Sunday, November 11, 2007

Invitations

I've invited the four artists listed below to join our discussion of who/what inspires them. When you guys post an artist who inspires you, drop them a line and see if they'll share with us too. Hopefully we can get a good "inspirational" conversation going!!

Oh, and for those of you who don't have acess to post, if you sign up for a google account in the upper right hand corner (which is free) you can post all you want!!

Another name/site

Richard wrote to me and said he had met Marc Petrovic this summer, and really liked his work...I DO TO!! This work is incredible for lots of different reasons. Technically stunning, a little Tongue-in-Cheek and especially "punny", and at the same time, I find layers of content/meaning. Each thought out, and given proper representation. I think Marc's work is really smart, and full of content...even if he is a Red Sox's fan!!!

http://www.marcpetrovic.com/

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Artist that are beneficial to look at

There are tons of really great glassblowers out there, hopefully you'll search around a little on your own and find some that you'd like to share here, with me. These three, below, are friends of mine that I really look up to their technical mastry of the material. Good people, amazing glass workers!!! Their names are not highly recognizable with the likes of Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, or Dante Marioni, but if you ask me...their work is.

Pablo Soto: http://www.desotoglassdesign.com/index.html

Joe Cariati: http://www.joecariati.com/

Kiara Pelissier: http://www.kiarapelissierglass.com/

Students of all levels

I find that it's crucial for students of all levels to get repetition!! The classes I teach here in NY are 3 hours long, one day a week. After demo time the students break up into groups and get about 45 minutes each to practice, and try tog get a handle on the technique that are covered in the demonstration. Then they leave class and come back a week later to do it again. Even if they can wrap their heads and hands around the new techniques in 45 minutes, everything seems to be lost again after an entire week.

SOLUTION: Students need to team up in two's or three's and rent some time during the week to keep their hands, and minds, working with the material! Scheduling is always a conflict, because we all lead busy professional lives, but I think it's highly necessary to work it out with other members of the class.

ALSO, there are a number of people in the city, including myself, that do offer private lessons. While it is more expensive than just renting time...the one on one time (or one on two with a partner) is extremely beneficial!!!