurately reproduce the beauty created by the Tiffany Glass Company founded a century before in 1885. “We really started studying Tiffany lamps fairly intensely right away,” remembers Terry. Their study included annual trips to museums in New York, surveys of antique auctions, catalogs, books and private collections – practices which have continued over the past twenty years. Century uses many forms (“forms” meaning the mold the lamp is constructed upon that gives the shade its shape) taken from original Tiffany pieces already available on the market in addition to some they themselves have been able to reproduce.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“By getting ahold of an original shade, taking the information from it, having the form made to be the right size and shape for the inside of the lamp and tracing the pattern directly off the original lamp,” says Terry, “w e’ve been able to expand the variety of pieces that we offer.” Century has made some custom lamps in the past but now prefers rather to work exclusively with Tiffany designs and Tiffany patterns. “What we really work towards, what we’re doing here is reproducing Tiffany pieces,” says Terry.

While the designs remain Tiffany’s, there are over a hundred different forms and patterns that Century uses in addition to the many different lamp-bases, jewels, glass colors and textures (any combination of which can create endless possibilities in composition). “There’s a whole lot of mix-and-match which is how they were done originally,” comments Campbell. These different ingredients work together to make each finished lamp unique.

Bases

“In some cases a base will have lost-wax casting, metal-spinning and sand-casting…all as different components of the same base,” says Terry, “then it’s all constructed by hand.” The base is put together, detailed and silver-soldered when needed – just as a factory worker at Tiffany Studios might have assembled a base a hundred years ago. “There’s lots of different components involved in putting a base together,” continues Irwin, “and we’ve be working over the last six years to really expand those offerings.” Those expansions include buying out one mold manufacturer and acquiring newly reproduced molds to give their customers and lamps more options while maintaining the authenticity of each piece.

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Jewels

Tiffany used a variety of jewels to accentuate the designs of his pieces. One such example is found in the Turtleback lamp recreated by Century Studios, shown on the first page of this article. “I looked at the original Tiffany pieces and one of the things I really liked about them was that the jewels were always off-tones and off-shades of colors,” remembers Terry. The majority of the reproduction jewels

available did not seem to carry that same tradition. Century acquired some of its own molds that made accurate jewels through mixing, matching and experimentation they are able to reproduce that same feel Tiffany is famous for.

Sheet Glass

“We work with all of the big American-made glass-makers and a lot of the small ones as well,” says Terry, “we’ve had things specially made for us, too.” Many of these glass companies use the same recipes and formulas that Louis Tiffany himself invented. “We hand select every piece of sheet glass that we have in our library of glass and we’re always looking for something different and unusual”, says Terry. Century has its own furnace with which it is able to roll some of its own sheets – although it’s a practice Campbell and Terry would rather not to do.

Color Choice

“Both of us have a strong sense of color, that’s really our strong point,” Terry observes. Bill has formal training in painting while Irwin in printmaking, photography and collage, their art degrees and personal tastes manifesting themselves in color combinations, textures and layout. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Beyond Lamps

“We try and use the same color sensibilities that we use in our lamps and carry that over into our window work,” says Terry. Their custom windows are reminiscent of Tiffany’s windows, and are beautiful in design, but Century prefers to work primarily with lamps. “I’ve got a thing for functional objects,” explains Terry, “Something that you can make that you can also use.” For now, lamps seem to be the perfect medium for this functional approach. Over the years Century has made quite a name for itself with customers across the country and all over the world, which keeps Irwin and Bill, as the sole artists at Century, very busy. Yet they still manage to make the work entertaining. “After twenty years of doing some of the same lamp designs over and over again there’s always something different that you can find to do with it,” comments Campbell, “Just in terms of the glass that’s out there, the color choices and everything else, it’s still fun.” The hard work pays off and each piece turns out beautifully. The artists’ payoff is described in a single quote, one that’s posted on the Century Studios’ company website: “Infinite endless labor makes the masterpiece” - Louis Comfort Tiffany

