Podcasts about corning museum

Get ready to explore the breathtaking landscapes and exciting outdoor experiences of Steuben County in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York! In this episode of Big Blend Radio's 2nd Tuesday “Food, Wine & Travel” Show with the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), we chat with Dave DeGolyer from Explore Steuben about all the fun and adventure you can have in this scenic destination. From kayaking on Keuka Lake and fishing the Chemung River, to hiking the 1000-mile Finger Lakes Trail, wildlife watching at Erwin Wildlife Management Area, and cycling the Keuka Gravel routes, Steuben County is a nature lover's dream. You'll also hear about top outdoor attractions like Letchworth State Park, Stony Brook State Park, Mossy Bank Park, Birdseye Hollow State Forest, Spencer Crest Nature Center, and the Susquehanna Basin Water Trail. Beyond outdoor adventure, Steuben County offers award-winning wineries, locally inspired cuisine, world-renowned art (like at the nearby Corning Museum of Glass), and a welcoming, small-town vibe that makes it the perfect travel destination for families, couples, and solo explorers alike.

This week on WAMCAST, we're joined by Donna Collinson - the flamework glass artist behind The Glass Florist. From a 15-year-old florist to a viral sensation with a year-long waitlist, Donna shares how she found her niche creating intricate glass flower bouquets that never wilt. We talk about the sensory magic of working with glass, the moment a viral video changed everything, and we talk about her invite to the Corning Museum of Glass (in New York) this year May 2025 (which we are attending!)We were so excited to visit Donna in her Northamptonshire workshop. After featuring her in Edition Eleven of We Are Makers, we knew we had to see her process in person - and it did not disappoint. Spending time with people who just get it is so inspiring. Fittingly, we're releasing this episode the same week Donna heads to New York for her big live demonstration at the Corning Museum of Glass.It's a story about carving your own path, trusting your creative gut, and building something beautiful from the ground up._______________________We Are MakersInsta: @weare_makersWebsite & WAM Grant Info: @www.wearemakers.shopDonna CollinsonInsta: @theglassflorist_Website: https://theglassflorist.co.uk/Recorded on: NomonoInsta: @nomonosoundWebsite: https://nomono.co/If you'd like to buy us a coffee on the road - the link is belowhttps://ko-fi.com/wearemakersThank you!Kate & Jack

Working with abrasive spinning wheels, the Ferro brothers cold work glass vessels in brilliant colors. Their dramatic cuts are sometimes five layers deep, and they cradle each piece for hours, days, and often weeks, painstakingly grinding away to reveal what lies underneath. There is always the danger that the piece will shatter, so it is a painstaking process. The finished vessel is a passionate work of art in vibrant translucent colors and energetic textures. Pietro and Riccardo Ferro were born in 1975 and 1980, respectively. Under the guidance of their father, cold-working Maestro Paolo Ferro, the brothers worked in various Murano factories to learn traditional techniques, including different grinding effects such as diamond scribing, stipple engraving and the bold Battuto, which resembles hammered metal. In 2000, the Ferros opened La Moleria, a workshop for grinding glass, where they created masterpieces for world-renowned artists including Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Signoretto. They also collaborated with famous Murano factories, such as Venini and Seguso. Today, they are more focused on their own unique glass art designs and their work can be found in prestigious public and private collections worldwide. They have visited the US to meet their collectors and demonstrate their methods at the Pilchuck Glass School and the Corning Museum of Glass. Says Irene McClellan, Duncan McClellan Gallery: “Riccardo and Pietro Ferro represent a new generation of glass artists from the Island of Murano, Italy. Continuing their father's legacy, they have become renowned coldworking specialists in their own rite. They delve deeply into the possibilities that cutting and carving through layers of glass can reveal and create intriguing textural interest on glass artwork.” From April 30 to May 18, the Wiener Museum of Decorative Glass (WMODA), Hollywood, Florida, presents Carved in Glass, a selling exhibition of the Ferro Brothers' new work. Riccardo will attend opening night on April 29. Sergio Gnesin, Italian glass expert and author, serves as guest curator of the show. All art sales benefit the educational programs at WMODA, which is a 501c3 not-for-profit museum. Says Louise Irving, Executive Director and Curator at WMODA: “Venice has been producing glass since the 10th century, and Murano became the main center in 1291 when glassmakers were ordered to relocate their furnaces to the small island in the Venetian lagoon to mitigate fire hazards. Over the centuries, the Murano masters have changed our perception of glass as an artistic medium. People can experience the magic of Murano at WMODA on Tuesday, April 29, when Riccardo Ferro from La Moleria opens the museum's exhibition of brilliant carved glass art by the fabulous Ferro Brothers.”  

