The choice to become a glass artist is not one for the faint of heart. The work can be physically demanding and dangerous. And then there’s the fact that glass is a quintessentially fragile medium. Breakage happens. It can also be a maddeningly difficult medium to work with. Says Hotel Murano Art Curator Tessa Papas, “It’s not unusual for an artist to produce 20 or more identical pieces before he gets one that he can keep.” In Prague, one of the world’s centers for kilned glass, the artist’s patience is tested as in few others mediums. Tessa says, “The mold may sit in the kiln for up to four months” as the artist keeps constant watch, maintaining the proper temperature. “Even then,” she adds, “he can’t always predict what the outcome will be. After all that waiting, the piece may be unusable. It’s an art form of delayed gratification.”

Dale

With the holidays approaching, hotel management has been in a giving mood. Just the other day, we were surprised to find that they have given our baby blog some shiny new toys. Though they weren’t wrapped, it’s the thought that truly counts.

See those little pictures below the post. Those are social media chicklets. They’re what are making big-time networks shake in their boots. See, the most popular content gets tagged the most and is thus read the most. Crazy thought. Finally, news and articles for the people, by the people.

Now if you’re in an extra giving mood, you can tag our posts (or at least the few you like). Together we can spread Tacoma love all over the globe.

Thanks for all the support so far.

Dale

Dale,

Thanks for the snippet about Bertil Vallien. After I read your post, I thought I would check out some of his work online. Wow. The man makes some amazing art.

Josh

Picture: Bertil Vallien

Glass is unique in that viewers are often moved to ask, “How’d the artist do that?” The process itself is part of the art form. Viewers want to know if a piece was blown, kilned, or molded. They want to know how colors and textures and lighting effects were created. Says Hotel Murano Art Curator Tessa Papas, “Some artists don’t want their process known. Others are very conceptual, and glass is just the convenient means to get their ideas across.” Still, most artists are very open about how they accomplish their often stunning effects. Glassblowing, for instance, is almost a performance art in itself. Hotel Murano artist Bertil Vallien of Sweden summed it up beautifully in his artist’s statement: “A violent transformation does take place in the cooling oven. When the sculpture is pried out and removed from the cooler, the red-hot [piece] has turned to everlasting ice. The tale the sculpture tells is captured for eternity in the glass, and only internal fires can restore it to its original form.”

Dale