The Glass Art Society (GAS) is an international society of glass artists, gallery owners, curators, collectors and enthusiasts who convene annually for educational lectures, demonstrations, learning about new products and tools, and networking. Last year I had the honor of demonstrating at the annual conference. Demonstrating artists and lecturers are offered the opportunity to publish an article in the annual Glass Art Society Journal. Here is my article.
Rather than offer a tutorial of my demonstrated techniques or a monologue about my personal artistic impulses, I decided to offer my thoughts about something much more important and valuable: “ What is required to develop one’s own voice as a glass artist?”
Curiosity
To develop our own voices as artists, we need a healthy sense of curiosity. Curiosity requires an awakeness in life. Curiosity leads us to ask new questions, to explore, experiment, to wonder, to ponder, try new ideas, new techniques and new materials, and to move outside of what is already done or known either by ourselves or by others. If you’re not naturally curious, in the beginning you’ll have to do it on purpose. Practice curiosity. Cultivate curiosity. Spend time with people who are curious and learn how they do it. However it works for you, be curious and let that lead you to new aspects of yourself and your work.
Cultivate Interests Beyond or Outside of Glass
Yes, glass can be intoxicating and addicting. It’s a magical material unlike any other. It’s easy to become focused on the amazing things we can do with the glass itself. However, to develop a voice as an artist, we must have interests outside of glass that we bring back to our work in glass. For example, since I was a child I have loved plants, trees, leaves, flowers, the cycles of botanical life, so it’s natural that my voice as an artist is through a botanical vocabulary. My studio is an apothecary of dried plant parts, leaves, branches, seedpods, and so on, all gathered on my walks. Shane Fero’s interest and study of abstract expressionism and mythologies is apparent in his work. William Morris’ work is a manifestation of his interests in ancient cultures and the meaning and symbolism of animals. The de la Torre brothers express unique bi-cultural influences through their work. Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles express their interests in the spiritual beliefs, rituals and artworks of ancient cultures. These are just a few examples, and none of these artists could have developed the depth of their work if they lacked interests outside of the glass itself.
ANY interest outside of glass will do to help develop a voice as an artist. Gardening, religion, pets, cars, cooking, machinery, philosophy, politics, the aging population, sea life, the environment, the rain forest, insects, history, criminals, spiders, psychology, architecture, crocodiles, sex, geometry, movies, disease, molecular biology - anything of interest to you can “feed” your work and become the inspiration for your voice as an artist. If you don’t engage in an interest outside of glass itself, you don’t stand much chance of developing your own artistic voice.
Resist the Temptation of Gaining Inspiration Solely From Others’ Glasswork
I see countless glass artisans look to other glasswork for inspiration. This is a big mistake. To develop our own voices as glass artists, we must discipline ourselves to resist being inspired solely by other glass artists’ work. If you have to, simply don’t even look at glass art for a year. It’s hard, I know, but to develop your own voice in glass, it’s imperative to derive inspiration from sources beyond other glass artists’ work. Again, develop interests outside of glass. For example:
Travel
Visiting a culture or place different from our own can inspire endless new inspiration and ideas. Looking again at my examples, William Morris traveled to other cultures for inspiration; Pohlman and Knowles travel extensively in Africa and Asia; the de la Torre brothers draw inspiration from their two cultures of Mexico and the U.S.; whenever I travel, I make a point to observe, sketch and photograph the local botanical life. There are inexpensive ways to travel, but if you can’t manage travel outside your own country, visit a different area of your own country, state or city. Or visit a museum or exhibit dedicated to a different culture. If you can’t find one of those …
Take A Class
Take a class in a media or subject other than glass. Try a ceramics class. Or painting, economics, astronomy, papermaking, algebra, collage, cooking, creative writing, public speaking, auto mechanics - anything to inspire new ideas that are not about glass but can be expressed with or through glass.
If you can’t take a class …
Read
Visit the library. Libraries contain a ridiculous wealth of inspiration and material for developing interests and one’s artistic voice.
Write
There’s nothing more self-revealing than writing, which makes it a rich tool for developing ourselves as artists. To develop an artistic voice, we must first have something of interest to say, then we need to say it in a way that others can understand it. Writing is an exceptional tool for exploring and formulating what we are trying to say with our art, and clarifying it for ourselves and others. Many people are intimidated by writing or by the belief that they are not good at writing. None of that matters. Write for yourself, to develop your own thinking, your own interests, and what you would like to say with your glasswork. Eventually, with practice and with exploring other interests, writing will further the development of artistic voice.
Keep notebooks of your ideas
Keep a notebook. New ideas for work can come from anywhere if we listen for them. They can be ideas about anything – a reaction to a newscast on television, your thoughts about your mom’s new hairstyle, the interesting pattern of bricks on your apartment building, a telephone pole covered in posters and ads, the amazing inside of a tomato. We never know what these ideas or impressions will lead to or how we will develop them later, so don’t miss those opportunities. If something catches your attention, even for a moment, capture it in your notebook.
I keep one notebook for jewelry ideas and others for sculpture ideas. Sometimes I capture an idea in the form of a note such as “try adding dead leaves to a fruit branch”, sometimes I make sketches, sometimes I glue in a picture from a magazine or catalog. These notebooks are immensely valuable for designing new work. Whenever I find myself in a slump with my work and need some new inspiration, I get out my notebooks and I always find inspiration there.
Experiment and Practice Your Ideas Over Time
Developing a body of glasswork based on ideas from another area of interest requires, among other things, a great deal of experimentation and practice. To accomplish work that is uniquely our own, we cannot escape the path of our own exploration, experimentation and practice of ideas and materials. And we can’t go into that venture with the expectation that it’s going to happen in a short time lest we get discouraged and give up. Experiment with the expectation that it’s not going to turn out well at first or even after the 10th time. Then experiment again. Try your idea in as many ways as you can invent. If you can’t express your idea one way, try it another way, and then another. If you attend demos by other artists, watch from the point of view of learning how their techniques can translate to what you are trying to accomplish with your own work. I once saw Shane Fero demonstrate how he makes a bird and that lead me to be able to make pomegranates. It takes time to develop our own ideas, our own techniques, our own voices. I imagine it is a lifetime journey. Be patient and keep at it.
Last but certainly not least, Develop Strength of Character
Developing and maintaining the discipline to study and explore one’s own ideas, the perseverance to keep going through failed experiments, the discipline to be awake in life, to step outside of one’s comfort zone and try something new – all these require emotional strength: courage, determination, perseverance, humility, and so on. Resisting the temptation to derive our work from what someone else has done requires discipline, empathy and generosity. These qualities of character can be fostered and developed, and it starts with taking a stand for one’s own character and integrity to do so.
My best wishes to all of you on the journey of developing and exploring our artistic selves.
These cyclones feel very personal for me. They feel autobiographical. My life has been one of reaching – reaching to be a better person, pushing into the next challenges, stretching and growing myself toward the next horizon of learning and knowledge, striving for my next goals. 
A few weeks back I wrote about this piece-in-the-making, and I have now completed it. 
“Playing With Fire” is Ariana Gallery’s exhibition for Michigan Glass Month, an annual event now in its 28th year, celebrating and promoting artists primarily working with glass. Visitors can see glass art in many different forms including flameworked, cast, leaded, molten, etched, assembled and ground. Galleries, art centers, museums and businesses throughout the state and the greater Great Lakes region host shows, seminars, demonstrations and other celebrations of the art of glass. 