Featured Artist
Featured Artist
by elizabeth on January 8, 2012
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Belated Happy New Year!
2011 was a tough year for this volunteer at AISG. Starting in March, with my father succumbing to cancer and two beloved feline companions getting ill and dying - one on Christmas day, itself, I am gladly looking forward - and have settled my grief to hopefully get things moving again on the website.
It's not rocket science to notice our membership is down. The discretionary dollar has been hit hard and is finally catching up and impacting artists. Shows, exhibitions and markets are all reflecting the looking but not really buying trend. I know we are an innovative bunch and will muddle on despite some huge changes in our industry. Here's to hoping 2012 is going to see some global stability and some growth so people feel more comfortable about adding something beautiful to their home, business or place of worship.
So if there is any kind of bubbly still left in the fridge, including plain ole pop, I hope you will say goodbye 2011 and open you heart and mind to all that is good for 2012!
by Laura Potier Stained Glass on December 21, 2011 Filed Under: STAINED GLASS, ONE OF A KIND HATS, SCULPTURE
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NEW ART BOUTIQUE OPENING IN HAMILTON
Bold Artiste
6 Bold Street
Hamilton (ON) L8P 1T2
(905) 902-2219
by elizabeth on November 27, 2011 Filed Under: NEWS
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Well, here it is four full Sundays before Christmas. Whether you are still recovering from Thanksgiving, by the way, belated Happy Thanksgiving to all our United States friends, or whether you've scored the best deals on Black Friday, supported your local retailers yesterday on Small Business Saturday or are poised with shopping cart bonanzas with a click of the mouse at the ready for tomorrow's Cyber Monday - I hope you are all geared up for the upcoming holidays.
The market trends are very bright with shoppers out and spending more than the last few years. Let us hope this trickles into our hand made, custom made pieces of stained glass art.
There are some glass deals out there: The Canadian Clay and Glass Museum is having a member's sale this weekend, however I'm sure they would love you to visit their shop any day of the year. http://www.theclayandglass.ca
The Corning Museum of Glass too, is having a Thanksgiving blow out, with many great deals across there showroom, any one can feel free to send me a Witch's ball! http://glassmarket.cmog.org
For those of you across the pond, PELI has some news about St Just, like maybe there is an antique glass heaven and they are still making it! http://www.peliglass.eu
Espace VERRE has ongoing exhibitions and recently had a fund raiser - you can check them out ! http://www.espaceverre.qc.ca/
Back in Toronto, the Ontario Crafts Council continues to display the areas best artists - some even working in glass so check them out too.
I'm still getting emails and local calls looking for this or that, which has been discontinued. I know it has been disheartening for many of us, and especially those that use antique glass. I'm hoping that the hushed rumors of the possibility of antique glass supplies coming back are true. As for the tools, and other materials that have seemed to have dried up, well, it's not over yet. Think laterally, do more internet searches and remember that your creativity will find a solution.
Lastly a reminder that Artists in Stained glass members can post directly to the news page regarding any shows or sales. And that if you are desperate for some specific glass, that the wholesaler has run out of, Artists in Stained Glass has opened wholesale accounts with companies further a-field and offers group bulk buying, where hopefully every one can get what they are looking for, without having to buy in at the wholesale minimum. Contact me for more information.
Best Wishes!
by elizabeth on August 24, 2011 Filed Under: NEWS
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The outpouring of sentiment regarding Jack Layton's death is staggering. As sad as it is, to loose anyone we know and care for, Jack's passing appears to have galvanized Canadians in a way that I haven't seen in a very long time.
Like a lightening bolt hitting the sand, the crystalline glass of the moment is bringing new clarity. My sense is, that his life has inspire many of us to recall some of the important values, that Jack lived. And in doing so, shifts in consciousness are occurring. His legacy will be to change the world, now and forever. That's pretty amazing.
When my mother died, I knew immediately that I would design and build a stained glass window in her honor.
When my grandmother died, the question I carried for some time was: how do I honor her death?
Loving stained glass as I do, it was surprising not to also immediately know that stained glass was the appropriate gift. As I pondered this question I realized it was not going to be an expression of art, but the act of living, that was required. This shifted for me the single focus of stained glass as the only expression of my practicing art. Since then, stained glass is still my passion while exploring a less myopic view of my life, almost cross training if you will, spending more time attending to my own health, garden and home.
I am also challenging the perceived notions about what artists lives are like. Do artist have to be poor? Do artists drink too much? Do artists dress outrageously? Do artists spearhead causes or political agendas? Sounds pretty cliche, however it is those unexplored beliefs and values that direct our lives.
