November 2012 Artist-in-Residence: Andrew Erdos

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Mandy Kritzeck

Headed into his senior year of high school in the summer of 2002, Andrew Erdos came to The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass to take a glassmaking class with Stephen Powell. Ten years later, Erdos returned to The Studio as an artist-in-residence, having had successful solo and group exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally.

The opportunity to study glass sculpture at The Studio as a teen, he says, “gave me the confidence to pursue glass as a career.” He jokes that his plans up to then had been to study finance, as a rebellion against his artistic family. Instead, he applied early decision to art school.

Artist-in-residence Andrew Erdos works on a blown glass sculpture.

It wasn’t long after graduating with a BFA in glass from Alfred University in 2007 that Erdos began making his way into the art scene. That same year, his work was included in a major group show in Beijing alongside artists such as John Cage and Kiki Smith. It was this event that Erdos defines as the “start” of his professional career and the moment that he came into his own, yet in retrospect he acknowledges that his childhood was “all about art and building installations.”

Andrew Erdos' silverized glass sculptures resemble futuristic animals.

In Melt From Us, Like the Substance of a Dream, Erdos’ installation at Art Miami in 2011, his silverized, futuristic glass sculptures reflected in a mirrored room, where the viewer was completely immersed in a sensory experience. All of the work in the installation was made at The Studio. He used video projected on the ceiling to activate the reflective surfaces of the almost alien-like animal forms. Footage of a sunrise over abandoned ruins in the deserts of Arizona played along with the sun setting over the skies of New York City. The contrast between an abandoned civilization and a visual representation of the western world intrigued Erdos, who says that he’s fascinated by complicated relationships: culture and technology, nature and science. His work incorporates glass sculpture, video, performance, and sound to explore these intersections, but not to make a definitive statement. He remains a neutral observer of humankind’s place in the stages of world history.

For his next installation, Erdos plans to include video footage from a recent trip Iceland. He’s intrigued by the geological makeup of the land, which he says, having a high concentration of silica, relates to glass in its rawest form.

In his recent November 2012 Residency at The Studio, Erdos created work for his upcoming April 2013 solo exhibition at the Claire Oliver Gallery in New York City. For the exhibition, he has crafted an even larger interactive installation than what was at Art Miami. Erdos continues to explore with video components in his installations, noting that as video is the controlled transmission of light, and glass is the best material for transmitting light, the two are a perfect complement.

November 2012 Artist-in-Residence: Andrew Erdos

Artist-in-Residence Andrew Erdos at The Studio.

He enjoys working with glass as a material. “There is no reason to make art unless you truly enjoy it. I absolutely love glass. It was a raw energy, a raw power that can’t be found in other materials. Glass is a living organism: it moves, it generates heat, it brings a power that the material provides, not that the artist brings to it.”

Winner announced for Donà Tools giveaway in honor of Elio Quarisa

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

Vermont glass artist Ethan Bond-Watts has been selected to receive the set of 14 glassblowing tools donated to The Studio in memory of Elio Quarisa by Roberto Donà, toolmaker and owner of Carlo Donà.

Filigrana Goblets by Ethan Bond-Watts

In his thoughtful tribute, Ethan remembered the maestro’s words of encouragement.

You are my student. And now you will make the glass. And in the future, you will be the teacher and you will have students. You will teach for them like I teach for you. This is how we learn glass in Venice for a thousand years.” He pauses to let it sink in. “Now, it is your turn, in America.” He smiles, with pride, with humility.

The judges selected Ethan’s entry out of the thirty-two submissions received from artists across the world who shared their work along with stories and memories of the beloved teacher. In his submission, titled Il Maestro Mio Ethan shared great memories from Elio’s lessons on glass, and life.

