Workshops and festivities!

Warm your hearts as winter approaches by  focusing on  Shared Experiences! Take the beginning glass blowing class, Come to the 4th Annual Fire Gathering! As always our contemporary glass gallery is open for sales Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-2pm Atlantic Art Glass, 25 Pine Street, Ellsworth, ME 04605 207-664-0222 Please join us for a celebration on  The Winter Solstice! for our 4th annual "Fire Gathering" Gathering around the hearth/fire has a new spin. Join with your community this solstice to celebrate the darkest day of the year and the promise of returning sun light on the winter solstice. The Fire Gathering Gathering around the hearth/fire has a new spin. Join with your community this solstice to celebrate the darkest day and the promise of returning light on the winter solstice. Fiery Art Making Demonstrations: Glass-blowing, Blacksmithing, Lampworking and more! Munchies and beverages!The hot shop warehouse becomes the center of creativity and last minute holiday shopping as demonstrations in the art of Glassblowing by Ken Perrin, Linda Perrin, Derrick Sekulich, Jon Ho, Nate Parker& friends,  Blacksmithing by Jeff Toman and Dave Benttinen,  Lamp/Torch Worked Glass by Tara Parker  Steel Sculpting by Edie Benttinen Jewelry/Metal-Smithing by Patience Blythe Live Music By the "Hot Coals"-Dave Lavalle and AJ Emmett Maine Crafts Association members  are encouraged to come.  They can make an easy donation to MCA: a percentage of all purchases by members will be donated back to MCA. Buy a spectacular hand made gift for someone and give back to the community at the same time!! Any one who would like to bring some pot luck finger food or a bottle of wine (or the like) will receive a wrapped grab bag gift, ....while supplies last. Next up!! Beginning Glass Blowing Classes begins January 11th and it isn't too early to register! Beginning glass blowing January 18th - February 8 Saturday mornings 10am-2pm Price:  $425 sorry for the typo - this class is $375!  Type of workshop: Glassblowing Age Restriction:  14 years or older under 18 accompanied by an  adult. This course is designed for beginners. Emphasis is placed on learning the basic skills necessary to complete simple blown vessels. Class time is divided between demonstrations and supervised work time with individual attention for each student. No glass working experience is required. This is a four week course meeting once each week for four hours. Registration is on a first come first served basis, as class sizes are limited. Full payment is expected by the first session. Call 207-664-0222 to sign up! Many new courses will be offered in 2014 including Handbuilt Pottery Forms with Katheryn Balteff Watch for our next News letter or call/e-mail for more info.

"Life on a string"- Living it!

"Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead". 
If you are able please attend my appearance at CMOG. May 23-26th!! It is Glass Fest week-end and I cannot think of anything better, can you? Festivities at night, visiting the museum by day and spending time sharing the love by doing a personal appearance at the glass market.

Linda Perrin of Atlantic Art Glass will make personal appearances in the GlassMarket during GlassFest weekend.  Perrin, whose hand blown glass jewelry is inspired by an ancient Italian glassblowing technique, will share an expanded collection of her jewelry...

The Corning Museum of Glass is the foremost authority on the art, history, science, and design of glass. It is home to the world’s most important collection of glass, including the finest examples of glassmaking spanning 3,500 years. 
So imagine my delight to go to this exhibit today! Having dedicated my life to creating contemporary blown glass beads, I was absolutely delighted to see this show open at the Corning Museum of Glass. When Karol Wight, executive Director and curator of Ancient islamic glass says, “Glass beads are truly remarkable objects—they are the miniature masterpieces of the Museum’s collection. These works are important not only for their artistry, but also for the way they are used to convey social and political messages, and for the manner in which beading traditions have been carried on over many centuries.”
I say right on!
Over 200 beads or beaded objects are represented at this show. I overheard a gentleman ask a general question "what is the oldest glass object in the museum?"  ---um Dude, you are standing next to it! Glass beads seems to be among the very first objects made from glass followed soon by hollow core vessels.

Necklace with Glass Pendants and Faience Beads, mold-pressed. Southern Greece or Crete, 1400–1250
To see a small diamond shaped bead in laid with delicate drops of color made in the 1st century AD, or a necklace with glass pendants and beads made, 1400-1250 BC. is absolutely fascinating.

Wishing for a few more contemporary examples I found the lineage of bead makers clearly defined in the exhibit, the regional, and cultural implications of glass beads is as varied as human history itself. 

Exhibition information from the museum notes that, "An understanding of the history of glass would not be complete without acknowledging the importance of glass beads both as a products of early manufacture in the medium and as artistic representations of diverse cultures and societies. Glass beads have been found at the earliest glass manufacturing sites in the eastern Mediterranean, leading to the knowledge that making beads must have been among the earliest attempts at glass production. The great variations in design and manufacturing techniques over nearly 35 centuries allow glass beads to tell the stories of not only their makers, but of those who used beads for various purposes and in a variety of manners. Through a thematic arrangement, the exhibition Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead, on view from May 18, 2013, to January 5, 2014, explores the different uses of glass beads across time and around the world, as well as examining the chronological development and processes for the production of glass beads."

Living It!!

Gathering 'round the fires of a glass studio.

Maine gifted and talented HS students enjoy a glass blowing demonstration .

This winter has been one of record gatherings in the studio. We have offered our beginning glass blowing class, some one day workshops, and glass blowing demonstrations for  a record number of community groups. WOW how did that happen?! Well it has been a long held dream to create an educational and events based component to the studio space we inhabit here at Atlantic Art Glass.
Seems Folks really do like to gather round the fire! As we have shared our work with folks through exhibitions and sales-  the inevitable question rises in the conversation, "How do you do that."? Well in our space (although rather primitive) we can invite folks to watch us blow glass. This naturally leads to folks asking to try it, which lead to our first glass blowing classes. We have been offering winter glass blowing classes for over 5 years. We have inspired a burgeoning group of glass artists in this area. We are committed to fostering their work by making studio space available to them....and others!

Beginning glass blowing class!

Every year our alliances with other artists in the community have grown and they say they have the same experience with the public. As they show their work to the community, they raise curiosity and interest in the "how to" arena.
So we are beginning to offer our space to fine craft artists to teach classes in their medium too. Soon I hope to show you pictures of folks taking other classes here, like metal smithing, black smithing,  printing, photography, and glass fusing, to name a few.
Look how much fun it can be----

Beginning glass blowing class high school student.

Adults enjoying an evening out in the hot shop.

Girl scout troupe 1583 comes in to earn a patch!

Sumner HS students come in for a demonstration.

Brewer HS comes in for a workshop.

Brewer HS workshop includes some hot glass sculpting!

Brewer HS also had a glass fusing lesson.

The administration of this endeavor is a bit daunting. Improving the space to accommodate the various classes, and the public, scheduling artists who have offerings and promoting their classes to the public is our challenge at the moment....But stay tuned- If the rolling stone gathers no moss we are definitely not rolling --we are rocking it here, and gathering momentum every year!!

Brewer HS workshop an example of
cultural enrichment and connections!!