I Have Said It Before,

and I will say it again, 

I find glass blowing fascinating, all images courtesy of Le Stanze Del Vetro, a new exhibition at Le Stanze Del Vetro istaking place in Venice, titled The Glass Ark, there are more than 750 animals on view, it is the expansive collection of art historian and former Louvre president Pierre Rosenberg, for thirty years Rosenberg gathered the lustrous sculptures during regular trips to Venice, a region with a long history of innovative techniques and a hub for glassblowing since the 13th Century. Charming and playfully expressive, the Murano glass pieces diverge from similar collections produced in other media, “They never display fierce poses, which are typical of more traditional animalier sculptures,” a statement says, “and above all, they are never conceived as a toy.” as it happens we have posted about glass and glass blowing many times before, below are just some of the fascinating creatures on display,

in addition to Rosenberg’s collection, The Glass Ark also features pieces from artists working today, including Cristiano Bianchin, Marcantonio Brandolini d’Adda, Franck Ehrler, Massimo Nordio, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin, and Giorgio Vigna, the exhibition runs both in-person and virtually through August 1, glass blowing, for myself absolutely fascinating.

One Of The Many Things I Find Fascinating,

is glass blowing,

in fact we have featured the craft a few times before, one of the many workshops that we featured is Glass Symphony, we featured them here back in 2016, and amazing they were, well Glass Symphony, a Ukrainian family-owned company specializing in hand-made glass sculptures, has been busy since then, 

and have produced a range of spiders, 

which are featured here,

and a number of octopuses or would you call them octopi?

which you can see here, 

I should say there are pages of both creatures to choose from if you want a new easy to keep pet! from the company's web site, 'you can find representatives of flora and fauna made of glass: figurines of wild and domestic animals, birds, fish, exotic plants, and other small compositions. Despite the small size the figurines accurately reflect the physiological characteristics of the animals, their character and even emotions. Each figure created by the author is individual and unique. In addition, we also manufacture various souvenir production to order. Each figurine is completely done by hand, so the size and color of the figures may differ a bit. Original handmade glass figurines are an excellent gift for your friends and loved ones.' I just find glass blowing so fascinating.

Glass Art,

with a difference,

 you can play with it yourself! German glass artist Heike Brachlow finds inspiration in architecture and geometry, creating cast glass sculptures that rely heavily on their shape, She discovered her love for glass while working as a glassblower in a small studio in Rotorua, New Zealand,

  I like the pieces that seem to be impossibly balance as they subtly curve upwards, individual cubes coloured with the same mixture of oxides at increasing amounts, Her pink work above contains neodymium oxide which causes it to change colour in different lights, shifting from a pink to green hue depending on which light the glass sculpture is displayed under, in addition to having disparate colour properties, 

 many of the pieces can be taken apart and rearranged, inviting her audience to create unique stacks of their own, and perhaps mix-up the provided gradient,

  She received her BA from the University of Wolverhampton and MA and PhD from the Royal College of Art in London and regularly teaches glass blowing classes at the Corning Museum of Glass and other institutions, 

You can find her work in the collections of the Glasmuseum Hentrich in Dusseldorf, Germany, Glasmuseum alter Hof Herding in Coesfeld, Germany, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington and more, there is more to glass than just blowing a bottle!

I Enjoy Looking At Orchids,

and watching the art of glass blowing, 

 so it was with great interest that I looked at the craft of UK artist Laura Hart’s studio “My fascination with orchids spans decades and at one point I had nearly seventy in my conservatory, the explosion of color and perfume during the flowering months intoxicate the senses.” 

 Hart’s route to making glass sculptures has been a convoluted path alongside many creative pursuits. “Beginning with oils and canvas at around the age of twelve, treading the boards at seventeen, video production in my twenties and thirties, heritage building renovation, 3D animation design in my forties, and, at last, the glorious world of glass in my fifties,” she says, Each flower is about twelve inches (thirty cm) in diamteter, and takes Hart up to ten days to make. She tries to recreate the species as faithfully and authentically as possible, The artist creates orchid-shaped moulds using 3D modeling and animation software. “The templates for each flower are animated into shapes to simulate glass flow within the kiln to ensure that every flower will slump into the correct shape without stressing the glass in the process,” Hart explains, 

 Hart then cuts each petal individually and uses glass powders and frits for the first firing, “Veining is then applied from hair fine strands of glass created by pulling thin shards of glass through a flame.  There can be as many as six firing processes to achieve the final result. The flowers are then sandblasted to create a satin sheen, and coated with a waterproof spray to bring out the color and prevent finger marks.” the three-dimensional details in Hart’s glass orchids are added from cutting sheet glass which are applied to the petals and re-fired. “Once all the detail and color is applied to each petal they are fused together to create the flat flower shape. Finally, the flower is placed on the mould and fired to slump position.” 

to view more of Hart’s delicate floral sculptures visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter, and no I am not on commission, I just like looking at orchids and like watching glass blowers work.

