"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.
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.
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!!