Jack offers us continued service by helping take the time to thank him and offer condolences to his family. As we reflect his life, we reflect on our own. For artists it assists our further exploration of the life-death cycle and how we need to express it, not only for ourselves, but also for the community we live in.
by elizabeth on August 23, 2011 Filed Under: NEWS
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I grew up in Toronto. The east end - The Beaches. NDP country for most of my growing up years. This will mean nothing to many of you who have never been to Toronto, except to say in those years it was like living in a small village, within a growing city. The sense that every one knew everyone. That parents could let the children play at the playground, 1/2 a block away, until the street lights came on, because every kid knew they had fives minutes to be home. Where no one worried about bad people, simply because the world was safer then.
Having an quiet artistic disposition, long before I could even articulate it, I wasn't very big on politics, news of the day or world events. Yet yesterday, the news of Jack Layton's death brought tears to my eyes. Despite never having met him, he was our small corner of now a vast mega city's, football hero. A sweet man, which you usually do not or dare not say about a man in public service. His life was dedicated to good works. And even in his passing he was a gentleman to the end writing a beautiful letter of love and hope. I can only hope that when it is my turn that I can be equally gracious and caring. When Jack became the official leader of the opposition it was a stellar moment - the winning touchdown in the big league. That it has ended so soon, is truly sad.
So if you find yourself oddly melancholy or buoyant today, you have likely stepped into the collective unconsciousness of those of us who knew Jack Layton - still grieving or held in his wonderful memories. It is a good thing to be touched by those things that we cannot fully understand. So take a moment and reflect on your good works, hug some one you love and don't take their being there for granted. Jack believed that we have the capacity to change the world with love, hope and optimism. What a great message to share!
by elizabeth on August 22, 2011 Filed Under: NEWS
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There will be time enough to catch up on why the summer has been so quiet.
Today I thought I'd talk a bit about letting go. Yesterday, my bevel buddy, Dennis Swan confirmed that finally he found someone interested in purchasing his beveling equipment. That after only a brief acquaintance and some absolutely fantastic custom bevels, there will be no more. And not even the promise of more. He is ready to move on and I totally understand.
I have a wonderful mentor/teacher that I have known for well over 12 years now. I have been a dedicated student, and continue to be, as well have become a friend, helping her with her garden or moving, or whatever the task might be. When she opened her school 12 years ago, the students built a community / meditation garden on her property. It was stunning. Split rail cedar fencing, apple trees, perennials galore, beautiful hand made garden furniture. It was our hard work and devotional service that kept this garden humming for about seven years.
Like all of our lives, we get called to take on new challenges and explore new avenues. Such was the case with the school. My mentor knew she had to move on and she did. It was easily five years since I had reason to be in the same old area. Being curious I decided to have a look at the old school site.
I almost drove by it. There was nothing on the street that was remotely the same. And worse, this magnificent garden was lost - the grass knee deep, the apple trees cut down, not a flower bed in site. The wisteria that cooled the front porch with it's boughs, simply dead wood hanging limp like one of the window shutters. I was devastated. It was all I could do not to cry.
Driving home, well past my emotional release, I pondered this new reality. I had held this quiet belief that it could not change. That the beauty and potential that was created in that garden would continue on - how could it not? The stark realization that what the group of us created could not be sustained was a valuable lesson.
It's sortta the same thing letting Dennis and his bevels go. The beauty and promise of unexplored bevel potential is gone. Our unique working dynamic, with the contribution of two of our email cohorts, Tod and Jo, has dissolved.
This could sound quite dreary, however with every closed door - a window opens, with every death - a new birth can begin.
The metaphor of the garden is a biblical one. We each tend our own gardens within and without. I wish Dennis all the best in his new life as someone who created amazing bevels once. His life skills at creating, are still with him, so he will have no difficulty creating a new and different garden. I know this to be true for all of us.
So as painful in the moment, of letting something go or change, is, it is the beginning of something new. As artists we know this cycle all too well.
by Elizabeth Steinebach on March 17, 2011 Filed Under: NEWS
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It's been a sad start to the year for the stained glass community with many elders passing.
It is with great sadness that the family of Dieter Goldkühle announced his death on March 9th, 2011 at the age of 72. Born in 1938, Dieter Goldkühle was originally from Weidenbrück Germany. From a family of commercial glass tradesmen, he received a Stained Glass Artisan diploma from the State Glass Making School in Rheinbach. He was interested in ecclesiastical glass and worked for many noted studios throughout Europe as an apprentice and journeyman. In 1962, he moved to the United States and started working in New York City, relocating to Reston, Virginia in 1966.
