The excellent Pilchuck Glass School where I spent two weeks as part of a multiples and mixed media class with the awesome Lance Freidman as teacher, Karen Donnellan and Jonathan Chapman as TA's, I have to say I had no idea what to expect (apart from knowing the class would be about multiples, mixed media and connections) and that was a good thing, the first project included eggs...
Now let me explain, the initial project was about finding a way to think outside the box when it comes to connecting identical objects leaving the objects (eggs) visible and an integral part of the design, but also being able to carry and transport them easily. Using elastic bands this is what I came up with, I am not going to go into to much detail with the projects but hopefully a bit later on I will be able to add some images of the work I made during the class.
I was incredibly fortunate to be re-united with some very good friends and JamFactory 2008/9 team Amanda Dziedzic and Mariella McKinley, I worked with these guys for two years straight! Having left Australia in February I haven't seen them for a few months, so this was an amazing coincidence that we were all selected for classes in the first session at Pilchuck Glass School this year! Amanda and Mars were both selected forKaren and Jasen Willenbrink-Johnsen's class which looked astounding as you can see from the owl that Karen chose to make in a demo (pictured below). Picture above courtesy of Amanda Dziedzic.
Yes as with many summer school programs there are the essential parties that one simply must attend! This one involved a lot of glitter and very odd costumes.....also beer and dancing, fun was had by all.
And my first Hot Dog.....
Now to the serious bit, making the glass, below are some of the expertly crafted tools used to produce some beautiful, inventive contemporary glass..... and yes that is a carrot.
The above pictures show the 'Magic cup competition' which is basically 'who can make a cup using the most absurd tool imaginable', you only get one and you don't get to pick it yourself, mine was the cinder block and this was my cup, I was pretty pleased with myself.
NOW for the serious glass....Amanda Dziedzic making a beautiful and awesome Japanese inspired radish and lovely life like Fruit made by Mariella McKinley. These gals made some amazing work in there hot sculpting class and I heard they learnt quite a lot as well.
Below I have added a few images of the work that was produced during the class I was taking, my desk shot is the first one. The class wasn't about producing finished pieces it was more idea's based and everyone managed to produce some incredible work in a really short amount of time.
Beautiful Sunset, our view from the Lodge
Well I think that's it for Pilchuck
Now on to Seattle and New York....
Big thanks to Clare Wilson for sharing her experience with us here on JamPacked! And we love to see what Amanda Dziedzic and Mariella McKinley are up to as well. We posted images of Amanda's work, available in the shop, on our Facebook page last week and Mariella's work will be on display in GalleryOne as part of Transparency, opening 6 July.
You can find Clare's blog on www.clarelwilsonglass.blogspot.com.au/
and follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/jamfactory.sa
or twitter twitter.com/#!/jamfactoryau
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