“Proud, very proud,” Elio pulls back his shoulders and puffs up his chest. He lowers his chin, “but humble, always humble.” He is modeling the “drago,” the dragon that carries the cup on so many of his goblets. “For the swan,” he continues, “multo delicato,” this time it’s in the hands and wrists. He makes two dainty A-OK’s, and tilts them up as he lowers his arms, forming two tiny winglets at his waist. I am amazed at how convincingly a muscular 70-year-old Italian man can go into character as the mythological archetype of femininity and grace. “Please… I show you,” he silently whips an iron out of the pipe warmer. He takes his gather, the light and heat of the furnace make his face glow.

Horse Cornucopia by Ethan Bond-Watts

“His wonderful narrative of his experiences with Elio brought him alive for me again,” said one of the contest judges. “For the wonderful way he shared “Elio-isms,” through his numerous, sensitive description of Elio’s looking at glass, love and life, Ethan captured Elio’s essence. I think Elio would laugh and say “Bravo, Ethan.”

Elio and Sam, shared by Nikolaj Christensen of East Falls Glassworks, Philadelphia

“I want to thank everyone who sent in their memories.” said Amy Schwartz, director of The Studio, “The community that Elio created through glass and teaching was special. It was a privilege to help students connect with Elio and I am glad to see that community continue on in his memory here at The Studio.”

To read Ethan’s submission, as well as the others written in memory of Elio, visit the Remembering Elio page on The Corning Museum of Glass’ Flickr photostream.

Bacon pizza and a cheeseburger goblet: John Miller at 2300°

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

At November’s 2300°: Americana, glass artist John Miller turned the Hot Glass Innovation Stage into a glass kitchen, crafting a goblet with a cheeseburger stem and a slice of hot glass pizza. I asked him about the experience and more about his work.

You’ve been to The Corning Museum of Glass before, right John?

The first time I came to the Museum was in 1994 and the Libenský/Brychtová show was up and it completely blew me away. I was just driving through town as a student. And I came to the Glass Art Society conference in 2000 and was asked to come back and teach at The Studio the following summer. Visiting the Museum gives me enough inspiration to last a year; till the next time I come back and then I can revitalize myself at the Library and everything.

Tell me about what you worked on at 2300° tonight

This evening we did a cheeseburger goblet, Venetian style, that we stuck all together hot. I think it was about 12 lbs. And then we did a slice of pepperoni and bacon pizza.

I have to ask – why bacon?

Everything has to be decadent. The work that I make; it can’t be good for you; even the lettuce kills me to put it on, when I’m putting it on the cheeseburger. So it had to be the meat lovers special, no green peppers or anything good like that –pineapple? No way. Has to be old-school American, diner style, everything has to be bad for you.

The cheeseburger goblet

Diner style is kind of your thing

When I was 5 or 6, I used to go a drive-in diner all the time with my father and it really became part of my personality and my upbringing. When I started making more sculptural work, I started to sketch crinkle-cut fries on napkins everywhere I went and I knew I had to make the work at some point. And it really just exploded. And, it’s a little bit of social commentary on the Route 66 Americana thing. I really embraced that and the whole hot rod scene and the 50’s scene is part of the whole thing.

Why is glass your medium for interpreting those cultures?

It was something, in the beginning, that was a challenge for me – just to try to be proficient. And then I started realizing with the sculptural work that I could freeze gesture and also use the color palette that glass offers in different ways than paint, ceramics, or print making offers. It’s just a way I can really replicate surfaces. Sandblast surfaces to soften them – like bread. And leave them shiny – like grease – on bacon and burgers and things like that. It’s a really versatile material for me and it’s really fun to work with.

When did you get started in glass?

I got started in 1987 at Southern Connecticut State University, and it was just a mistake. I walked into the glass studio because Bill Gudenrath was doing a demonstration. I had no idea who he was. I walked in and was blown away. I signed up for beginning glassblowing classes the next semester, and that was that; it was over.

And now you’re teaching at The Studio. You have a class this week.

It’s a very short three-day intensive class with six students. I’m going to scale everything down a little bit and what I’m going to concentrate on is the one-on-one. I’m going to let the students get used to the shop and then examine how they work with the material and then find out what they want to make and then help them execute that by demonstrations – it will be exciting.

John Miller with Marlo Cronquist during his three-day workshop. Photo provided by Marlo Cronquist.

