I know I've promised a bunch of you that I'd deliver a compilation of knee replacement surgery information and I WILL PUBLISH THAT SOON. Promise. It's just that I'm having a little trouble developing a new template that doesn't take 9 gazillion years to edit and maintain. Thanks for your patience because I'm swiftly running out of mine. Whoever thought shortcodes [...]
Hey, glasslanders: Just a quick reminder that Fusathon 2012 is TOMORROW! Clear your Saturday because this is going to be FUN! Yup. That's Saturday, 10-2, at the Uroboros glass factory. We'll be making fused blanks for bowls/plates that will be sold at the Portland Blues Festival over the July 4th holiday. All proceeds go to the Oregon Food Bank.
To all artists who make (at least part of) a living doing artfairs: Superpeople. You're superpeople. Your muscles are titanium, your brains are solid gold. I am not in your class. After one artfair, my muscles are jelly, and my brain is solid mush.
How do you give non-casters a taste of pate de verre making..in less than four hours? That was the assignment, anyway. It was the Portland chapter's turn to host the Oregon Glass Guild's annual state meeting, and we wanted to do something a bit special. We decided on a theme of Stretch Your Wings, and gave it multiple meanings. First, we meant "stretch your wings by reaching out to the community." Instead of focusing on personal enrichment, this time we'd make art for the community, a glass quilt to be installed in a local hospital. Everyone who came would make at least one 6x6 inch tile for the quilt.
"I'd much rather have you in the booth, instead of helping with setup," she said, and I felt a mild tingle of pride. "I suppose," I said modestly, "You want your best *people* people out front, interacting with the public." "No, it's just that schlepping pedestals isn't exactly your strong suite," she replied, "I saw you working setup last time." That's what I love about New Yorkers: You never have to wonder what they're thinking.
BeCON's over and done, my creativity is stirred, my glassjones are bubbling, and I'm bubbling over with new glassist friends. Here's a wrap-up of my 2011 BeCON reports--but if you don't want to read that, how about the best (and not so best) of BeCON 2011?
The presence of Portland Farmers Market a few yards away might be reason enough to attend BeCon, Bullseye's biannual glass conference, but there are others. I usually gain fresh insights, and the one I picked up this year was a doozy, quite possibly not one intended by our hosts: Glass isn't a medium, it's a crutch. We don't need to cross over as much as we need to throw away the crutch. (Honk if you think that's scary)
If yesterday's BeCON was about art vs. craft, today's was about superstars, the rovers who successfully made the trip from glass artist to artist, or who retained an open enough mind to cross into kiln forming for awhile. Or at least it started out that way, since the opening presentation was Lino Tagliapietra, Dante Marioni and Marc Petrovic talking about the intersection of glassblowing and kilnforming with BE research dude Ted Sawyer.
You can generally say three things about the first half-day of Bullseye's BeCON glass conference; It's the world's longest half-day (about 16 hours this time), it involves a lot of hugging, and the best part happens after 7pm. Thank heavens they didn't decide to make this a FULL day.
Glassists are swarming like bees into Portland (AKA "glassland"). I've got a houseful, my friends are equally full up, and we're all getting ready for BeCON, Bullseye's biannual conference on glass art. It starts Thursday afternoon with keynotes and gallery receptions, ends Saturday night with lehr-baked BBQ ribs (from pigs, not attendees). In between we'll listen to lectures, gorge on Portland Farmer's Market goodies, watch demos and talk about...(drumroll)...glass.
