In the early years of working with glass, my aim was to have a fun, interesting, and creative hobby. I was making glass beads in my spare time, learning as I went, experimenting with a wide range of techniques, and thoroughly enjoying myself. It was wonderful play, and the longer I played at it, the more something new began to grow in me – passion and commitment.
From today’s vantage point, I look back and remember my first tentative steps in the direction of serious commitment to my glasswork. Upon reflection, it strikes me the enormous amount of courage required for a human being to declare a new direction for their life. By definition, declaring a new direction means stepping into the unknown. The moment we declare a new direction in life, along with the excitement of the new, we are faced with all that we don’t know about how to accomplish that new venture.
I can recall today the mixture of fear, hesitation, excitement and naiveté that engulfed me in those first few years. I remember the pure joy I felt upon saying, “I’m going to be an artist”, my fear that some people I greatly respect would think I was making a big mistake, and my naiveté about what it means to be an artist – let creative inspiration flow in, make cool stuff, and people will love it and buy it.
Since those days, I have learned so much (including how much I still don’t know!). My knowledge and commitment have continued to grow, as well as my ambition and my confidence. Somewhere along my path I started to hesitantly hint at my dream of being one of the best. A part of me still cringes when I say that. Who am I to aspire to such a big ambition?!
Yet, that’s where I have arrived to: I aim to be one of the top glass artists in the world.
On a daily basis I face that chasm of how much I don’t know about getting there and how much there is to take care of in building a career and raising a family. There are many, many, many, many days when I cannot see progress, when I feel stalled or I don’t know what to do, days when my art, my skills and my knowledge seem grossly insufficient, days when administrative work engulfs me and I can’t get to the studio, and days when I think I should just go get a job already!
Then there are days when I actually can see progress, when I see my art evolving or finish a piece that I especially love, or I make a sale, receive an inquiry from a new customer, days when I come up with a new idea I can’t wait to pursue. Those days fuel me through the less inspired spells.
One such day arrived last week – the new issue of Glass Line magazine arrived with an important accomplishment.
Glass Line magazine has been dedicated to promoting and supporting the glass arts since 1987. Their current issue (Volume 23, Number 2, August/September 2009) is a special edition celebrating excellence in flameworking/lampworking. It features the top thirty-three contemporary American artists working with borosilicate* glass, as chosen by a jury of three: Paul Stankard, Robert Mickelsen and Clinton Roman. Stankard, Mickelsen and Roman are each highly accomplished, recognized and respected artists within various spheres of the glass art world, as well as knowledgeable about the history of flameworking and the scope and breadth of artists working in this discipline today.
Their goal was to present a survey of 30-35 contemporary artists whose work “represents the quality and originality of the broader spectrum”, and the “artists most directly responsible for the recent advances in flameworked glass artwork and technology. The best of the best … those whose work had developed substantially, beyond the ordinary constructs of marketplace and function, of material and conformity” (Robert Mickelsen, page 6).
This issue includes articles by each of the jurors chronicling some of their personal experiences in the glass community, their views on the history and the status of flameworking today, and their thoughts about the thirty-three artists they chose.
I am honored to be included in this survey, in the company of such spectacularly talented artists! This serves as a marker on the path to my dream of being one of the top glass artists in the world. I’m on the right path and I’m traveling in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Mickelsen, Mr. Stankard and Mr. Roman!
Visit the Glass Line website to subscribe or to order this special edition. www.hotglass.com
* Borosilicate is a specific type of glass conducive to flameworking. It comes in a variety of forms including both clear and colored tubing in a range of diameters and wall thickness, clear and colored rods of varying diameters, colored frits (chips) in varying grit sizes, and colored powders. One common brand of borosilicate is Pyrex. It is a hard, hardy glass that holds up to the processes of flameworking.
In our family, we never seem to do anything small or conservatively. It seems we commit and jump and then figure it out as we go.
in the family such as Picassa, Piper and Monet. Although I wasn’t serious about naming the dog this, I thought I made up a hilarious name: Dawg E. My kids insist, “That is NOT funny, Mom. It’s not funny!” It’s a family joke that I try to be funny and nobody thinks I am. Apparently what’s funny is me trying to be funny. 