CAC- Exhibitions

Bill Siebler, local art collector with a penchant for glass, curates The Arts Center da Vinci Days Art exhibit, Looking Through the Glass. The exhibit opens on June 28, with a community and da Vinci Days VIP reception on July 10, and closes July 26, 2008. During the Festival The Arts Center's extended hours are Saturday 10 AM - 6 PM, and Sunday 11 AM - 5 PM.

This festival show displays a variety of glass techniques and styles—glass blowing, kiln-casting, fusing, flame working, hot sculpting, cold working (sand blasting and polishing), and hot-cast glass. The work featured in this show exhibit an array of form and function, from chandeliers to paperweights, jewelry to wall hangings, vases to sculpture...and more! !

Featured Artists
Artists for this invited exhibit represent the diverse world of glass art. They are an international group with some working close to Corvallis and others scattered across the US and world. There are those whose reputations are well established. Others are up and coming artists who are raising glass art to new heights of creativity and innovation.

Flamework by JDC Roman

Avery Anderson ( Oregon) Fused Glass
Avery Anderson has studied various glass techniques over the past 25 years, but her primary focus is on fusing. Her pieces also incorporate sandblasting, airbrushing, silk-screening, photo resist, and precious metals and lusters. Anderson's glass art often features original pen and ink drawings and paintings with glass enamels. Many of her pieces are based on native cultures or animal themes. Anderson lives in the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range where she indulges her love of animals and nature and her art.

Rick Ayotte ( New Hampshire) Flameworked Paperweights
Rick Ayotte started as scientific glassblower with a side interest in creating small lampwork figurines for the gift shop market. He moved to glass art under the influence of Paul Stankard. Ayotte developed his own artistic niche with glass wildlife art. Today, his glass portrayals of nature are renowned worldwide. Ayotte's artistic goal is "to create a little world in a sea of color."

Melissa Ayotte ( New Hampshire) Flameworked Paperweights
Melissa Ayotte, daughter of Rick Ayotte, did not wield glass rods and roaring torches right away. By training a clinical psychologist and counselor, she moved into glass work only after an apprenticeship in her father's studio followed by an internship at Paul Stankard's studio. Ayotte works in her father's studio where she produces her own independent works of exquisite detail and beauty.

Bennett Battaile ( Oregon) Flamework
Courtesy of Bullseye Gallery, Portland, OR
Bennett Battaile, an engineer by training, began working in glass in 1996, taking Anna Skibska's flameworking class at Pilchuck Glass School. His background in mathematics and software engineering is reflected in his work. Battaile's ongoing fascination with the visual side of these disciplines led to work in computer graphics. He is co-author of the original paper on "Radiosity", now a standard technique for generating realistically-lit scenes. His 3-D animated short, "Gnatural Wonders" has screened at film festivals across the country including the 2008 da Vinci Film Festival.

Flamework by Bennett Battaile

	Giles Bettison ( Australia) Murrine Glass Courtesy of Bullseye Gallery, Portland, OR Giles Bettison originally started out in the metal trades as a welder, fitter, designer, and fabricator. Since starting to work in glass in 1992, he has become one of Australia's most dominant and recognized glass artists. Bettison's acclaim can be attributed to his unique and strikingly beautiful application of color, patterns, and forms in his continual exploration of the traditional techniques of murrini glass. His works invite a subtle contemplation of his native South Australia.
	Jay Bridgland ( California) Flamework Jay Bridgland owns and operates Bridgland Studios and heads the Glass Flameworking Department at The Crucible School of Fire Arts. Bridgland's drive for perfection of technique and style takes him on an annual trek to the mecca of Italian art glass, the Venetian island of Murano, to work with classical Italian glass maestros -- Cesare Toffolo, Lucio Bubacco, and Vittorio Constatini. Bridgland has also studied with Robert Mickelsen and other renowned flameworking artists.
	Richard La Londe (Washington) Fused Glass Richard La Londe has created glass art since 1974. After working in stained glass and glass blowing, he has specialized in glass fusing since the early 1980’s. As one of the original 1983 glass fusing teachers for Bullseye Glass Company, La Londe taught workshops around the US and Canada, and has been an instructor at the Pilchuck Glass School. He currently teaches at his studio on Puget Sound, elsewhere in the US, and in Europe. Among his public glass murals, is one at the International Arrivals Gateway at SeaTac airport in Seattle.
	Mark Lammi ( Oregon) Flamework Mark Lammi is cited by The Flow magazine as one of the top 10 "emerging artists" in flameworking. Lammi's work displays a strong emphasis on the relationship between line and form, evidenced in the thin hollow shapes characterizing his glass pieces. He is becoming known for his ability to produce seemingly matchless vessel and goblet forms, showing a classic Venetian design influence. Recently, Lammi has been creating sculptural works that are inspired by the natural world and incorporate multiple media.

