I didn't go into college this week and spent yesterday doing this envelope for the American Graceful Envelope Contest. Why? I don't know - it just appealed. The somewhat uninspiring theme was 'C's the Day' so mine is a chamaeleon which changes colour and has a few C-shapes in the design. I had a fancy to have him whistling to the tune of middle C, but didn't want speech bubbles. Am off to the Post Office now to see if they will hand frank it.
I do sort of admire Cornelia Parker for her ideas (heard her speak very intelligently on Woman's Hour when this exhibition opened) but I have to say I just don't get it. There were 6 of these silver gelatin prints called Latent News. And, as my companion said, 'I could do that myself.' It's not that simple, of course, and I do (quite) like her exploded shed), but you need this stuff explained by the cognoscenti. Idea for my jewellery though - her Bullet Drawings (lead drawn from a bullet into wire and arranged charmingly with shadows behind on six white-framed panels) - made me think of framing some of my jewellery pieces as statements about the wearability of glass.
... because I've been mucking everything up recently. Here's a broken one. Fused into a circle. Picked up in the hotshop - but on my own. Couldn't control the way the colours blew out differently. Now in the lehr just to see what the colours did - but it's all foldy and complete rubbish. Waste of time. And waste of glass. Mind you, everyone spends quite a bit on materials and you do have to try and forget what it costs.
A nice occasion and quite a high standard of work, on the whole. I thought it was better than last year's Final Show. My work was nicely placed so it was the first thing people saw as they enteredthe gallery. All the tutors thought the stand too heavy for the piece, but I thought it looked good - and in any case, it led to interesting discussions. A technician said he could make me something a bit like a gyroscope -- which I liked the sound of. Maybe he even will for the next piece. One person enquired about buying the other roundel (the one on the invitation card) but I don't think she really meant it. At any rate not at the price someone quoted on my behalf when I remained mute. It's too soon to sell anything as the failure rate is so high I need to keep the successes. 
It had to be a pâte de verre Easter egg this year. Pleasingly eggshell thin - mould made round a real egg and the 'yolk' from an ice cube mould. Turned out rather well.
This will probably never happen again - to have my work on the poster and invitation card for an exhibition. It's rather chuffing, I confess - and might be useful for publicity. Invitation designed by Sofia Garcia Noriega who is doing an MA in sustainable product design (the MA comes in many shapes and forms). I'm struggling now with how I display it. I thought in a case resting on a perspex stand, but maybe that's the cop-out solution.
So preparation stages and 4 hot-working operations. I'm not using my best roundels for these tests, but it's going tohave to be really stunning to justify all this. I don't mind as it's all part of the MA exploration, but it wouldn't be financially sensible.
Yep, that's what I said, 'velcro and glass'. Home now (and jet-lagged) sorting through all my pictures from New York and here's something for those of my family who rag me for my 'assembled' goblets (that's UV-glued to you and me). These about-to-be-assembled glasses that I saw at Urban Glass will have velcro at the joint between the bowl and the stem so you can swap bowls as you change your wines and velcro the bowl to your base. I didn't see the finished object, but there's something to talk about to the folk at Farnham.
If I had gone on with the crazy goblet idea I would have had to go no further than the Museum of Art & Design, next door to the New York Public Library from where I am blogging this entry. I have just seen a collection of over 100 truly mad goblets - this one shown isn't even the craziest. The exhibition is called Cheers! Very inventive. Come to think of it, it's a good thing I didn't do that project or I'd be feeling a bit disheartened as my thesis had been that drinking glass design was less whacky than shoe design. Perhaps this exhibition disproves that.
Truly inspirational morning at the Heller Gallery which is one of the best modern glass galleries in New York. I was fortunate in that a serious buyer seemed to be there at the same time as I was and he was taken down to the vaults to see more pieces that were not out on display and I was invited to come along too. I've loads of pictures - these three are Etsuko Nishi (top) 2 pâte de verre vessels [I must find out more about her technique]; Steffen Dam (middle) 'Specimen Panel' [they had several of his pieces and I really loved them - couldn't figure out how made]; Robin Grebe (bottom) which isn't my 'thing' but it was rather lovely. Plus some Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra and other luminaries. I spent ages there. Nice of them to let me take so many pix - and I had a really good look at several pieces trying to work out they were made and also looking at the way round things were displayed. 
