shaped up, shipped out

First, a couple snaps from my home life.

Cute.
In house gallery- A swish Ikea cabinet dedicated to an ever evolving exhibition of my work in our lounge room.

I finished a job last week; 14 custom cups with boxes to fit.. It was a quick turnaround, I accepted the task, made the objects and got the boxes complete and delivered in less than a month. Thats a triumph considering it took me about 25 attempts to get 14 aces. On the whole it was a success. Check em out.

round trip

just completed a round trip to beautiful Corny Point on Yorke Peninsula

Round Trip, in Calgary.

plenty of mechanics

Mmmkay. So, it's been some time since I've posted a proper update and 'things' are currently gathering in my life, rapidly.

I am 3 months away from finishing my associate gig at the Jam glass studio and its fucking gruelling!.. My hands are sore, elbows, wrists, shoulders, eyes and my brain as well..

The seemingly infinite battery cell this machine began with, is fading. But, not to worry, I will happily push 'til the end as this is a once in a lifetime marathon-like experience not to be finished lethargically.

First, the end of year show, 'Generate', is coming up in December and I need to have the work finished for photography by mid October.. It's moving along fine, I am working on two trio sets. One, a set of 3 clear conical forms with coloured bases and secondly, a set of black and clear forms that look real traditional-like but are actually more informed by proportional relationships, opposing curvature and geometry (about %60 complete on these bodies of work). Photos will be posted as soon as I get 'em. Stay tuned.

Next, I'm applying to the New Glass Review for the second time. NGR is an annual publication made by the corning museum of glass in New York. Last year I submitted my Axis bowls, which I am proud of (they are the ones that are cut and polished on an angle with the half opaque- half coiled technique,.. sweet) but I don't think the image was up to snuff nor were they 'mindblowing' enough to impress such an esteemed jury. This year I am submitting 3 separate works, all trios, all focused on my coiled technique. The images for this years submission are much more coherent as a body of work and are the 3 best quality photos I have ever had taken. Perhaps it is a vain endeavour but I would really like to be selected this year.. It would be huge for my mindset, and just excellent publicity for my work. Fingers crossed..

Next, several months ago my friend Katherine asked me if I would be interested in sending some work home to Canada to have an exhibition in Calgary which would highlight Canadian glass artists who've been to Australia to study or work in glass. Of course, I said 'YES!'. From there on it has come to fruition and thus the 'Round Trip' exhibition will open in Eau claire market in Calgary this Wednesday night. Check it out if you're in that part of the universe. Very happy to be showing some work as I haven't done enough of that yet.. hmmm?

Next, although I have been pondering Art with a capital 'A' a lot, I have also designed a new product in recent times. Here it is.. the skittle bowl?, the psychedelic storm cloud bowl? Haven't decided on a title yet.. input welcome.

What else.....?

I have a job on right now to make 14 goblets for a mates dad. They are to be given as gifts to departing board members of his company and,.. they are to be given next Friday,.. with boxes to fit.. 8 are made, boxes are being ordered tomorrow.. wish me luck with that one.... shit balls.

I am also commencing on building an empire made of marbles with my good friend Dani. We are the Marble Merchants and that shit is gonna be sick..That front will get more exciting in a couple months, I'll keep ya 'posted'.. k?

And last but certainly not least, my social life has changed considerably in the last year. I have met the stunning beauty, Monica Robinson, and we are gettin' on like soy sauce on fried eggs.

She works for the SA Government in the Department of Transport Energy and Infrastructure. We live together in Prospect which is located just outside of Adelaide CBD where we have an excellent and rapidly multiplying glass collection. In addition, Monicas' uber cute baby daughter Lili, 2, stays with us a week on and off and is adding a whole new lens to my perspective. It's amazing what life serves you, how the mind is so plastic in its ability to add new things that were not expected but enjoy them and learn from them just the same.

In summary , we are both enjoying ourselves immensely as we learn this new domestic mode which is a pleasant surprise for both of us.. it's pretty darn cute 'round here.

Wow, that is a mouthful and a mind-ful, spilled on the page.. hope yous all have enjoyed this in depth cross section of the machines ongoing and ever morphing functions.

Kathy Gray workshop
Tom Rowney workshop
new works

Earlier this month, I applied to the Ranamok Glass Prize; a contest open to all glass artisans working in Australia and New Zealand. I got a fancy (expensive) photo taken, got all dressed up and excited then,... didn't get in,.. to the finalists,... or the exhibition.. boo. Oh well, next year.So, now I can share these ultra snazzy photos with youz all. Enjoy. This composiiton is titled- Round. Pointed. Flat.

I have about 6 months left in my associate position at the jam glass studio. I am both excited and upset at this fact. It has been such a sweet run but it will be nice to interrupt this break-neck pace and start focusing on some particular things i want to do in glass and in life.

I will head back to Canada for xmas and January. After I visit some friends and family, I'll return to australia and start preparing for my first solo exhibition which will be around mid-year and will likely be titled 'FORMOCCENTRIC'. Stay tuned for all that!

For now, check out these snaps of my current designs/compositions/objects.

Some are tests pieces for groups that will be in the formoccentric show next year, some are just recent shapes from the furnace, and lastly, a group of fancy cups which were the result of a workshop I attended with cane master Tom Rowney, from Canberra. I highly recommend jumping at any chance to work with Tom wherever and whenever you can.. He is an excellent teacher, and a top bloke.

demo at uniSA.

rotation, revision, repeat

Action shots! here are some candid snaps from the studio.

To make glass the machine must constantly rotate the material, revise its aims and motions so that each move draws the form closer to its prototype. This process of revision is perpetually repeated until the object is safely sleeping in the gallery - Static and expensive for the children to view and purchase.

Diary Post

Here are some photos of whats in my mind and on my desk right now!

This past month at the studio I have been working on a large order for bowls and bottles. almost 50 bowls and 15 bottles have been machine-made in the last few weeks. These photos represent the process of finishing the objects; grinding and polishing the base of each piece and correlating the groups of finished objects to be delivered to my wholesaler monday morning. neat huh!

recent tests and compositions

Here are some of the images i applied to the jam with. Also, some very recent tests from 2010.

ancient prototypes

These are the results from some earlier blueprints, created in 2007 and 2008. Also, a rare image of the machine in action at Red Deer College.

hand-pressed