Jill Kerttula
  • Home
    • Fiber art
    • Clay Works
    • 100 day project
  • shop
    • Shop: Fiber Art
    • Shop: Clay Works
  • Process & Videos
  • CONTACT & ARTIST INFO
    • RESUME
    • ARTIST STATEMENT
  • News & Musings

The Artistry of Glass; a New Appreciation

9/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Recently a friend heard I was headed to Virginia Beach. She used to live in the area and implored me to go to the Chrysler Museum of Art while I was there. I was really looking forward to a beach vacation, and so wasn't sure abut this, but decided to stop in. Boy, was that the right decision! Not only is it a beautifully curated museum with many early works and women artists with whom I was not familiar, but it has one of the largest glass collections of any museum and a glass studio on the premises.

Truth be told, I have never been a huge fan of glass artwork. Maybe because I had not seen much of it, or maybe because I am mostly ignorant of the processes involved with it (other than, thanks to Audry Handler,  I learned it it takes a lot of lung power and a really big furnace!) But now that I have seen a lot of examples, and was led through a chronological tour of glass through the centuries, I am very appreciative of the art form! Isn't that exactly what a museum should do; make you appreciate things a little bit more.

The shapes

There were shapes of every kind; From the earliest small vessels, through lava-like mounds, to geometric shapes to the organic. The organic shapes were some of my favorites.
(Click on any of these to see a larger picture)

The details

The process that really blew me away was the engraving. This process involves several layers of different colors, or shades, layered upon each other, and then the glass is carved/engraved back to reveal the color that the artist want to appear. The center picture shows one of the artist's sketches for the large vase.
(Click on any of these to see a larger picture)
Picture
Picture
Picture

The artistry

Lastly, the number of artistic styles were as broad and deep as any other medium of art. One of the artists that I found fascinating was Steven I. Weinberg. Please go to his website to see more of his amazing work. This example is just a detail looking into one side of one of his pieces.

Along with the functional and the artistic were nestled the whimsical. I think many of these were made by the glass artists prior to glass being accepted as art, not strictly functional. There were glass canes, powder horns, giant pipes and whimsical sculptures. Below is a mustard server and a small figurine examples.
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Art: Jill2day Garments
    Art: My Fiber Art
    Art: My Photography
    Art: Shows And Exhibits
    Art: Thoughts And Opinions
    Awards
    Family Time
    Locale: Charlottesville
    Locale: On The Road
    Locale: Smoky Mountain Residency
    Locale: The McGuffey
    Locale: Virginia
    Locale: Washington DC
    Locale: Wisconsin
    Misc: Musings
    Nature: Flora And Fauna
    Nature: Weather

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2022
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    November 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    March 2018
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    If you are really into history, click here for blog posts prior to 2014 !

​© 2022 Jill Kerttula..
​All rights reserved

HOME

SHOP

CONTACT & ARTIST INFO



  • Home
    • Fiber art
    • Clay Works
    • 100 day project
  • shop
    • Shop: Fiber Art
    • Shop: Clay Works
  • Process & Videos
  • CONTACT & ARTIST INFO
    • RESUME
    • ARTIST STATEMENT
  • News & Musings