Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Glass Blowing Demonstration

Check us out on You Tube. This is part of the Maine Crafts Guild library of Maine Artisans doing their thing. We make a pretty simple form in this demo but it makes for a good show. ENJOY!
Glass Blowing Demonstration/Linda Perrin


Friday, April 23, 2010

CMOG !!


We are so excited here at the glass studio. We just sent out our first order to the Corning Museum of Glass gift shop!! So if you are interested in finding innovative blown glass jewelry, go there and ask for work by Linda Perrin, of Atlantic Art Glass. My blown glass cane beads employ venetian technique with my own contemporary feminine spin. The glass colors of the work are cheerful, and the earrings, necklaces and bracelets are made with meticulous attention to detail. Bead lovers will recognize the contribution I am trying to make to the long history of hand made glass. Especially after they are able to see the first pieces of hand made glass lying quietly in a case inside the museum, glass made in 3500 cool huh-? The earliest hand made glass was made in the form of beads!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

College of the Atlantic Internship



For the last ten weeks or so we have had a new apprentice in glassblowing, she is from the College of the Atlantic. This cool eco school requires all it's graduates to get work experience in their field of study. Linda Grecco a maker, believes in the individuation of culture that comes from handmade objects versus the homogenization of industrial goods. She came to us an expert in macramé, making dream catchers and hippie hemp necklaces. How would the meditative process of tying knots and weaving hemp compare to the dynamic challenges of wrestling with hot glass. It was interesting to watch Linda's progress, at first a bit tentative Linda showed great promise, able to gather large dollops of light filled glass from the furnace right from the start. Eventually we found that if we played the right music (Reggae or old Stones) Linda would begin to dance with the beat and flow with the glass. As her skill level grew, she designed and made increasingly difficult shapes.
I find glass blowing to be very empowering for young women. During her tenure here she has helped repair equipment, she has worked in a production team on wholesale orders, she has worked on mailings and other marketing projects, and she has also assisted Ken Perrin with his one of a kind blown glass sculptural peices to name just a few of her experiences.
"Blown and Thrown" Linda's senior show will be up at Blum Gallery April 20 -31. An opening will take place Thursday April 20 from 4-6pm, Blum Gallery, College of the Atlantic Campus, Rte 3 Bar Harbor.