This month also brings news of the death of master glazier Harry Harvey.
This was posted by Dick's son, Kent:
We're sorry to report that Dick passed away late Saturday night. He'd been receiving treatment for esophageal cancer, which left him in a weakened condition. Unfortunately, it seems that the cancer treatment coupled with a quintuple bypass from a few years ago was too much of a strain on his
heart and he passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Antrim, New Hampshire.
Read more American Glass Guild
by Elizabeth Steinebach on December 24, 2010 Filed Under: NEWS
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Merry Christmas!
Here it is, the morning of Christmas eve. Another year of trials and triumphs, with a lunar eclipse just a few days ago, on the Solstice, only highlighting the dance of light and dark. I hope this celestial event marks the end of the darkness and the symbolic return of light finds each of us in all ways.
Wishing you Joy and Peace.
by submitted by elizabeth on November 29, 2010 Filed Under: NEWS
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Internationally renowned Mosaic artist and author of 4 books on mosaics, Martin Cheek (UK) scheduled to teach a workshop in St Augustine, Florida March 26th and 27th, 2011.
Martin Cheek, www.martincheekmosaics.com who lives and teaches in the UK, is scheduled to teach an Italian Smalti, Millefiori and Glass Fusion Workshop in Historic St Augustine, Florida. March 26th and 27th, 2011. Martin, is an internationally renowned Mosaic Artist and an author of four books on Mosaics. This event is for anyone involved in the Mosaic community, or, anyone who has always wanted to learn the beautiful art of mosaics; this will truly be an unforgettable event.
The course aims to provide an opportunity for those who are new to Smalti, millefiori and / or glass fusions. The experienced participants will expand on those existing skills and develop your personal style and creativity.
As a unique feature of this course, Martin can pre-make bespoke fusions especially for the course participants and their piece.
There are a very limited number of spaces for this workshop, and a waiting list will be created once spaces are filled. For more course information, accommodations and to register please contact host, Christie Chancey Moore www.freestylemosaics.com by email cmmoore28@comcast.net
by Elizabeth Steinebach on November 26, 2010 Filed Under: NEWS
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I'd like to introduce you to a radical new way of looking at glass.
Every stained glass artist, painstakingly selects every piece, devoting hours of time and attention has had the moment of install - and the ah-ha moment. Then in an effort to promote the work, face disappointment trying to capture an image that truly reflects all the nuances and light interactions.
Take a stained glass history course and you'll never know who you will bump into. Not only did we have an excellent course on the history of glass, but also we had opportunity to create a new ebook. This new ebook unfolded with resources within the class - particularly a photographer, who literally took all of us into glass, quite by surprise.
Paul McDonald, could have started his working life at his dad's newspaper office, likely becoming a fine photographer, after a chance work encounter in the dark room. But he didn't. College and then 31 years at IBM stepped in the way. Retired now four years, destiny's path redirected Paul's focus to rekindle an old passion.
Out of the blue, during friendly dinner conversation, Paul offers to photograph his guest's tomb. His friend, an Egyptologist working at the ROM, takes note and six month's later, Paul is in Egypt, the official site photographer. As twists of fate go, Paul is taken by the beauty and the light. The precision of the image documentation is vitally important and this demand for excellence, motivates Paul to better understanding of light and shadow, as well as the limits of camera technology.
When I asked Paul about his interest in stained glass, he responded " That's a fun question: the day I realized I had absolutely no idea how to photograph it. I like a good challenge." This spark of curiosity was further ignited by a friend's desire to photograph his church's windows and Paul decided to tag along.
"I took a selection of photos looking for different types of windows, popped them into my computer and was horrified at just how bad they were. Too light, too dark, poor definition and lack lustre colour. "… "I returned to the church, prints in hand and was even more horrified at how much of the actual window didn't translate in the print."
It took over a year and a half, with hundred's of trial and error prints that truly educated Paul in understanding the medium he was trying to capture. The work that you see now and the introduction of HDR - High Dymanic Range imaging, in my mind, has made every old image of stained glass ineffectual.
Paul's current path has him being paid to photograph churches, both large and small. "I'm not concerned about the religion, it's the challenges that the spaces represent. Their size means they can use the light to their advantage. Plus, the stained glass art tends to be unique, rather than template windows from the larger glass companies."
Paul is available to photograph your stained glass.
You can contact Paul: paul.mcdonald@mac.com
Paul does plan to have a website soon and will keep us posted on his work.
My image of We Worship, outside in natural light
Paul's image of We Worship, using HDR, image also taken outside in natural light