Cynthia

Uh-oh. I have embarked on (yet another) mission. (and, BTW, I’ve updated this a couple of times, so if it looks longer, with different numbers, you’re not hallucinating)

Had a private conversation about other glassist blogs the other day, and wound up posting a query on warmglass.com with a little poll on how the warmglassers use blogs. And I’ve compiled a list of kilnformers’ glassblogs I’ve discovered to date. It’s interesting stuff.

Of the 70 people that have so far responded on the poll, a whopping 60% don’t have a glass blog or comment on other people’s blogs. 14% don’t have their own blogs but post comments about glass on other people’s blogs. The remaining 25% have a blog that is either about glass or sometimes discusses glass.

So…these are warmglassers, people who are doing kilnforming and are presumably pretty comfortable talking about their work online. I would imagine many more have websites…and if they’re the bleeding edge of the glassist crowd, that would tell me that the glass artist community as a whole is probably underusing blogs. As Lani (of Bullseye fame) noted, a lot of those that are, seem to blog about glass beads and jewelry, not glassblowing, fusing or casting. Be interesting to figure out why.

I’m always surprised when people read this blog (though, since I track this site with Urchin, I shouldn’t be–it averages several hundred visits per day). I personally think that glass blogs (or any artist blog, for that matter) are a terrific way to gain insight into the mind of the maker.

I use the glass chunk of this blog to both journal my experiments and create an archive of stuff I’m asked about frequently. I participate in a lot of online stuff, I tend to be (surprise!) long-winded in my responses, and it saves time for me to write a blogpost and simply link back to it instead of answering a question all over again.

Carol Carson said she posts on a blog because it’s easier than updating a website; I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I’ve been strongly recommending that people start with blogs and move to websites only as needed, at least for personal/creative sites. The upkeep is a LOT less, and I think it frees the non-Webbist to simply put stuff up instead of worrying about whether the div tags are in the right spots. These days there are so many add-ons for the most popular blog tools that you can pretty much make a blog do the tricks you need…almost for free.

Anyway, thought it would be fun to actually collect the blogs of glassists in a single place. I’m mostly doing this to make it easier for me to find them again…but if anyone reading this wants to explore as well, you’re welcome to. And if you know of other blogs that incorporate glass, please let me know and I’ll add them here.

So here goes, in alphabetical order because this is getting long:

Bailiff’s Hollow
OK, so what I really want to know is the story behind the name “Bailiff’s Hollow.” Mike Byers, another warmglasser, makes some really cool metal and glass sculptures (among other things) that I enjoy seeing. The real attraction of this blog, though, is the writing. This may win the prize for wittiest-blog-that-also-talks-glass. I came to view the glass, stayed to read for quite awhile. Only suggestions I’d make, Mike, is more (especially more glass) and maybe make the type on older posts a teensy bit bigger. On a Mac it looks about 6 point.

Bullseye Glass
Lani McGregor, one of the owners of Bullseye, kilnformed glass supplier to the stars and the reason for my constantly empty pockets, blogs about glass art, Scotland, competition in the glass manufacturing world, and other glassist stuff. What makes the blog fun is that she’s giving real opinions that haven’t (I’m pretty sure) been passed through multiple layers of PR- and lawyer-types, and she’s remarkably open about posting dissenting views. I will never, ever get the whole “glass brand religion” thing, but the passion she brings to her blog puts it well above the corporate blogbog and I really enjoy her posts. Now I just wish she’d adopt weekly posting practices.

Carol Carson
Gallery blog. This lady timidly approached the warmglassers (who apparently have a reputation for feistiness) and asked for suggestions on improving her work. Then she showed pictures of her glass and blew everyone away–one of the first times I’ve seen the word “insouciant” defined in glass. I have one of her pieces, GirlGold, in the living room and it strikes a sassy note every time I see it. This is another one of those artists whose backstory probably gives a lot to the glass (I mean, she’s got a chef husband in Vegas who made this unbelievable flapper dress out of chocolate…on TV. How cool is that?). I’d love to read more about her and figure out where her art relates.