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

All Photos © Century Studios

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

Why The Art Gallery is Still RELEVANT

By Marti Edwards

n an unlikely location—a small California beach town—gallery owner Lawrence Selman maintains a successful, high-end glass art gallery. Selman’s gallery is actually housed within two separate buildings on a side street, away from the surfboard and T-shirt traffic. The larger gallery, lined with mahogany and glass cases, houses the main body of its glass collection: antique and contemporary paperweights from around the world. With all his stock, Selman’s may well be the world’s most prominent dealer in this specialized glass art form.

In addition to fine glass paperweights, The Glass Gallery also deals in contemporary studio glass of all kinds. Elegant pedestals run the length of the gallery, covered with every imaginable type of glass art: Hot-sculpted, blown, cast, flameworked, and sandblasted sculptures capture the light and ignites the hearts of glass lovers. “We definitely have the Wow Factor here,” chuckles Selman, reflectting on the comments he hears daily from visitors. The smaller gallery space offers more accessibly-priced functional and sculptural glass and jewelry made by artists working in a variety of techniques, from flamework to pate-de-verre. In addition to his glass galleries, the name of L. H. Selman Ltd. is synonymous with paperweight auctions and an extensive web gallery at www.TheGlassGallery.com Lawrence Selman is frequently asked why—at a time when many galleries are being eclipsed by artists proffering their work directly on the internet—he believes in maintaining his brick-and-mortar status. “It’s better for everyone involved,” Selman replies, “for the artists as well as the glass collectors.” “For well over three decades, we have been privileged to bring many young, new glass artists to the attention of the world, and with our reputation for representing only the best work, virtually establish their careers.” Selman also notes that with many years of sales experience, he knows what will sell and is often able to advise artists on various aspects of the marketability of their work. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“But primarily, a gallery’s job is to bring the artist’s work to the attention of the world of art connoisseurs. We do that by promoting the work via international, national and local advertising, gallery openings, and personal contact with collectors with whose tastes we are intimately familiar.” Selman also points out the obvious: A dealer can “toot an artist’s horn” a lot more effectively than the artist herself can. That frees up the artist’s time and energy to do what she does best—create. On the side of the collector, Selman points out that the gallery space provides a place for art lovers to experience art first-hand with the possibility of close-up scrutiny before actually acquiring a piece. Like trying on a piece of fine clothing, a collector often needs to touch the work, and spend time reflecting on its meaning before making the commitment to purchase. “A gallery offers that special, private time and space to get acquainted with the art.” In addition, Selman explains, a gallery owner’s job is to bring to the public only what he or she considers to be the best work in a particular field, or promising work by a new up- and-coming artist. By buying from an established gallery, a collector is making an investment in the future of his collection. A good dealer will have already done the collector’s homework by providing knowledge about the field, current market prices, and a particular work’s chance at holding its value. Customer service is often an underrated but important factor in building an art collection, Selman adds. “A good dealer provides service before and after you buy each piece, with a commitment to helping you build a collection that will give you a lifetime of enjoyment.” “When you build a relationship with your dealer, let him/her know your likes and dislikes. You’ll be surprised by how he/she will invest time and resources in helping you find the next perfect acquisition for your collection.” Before moving to its present location in 1998, L. H. Selman Ltd. was primarily a mail-order company, catering to fine glass paperweight collectors worldwide. Its location in home-town Santa Cruz was a well-kept secret. “People in Europe knew we were here, but local townsfolk didn’t.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