The Energy Crisis,

is now starting to hit households and businesses, 

and this is one business that is being hit very hard, the glass blowing and manufacturing industries based in Murano in Venice, that we visited in 2018, the furnaces run 24/7 and consume huge quantities of gas, how huge? For the roughly 100 existing Murano factories, it adds up to about 10 to 11 million cubic meters on a normal year, according to the trade group Consorzio Promovetro Murano. Prices of gas spiked a year ago (even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine), hitting €2.60 per cubic meter ($91 per cubic foot) in July 2022, about a 1,200 percent increase from the normal rate of around €0.20 per cubic meter ($7 per cubic foot) set in September 2021, according to the trade group. Now, the industry is faced with a crisis unlike any other,

“About 80 percent of [Murano glassmakers] have stopped their production, while the rest work with less power … and fewer workers,” a spokesperson from the glassmaking umbrella group Consorzio Promovetro Murano told Artnet News. They added that gas prices are fluctuating daily as well, making it “impossible” to plan production,

after the extreme flooding in Venice in 2019 and a major loss in touristic incomes due to the pandemic, for many this may be the last straw. “This gas crisis is a severe blow to the Murano furnaces. I don’t know if they will all survive,” said Omar Signoretto, commercial and administrative manager of the company Signoretto Lampadari Murano,

Signoretto Lampadari Murano, is a family-run business, which won the 2022 Prize Designs for Modern Furniture and Lighting, closed their ovens from March to the end of April, and again in September. For now, they remain closed. Signoretto, the commercial and administrative manager, told Artnet News that he is waiting for more government aid following increases in gas bills, which went up on average by between about 400 and 1,000 percent over the last year, according to him. “It’s impossible with this price to turn on the (two to three) ovens. We’re waiting for new funds from the new government—we hope [it arrives] quickly,” he said,

as I have mentioned before glass blowing and making art pieces in glass has always fascinated me,

and hopefully the price of energy for all of us will start to fall, the photographs are ones we took when we visited Murano both in 2018 and 2016, for the full story of the gas crisis facing the island the story is here.

I Have Always Been Fascinated,

by glass blowing,

 so it was with great delight I came across the work of of Yuki Tsunoda, the 26-year old artist first began working with glass in 2012,

 she is a young sculptor who shapes glass into insects and plants that are almost exactly to scale, Tsunoda works primarily with Italian Moretti glass, which is a medium-soft glass and is known for its malleable and colourful properties, 

but because she works in such miniature scale she often uses pins, small spatulas, razors and other tools around the house to create her sculptures,

She also uses dichroic glass and a form of quartz known as aventurine to obtain the type of metallic lustre often found on insects, 

Tsunada exhibits her work around Japan periodically but doesn’t appear to have any upcoming exhibitions, but she does have an online shop where you can purchase her glass insects, She is also on Twitter,

where she occasionally shares images of her work, and no I am not on commission, I just like the insects that Tsunada so meticulously makes.

I Have Always Been Fascinated By Watching Craftsmen Make Animals Out Of Glass,

and have seen a few paper weights being made as well,

 but New Jersey-based artist Paul Stankard, takes the art of making paper weights to a new level, 

after battling undiagnosed dyslexia for his entire youth (at one time graduating the bottom of his class), Stankard struggled greatly to identify his life’s calling, while in college he discovered scientific glass blowing, the manual process of creating scientific instruments out of glass for use in laboratories, He was instantly hooked and for 10 years worked with industrial glass, 

eventually the pressure of a growing family at home lead to an experiment with the creation of glass paperweights in his garage to supplement his income, it wasn’t long before an art dealer discovered his work and he began to create art full-time, His pieces now appear in over 60 museums around the world including the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Louvre,

you can see much more of his work at the Corning Museum of Glass, and in his book, Homage to Nature, what a great way to use glass and what skill.

When Ever I Think Of Glass,

as an art object,

 I always think of glass blowing, stain glass windows,

 or using a flame to make glass animals or flowers, 

but artist Jiyong Lee fabricates translucent sculptural works of segmented glass components fused through coldworking techniques, 

 born and raised in South Korea, Lee has lead the glass program at Southern Illinois University since 2005, He most recently had a solo exhibition with the Clara Scremini Gallery in Paris, 

 you can see many more of his pieces on Artsy, what a fascinating way to shape glass and all at room temperature, but what a skill artist Jiyong must have, one slip and the piece is chipped, so back to the drawing board, amazing. 

There Are Many Things That I Find Interesting,

and here are two combined,

 glass blowing and bonsai, 

 glass artist Simone Crestani uses borosilicate glass with a lampworking technique to create detailed glass sculptures,

 “The bonsai is a concentration of life, it overcomes the barrier of size and expresses strength and energy; it is a work of art that is never finished, in which nature continues to develop and evolve,” he explains on his website, 

 “I shape the [glass], but the end result has an identity of its own. I help it to grow, and wait until it gives me an indication of the equilibrium that will allow it to express itself.” 

 as well as bonsai, he creates fish,

birds and amphibians, You can see more of his glass-based designs, which also include bubbles, bugs, and unusual glasses, on Instagram, absolutely fascinating.