Hot Glass, Cold Glas, All Glass

I recently had the opportunity to interview Ken Saunders, a co-owner of the Marx-Saunders Gallery (www.marxsaunders.com) in Chicago—a gallery that is dedicated to glass art and only works with a couple dozen or so artists. While the gallery’s artwork isn’t cheap (sometimes $40,000), Ken told me the great thing about glass is that it really is available at any price point.

“There are wonderful, marvelous pieces available at any price,” he said.


One thing I found particularly interesting was the fact that a number of the gallery’s pieces are on loan to the Glass Experience exhibition at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. I asked Ken about this and he said:


“Because we are an artist’s gallery and because we are very intensely associated with the couple dozen artists we represent, it is a part of our mission to seek out these opportunities for greater exposure. So we are often involved with museums, and museums know we are available to assist them with loans and other support to make exhibitions possible.”


If you get the chance to visit the exhibition (which I wrote about a few weeks ago; scroll down to read if you missed it) you can see works from some of the most renowned artists including Lino Tagliapietra (http://www.linotagliapietra.com/) and Jon Kuhn (www.kuhnstudio.com). Both artisans have worked with Marx-Saunders and both create astonishing works. However, the way by which they each approach glass is different. Tagliapietra is a hot-glass (blown glass) artist while Kuhn works with cold glass. Kuhn says his work involves grinding, polishing and laminating repeatedly.


Back to my interview with Ken Saunders … we also talked about how a number of artists who start out creating works for galleries often make the transition to large-scale and/or architectural work. BJ Katz from Meltdown Glass (www.meltdownglass.com) is an example of such an artist. You can read more about her in the Decorative Glass section of the August 2008 USGlass (http://www.usglass-digital.com/usglass/200808/?u1=texterity).



One of the reasons more artists are going the architectural route, Ken told me, is because they’ve found ways to create larger and larger glass art pieces.

“Once they were able to figure that out and began casting humongous objects then there was the ability for the architects to really draw some inspiration and work with some of these artists,” Ken said.


Considering the fact that architects are challenging the primaries and flat glass fabricators to create larger pieces of glass it’s no surprise, really, that the decorative side of glass is getting larger. Going forward, it will be exciting to see what other trends make the crossover.

But Wait! There's More

If you’re like me, by Friday you’re really ready for the weekend. After a long workweek it’s so nice to have a couple of days free to relax. Tomorrow I’ll be heading down to Winston-Salem, N.C. to meet my parents for the weekend. For me, Winston-Salem is slightly more than half way to where my parents live and slightly less for them, taking us around 5 hours to drive there and 2+ for my family. While it may seem as though I drew the short straw ending up with the longer drive, I don’t mind, as it will still make a nice weekend getaway.

This will be an exciting visit for many reasons, one reason in particular is that I plan to bring my parents a copy of the August USGlass, which features the premiere of our new Decorative Glass (DG) magazine. Have you seen it yet? You can read it online by clicking here: http://www.usglass-digital.com/usglass/200808/?u1=texterity.

The reactions I’ve heard so far have been tremendous. People are excited about this new venture and the opportunities it holds. And, as great as this launch, there’s still more in the works.

We’re also putting together a special stand-alone edition of our premiere issue of DG! It will include more articles, products and information and will be distributed at the October show in Las Vegas. And I ask you, is that not a great place for decorative glass?

There’s so much developing in the world of decorative glass and I am eager to talk more about it. That’s why I’m excited about the Glass Association of North America’s Fall Conference next month in Dallas. The decorative division will be meeting at that time and I’m sure there will be tons to talk about, write about and, yes, even blog about. Are you in the decorative glass loop? If so, I’m looking forward to talking with you in September. See you there!

Eight is Enough

Today is Friday, August 8, 2008 –08-08-08. Are you feeling lucky? The Chinese consider the number 8 lucky and I’m sure many athletes are hoping the number will bring them luck, too, as today hosts the opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympic Games.

Being an Olympic athletic is something many people, including yours truly, at some point have dreamed off. As a kid I so wanted to be an Olympic gymnast; but that dream of mine was just that—a dream—and it’s only for a few people that such a dream comes true. Bear with me as I’m about to stray away from glass, but I’ll make my way back in the end …

The other night I was watching Project Runway (if you’re not familiar, think American Idol for fashion designers) and the contestants were given the challenge to design a uniform for women Olympians to be worn during the opening ceremonies (if you’re interested in knowing, this year’s uniforms were actually designed by Ralph Lauren. Just something to think about as you watch the ceremonies tonight).

Getting to the point … one of the designers created this shiny blue cocktail dress with red trim, which the judges criticized for not being very representative of the Olympics; the contestant said everything else he came up with reminded him of Wonder Woman. To which Michael Kors, one of the show’s judges and a famous designer responded (I’m paraphrasing), “The closest thing to a super hero this country has is an Olympic athlete!” And I just could not have agreed more.

Olympians strive to be the best at what they do—running, gymnastics, swimming, diving—and then they are given the honor to represent their countries at these games. This opportunity allows them to truly show their hard work, dedication and determination.

This year the games are in Beijing, a city that has recently seen major construction activity, upgrades and renovations in preparation for the swarms of people there this month. You can read more about some of the construction projects on www.usgnn.com today. Here’s a couple others that also showcase great glass displays.

The Water Cube is the Olympic Aquatics Center. It’s covered with translucent blue panels to provide an under-water feeling.

There’s also the new terminal at the Beijing Capital Airport (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-02-26-2733226559_x.htm), which features a huge display of glass and steel.

I am excited to see what other new construction works will unfold for future Olympics; I know for a fact there will be some pretty top-notch jobs showing up in Vancouver for 2010.

A Picture Says 1,000 Words

Last weekend I was lucky enough to visit the Glass Experience at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry. While it was a really great exhibition and very informative, it was still difficult for me to not provide informative lectures about all the glass displays to the other visitors. So instead, I thought I would share some pictures from my visit with you here.

Pilkington Place: Pilkington’s 20 by 16 foot Wall of Glass features many different types of the company’s glass, including these decorative patterns and textures shown in the top picture below. In addition, there’s also a display of its Profilit U-channel glass (second pic), Planar Structural Glazing System (third pic) and specialty low-E glass.

Recycled and Re-Used Glass: Most everyone these days is searching for ways to re-use everything from furniture to, yes, glass. This picture shows different uses of recycled glass content. Rather decorative, don't you think?

Chihuly's Corner: As soon as I win the lottery I am going to buy myself a Dale Chihuly sculpture. Everything he does is simply incredible. I loved that the exhibition showed several concept drawings of some of the display pieces. It was hard to not be simply awe-struck at the beautiful colors of the Macchia forest. I looked at these structures and then watched the short video on how they are made and all I could think was "My goodness--that's glass?!" Oh ... did I mention it's also a great decorative element?

So there you have it -- a look at the Glass Experience on display in Chicago until September 1. It's definitly worth a visit. Did I mention the decorative displays? Especially exciting given the soon-to-debut Decorative Glass magazine will launch as part of the August USGlass --don't miss it!