Maine Crafts Apprenticeship Program

In March of 2016 Linda Perrin was chosen as a Master/Mentor in the Crafts Apprenticeship Program by the Maine Crafts Association, and Maine Arts Commission. 

This statewide apprentice program for contemporary craft practitioners offers concentrated peer-to-peer learning experiences for apprentices who demonstrate a commitment to further their abilities as specialized craft practitioners through this opportunity to foster a significant relationship with a master artist. The program celebrates the role of the master/apprentice relationship as a way to generate creative entrepreneurship through the cultural sector. And Linda Perrin of Atlantic Art Glass is happy to be recognized for accomplishemnts to this end in her long career as a glass artist in the state of Maine. 

Jacquelyn Jenson a recent graduate of College of the Atlantic was chosen as Linda's apprentice. 

  

To close the program, all artists participate in an exhibition at a highly attended venue. Maine Magazine is the 2016 exclusive magazine sponsor of the program’s inaugural exhibition Masters & Apprentices: Work from Maine’s Craft Apprentice Program, on view at LAArts October 6-November 7, 2016 and featuring work created by master and apprentice artists in 2016. The public is invited to an opening reception for the exhibition from 4-7pm on October 6.

Lots happening in October!

October = Saturday blown glass pumpkin making demonstrations!!
Well as always we get pretty fired up in the fall. The furnaces get turned on after a 6-8 week summer break. This time of the year we open our studio on Saturdays from 10am-2pm for glassblowing demonstrations. And October is especially fun because we make lot's of pumpkins!
If you visit you might notice that all the colors outside begin to reflect the colors of our hot shop inside. No one can deny that the cool weather makes us extra happy to gather around the fires to make glass. 

SPECIAL EVENTS-
Saturday October 1 from 10-4 we will be celebrating Maine Craft Weekend.  
We and our team of glass blowers will create blown glass right before your very eyes. 
For a festive twist on the day of celebrating craft, the studio of Atlantic Art Glass will be turned into a glass pumpkin patch as molten glass is gathered out of the furnace, blown and hand formed into pumpkins on the end of a blowpipe. The warmth of the fiery arts, the gallery bedecked with fall color, and the making of a blown glass pumpkins charms visitors of all ages.
As a special treat you will meet the talented and hard working Jacquelyn Jenson, who is the 2016 Maine Craft Apprentice Program recipient. Get a sneak peak at her delightful blown glass work as she finalizes her seven month apprenticeship with master glass blower, Linda Perrin.

Thursday October 6th 4pm-7pm LA Arts, Lewiston, ME
The public is invited to an opening reception for the exhibition Masters and Apprentices: Work from Maine's Craft Apprenticeship Program 
LA Arts, 221 Lisbon st. Lewiston, Maine 

Heart of Glass 2016

Saturdays February 6,13

Approximate time working is about half an hour.

Reservations available after 10am

Price:

$40.  CALL 207-664-0222 to sign up!

Type of workshop: Sculpting Hot Glass

Make something really special - a gift from the heart! You will transform molten glass into a small solid heart shaped paperweight with our expert help.This experience allows you to work with hot glass up close, with help from our glassblowers.

You’ll start by choosing the glass colors you want to use in your solid glass heart, and then partner with our professional glassblowers to create it. After applying and heating the colors you will sit at the glass blowing bench and learn how to use the “pucinellas” to shape and swirl the molten glass. When the interior design is complete the glass will be cased in clear crystal, and shaped into its final heart shaped form. Although this is a swift exercise it reveals ancient glass techniques, that are a true wonder to experience. 

6th Annual FireGathering!! Dec 19th all day!

The FireGathering December 19th-10 am -10pm
Come help us celebrate the cycles of light! 
Glass-blowing, Blacksmithing, Lampworking and Pop Up artisan and specialty food market!

The FireGathering began over 10 years ago, as a small group of artisans celebrating the solstice and acknowledging how their work, creating things with Fire helped them get through the long darkening and cold winter. Taking glee in the gathering we opened the party to the public 6 years ago and the gathering has grown. Now with live music all day, artisan demonstratios, a fund raiser for Artsworth and a new pop up artisan and specialty food market we are expecting this year's Fire Gathering to be the best evah. So come on over and join in this season to get through the darkest day and look forward to the promise of returning light after the winter solstice.  There will be munchies and beverages! The hot shop warehouse will be the center of creativity and last minute holiday shopping opportunities as you enjoy fiery artisan demonstrations.  It's a tradition to  gather around the hearth/fire this time of year. 