From a rather inauspicious beginning as a kitchen-table business in the early 1970s, Selman developed a large following of collectors, keeping in touch via beautifully-printed full-color catalogs which showcased the glass. Recognizing a void in information about paperweights within the collecting community, Selman created a publishing company, Paperweight Press, through which he could disseminate knowledge about the field. His first book, Paperweights for Collectors, proved indispensable, and many other titles followed. Selman also founded the International Paperweight Society and Museum, which is housed within his

company’s main gallery, and seeks to promote knowledge of the art and science of paperweight making, and works to build appreciation for the art form. “Everyone has heard the word paperweight, but how many people know why they are relatively expensive? Or how they are made? Or that these objets d’art present the biggest challenge of all to a glass artist?” With the advent of the internet, Selman was the first paperweight dealer to establish a website, which has grown steadily to an extensive site: www.TheGlassGallery.com. The site features the work of dozens of artists, their biographies, and valuable information on creating and caring for a paperweight collection. But the elegant galleries on Locust Street are the piece that holds all aspects of the business together. Santa Cruz’s once well-kept secret as a paperweight and glass art mecca is a well-known one now that the galleries have

become a popular destination point for travelers in northern California. Glass collectors from around the world still make their pilgrimage, as do tourists seeking something out of the ordinary; something different from the typical galleries of San Francisco and Carmel. And new artists find their way to the galleries to present their work, hoping it will be offered as one of the best new finds on the glass art scene. “After all these years,” comments Selman, “the thing that excites me most is working with new, emerging artists, or seeing a well-established artist deliver something fresh and wonderful—that spark of creative genius that, through the artist’s hands, finds its way to final execution in a stunning piece of glass. And then presenting it for the first time to a collector who also experiences the power and presence of a piece of glass art. For me, that’s what having a gallery is all about.”

“But primarily, a gallery’s job is to bring the artist’s work to the attention of the world of art connoisseurs.” World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

The

Magic Underneath Rich Samsel By DK Sweet

ook at photographs of Rich Samsel’s architectural art glass from Santa Cruz, California and one of the two Hollywood clichés about artists doing such rare and intensely beautiful work may emerge. If you conjure the arm waving, emotive-artist-whose-life-and-art-embrace-chaos cliché you’d be way off base. Samsel’s creations are too exacting and glossy to render a Central Casting version of Jackson Pollock. My own laughably incorrect pre-interview guess about Samsel was Hollywood’s other cliché: a haughty artiste with a $100 dollar haircut who I’d have to get through a snooty pearl necklacewearing receptionist to interview. The clients of Samsel’s business, simply called “Glasslight,” could easily accentuate this incorrect preconception. They’re mostly the exceptionally wealthy and the portion of the hospitality industry focused on attracting upscale patrons to their hotels and casinos. Donald Trump is a customer, as are Silicon Valley captains of industry and top hoteliers from California to Hong Kong.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Encountering a smiling Samsel one step inside Glasslight’s plain industrial park like facade, preconceptions about him shattered like the sixteenth inch picture frame glass that seems to break when you breathe on it too hard. He may have jettisoned the professional life begun three decades earlier in UC Berkeley’s chemistry labs but the look and manner still fit. The bright eyes of the permanently curious combine with the unhurried calm of an artist-scientist blessed with the rare breed of patience needed to achieve an even rarer kind of creation. “Brilliant cutting” is the term coined for the work Samsel fell in love with in the early 70’s and neatly describes both the act and its result. Though the technique of grinding glass with stone wheels dates back as far the Roman Empire, we see the result of its last major heyday mainly in our grandparents’ china cabinets. Around the turn of the century, carved lead crystal glass became prized possessions of the wealthy London estate owner and middle class American housewife alike. Before losing much of its mass retail appeal, techniques to manufacture it at reduced cost—including polishing with acid instead of elbow grease—made it both more available to a larger audience and, in Samsel’s opinion, lower in quality. With the drop in popularity of cut glass and the remaining market served mainly by machined manufacturing, the trade built around handcrafted pieces almost vanished. In his architectural niche Samsel says there are literally a handful of practitioners in England, Japan and the U.S. who make up the entire trade. 72