Cheyenne Glass
Cher (yet another warmglasser, which is what comes of asking a BBS for a list) has so much to do that you’d think she doesn’t have time to develop a blogpost, let alone three or four websites and blogs with veiled references to Phil Collins. The link at the top is her professional site; she also has a really nicely personalized co-blog with her husband, and then there’s the one she’s just starting for her husband… uhm…when do you have time to do glass, Cher? I think my favorite is the co-blog; you get a taste of her inspirations and the story behind the work.

Christine’s Fused Glass
Christine Hanses has been blogging for a couple of years now. She’s mostly posting pictures of her work–a combination of jewelry and some pretty cool vessels and wall art–and what’s fun is seeing the growth in the work over time.

Church artist
Dani (not sure of her real name) posts about the glasswork that she, her husband and others do for churches. It’s primarily about stained glass…and about staining the glass (i.e., painting it) and firing it in a kiln…but there’s also a bit of other kilnforming as well. Very interesting read.

Corsock Glass (and its related gallery listing site)
Based in Scotland and owned by artist Amanda J. Simmons, this is another gallery blog, one that appears primarily dedicated to sales support. Ms. Simmons’ glass is unique and intriguing stuff, and I really enjoy her design choices. I’d love to see her add more info on the how and why of the work because, clearly, there’s a story there.

Cynthia Oliver
Speaking of warmglassers, Cynthia Oliver is another and also a multifaceted creative, just jumping into a new career as a graphic artist and already an accomplished glassist. Her website is gorgeous and blog is a combination of glassmaking and personal journaling. Plus, she’s such a talented writer she’s a pleasure to read (now all she has to do is get that frequency thing down, i.e., write more).

Dayle Ann Stratton
Dayle Ann is a painter whose glass looks a heckuva lot like her work, and I think that’s very cool, particularly since she’s one of the few who can move from a 2D pastel to a 3D stacked, transparent glass and not lose the warm and sassy feeling. She also is a blogger after my own heart–she explains the whys and wherefores behind what she’s thinking and doing.

Deb Lewis A little of this and a lot of glass
Deb Lewis got the blog bug as well, and I really enjoy the combination of precision and free-flowing organics in her “Winter’s Promise” piece. She’s got a nice rhythm going wth a mostly gallery blog that offers long captions describing her process and design choices.

Deryn Mentock (Something sublime from the studio of Deryn Mentock)
Primarily about jewelry but with a lot of notes about glass, this is an absolutely sumptuous and inspiring blog that I could explore for hours. Beautifully done; Mentock has a blogroll that goes on for miles and obviously follows the kitchen-sink school of blog add-ons. If I had a top 10 list of artist blogs, this one would probably be on it.

Evolution of a Glass Artist
Mira calls herself a “crartist,” and heaven knows what that means. But I like her work, which combines casting, staining, foiling and what I like to call stack-fusing. I also like the way she journals, and you really CAN see the evolution.

Fantasy in Glass
Just saw this one quite recently, thanks to Lani’s blog, and I love it. This is a stained glass store owner who’s not afraid to let it all hang out, and he has some pithy commentary on the glass industry as a whole.

GlassCentralCanberra (Megan Bottari)
Now THIS is exactly what I like, glass from the underside…with an edge. Underside as in down under, i.e., Australia, but also as in diving down past the pretty glass and into the art. Author Megan Bottari is heavily into the AusGlass community, reports on some very cool shows and is a good read.

Lynn Feudner (Escaping Artwork)
Some day I’ll have to ask why her blog’s subtitled “Escaping Artwork,” since from the content it appears she’s embracing it wholeheartedly. The author is a sketcher and watercolorist with a lovely eye, who also does glass. I really enjoy her colors, but most of all I like her use of line.

Firelog (Paul Tarlow)
Paul has a glass shop someplace down in bluebonnet country and talks glass. He covered the Portland GAS 2008 conference so well that he made me sniffle at the sessions I missed.

Glass Art Society
Unfortunately I can only get you so far into the site; the blog is for members only. However, if you’ve a membership account, this blog will tell you about GAS happenings, events, competitions, etc.

