Kimiake Higuchi: Pate de Verre
September 24, 2008
Underneath the Tagliapietra video, in the Corning box, was a slim volume on the work of Kimiake Higuchi. It looks self-published (and at $40 isn’t what I’d call cheap), but don’t let that stop you: It’s a beautiful book and a nice retrospective of her work.
If you know modern pate de verre you know Ms. Higuchi; she makes beautiful, hyperrealistic nature scenes of crushed glass and her color work is something to behold.
Video: Lino Tagliapietra, Glass Master at Work
September 23, 2008
So I’m screaming down a deadline, oughta be downstairs in the studio finishing color corrections and reinvestment on the latest pate de verre sculpture, and instead I’m glued to the boob tube. The package from Corning arrived today, and Lino Tagliapietra’s video was right on top.
The problem with many glass artist videos is that they spend too much time selling the sizzle and not enough making it. The editor tends to favor spectacular over informative when making his cuts, giving you the impression that glassmaking is mostly gloryholes, torches and maybe musclemen swinging 30 pounds of molten glass on the end of a punty.
Faraut class wrap-up
September 22, 2008
Wow.
That’s a horrible opener by any kind of a writer, but in this case is applied to the class I took in clay portraiture from Phillipe Faraut and entirely accurate. What I mostly learned is that I’ve got a lot to learn, but hey–that’s the first step. 
Faraut applies rational analysis of musculoskeletal structure to portraiture, and in a remarkably few swipes creates some pretty amazing likenesses. He’s also a generous instructor, more interested in teaching students how to think about the face than just about making a reasonable facsimile.
Faraut day 2
September 21, 2008
Ain’t nuthin’ like taking a class from a great portrait sculptor to teach you how much you DON’T know about sculpting. I’m taking a wonderful class from Phillipe Faraut and Day 2 has left me considerably humbled and kinda rumpled in spirit.
Yesterday we did a series of 3D “sketches” in clay, discovering gender and racial differences. We started with making a small bust of a man, moving the clay around to turn him into a woman, Africanizing the woman and finally making an Asian man, in the space of a couple of hours.
Sculpting with Philippe Faraut
September 19, 2008
Happy nirvanic sigh ’cause I get three whole days of art without guilt.
In other words, I’m taking another studio class and so instead of stealing time for my art, I’m actually SUPPOSED to be doing it. Moreover, I’m supposed to be doing it in a really topnotch class.
Portrait sculptor Philippe Faraut is teaching a single class in glassland, and my friend Maria and I both got in (barely). It’s a three-day course in 3D portraiture using waterbased clay, exactly what this would-be sculptor needs.
Faraut is the author of several highly respected books and videos on portraiture technique, some of which are excerpted on YouTube. His DVDs have taught me a lot, and after the first day of class I can pretty confidently say that I’m learning a LOT more in person.