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The rarity of the skill possessed by Samsel in particular is exemplified by a funny anecdote about one of his wealthiest patrons trying to attain Glasslight’s level of craftsmanship at a bargain basement price. Commissioned to create mirrors decorated with deeply carved gold designs for his eventual patron’s New York home, Rich took four months to develop and perfect a process yielding the most exquisite mirrored works this writer has ever seen. After presenting the stunning sample along with an estimate, Samsel later learned the patron was spending weeks price shopping the manufacture of his design among New York glass artisans. Having written a book about getting what one wants at the price one wants to pay, the patron must have been shocked when every potential vendor responded not with samples but the news they’d been unsuccessful in even coming close to Samsel’s design at any price.

The factors that make Samsel difficult to compete with—patience and deep experience— make Glasslight a top call for architectural projects where beauty and uniqueness enjoy greater weight than cost.

Another example of those qualities in action is the “practice piece” Samsel created for a work that later graced the cover of Interior Design magazine. Examining the perfection of the beautiful sample in the indirect light of his somewhat spartan reception area, I wondered if anyone else would have gone to such extremes to show a client a single creative option. Would Michelangelo have painted a smaller church ceiling to snag the Sistine Chapel gig? The technical side of Samsel’s creative approach underscores his scientific roots. The most obvious physical example of that is the trolley-mounted and counter-weighted manual hoist system Rich invented to enable working on his typically large projects. The overhead tracks give his main work room a sort of high tech look juxtaposed with the more industrial looking smaller spaces for sandblasting and grinding that surround it. According to the artist, rotating pieces weighing hundreds of pounds requires less physicality than managing the resistance created by the grinding wheel exerting its force from below. Samsel observes: “it takes good stomach muscles to keep the piece on the wheel where you want it.” The creations of Samsel the Toolmaker can be seen in other parts of his studio as well, including a grinding contraption he made from a twelve thousand dollar spindle normally used for making automotive parts. “If the tool doesn’t exist, make it” is the unwritten sign looming over his shop and provides another insight into why trying to underbid Samsel on one of his own creations is likely to suck the unwitting into a black hole of time and energy. One imagines such folks muttering a variation of the famous line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: “who IS that guy?!” World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Photo:Tony Grant

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

The veteran of over three decades in this highly specialized craft, Samsel found his way into it somewhat by happenstance. “I encountered scientific glass blowing at Berkeley and was pretty captivated by it,” he admits. After a brief stint doing that work Samsel developed a greater interest in stained glass. Riding the wave of the early seventies’ resurgence in arts and crafts, Samsel made a living for a couple years selling his work on the booming arts fair circuit. Then a want ad for a used glass lathe changed everything. “I showed up and bought the thing for, like, $250” Samsel recalls, adding “and the fellow selling it didn’t seem to know much about it.” With a scientist’s curiosity, books, and interviewing a few old timers, Rich dove into learning most of the established brilliant cutting techniques. Eventually, necessity bore his own techniques, especially in working large pieces. “Rather than work the top surface, I look through the glass and cut from below,” Samsel explains. That technique becomes even more impressive when one examines the mirrored works decorating his studio. How does one cut a design working the backside of a mirror looking down at the reflective surface? It seems almost magical but Samsel claims it’s merely the accuracy developed over years of “feeling his way” through pieces. The technique is so ingrained that now Samsel says he can freehand a straight line for eight feet much better working underneath a piece with a grinding wheel than trying to draw the same line with a marker on top of it. Though his work speaks for itself, it’s perhaps this fine muscle memory bit of magic that makes Rich Samsel stand virtually alone in his craft. My advice? Try competing with someone else.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