Tell me more about tonight

People were pretty happy. You know, feed them some food and a few drinks and put them in front of some glassblowing and that is that. They love it. But they were yelling and screaming and clapping and we were throwing t-shirts out. I think it went well.

Did anything unexpected happen this evening?

Sure, we were taking off the cheeseburger goblet and it fell apart in our hands. We put it back in the kiln and it stuck back together. It happens – at least it didn’t hit the floor, but that’s more dramatic anyways! But everything else went nice and smoothly. It’s a beautiful shop, great assistants, and just a wonderful place to be in general.

Is there anything else you want to share with us?

I like to eat cappuccino beans on my cereal. Chocolate covered.

More glass from the workshop – an over-sized soda glass, key and doughnut. Photo provided by Marlo Cronquist.

See more photos from John’s 2300° show on Flickr: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCS9Ne1

Donà Tools giveaway honors the legacy of Elio Quarisa

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Lindsay Woodruff

Elio Quarisa was a beloved Italian maestro and instructor who taught at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass for many years, as well as in other studios and glass schools throughout the country. He loved to share Venetian glassworking techniques with the world, and his impact on the lives of many glass artists is undeniable. After his death in 2010, The Studio, along with close friends of Elio’s, set up a scholarship fund in Elio’s name to continue to support the passion he instilled in his students. To further carry on his memory, Roberto Donà, toolmaker and owner of Carlo Donà, has donated 14 glassblowing tools to The Studio to be given to an artist who is passionate about Venetian glassblowing.

Those who knew him personally share fond memories of him as a man with a kind heart and an aptitude for teaching. “Elio’s greatest lesson for me – Whatever you bring into the shop will manifest itself in your glass. If you approach your work with passion, humility and respect, great things will happen,” writes Eric Meek, Hot Glass Show supervisor at the Museum.

For the giveaway, artists are asked to submit a statement about how they were influenced by Elio, as well as images of their own work. We’ve set up a page displaying the images and statements submitted in memory of Elio. You can see them at www.cmog.org/remembering-elio.

Roberto Dona and Elio Quarisa

The giveaway will provide the winner with the tools necessary to keep this type of glassworking flourishing.

To participate, visit www.cmog.org/remembering-elio. The giveaway is open to artists who have studied under Elio, as well as artists who have a passion for Venetian style glassblowing, to which he dedicated his life. The deadline for submissions is this Saturday, December 1.

October 2012 Artist-in-Residence: Joanna Manousis

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

Joanna Manousis is originally from Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England. Where she’s from, she says, is important to what she makes. She recalls as a child visiting the town market where her grandmother sold buttons and lace. It could have been amongst the rows of glass jars filled with these treasures where Manousis first became interested in glass. As an artist even from a young age, Manousis studied fine art, classical civilization and biology in school, all the while painting and drawing. Of her varied artistic interests, she discloses that her reasoning for continuing to work in glass is simply: “because it’s a challenge.”

Manousis earned a B.F.A. in Glass from The University of Wolverhampton, England, and came to the U.S. to study at Alfred University in 2008. She received her M.F.A. in Sculpture in 2010, and has since been continuing her work in blown and kiln-cast sculpture.

“My work,” Manousis states, “captures and animates liminal moments, revealing a world in which objects, beings and places are interconnected and in flux. I re-appropriate objects that exist in the world as a device to lure and engage a universal audience.”

: Lace

: Self-Contained Spray

: Life Lists

: Pomegranate from Inverted Vanitas

Her Lace series (2007) draws from childhood memories and the contradiction of fragility and strength. The Self-Contained Spray series (2007-08), cast glass bottles, sandblasted and portrait painted, is a comment on the 1950s kitsch nostalgia in today’s society. 2010’s Life Lists, included in New Glass Review 32, is a series of thin hand-painted pâte de verre sheets, hung to move and catch the light of projected written to-do lists. Inverted Vanitas (2010) incorporates a pâte de verre skin encompassing the mirrored internal flesh of a pomegranate, complete with glass seeds.