GLASSBLOWING by Ken Perrin, Linda Perrin, Derrick Sekulich, Jon Ho, Nate Parker, Sophie Spiker, Jacquelyn Jenson 
BLACKSMITHING by Jeff Toman
TORCH WORKING, by Tara Parker 


Live Music By "Rose Hips and Ships" 7pm-9pm

Any one who would like to bring some HOMEMADE pot luck finger food will receive a wrapped grab bag gift, ....while supplies last.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – Albert Schweitzer 

Glass Blowing Workshops Winter 2016

Beginning Glass Blowing

Beginning Glass Blowing

Jan 9th to Jan. 30th>> Saturdays 

Price:$375

Type of workshop:

Glassblowing

Call to sign up: 664-0222

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. You must be 14 years of age or older, under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Full payment is expected by the first session. Call 207-664-0222 to sign up!

Heart of Glass

February 6^th and 13^th

Reserve a spot between 10am and 2pm

Type of Workshop-glassblowing/ sculpting

Price-$40

Call to make a reservation-664-0222

Make something really special - a gift from the heart!. You will transform molten glass into a small solid heart shaped paperweight with our expert help. This experience allows you to work with hot glass up close, while staying on the cool end of the glassblowing equipment at all times.  You’ll start by choosing the glass colors you want to use in your solid glass heart, and then partner with our professional glassblowers to create it. After applying and heating the colors you will sit at the glass blowing bench and learn how to use the “pucinellas” to shape and swirl the molten glass. When the interior design is complete the glass will be cased in clear crystal, and shaped into it’s final heart shaped form. The techniques to do this exercise, reveals ancient glass traditions, a true wonder to experience. This hot glass workshop takes about an hour as we demonstrate the methods, and make our way to your turn. You must pre-register to participate. 

Call 664-0222 to sign up-one must pre-register to participate.

Make a Blown Glass Ornament!

Make a Blown Glass Ornament!
Every Saturday November 15th. through December 13th
Price 
$40
Call 207-664-0222 to register-you will be scheduled to arrive during a one hour time slot.

Glassblowing
Age Restriction 
14 years or older under 18 accompanied by an adult.
This experience allows you to work with hot glass up close, while staying on the cool end of the glassblowing equipment at all times. You’ll start by choosing the glass colors you want to use in your ornament, and then partner with our professional glassblowers to create it. You will shape the ornament by blowing air through the moving blowpipe as the glassblower guides the glass with special tools. After you and the glassblower have shaped your ornament, it is removed from the blowpipe, a glass loop is added and it is placed in an oven to begin an overnight slow cooling process. Ornaments are ready for pick up the following week or may be shipped for an additional fee within the US and Canada.

Call 207-664-0222 to register-you will be scheduled to arrive during a one hour time slot.
When you get to our hot shop, please check in at the front counter. There you will receive some information on color choices and we will verify any payment info you may have given us to reserve your spot.
You can expect to spend at least an hour in the shop, as we make our way to your turn. Making a blown glass ornament is a swift process. The glass maker must work with the blower (you) to both expand the glass to it’s largest and thinnest capacity while also squeezing it to create the very smallest of openings at the crack off point of the blow pipe. By it’s very nature making an ornament happens quickly but it is so memorable and dramatic! It’s the perfect introduction to how hot glass works. We are really looking forward to sharing this with you.

October Blown Glass Pumpkin Parties

Saturdays In October 10am-3pm

Come in to the Blown Glass Pumpkin Patch

25 Pine Street Ellsworth Maine

Watch Ken and Linda and other Local glass Blowers Create blown Glass pumpkins right before your very eyes! The Studio of Atlantic Art Glass will be turned into a glass pumpkin patch as the molten glass is pulled from the furnace, blown and hand formed on the end of a blowpipe. The making of a blown glass pumpkins charms visitors of all ages. The warmth of the fiery arts puts a new spin on fall color, and the gallery will be filled with autumn inspired work for sale. there will be cookies and apple cider too!

Check us out on Facebook for more information.

Beginning glassblowing classes start January 2015

Beginning Glass Blowing

January 3rd - January24th

Saturday Mornings 10-2

$375.

18 years or older (14-17 years must have instructor and parental permission)

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.

Instructor: Linda Perrin, www.atlanticartglass.com "A hot glass class in the middle of the winter is a bohemian vacation!"

Full payment is expected by the first session. Call 207-664-0222 to sign up.

 

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!!