Peter Layton ( England) Blown Glass Courtesy of Freed Gallery, Lincoln City, OR
Peter Layton studied ceramics at the Central School of Art & Design in London, taking up glassmaking while teaching in the US. He was captivated by the immediacy of the seductive "new" medium of glassblowing. Layton helped establish the Glasshouse and set up the London Glassblowing Workshop which celebrated its 30th year in 2006. In addition to his individual pieces, Layton also works on large architectural commissions. He is acknowledged as a glass artist and a teacher of international repute.

	Jeremy Lepisto ( Oregon) Cast Glass Jeremy Lepisto utilizes cast glass to "highlight the simple components and ordinary workings of everyday situations to capture the complex in the common". His planar forms are minimal and imbued with renderings of architectural structures, landscapes, and people. Intricate in construction, his glass pieces are seamless in their simplicity, exhibiting what Lepisto calls, "a detailed idea in juxtaposition to its general surrounding."
	Tim Lindemann ( California) Flamework Tim Lindemann created his own flameworking studio and has drawn artistic inspiration from other lampworkers and classes at the Pilchuck and Eugene Glass Schools. Tim draws upon his childhood experiences in the Santa Barbara Mountains as well as his studies in biology to inspire the unique naturalistic themes in his work. "Rather than incorporate obvious symbolism in my pieces I prefer to make them evoke a feeling in a more subtle way. For example, I often incorporate whimsy to make people smile or laugh."
	Robert Mickelsen ( Florida) Flamework Robert Mickelsen began flameworking by selling his designs at craft fairs. After discovering his potential while taking a class with Paul Stankard, Mickelsen moved into the gallery market. His career took off with exhibits in prominent galleries and teaching opportunities at major glass schools including the Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass. Mickelsen has filmed and produced two videos on his flameworking process, and maintains an elaborate website dedicated to his work.

Ed Pennebaker ( Arkansas) Blown Glass
Ed Pennebaker primarily makes art glass lighting using traditional offhand glassblowing techniques. He works alone in his rural Arkansas studio, cultivating his own concepts and techniques: "At a time when many designers/artists leave the crafting of their designs to apprentices, fellow craftsmen, or even a factory style setting, it is rare for the designer to continue as the maker. For me working directly with the glass is a time of Zen, a period when I can concentrate on one thing only, the glass, a time to leave the rest of the world behind."

	Lillian Pitt ( Oregon) Cast and fused glass Lillian Pitt has been exhibiting her sculpture, carvings, masks, wearable art, and works on paper for over twenty years. Lillian initially built a national and international reputation as a ceramic artist, moving to glass in 2004. A member of the Warm Springs/Wasco and Yakama tribes, her intriguing metaphors are always rooted in her Native American tradition. Involved in large-scale public art projects as part of a Native American art team, Lillian welcomes opportunities to share her heritage and her ecological commitment with an expanded audience.
	JDC Roman ( Oregon) Flamework JDC Roman spends most of his time working in a large home studio. Roman has been blowing glass since the early 1990s, honing his skills with solid and hollow shapes and adding different techniques to his palette of creativity. Roman sees the similarities between the shapes of nature as they morph from one into another with a flick of the wrist -- like a magic wand with limitless creative potential. Roman explores concepts with glass, fusing organic forms with abstract elements to create sculptural and functional works of art.
	Christopher Ries ( Pennsylvania) Courtesy of Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR Cast and Coldworked Glass Sculpture Christopher Reis began sculpting cold glass in the late 1970's. Using tools of his own creation, he cuts, grinds, and polishes blocks of pure lead crystal obtained from Schott North America. His works range in size from large, whole pieces of sculpted crystal to small sculptures, each masterful in their grace. Some of his works are the largest, whole, unassembled pieces of sculpted crystal known. Reis's art is deceptively simple in form but complex in expression as it engages viewers in an ever-changing world of images.
	Richard Royal ( Washington) Blown and Sculpted Glass Richard Royal is recognized internationally as one of the most skilled and talented glassblowers in the studio glass movement. His sensitivity and natural affinity towards the material reveal themselves within his extensive body of work. Richard began working as a hot glass sculptor in 1978 at the Pilchuck Glass School. He served as one of Dale Chihuly's principal assistants, a relationship that led to his emergence in the art market in the early 1980's. Royal continues to teach as both a guest artist and as a faculty member at the Pilchuck Glass School.
	David Schwarz ( Washington) Blown and Coldworked Glass David Schwarz was a staff member at Pilchuck Glass School from 1979 to 1986. Since then, he has worked full-time at his studio in Ridgefield, Washington. David has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums since 1982. His distinctive style of glass can be found in many private and corporate collections such as Corning Museum, High Museum in Atlanta Georgia, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

Larry Scott ( Washington) Flameworked Glass Beads
Larry Scott started out making blown glass ornaments until he stumbled on to bead making in 1993. He does not have any grand philosophy of art or aesthetics when it comes to beads. "They are after all ornament and decoration, and, I think, best when kept somewhat humble...My working hypothesis is that it is like collecting stones on the beach. Small bright objects that we need to possess. From another point of view, the actual making of the beads, the craft of beadmaking, provides the deep satisfaction that comes from making things with your own hands."