Glass Quilt Collaboration Project
This was another warmglass groupthink, this time asking artists to depict the traditional elements of air, fire, water, and earth in an 8×8 glass square. No other restrictions, and 36 artists from six countries submitted squares. Thanks to tremendous work by artist Toni Johnson, it’s also available as a poster, and there are rumors that they’re looking for an installation site (which means I need to dig mine out of mothballs).

Glenda Kronke
This is a good example of making a blog into a website for an artist–she’s using the components of the blog to start with an artist statement, then move to her collections. Her “Growth” series makes me think of lilypads, really interesting. Would love to see her talking about what inspires the work and some of the processes she goes through to make them.

HavivaZ
Havi Zemach, yet another warmglasser, is an Israeli whose first medium is print. She’s shifted approaches with her glass, which apparently is just starting to take off in Israel. Fascinating lady to talk to, and just starting with her site (I should know, since I helped her make it). It’ll be interesting to see where she takes it.

Hotel Murano (Looking Glass Blog)
The Provenance hotel chain makes a big deal out of themes, and its latest is glass, in Tacoma. To no great surprise, then, they call the place the Hotel Murano, and it’s stocked to the gills with contemporary glass art. Their hotel blog, which is managed by chiropractor-turned-concierge “Dale,” is a lot of fun, especially when it talks about art in the hotel and elsewhere. Needs more pictures of the glass, though.

I LOVE RED
Glassprimitif, whoever that is besides the author of this blog (but may or may not be Kelli of Michigan or maybe Jo of someplace else), puts the above statement in all caps. S/he offers as explanation the amazing attributes of the color. Interesting read, with a lot of personality showing through, and obviously this blogger is someone who’s into a LOT of different crafts.

Janet McFadyen Warmglass on the Beach
OK, yet another warmglasser with an interesting take on both life and glass art, and a very useful blog. Janet McFadyen of Vancouver Island Kiln-fired Glassworks uses her blog for selling and talking about her work. She’s a lady after my own heart, experimenting and pushing the glass envelope (you’ve gotta see the Buddha she made out of gin bottles), and probably my favorite work is her witty commentary on footwear.

KatBox (Kat Hartley)
Dropped off a foot I’m recasting at Uroboros this morning and Kat mentioned that she was making a catnip wrench for a friend. I think I said “come again?” four or five times before she finally said “just read it on my blog” and that reminded me that I needed to add Kat’s blog to this page. She talks about the local music scene, glass, making catnip wrenches, glass, cars, glass and, oh yeah, glass. Really fun read.

Keoni’s Artlog
There’s not a lot here yet–John may set a record for spacing out blogposts–but interesting insights into making it as a glass artist. Pictures, pictures, John!!! He’s doing lifecasts. Very cool.

Miriam diFiore
Wonderful artist and teacher Miriam diFiore (I’d LOVE to take a class in her Italian studio) lists her courses and shows off new work here. Most of the blog is (naturally) in Italian, but the pictures are worth a visit.

Modamuse
OK, so this isn’t a glass blog, it’s a blog about Australian and New Zealand artists and what they’re up to. But there’s glass in enough posts–and some very cool work in other media–to make it list-worthy.

Mostly Glass
Barbara Muth met Mom and me in the Washington DC suburbs a couple of years ago; I’d bought into a share of acrylic french cleats she’d had made and she delivered them. We had a light lunch, talked, and I discovered she not only was a wonderful glass artist (and teacher, if you’ve ever read her warmglass posts) but also a delightful conversationalist. Her blog is primarily a gallery of her work (which is great), but I’d love to see her add commentary, too; this is one artist who has very worthwhile things to say.

New Zealand Glass
Thanks to a comment below by Stuart Park, here’s a blog by the other side of glass art, a collector. Stuart specializes in glass art by New Zealand artists, and I was tickled to see works by a number of new faces on his blog. Thanks, Stuart!

Robin’s GlassPony blog
Robin of GlassPony has a new blog she says is all my fault. Maybe so, but she’s caught both the spirit and the fever pretty well, and I enjoyed looking at her work. (It would be incredibly cool, Robin, if you could translate that horse rescue painting into glass.)