During her October 2012 residency at The Corning Museum of Glass, Manousis created works for her upcoming shows: Old and New, a solo show at The Philadelphia Art Alliance running now through January 2012, and New Visions at the Wexler Gallery in 2013.

At work in The Studio's hot shop.

This work brought a unique occupant to the artist-in-residence studio at the Museum in the form of a large taxidermied peacock. Manousis was on a bus in Seattle when she first saw a peacock in a store window. “I did a double take – it looked so real that it might fly off its perch.” She knew that she wanted to incorporate a peacock into her work, but the concept took a few years to formulate. As part of the Fertile Groundseries, flameworked and cast crystal succulent cacti are incorporated to explore the questions of “What is real?” and “What is artifice?” as the viewer encounters “mere reflections of what the living entities once were.”

“It’s over-the-top embellishment,” says Manousis, “The bird doesn’t need decoration.”

Manousis uses glass to induce reflection—both physically and metaphorically. Her other major work involved casting large scale mason jars. Work on the jars began the first day of her residency, as the objects would take just about two weeks to anneal. The interior of each jar had an individual mold, the negative space of an object sitting atop the exterior of the jar, in this case, a magpie. “Human, chimps, and magpie are the only animals to recognize their own reflection,” said Manousis. After casting the jar, the glass is acid polished for clarity, and then the interior form is given a reflective mirrored surface, in effect creating a 3D reflection of the external viewer.

When asked if she feels as though she has reached a certain level as an artist, Manousis replied, “I don’t see there being a pinnacle, because you never know what’s in the future.”

Local glass artist Lindsay Woodruff learns coldworking techniques for jewelry at The Studio

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Lindsay Woodruff

Although I grew up in Corning and had visited the Museum before, I never could have guessed the impact glass would have on my life. When I began working at the Museum as an Explainer in high school, a new world was opened up for me as I learned about the history, science, and technology of glass from curators and other experts. My curiosity about this material grew after watching dozens of Hot Glass Shows, and I started taking classes at The Studio when I was 17 years old.

I explored flameworking and glassblowing techniques through The Studio for the past several years and found my niche in flameworked jewelry. In my work, I enjoy pushing the limits of the soft glass I work with, which is sensitive to temperature shifts and prone to cracking, by creating sculptural beads. Recently, I have been focusing on expressive sculptural pieces, which are great for display but are not intended to be worn. Ultimately, my objective is to create quality pieces of wearable art, so to steer myself in that direction, I took Don Friedlich’s class, Coldworking: Jewelry and Sculptural Forms class at The Studio this September.

I admire the gemstone-like quality of coldworked jewelry and sculptures by artists like Martin Rosol and Pavel Novak, and I wanted to gain an understanding of how they worked and be able to find my own use for the techniques. In the class I learned how to cut glass with diamond saws, grind with flat wheels and lathes, polish, engrave, and drill holes. It opened me up to shapes and finishes that can be achieved by the gradual removal of cold glass. Don also dedicated a portion of the class to jewelry assembly – findings, mechanisms, and glues. In retrospect, I don’t know how we managed to fit so much material into six days.

Don Friedlich instructs Lindsay Woodruff on the flat wheel at The Studio.

The Museum, The Studio, and the Rakow Research Library are all phenomenal resources, and I am very fortunate to have them so close to me. The Studio facilities are well-maintained and well-stocked with quality tools and quality technicians, and I often feel spoiled when I’m there. For instance, in class I discovered that the coldshop runs heated water to the machines, providing maximum comfort while working. Being a student at The Studio involves other perks, like lectures, opportunities to meet with experts in glass art and research, lessons on how to photograph glass, and in-depth tours.

My other experiences during the week were invaluable. My class met with the Curatorial Assistant of Modern Glass to look at modern jewelry that is not currently on display. Former Steuben engraver Max Erlacher stopped by to give a demonstration of engraving cuts. I got a massage halfway through the week by a masseuse The Studio brings in for students, empowering my body to keep working through the busy schedule. On top of that, I spent the week with interesting, creative people who share my passion for glass and my passion for jewelry.

