Steuben No More, Say NO!

The Cornell Daily sun reported today, September 8, 2011, that Steuben, the 100 plus year old American Crystal factory will close later this year.
In the press release, the company said its sole factory and a store, both located on the Corning Museum of Glass campus, will close Nov. 29
The flagship store in NYC will close when it's inventory is sold.
What a shock. I can hardly think. I know the costs involved in keeping the furnaces stoked. The increase in energy, materials, chemicals, transportation, labor, benefits, safety, and gosh what else? I know the drop offs in sales. Don't we all know the drop off in sales of objects of beauty for the American home?
It is truly an American Art Glass Armegedon. Nobody can imagine an American art glass scene without Corning New York's iconic century old lead crystal factory curning out those one of a kind designer works by visiting artists and the usual cigar ash trays, trumpet flower vases and the like. The polishing room there was as close as we, Americans got to a traditonal glass works where there were actual highly skilled glass finishers working daily on loads of fabulous flawless objects d'arte. The blowers were on a par with many other countries, it was in the melting and the polishing that Steuben in the later half of the 20th Century excelled.
It's all too much for me. I have to go and chill now.

SISIR SAHANA

A picture is worth a thousand words is often said. Looking at this man working on the ground painting pigments onto glass that he has cast makes me feel strangely inadequate.  His determination to succeed with his art despite the simple surroundings is profound.
Actually he may just be a few feet from some ultra modern studio complex. Somehow I doubt it.
Like he said Indian art is often misjudged.
Maybe someone can find out if his studio is in a university setting or a garage shop. It is hard to tell what kind of environment the glass comes from.
The city of Hyderabad is unknown to me. Anybody know what this area is like?

  http://t.co/u92ippT

BAGI Auction Raises the Bar

Last night April 18th, the Bay Area Glass Institute in San Jose, California, proudly presented the works of over 100 glass artists in their annual dinner/live auction. Many of the works there went for over the listed "fair market value". A few fetched in excess of $4,000.
Micheal Nourot and Ann Corcoran were the featured speakers just after the silent auction at 6 PM. The Nourots presented a power point on the formative years of the Nourot Glass Studio of Benicia. Afterwards they took questions from the 90 collectors who attended.
Quite a few San Francisco Bay Area glass artists attended as well. In the crowd were Mary B. White and Randy Strong.
The silent portion of the auction offered eight pieces of early Nourot Glass donated by Judy and Jerry Rose. The nicest one was the vertical stripe square cane murrini cylinder by Micheal Nourot.
The BAGI auction was held at 88 Fourth Street in the seventh floor ball room. The dinner was catered by the Fairmont Hotel. Event chair Steven Aldrich said, "I'm really plesed with what we've raised. It's been a good evening." Among the auctioned items were dinner with a visiting artist, lessons in the hot shop or outright donation to the electric furnace fund. The BAGI hot shop wants to go more eco-friendly by going electrical and over $11,500 was raised towards the cost of a new electric furnace. At BAGI they have classes, workshops, studio rentals a gallery and a gift shop. See their site at ww.bagi.org

UK educated Chinese glass art Instructor on CCTV

Guan Donghai
UK educated Chinese artist Guan Donghai has been only been working in glass for eight years but he's established a style of his own. He's created two glass series, "Gates" and "Weapon". The later is pictured above.
It looks to us like these are pate de verre, but is hard to tell from the CCTV review which appeared October 21, 2008 on CCTV's website.

Guan said, "The human head figures as the remarkable part of most of my works. The look is typically Chinese. It doesn't represent ancient people. I use it to express a modern idea. In ancient China, rulers cut off the heads of criminals - stuffed them in cages and hung them on gateways."
Wow just like the English in the 1700's.
"I am trying to adapt that Draconian rule of ancient times, to the discussion of how today's people can open their minds. I've just borrowed the system of punishment from ancient China to explain my thinking about today's social problems."
Nice thinking, and it looks fierce, too, Guan.

Guan didn't find his lifetime interest right at the beginning. He took a detour into dyeing and weaving and watercolor painting, says the CCTV article. Wow, just like Annie and Mike Nourot here. Weird and interesting parallel.
In 2000 he was named director of the newly established glass art studio, of the Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design.
It may be true he then went to the University of Wolverhampton,in the UK. Anyway this trip helped him decide to make glass his life's pursuit.
Guan says he is enthralled by the mystery and fascination of the art. And so are we at the Nourot Glass Studio in Benicia, California.
He has found that, "I can see what a glass piece will look like before I make it. Sometimes the completed work is totally out of expectation. Sometimes it's even better than the way I had visualized it."
It seems we both find glass making a breathtaking and exciting experience.
He adds, "You may discover a new technique accidentally.To me it is the most valuable and encouraging thing."
You can read more about this Chinese artist in glass at the CCTV website.
Happy Happy, Mr. Guan Donghai!