Glass as art

Sunset, Oct, 1986

Glass as art

Fanciful or functional, glass as an art form is enjoying widespread popularity. Its light-gathering, flowing character is revealed in nearly as many ways as there are artists working with it. In addition to one-of-a-kind works of art like those shown at right, the array of handmade pieces-- including goblets, bowls, vases, paperweights --is dazzling.

This explosion of creativity has captured the attention of Western art lovers. In galleries, corporate art collections, museums, and studios, exciting new work is on view. Yet modern glass remains both collectible and affordable. Prices can start as low as $20 for a wine goblet or a vase produced in quantity, climbing to $25,000 for a one-of-a-kind sculpture by a well-known artist. For galleries, studios, and museums, featuring glass, see page 99.

Should you decide to try your hand (and breath) at working with glass, we give details about four art schools. Some community and state colleges and universities also offer classes.

Why today's interest in glass?

Until the early 1960s, the expense of building huge industrial glass furnaces and holding them at high temperatures had limited the working of glass to factory production. Then, artist Harvey Littleton, assisted by chemist and inventor Dominick Labino, designed and built a studiosize, relatively inexpensive glass furnace.

No longer was this craft reserved for a select few. Now artists were willing to share as they reinvented old techniques and experimented with new ones.

Littleton taught students at the University of Wisconsin, and some of them-- including Marvin Lipofsky of the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) in Oakland, and Dale Chihuly, co-founder of the Pilchuck Glass School, near Seattle --started programs on the West Coast.

In the Northwest, Pilchuck (a summer program) is a mecca, as is CCAC in the Bay Area. Both schools attract artists from all over the world. A concentration of glass studios and galleries in Los Angeles serves a receptive public.

Technical advances and the proliferation of artists who taught others helped make possible the subsequent flowering of glass artistry. Also since the 1960s, development of equipment as well as availability of quality raw materials has continued, enhancing the quality of art glass.

What are the techniques?

Basic glass formula contains silica (fine sand), alkali (soda or potash) to lower its melting point, lime as a stabilizer, waste glass (called cullet) to assist in melting. Artists add metallic oxides for color, or other chemicals to vary properties in the finished product. Because it's simpler, many artists today just use cullet. Glass artists use many techniques, often in combination. Here are some of them.

Blow: to shape molten glass by blowing air into it through a blowpipe.

Cased: glass has two or more layers of different colors, with outer layer(s) cut away to show interior colors.

Colored threads: thin strands of glass added in different ways for different effects.

Etch: to create a design by scratching the surface of finished glass with a tool or treating it with acid.

Fume: to spray metal salts on warm glass, which is then reheated to give iridescence.

Fuse: to melt together various colors or designs of glass in a kiln.

Laminate: using heat or glue to join pieces.

Multilayered: a cased-glass technique, adding other colors to a basic shape to create designs.

Plate glass: a clear thick sheet, often with a greenish cast.

Sandblast: to blow or blast sand or carborundum onto a piece; this etches or blasts away layers of glass; masking some areas creates design.

Sand-cast: to ladle glass into a shaped mold made in special casting sand.

Slump: to heat a sheet of glass in a mold until it's soft enough to assume a shape, but not molten.

Wire drawing: a cloisonne-like technique. The artist makes wire drawings, fills in with enamel or bits of glass.

How difficult is it?

It takes a long time to develop skill. What looks easy in a demonstration is much more difficult than learning to throw a pot, and it takes several classes to get predictable results. But even beginning students we talked to felt they were better able to appreciate the beauty of finished pieces when they understood the process.

Working with glass is a team effort full of camaraderie. It's physically demanding, in some aspects more sport than art.

If you would like to try, a number of state and community colleges offer beginning to advanced classes. Among them are Chico, San Francisco, and San Jose state universities in California; Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona; the University of Hawaii; and Eastern Oregon State College in La Grande. Cost is about $170 per quarter, $300 per semester.

Viewing and choosing fine glass

Modern art glass remains both collectible and affordable. Though the work of well-known artists may be too expensive for all but dedicated collectors, new talent surfaces continually; you'll often find exceptional work at beginners' prices.