Objects made in Don Friedlich’s class, Coldworking: Jewelry and Sculptural Forms

All of this was made possible by the Celebrity Cruises Glassmaking Scholarship I received. It not only paid for tuition – it gave me the stress-free, glass-centric week I had been craving for a long time. I now feel more refreshed, inspired, and motivated than ever before and I can’t wait to get started on materializing some of my new ideas.

Laura Donefer and Jeff Mack at The Studio: September 2012 Collaborative Residency

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Lindsay Woodruff

Each year, The Studio invites selected instructors who have taught intensive courses during winter or summer class sessions over the past five years to apply for the Instructor Collaborative Residency, a seven- to ten-day residency held in September. The chosen artists have access to The Studio facilities to create a collaborative body of work with one or two other glassmakers of their choice. This September, The Studio hosted Laura Donefer, a Canadian artist and travelling instructor who teaches regularly at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and The Studio, and Jeff Mack, studio manager at the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion who also teaches courses at The Studio.

Laura Donefer and Jeff Mack

“The only artist I wanted to work with was Jeff,” Laura says. The pair was eager to continue a collaboration born in 2010. That year, Jeff and Laura began making experimental pieces together during Laura’s residency at the Glass Pavilion. This year, the artists and their four assistants used ten days in The Studio to refine the work made in Toledo, which they describe as “classically creative contained chaos.”

Jeff Mack and Laura Donefer at work in The Studio's hot shop.

The pieces are “a marriage of our styles and skills,” said the pair, combining Jeff’s skill in executing classical techniques with Laura’s eye for color and texture to create medium- and large-scale traditional vessel forms that seemingly float within textured clear glass on the perimeter of the vessel. This surface is made by adding a large bit of glass to the exterior wall of the vessel and pressing designs into the hot glass with special tools, like gears, springs, and stamps, a technique Laura calls “bizzling.”

Jeff Mack and Laura Donefer's hot glass piece is warmed at the furnace in Corning

Special tools like gears, springs, and stamps create what Laura calls "bizzling."

The artists credit The Studio for “making life easier” over the ten days they spent working and experimenting with glass. On top of having access to The Studio’s tools, colors were mixed in the hot shop’s color pot furnace, and many other colors were ordered especially for the residency. Not only were the artists-in-residence given the time, facilities, and materials to complete their work, but they were also provided with food, transportation, and room and board during their stay. Without much to worry about other than their work, Jeff and Laura were able to maintain their go-with-the-flow attitude as they developed their work.

The Instructor Collaborative Residency serves as a thank you to instructors for being a part of The Studio community, according to Studio director Amy Schwartz. In addition to this program, The Studio aims to be an advocate for glass artists by providing classes, scholarships, and month-long residency programs, which host one or two individual artists in March, April, May, October, and November of every year.

Interested in a residency at The Studio? The deadline for proposals is October 31, 2012. Visit http://www.cmog.org/glassmaking/studio/residencies for more information.

Telling a story in glass: Celebrity Scholarship recipient Elizabeth Fortunato

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Lindsay Woodruff

Elizabeth Fortunato began studying glassblowing at the Pittsburgh Glass Center through a high school program. She continued working with glass through college, exploring kiln working at Kent State. This summer, she was awarded a Celebrity Cruises Glassmaking Scholarship to take Erica Rosenfeld and Leo Tecosky’s class, Cross Pollination at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass.

In this class, students designed patterns out of Bullseye glass murrine and fused the glass into a solid block. This type of glass, typically used for kilnforming applications, was brought into the hot shop where it was heated, rolled up onto a blowpipe, and formed into objects.

As a kiln working glass artist, Elizabeth doesn’t generally blow glass to make her pieces. Instead, she recreates found objects in cast glass, making molds from everyday objects like hats, tools, houses, and suitcases – “anything I can tell a story with.” The tradition of storytelling is an inspiration to her, and her work is her “rendition of a true or fictional story.” Her classwork was primarily formed by slumping in the kiln.