Uroboros,

Looking Toward The FUTURE

By Kat Hartley

lassmaking is an ancient art, originating over 2,000 years ago. Early artisans and craftsmen of the Near East

unlocked the secrets of heat and sand. Through trial and error, they worked the glass over a flame to create decorative beads and small vessels, fusing it into an ornament in wood-fired kilns. A thousand years later, as the blowpipe found its way into the hands of the glass-artist, glass vessels were easier to mass produce. Glass windows came into being when the first rondel was spun out on the punty. Later still, Europeans learned to roll the glass on a table with a steel roller. Glassmaking was carried to the new world and ultimately the art made its way across the United States with the onset of industry. Large and prolific glass companies were born, Tiffany perhaps the grandest of them all. Studio glassmaking grew throughout the Midwest in the years following World War II, becoming particularly prevalent in the sixties and seventies. In 1969, Eric Lovell first held a blowpipe in his hands in Portland, Oregon. Challenging the art form by combining chemistry, artistry and alchemy, he learned to make his own “batch”, the raw sand and other chemical and metal oxides that yielded molten glass when melted at temperatures reaching 2,600F. Eric’s glass blowing studio was officially launched as Uroboros Glass in January of 1973, as a studio founded and run by artists. Eric chose the ancient symbol of the Ouroboros as his corporate logo, using the Americanized modern spelling “Uroboros” which signifies the circle of life and constant regeneration and rebirth. World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Eric’s flair as a designer, combined with his colored batches, iridized surfaces, and his diverse product lines soon attracted attention. Two young men who became prominent in the stained glass industry, Paul Crist and David Schlicker, approached Eric and asked if he could roll the glass into sheets for them. This became the stimulus for the creation of sheets of multi-colored glass, textured, organic and unique to cut and solder into vast landscapes, floral lampshades and amazing representational works. The craftsman now found the image evolving within the sheets of glass rather than painting it onto the surface of the sheet. The first sheets of glass that Uroboros rolled were representative of Tiffany glass. Thirty-four years later, the Uroboros name has become known worldwide for its trademark styles such as Ring Mottled, Streaky, Rippled, Granite and FractureStreamer glass. It is the only factory still making hand-rolled sheets of Drapery glass. Uroboros Glass often hears from their customers, “I can hardly bring myself to cut the sheet – it is a perfect work of art as it came from the factory”. These days the only real glass blowing done at Uroboros Glass is to make shards, or “fractures”, which is three gathers of intensely colored glass blown out to a human sized balloon then allowed to chill and break into shards of color. They also create streamers and ribbons of glass by dripping hot glass onto a metal marvering table much like one would fling threads of chocolate sauce onto a white cake. These components are necessary to make various types of collage glass from the fracture/streamer process to new totally custom and unique creations. Uroboros is often asked to match vintage and antique glass, including that of Tiffany, by artisans and studios restoring or repairing original panels. Eric Lovell has served in the capacity of expert advisor for many important restorations, working with such renowned studios as that of Thomas Venturella. Shards of Tiffany’s original glass are sent to Uroboros for careful matching to create replacement glass that will extend the life of the work for another hundred years, seamlessly filling in broken or missing pieces of the design. The same attention to quality and detail that is the mark of a sheet of Uroboros glass is carried over to the two palettes of fusing glass currently in production. Fusion FX90 and System 96 each have a distinct palette of colors and textures, some with luxurious rainbow iridized coating, giving the kiln-forming artist sophisticated color choices and effects for works both functional and artistic.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

All Photos ÂŠ 2006 Brittany Walton

Throughout the factory, from the batchroom to the office, one will find creative individuals and working artists. Besides the glass artist, you will also find artists who work in other media; filmmakers, writers and musicians may be among those ladling glass or packing crates. Uroboros takes pride in working with artists of all types in residencies of varying lengths, each utilizing the creativity of the studio. Some of the artists in residence at Uroboros have included glass pioneers Paul Marioni, Howard BenTre and David Ruth, sculptor and author Lucartha Kohler, internationally known sculptor Mary Van Cline, master of all glass techniques Michael DuPille, Bellingham Washington artist Jewels Durham and local architectural kiln-casting genius, Walter Gordinier. Often the participation of Uroboros frequently supplies glass for specific projects executed in an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio or other facility. This was the case with the special black casting billets produced for the 2004 Hauberg Fellows Group at Pilchuck Glass School, where a glass that resembled Native American carved argillite stone was needed. Uroboros was founded by an artist for artists in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. With feet firmly planted in the tradition of handcast art glass, Uroboros Glass follows in the footsteps of Louis Comfort Tiffany with eyes towards the future of art in glass.

