December 2010

 

Second Annual Holiday Group Glass Show

 

Our December exhibit features the exquisite glass art of five diversely talented artists.  Evie Ault’s new body of fused glass work is characterized by brilliant colors and mosaic-like designs. Steven Cornett displays his latest hand blown bowls and vases, as well as his stunning glass lanterns.  Mike Korpa uses various techniques of reverse layering, sandblasting and multiple fusing to create his spectacular glass murals.  Jannie Ledard shows her fused glass jewelry and stained glass mandalas revealing the transformation of light.  Patti Wessman’s new work has evolved to include creative displays of hanging fused and recycled cast glass.

Evie Ault

This year represents an all new body of fused glass work.  Many of the pieces were assembled by placing glass strips on edge.  The method allows for diverse designs, with results similar to the popular method of glass mosaics.

Prior to assembling any design, I first create pattern bars which are cut to size and included in the piece along with the glass strips.

In order to contain the glass on the kiln shelf during firing, a “dam” is made around the pattern by cutting ½” strips of 1/8” fiber paper and gluing them “on edge” along the pattern line.  I then cut the various colors of glass into ½” strips.

Now the pattern is ready for the glass inclusions and strips.  The design lay up inside the dam is the most exciting and tedious portion of the design creation.  Once complete, the shelf is put into the kiln and fired to 1480 degrees.

This has, and continues to be, a truly enjoyable method of glass design and assembly, because it allows a variety of color changes within a tighter design, similar to that of mosaics.

 

Mike Korpa is a man committed to creating fine art using fused glass as a medium.  He has worked with stained glass for 20 years but moved to glass fusion to bring more detail and depth to his work.   His passion is landscapes.  With extensive understanding of glass chemistry combined with his gift in lampworking, each piece contains complex layers of color and texture that take you on a journey inside the piece.

He has studied under such world-renowned artists as Miriam DiFiore and Roger Thomas.

Mike brought his family to the Rogue Valley in 1983 to practice medicine and quickly fell in love with Nature’s beauty that the mountains and the outdoors have to offer.  Being a physician first, his art has become an extension of his healing work…going beyond the physical… into the emotional and spiritual realms.  Each piece will give you its gift in its own unique way.

 

Jannie Ledard
I am fascinated by the ethereal translucent quality of glass. While clear glass provides clarity by reflecting and transmitting light, stained glass transforms light, revealing its texture, color and very spirit. Glass offers endless opportunities to create with the elements of light, color, and texture. As I work with this medium, I find myself being led by invisible guidance toward a more transparent and authentic expression of my own feelings. It is my hope that viewers of my work will feel the same sense of excitement, joie de vivre, peace, serenity and beauty I feel, as parts of me are revealed and unveiled during this artistic process.

When I first began working in this medium, I created stained glass pieces of natural life, primarily representing the forms of birds and flowers. I have now evolved toward a decidedly abstract and organic expression in my work - incorporating fused glass elements and natural gems and stones, such as agates, into my finished works. My inspiration begins with a picture, a feeling, or an idea which I want to express - such as a picture of water, the feeling of the movement of a bird's wing, or the idea of peace. I then choose the textures, the colors and the shapes to express my experience of these.

As I work, listening to my favorite music, the light dances with the colors, the textures, and with me. I spend days joyfully laying out the pattern and soldering the pieces together - ultimately birthing the final piece which began as a wisp of inspiration. May you feel the emotional response, what mythologist and scholar Joseph Campbell described as the aesthetic arrest, when you view my work. May you also feel what I feel as I create it - that you too are walking in the unknown, with invisible guidance.

 

Patti Wessman

I have spent 30 years working in clay, earning an MFA in ceramics from the University of Oregon.  I was first drawn to clay in high school because of its endless capacity for texture.  As a part owner of an herb nursery, I produced art for the garden – birdbaths and birdhouses in my river studio.

Patterns and structures in nature have always captivated me.  I once saw a mural that depicted the microscopic and the cosmic showing their similar structures and I loved it.  I will travel far and wide to view rock formations up close, spend hours watching wave patterns in the river or at the coast, and as a gardener observe vein patterns in leaves and rows of vines and fields.

Color is my other love and I have spent the last eight years working in glass.  Moving between glass and clay has been a natural progression, since they both require kiln work.  I use my clay skills to sculpt clay forms that I cast using recycled glass.

I got involved in fusing glass on a large scale when I was asked to help students, parents, and staff create 850 fused glass tiles for the bathrooms of a new school.  I have been fusing glass and teaching classes ever since.

I have been fortunate in receiving a number of public art commissions over the years and both my own glasswork and ceramic tile murals are in public spaces.

 

Steven Cornett

From the moment I first saw glass being blown, I was mesmerized by its molten glow.   The process drew me in, igniting what has become a twenty-year passion for glass.  I have always been fascinated by the life that each piece exudes when it is aglow, and have long tried to capture that essence.

In my new series of lanterns, I have infused the life of the fire into each finished piece. By adding light to traditional vessel shapes, I feel the spirit of the process.