While in Corning, Elizabeth sought to meet other artists and aimed to “see how much I can learn.” In the week-long class, she absorbed knowledge and exchanged ideas with other students from various backgrounds. The techniques she learned have provided her with new elements that she now has the option to incorporate into her style.

Elizabeth Fortunato at The Studio

“Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t be here,” she says. At the post-collegiate stage in her life, the receipt of the scholarship enabled her to take the “fun, fast-paced class” in a well-maintained studio with multiple ovens and a state-of-the-art hot shop. Elizabeth also took advantage of the other perks of taking a class at The Studio, including a tour of the eleven large-scale glass sculptures in the Corning Inc. Headquarters building, free admission to the Museum, and the use of the Rakow Research Library.

Learn more about the Celebrity Cruises Glassmaking Scholarship Fund, and others.

See the 1-hour Live-Stream demonstration from Erica Rosenfeld & Leo Tecosky’s course – Cross Pollination at The Studio: http://youtu.be/ERtj0HNYf1g

The Museum’s new website is live

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

We’ve launched a redesigned website at www.cmog.org. The site offers new content, increased access to the Museum’s collection and new user-friendly features. The front page serves as a starting point to explore 35 centuries of glass art: the site now features thousands of videos, articles, images and resources on glass and glassmaking.

“The Corning Museum of Glass is the authority on glass, and we wanted to make as many of our resources available online as we could,” says Karol Wight, executive director. “We’ve made new digitized materials from our Library available, are sharing every single video we’ve ever produced and are publishing articles that address glass from many angles. Visitors to our site can easily access information about glass at any level that interests them.”

The redesigned site provides a new integrated search function that allows visitors to access more than 200,000 records from both the Museum’s comprehensive collection of art and historical glass and the Rakow Research Library’s collection of archival and reference materials on the history of glass and glassmaking.

More than 30 years of images from the Museum’s prestigious annual journal, New Glass Review, are now available to view online for the first time. An All About Glass section features more than 350 videos, 100 articles, and 225 recently digitized books from the Rakow Research Library, as well as glass term definitions and podcasts.

Some of the highlights you’ll want to check out:

An enhanced way to browse the collection. Search both the glass collection and the collection of the Rakow Research Library at the same time. Search by object, artist/maker, color, and more. In each record you’ll find information about related multimedia, publications and exhibitions.
A new collection set feature. Save glass collections objects, articles, events, and media across the site into your own collection set. This is an excellent tool for research and sharing. Create public sets to share, or keep them private in your own account.
An All About Glass section that includes more than 350 videos, 100 articles, and 225 digitized books from the Rakow Research Library, as well as glass term definitions and podcasts.
More than 30 years of images from our annual journal, New Glass Review. Filter by artist, juror’s picks, technique, and more.
An improved calendar that helps you plan your visit. See the demonstration schedule for the day you’re visiting, as well as any exhibitions on view and special events taking place. Visit our mobile site to plan your visit on the go.
Online registration for glassmaking classes at The Studio. Sign up and pay online in just a few convenient steps. It’s easy to find one that fits your needs: you can sort by level of experience, teacher, technique, and length of class.

The Museum partnered with IMA Lab, the media and technology group at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the website redesign project. IMALab designed and developed the site, working on new solutions to bring the Museum’s various collections to the web.

We hope you’ll explore and let us know what you think. Simply use the feedback button you’ll find in the bottom right-hand corner on the website.

Crusin’ to the Glassblower’s Bench

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Mandy Kritzeck

I recently sat down with Beth Bell from Clearwater, FL, who was at The Studio taking the class “Next Steps in Glassblowing” with Harry Seaman. Beth got hooked on glass when she saw the Museum’s Hot Glass Show aboard the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship, and her journey to taking a glassblowing class at Corning has included fourteen transatlantic crossings!

What made you decide to come to The Studio to take a glassblowing class?

