July 31, 2009
American Glass Guild Conference 2009 Quick Highlights
Quick takes on the recent American Glass Guild Conference - 2009.
2 weeks ago and still a bit of a blur -
- The cab ride into Buffalo and how the conversation with the cabbie relates to stained glass in a funny/depressing way.
- Seeing old friends and colleagues, especially Dan and Nancy.
- Patrick Reyntiens - His great painted work, his good humor and the t-shirt trick (hopefully photos to follow).
- Lifetime Achievement award to Nick Parrendo - The testimonials in particular were very emotional.
- Ken Leap as Lawrence Saint. That is, Ken Leap dressed as Lawrence Saint in giving his talk on Lawrence Saint's quest to recreate medieval copper ruby glass. Ken gives the most professional, entertaining and informative talks of anyone.
- Suddenly being the head of a committee and elected to the board of directors for the AGG and feeling kind of.. huh?!?... but in a good way, I hope.
- Looking forward to Detroit in 2010, and really looking forward to Asheville in 2011.
July 28, 2009
Louvre Database in English
I hear, via twittering, that the Louvre English Database was made live today.
If you type in a search for "stained glass", it brings in an impressive 76 results, and mostly small Swiss panels (some of my favorites - yum), but oddly, all the images are in black and white. At least the resolution is high enough to see a little detail.
I don't remember seeing any stained glass at the Louvre the one time I went many years ago, but I would have assumed that there was some its collection.
I never saw this room at the Louvre...
from Flickrite 'waqas' -
Stained-glass window bearing the arms of Uri and of the Holy Roman Empire
Central Switzerland, 1568
side by side in one panel (louvre black & white, and flickr picture)
I like.
July 19, 2009
AGG Conference Talks - Links
I gave 2 talks yesterday at the still ongoing American Glass Guild Conference in Buffalo New York.
I created a page of links related to the 'Thermal Screenprinting' and 'Stained Glass in the Internet' talks.
more on the conference after I get back home...
July 17, 2009
AGG 2009 Walking Tour
At the AGG 2009 Conference for my first official day of activity. Too much of a whirlwind to comment in depth but just one quick note on the walking tour of Buffalo.
The highlight for me, though not so much for the stained glass -
The Guaranty Building (wikipedia info)
by Louis Sullivan
now the home of the law firm Hodgson Russ LLP
I'd only ever seen Sullivan's building ornament in small fragments and to see an entire building, mostly intact, is astonishing.
Jaw dropper of a capitol.
the little downspout in the corner
even the doorknobs are covered with ornamentation
oh, yeah and there is some stained glass too...
I hereby nominate Louis Sullivan as the God of Militant Ornamentalism.
Check out Chuck La Chiusa's Buffalo as an Architectural Museum site.
Chuck was at the conference all weekend and proved an invaluable resource for all things 'Architectural Buffalo'.
[update July 24, 2009 - I've now posted a Flickrset of The Guaranty Building.
July 13, 2009
City Wide Open Studios 2009 - Maps available
Maps (dowloadable as a pdf) are available now for the St. Louis CityWide Open Studio 2009, happening over the weekend of July 25-26. My studio is open on Saturday the 25th.
My artist number on the map is 42. Good Number.
July 02, 2009
Made In America visits Franklin Art Glass
Posted recently on YouTube - a very nice professional take on Franklin Art Glass, out of Columbus, Ohio. The program "Made In America" was (is?) shown on The Travel Channel, hosted by John Ratzenberger.
It's about 8 minutes long - not sure when it was filmed or aired (best guess right now is 2008).
I never knew there was a "Wendy's" connection with Franklin Art Glass...
I'd never heard of "Made In America", perhaps something to do with my not having CableTV for 15 years and no TV at all now. There were apparently at least four seasons of episodes and there is a DVD with 20 episodes, with perhaps more to come. Whatever the whole series is like, I do like the idea of a series about the importance of making things for yourself and your own culture, whether it's about America or any other country. Making things really is a vitally important part of any national/cultural identity, and that identity is indeed in serious crisis in America.
One especially intriguing bit in the film for me (at about 2:50) - seeing the little snippet showing Wissmach's machine rolled glass making process.
more more, please more.