LH Selman Ltd ( California) Paperweights

LH Selman Ltd has been a name synonymous with the finest antique and contemporary paperweights for more than 35 years. As the country’s premier dealer in fine art glass paperweights, LH Selman Ltd also specializes in contemporary studio glass sculpture and has expanded to include fine glass jewelry. The mission of LH Selman Ltd is to promote the most challenging of all glass art forms by exhibiting the finest historical examples while nurturing new talent emerging from contemporary independent studios.

Flameworked Glass Beads by Larry Scott

Stephanie Sersich ( Maine) Flameworked Beads & Jewelry
Stephanie Sersich is from a family of artists and designers and has been making jewelry since she was a child. Her signature pieces incorporate beads, vintage glass, ethnic beads, natural materials, and fibers. Sersich creates her glass beads with lampworking. In her jewelry making, Sersich is well-known for her "Spiny Knotting" technique, by which she binds beads and small treasures into a single piece. She teaches her unique style internationally and just recently published her first book, Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads.

Flameworked Paperweights by
The Stankard Studio

Paul Stankard ( New Jersey) Flameworked Paperweights
& The Stankard Studio: Christine Stankard Kressley, Pauline Stankard Iacovino, Katherine Stankard Campbell & David Graeber
During his legendary career, Paul Stankard has explored the limits of glass as an artistic medium. His extensive background in glass technology and his curiosity and drive as an artist have led him to create some of the finest and most original work being done in glass today. According to Dale Chihuly, "Paul is the greatest and most interesting paperweight maker that has ever lived". The Stankard Studio continues Paul's innovative paperweight style.

Corina Tettinger ( Washington) Flameworked Glass Beads
Corina Tettinger was born and raised in Germany, lived in Japan for over 12 years, and now calls the San Juan Islands home. Corina started glass bead making in 1998. She teaches workshops internationally and is well known for her highly rated book, Passing the Flame, currently in its third edition. Corina's inspiration comes "from anything that is pretty," but mostly she loves to make a wide variety of beads and teach so that "other artists have beads to play with....and create their own jewelry, rather than wearing just a pretty bead."

Roger Thomas ( Oregon) Fused Glass Painting
Roger Thomas first worked in stained glass, moving to blown glass, and later to fusing. He continues to experiment with fused glass as a pictorial medium, developing methods for what he calls "the fused glass palette." Years of experimentation, coupled with knowledge of glass chemistry, have led to a distinctive technique he calls "vitreous mosaic" or fused glass paintings. Translucent layers and his use of color create complex and appealing pieces. Thomas exhibits and teaches his techniques in the USA and internationally.

Milon Townsend ( New York) Cast and Flameworked Glass
Milon Townsend is a self-taught artist, with more than 30 years of experience. His study of dancers and a background in classical music has led to a distinctive style known for its clean lines and focus on motion, structure, and form. Townsend primarily uses flameworking to create his glass pieces, but he also includes casting, traditional Italian murrine and filigrana techniques, and his own unique sculpting methods and technological innovations. Townsend is a regular teacher at The Studio in the Corning Museum and other national and international glass schools.

Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen & Jasen Johnsen ( Washington)
Blown and sculpted glass
Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen and Jasen Johnsen teach glass sculpting at the Pilchuck Glass School. Their work focuses on nature themes and is known for its meticulous attention to detail. While glass is increasingly being employed as a sculptural medium, the level of realism found in Karen's and Jasen's sculpted glass is unprecedented. Combining unmatched technical mastery with a profound love for their medium, nature and each other, these artists are exploring new territory in the world of glass art.

Additional Artists

Work by the following artists has been included in the show to exhibit the wide range of techniques and glass forms that are available today.

Ruth Brockman (Oregon) Pate-de-Verre

Note: Pâte de verre (French, "glass paste")

Pate de verre is a casting technique in which a glass paste is produced by combining a fine glass powder with a binder and a chemical agent to facilitate melting. The paste is brushed or tamped into a mold, dried, and fused by firing. After annealing, the object is removed from the mold and finished. Often, as with this piece, several firings are required.

Goblets -- The collection of goblets from local, private collections exhibit a wide range of styles and techniques, including traditional Venetian-style goblets and uniquely contemporary forms.

International Masters

Pavel and Joseph Molnar
Emilio Santini
Lino Tagliapietra
Cesare Toffolo

American Masters

Fritz Dreisbach
Dante Marioni

Contemporary Artists

Scott Bisson
Marcel Braun
Ryan Higgins
Skip Horton
Tony Jojola
Mark Lammi and John Kobuki (Collaboration)
Janis Miltenberger
Kenny Pieper
Kevin Rogers
Charles Savoie

In conjunction with The Arts Center exhibit, work from local glass makers is on display in the Footwise window, the Birkenstock Store.

Contact Bill Siebler, guest curator at bisiebler@yahoo.com or Hester Coucke, The Arts Center Curator, (541) 754-1551 or hester@theartscenter.net.

Corvallis Arts Center,700 SW Madison, at Central Park. Free parking available.
For more information, contact Hester Coucke, Arts Center Curator: (541) 754-1551.