Rosanna Gusler Wanchese Art
Rosanna Gusler, terrific kilnformer, expert glassist, and “marine finisher” who gloats better about food than anyone I’ve ever met, has just started this gallery blog. Her work is wonderful, and I’d love to see the backstory on the how and why.

Sarah’s Glass
The tagline says it all here: “Despite her love of glass fusing and art making in general, Sarah still can’t keep her mouth shut. Thus she has a blog.” The work, the blog, it’s all over the place. Just the way I like it.

Self-portraits in Glass 2006
A bunch of warmglassers gave themselves an assignment to define themselves in kilnformed glass and-thanks to the great work by artist Cynthia Oliver–held an online exhibition by blog. Fascinating look at the many views we have of ourselves and glass.

Self-portraits in Glass 2008 (Self-expressions)
Cynthia Oliver did it again, and even better this time (I think). She repeated her very successful call for a virtual exhibition of self-portraits, and I’m pretty blown away by the quality of work and the growth of some of the artists from last time. This is definitely worth a look.

Siopa Eile
OK, this one isn’t specifically about glass, but it’s an interesting experiment and it does talk about glass artists. Irish artist and craftsman Paul Mahoney has chosen ten Irish artisans to populate his the blog on his “alternative shop” (Siopa Eile means “other shop” in Irish). Some of the work is pretty, some is thought-provoking, some is stunning, and all of it is interesting.

Siyeh Glass/Glass Incarnate
Atlanta artist Brenda Griffith blogs about coffee mugs and music and making glass and making a business of glass and making books about glass. Interesting read. She’s got a second website, not sure how they’re related…but worth watching.

Bonnie Doon (Laurie Spray)
Lauri makes glass and stuff to do things with glass, like potmelt rings and wall sconce mechanicals. She’s doing something I’m a strong advocate of, i.e., using a blog as a website and gradually evolving it into something more.

Suffering for my art!
Yet another warmglasser, although he hasn’t been there much of late, SkinMechanic (Joseph Staton) is a fellow after my own heart when it comes to experimenting, and also a talented ceramics and sketch artist. Lovely work, and he’s a blogging veteran, been at it almost as long as I have.

Jill Symons
As you can see in the comments below, Paul Mahoney suggested I check this one out. Frankly there are so many beader’s blogs these days that I’d need a separate page just to list them (and isn’t this long ENOUGH?), but what I like about Jill’s especially is the way she combines salesmanship with personal, technical with art. Very nice mix.

Terrie Corbett–In My Life
Wow. I just keep saying wow. This is a good blog from many angles, not the least of which is that she’s making art I can really relate to. Terrie’s blog brings you into her life as well as her work, and gives you an idea of what’s going on in her head when she makes this stuff. Her work is stunning, probably one of the best uses of colored enamel on glass I’ve seen in awhile (Don Burt’s is another, but in a style that’s 180 from this). She’s not trying to make it look like church glass, she’s not aping pastels (which is what (to me) this most looks like), she’s not playing cloisonne games; she’s literally taking the medium to a new level. Wow. I could put just about any of her pieces on my wall with great pride. Wow.

Terri Stanley
Terri, another warmglasser, doesn’t SAY much on this blog, but her pictures say it for her. This is primarily a gallery blog and since Terri’s work is exquisite, thoughtful and meticulously developed, it’s a pleasure to view.

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I really didn’t mean to start an evangelical blogging crusade, but seeing other people’s blogs does tend to make you want to start your own. A few people have dropped some words and photos into a new blog (generally in Blogger, which is a good beginner’s tool), and now I’m having all kinds of fun trekking through other peoples’ very nice glasswork, an unexpected bonus!

If I haven’t listed your blog yet, let me know and I’ll post it. There are LOTS of glass jewelry and beadmaker blogs I haven’t gotten to yet…hmmmm…may need a separate list for those as this is getting VERY long. I’m in the process of switching hosts and blog tools, so it may need to wait a month or two…

Later…