K A TZ Bernard

By Jill Culora

By any measure, Bernard Katz’s hand blown, etched and sandblasted vessels have been highly regarded, and snatched up by gallery owners and collectors the world over. But like many artists, for a long time, Katz has felt there was more he needed to do with his work. His utilitarian vessels -- vibrant, earthy tones and textures, purposely resembling those found in the natural world -- are hand blown before a process of etching and sandblasting reveal the final product. Katz says his work has an obvious link to nature, striving for a sense of order and serenity in a chaotic world. Over the years, Katz has experimented, practicing ancient glass blowing techniques to recreate earthy color and textures in nature such as bark, wood grain, and stone. His results, stunning pieces such as his Tree and Root series, and the Bolinas and Terra Ceia series, were influenced by sculptor Henry Moore’s work using positive and negative space. But Katz needed more. He felt there was something missing. Working in glass is no easy feat. The medium is extremely confining and there’s a lot in the technical process that if not executed properly, can ruin a piece. “Most people don’t understand this about glass,” Katz says. “Hand blowing requires teamwork and you can’t just stop at any moment and have a coffee.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Katz says his work has an obvious link to nature, striving for a sense of order and serenity in a chaotic world.

World Art Glass Quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2006

“There’s a lot that can go wrong, such as dealing with technical flaws that may occur during the process. Critical decisions have to be made in mere seconds. It’s often very stressful. I spent the past two or three years trying different things and I felt I was always missing something.” Then one day in the spring of this year, all of the techniques, influences and micro steps, came together for Katz. “I had finished a piece I had been working on. It felt complete and resolved – much better than any of the work I had done in the past few years,” he says.

Epiphany The piece, called Trans Bolinas, combines a sandblasted layer of translucent glass with an etched layer exposing a layer of underlying wood-grained glass. A negative space near the center of the vessel provides an unexpected view of what lies beyond the piece. “Sandblasting can look very mechanical and I wanted to have a freehand look to my pieces. Sandblasting allows me to get various color tones and the light could come through – to take advantage of the way the glass plays World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

with light. It’s an effect that works very well,” he says. The negative spaces, the holes, are created using a pinching technique to open the vessel up during the blowing process. Katz says there are definitely some tricks involved in the technique, learned through practice and problem solving. Before the piece is finished, Katz spends countless hours in his cold working room, grinding, sandblasting and polishing. The new work also addresses an old conflict in Katz: “It’s more sculptural, in the one-of-a-kind arena. I’ve moved from the utilitarian route.” The epiphany is one of two pivotal moments of change for Katz, the other occurring more than a decade ago when the event of his car breaking down led to an offer to sell some of his sculptural pieces. At the time he was working at a glass studio, struggling to pay his bills and making sculptural pieces after hours. A couple pieces soon became dozens and before Katz knew it, he was selling more than he could produce in his spare time, so he opened his own studio – Sharp Sheet Glass in Philadelphia in 1996. Katz’s new work is also less literal – it takes aspects within nature, but leaves interpretation to its audience. As complete as Katz feels about his new work, he worries that the new pieces might alienate long-time customers and loyal gallery owners with whom he has enjoyed a 10 year relationship. “People don’t necessarily like a lot of the change. But this change has been good because I feel I can move forward now. The change was difficult because I had to reinvent what I was going to be doing.

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“Nature is a ready-made canvas”.