Well, I was on the Solstice, the first ship I was on of the Celebrity Cruises that had glassblowing. And I went up and I watched it, and I got hooked! I watched four hours a day, every day we were at sea. It was a transatlantic so we had a lot of days at sea. And that was it! From that point, when I got home, I figured I was too old to do it, and so I decided to try something else. But then I came back and thought, well why not? And so I did! And I took a few classes and decided to come here to take a class.

Tell me more about the cruise

I’ve taken a lot of cruises on Celebrity. I’ve done fourteen transatlantic cruises and I’ve taken twenty cruises overall.

Wow!

We just really like them. But since I’ve done the Solstice, with one exception, I’ve stayed on ships with glassblowing. So I’ve been on Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox pretty exclusively because that’s what I do when I’m at sea – watch the glassblowing.

And how many hours would you say that you’ve watched?

Oh, well, it’s roughly four hours a day for at least eight days, so that’d be 32 hours a trip. So, a couple hundred hours! And to be honest, I think it’s really helped me do this, because I’ve seen them do the same thing over and over again. I know what they’re going to do next. And the other thing is, I’ve gotten to know some of the glassblowers, and I stay in touch with them, we email, and I’ve seen them again on ships, so that’s nice. And all of them I know are not here right now, a couple are out on the ships, but this is the class I wanted to take.

Do you have a favorite glassblower?

I honestly think the most entertaining to watch is Annette Sheppard. She’s just fun to listen to, and fun to watch. I’ve been on at least two cruises with her. And Eric Goldschmidt is the other one. I really enjoy what he makes.

Did you ever win anything?

Yes! Finally! It took me, I think, seven cruises before I finally won something. I was up there some days where there were only six or eight of us, and it’s raining, we’re huddled under blankets and it’s cold. And still, the person on each side of me wins. But I finally won, and I’ve only won once. I have bought pieces from the auction they have. I bought a very beautiful pitcher, it’s about 20 inches tall and it’s got horizontal purple on the front, and horizontal red on the back so looking through it you have a third color. Lewis Olsen did that one. And I’ve got a dish he made, I’ve bought four or five pieces.

After watching on the ship, what made you want to try making glass?

I’ve actually worked with glass before; I made beads for a number of years. And it’s just, I don’t know how to describe it, because it really is that fact that you’re taking something liquid and you’re making it into something solid and you’re having to balance it on the end of a pipe while you do it. And you’re working on it in little increments, and it goes from a blob – to a thing! And I find that kind of fun.

What class are you taking here at The Studio?

I’m taking Next Steps in Glassblowing. It’s a little above beginner, but basically beginner glassmaking.

What kind of things are you making?

Well, we’ve been working very hard to get thin glass and to get crisp shapes. Not just whatever you end up with, but actually making what you intend to make. I’m trying to do a tumbler, and now I’m trying to do a tumbler with a nice lip wrap. If I accomplish that in this class, I’ll be happy. Although, I’ve actually made two bottles! And I didn’t ever think I could make a bottle. I don’t know enough to do one, and yet I did it! And on top of that, you do these bottles without an assistant, so they’re fun.

But see, at home there really isn’t anywhere I can blow glass, so when I take a business trip I’ll find a studio nearby and try to get in a few hours in different cities. Other than classes, I don’t get to do much glassblowing. But, I’m getting ready to go on the Eclipse again in October, so I’ll watch the glassblowing. And then I’m coming back to the States on the Eclipse and then I fly back out to Rome and come back on the Equinox – so I’ve got two more two-week cruises to see glassblowing!

Is there anything else that you want to share?

Go on a cruise! You need to go on a cruise with glassblowing! It’s two hours of glassblowing, so you get a lot of in-depth information, you get a lot of funny stories, and it’s really entertaining. It’s fun, you’re sitting on top of the ship, you’ve got a lawn behind you, out as far as you can see is ocean, and they’re blowing glass! How much better does the world get? So, you need to go on a cruise!

Beth Bell went from watching glassblowing in the audience onboard a Celebrity Solstice cruise ship, to doing glassblowing herself in a class at The Studio.

Corning Museum of Glass

Behind the Glass

Tag Archives: studio