Forces Katz, who is a graduate of Temple University’s School of Fine Arts, says there have been other driving forces to change his work besides a deep-seated passion to work as a glass artist. Early in his career, glass blowers were making reasonable livings producing utilitarian objects such as vases and ornaments. Today, those artists are competing for the buying power of less discerning consumers who are content purchasing “made in China” look-a-likes. “A funky vase in 1992 is now available at discount stores” he says. “So I knew I had to change. I just wasn’t sure about 86

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

how radical I should go.” Katz had also always envisioned himself as a one-of-a-kind glass sculptor. That was fresh out of college, before the economic reality of paying the rent set in. For nearly 20 years he has worked as a production glass blower. And now he finally sees changes in the art glass world that will pave the way for his sculpture work. “I’m realizing that in my newer work I’m losing more and more of the functionality element, because that’s becoming a less important aspect of the work…I do believe that due to the economic changes in the studio glass movement, glass will find more of an audience in the fine art arena in the future.”

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

“No one can copy you when your work gets so evolved. Survival Putting himself in his work is one way he protects himself from the emerging market of inexpensive imported hand-blown glass work from Asia. “No one can copy you when your work gets so evolved. It has so much of you in each piece,” he explains. Katz says he’s driven by the need to produce beautiful objects for people to enjoy, and nature has been a large part of his inspiration in a visceral way. “Nature is a ready-made canvas,” says Katz, who grew up in Williamsport Pennsylvania and has a love for the outdoors. “I remember when I first started out I had an apartment at college and there was this tree in front of my window. I couldn’t see the tops or the bottom, just the middle section of the tree. I remember seeing the sky change behind that tree – the difference in color when the sun set or when there were clouds. I think my work stems from the positive experiences I’ve had in nature where there is less stress – it slows me down a pace.” Katz says there’s very little innovation in the basic steps of glass blowing – core techniques have been around for several hundred years. “You take aspects of your personal experiences, influences from other artists, and you try to make it your own. Sometimes people can blow glass well, 88

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

It has so much of you in each piece,” Katz explains.

but they don’t pull any of themselves into the piece.”

“It’s a constant tug-of-war between the limitations of glass and the unlimited possibilities of glass, and that is what sometimes dictates the direction you go.” Bernard Katz’s work was recently presented to the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya for inclusion in her museum. All photos by Addison Geary- © 2006 Bernard Katz

World Art Glass Quarterly – Fall 2006

Accent on Design “Always keep the client’s perspective and best interests in mind,” says Lila Levinson, the creative heart and soul of Accent on Design. It’s a philosophy that’s guided her interior design practice since 1980. Back then, friends and family kept asking her to take on design projects for them. “Eventually, I figured, if I’m going to do this, I might as well do it right.” For Levinson, “doing it right” meant picking up a design degree and the right credentials — becoming a professional member of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), a CKD (Certified Kitchen Designer) and a CID (Certified Interior Designer). To look at the wall in her office filled with design awards — including Designer of the Year in 1990 — and accolades of every shade from best furniture design to best Lila Levinson

ASID, CKD, CID

kitchen and bath, Levinson must be doing something very right indeed. “Every project is unique and created to satisfy the needs, desires and tastes of my clients,” Levinson says. “We start with the architecture and look at everything — natural and artificial lighting, privacy, ventilation,

scale and proportion, traffic flow and maintenance as well as actual furnishings and finishes. As a designer, I go to a much greater level of detail than clients usually realize and my experience, product knowledge and sources make the process much easier for them. One client actually said, ‘How do you spell relief? L - I - L - A!’” Levinson is an excellent space planner and color coordinator, bringing these skills along with her construction knowledge and artistic eye to all projects whether they are construction-related or home furnishings and decorating. She and her staff help clients through the infinite decision process and often act as a team member along with the client, architect and builder to see that the project is cohesive. “In the end,” Levinson says, “the result must be timeless, comfortable and approachable— a place which satisfies clients’ needs and makes their dreams come true.”

Accent on Design Santa Clara, California 408.988.4600 www.accentondesign.net