Stephanie Trenchard's multi-disciplinary creative process includes painting and poetry along with cast glass. With a focus on biographical stories of how women artists have navigated careers and partnerships, motherhood and making a living while still focusing on their creative practice, the work also discusses the price the art has to pay in this grand juggling act. The artist prioritizes the actual experience of the work, making and seeing it, over the classification of genre or ownership of an idea.  Says Trenchard: “I create my own visual vocabulary in storytelling. Using these totems, I tell stories about the artistic experience and the ensuing personal relationships usually based on true stories of artists from history. The subject of these narratives is often revealed in the title of the piece, but it is not necessary that the viewer be familiar with the subject in order to understand the concept because the metaphors are universal to the human condition.” Her work also involves using art as a way to communicate local activism as seen in her project About Sturgeon Bay. Born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1962, Trenchard earned her BFA in painting from Illinois State University in 1984. Subsequently, she and glass artist husband Jeremy Popelka relocated to San Francisco, California, where Trenchard designed textile patterns, licensed and sold under a private label. Upon returning to Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin in 1997, the couple built a hot shop and gallery that they share to this day. They assist each other with work as well as teaching projects, such as their recent classes in Thailand. As she assisted Popelka, Trenchard began to see glass casting as a means of translating textile patterns and other imagery to glass. The discovery of Paradise Paints allowed her to combine painting skills with glass art in the development of her award-winning body of work. Trenchard has developed a unique method of creating art using glass combined with paint. She first creates fully realized figures or objects in clear glass, which are then painted with high-fire enamels that are mixed and blended just as with oil or acrylic paints. Next, these three-dimensional objects or figures are submerged into molten glass encased in cubes and rectangles of clear sand cast glass. Each cube or rectangle is created so that they can be fitted tightly next to one another or on top, making a totem like structure. Coldworking is required to achieve the perfect fit. She states: “I have been following my own interests and curiosities concerning how these women have navigated their careers and artistic practices. I represent these ideas in glass through the details that speak to me, particularly the ephemera of material culture, furniture and clothing that encapsulate their era and class. I also rely on posture and facial expression to reveal the nature of the subject as I intuit it.” In addition to teaching in her studio, Trenchard has taught workshops at Pratt Fine Art Center, University of Wisconsin, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass and others. She was a lecturer at the Glass Art Society Conference, Murano, Italy, and established the first hot glass school in Southeast Asia, at Bangkok Glass, Thailand. Recent exhibitions include: Beyond Giving, Inspiring Change, Singapore Art Week, Singapore; Matriarchs of Mastery, Habatat Gallery, Detroit, Michigan; A Creative Place, Trout Museum, Wisconsin; and Beyond the Ceiling – Women of Studio Glass, Sarasota, Florida, Habatat Invitational, Michigan. Awards include Trenchard's 2025 Featured Poet award, presented by After Hours Journal, Chicago; 2023, 2024 Prize Winner at Habatat International Exhibition; and the 2020 AACG Wisconsin Artist Series at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass. Says Trenchard: “Telling stories is what cultures do to understand the history and identities of the people. The small details in my work open up a conversation about the personal experiences of women in the arts as interpreted through history.”  

self-described loner, Joel Philip Myers developed his skills in relative isolation from the Studio Glass movement. With works inspired by a vast array of topics ranging from his deep love of the Danish countryside to Dr. Zharkov, the artist avoided elaborate sculpture in favor of substantial vessels that are simple yet powerful. States Myers: “In 1964, on the occasion of an exhibition titled Designed for Production: The Craftsman's Approach, I wrote in an essay in Craft Horizons magazine: ‘My approach to glass, as it is to clay, is to allow the material an expression of its own. Press the material to the utmost, and it will suggest ideas and creative avenues to the responsive artist.' The statement was sincere and enthusiastic, but decidedly naïf. I never thought when I wrote it that it would be the one statement of mine that would continue to be repeatedly quoted, throughout my 46- year-long career, as my defining philosophy. I have no defining philosophy. I am a visual artist, not a philosopher. Thoughts and ideas and opinions do not constitute a philosophy, and my thoughts and ideas and opinions have evolved and matured and changed in the time that has passed since 1964.” He continues: “As an artist I like to think of myself as a visitor in a maze, trying to find a solution to a dizzying puzzle. As in a maze, I have, through blunders and exploration, arrived at solutions, and embraced the manifold possibilities that the material offers: plasticity, transparency, opacity, translucency. I am sensitive to the wonders of the visual world and inspired by the forms and colors of the natural world. My training as a designer has enabled me to understand and exploit organization and structure, adding a rational perspective to my intuitive, emotional self.” Myers earned his degree in advertising design from Parsons School of Design in 1954. He studied in Copenhagen, Denmark, before earning a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in the early 1960s. In 1963, he was hired as design director at Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia. Captivated by the drama of this thriving glass factory, he learned glassblowing through observation and practice.  In 1970, Myers established the nascent glass department at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, where he served as Distinguished Professor of Art for 30 years until he retired from teaching in 1997. He is an Honorary Lifetime Member, 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and past President of the Glass Art Society, a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. His work is represented in prominent museum collections around the world, including The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C; The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris, France; and Musee de Design et d'Arts Appliques Contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland, amongst others. Of his sculpture, Myers states: “My work is concerned with drawing, painting, playing with color and imagery on glass. I work with simple forms and concentrate on the surface enrichment. I prefer the spherical, three-dimensional surface to a flat one, because as I paint and draw on the glass, the glass form receives the drawing, adapts to its shape, distorts and expands it as it clothes and envelops itself in my drawing. I feel a communication with the material, and a reciprocation from my subconscious, as I continually search for new insights into my unknown self.” Enjoy this enlightening conversation with Myers, who at 91 has a near photographic memory of the events and developments that spurred the Studio Glass movement forward in its early days, as well as the ideas and processes of his personal work in glass – some of the most successful and collected of its day.  

Dima Srouji is a Palestinian architect, artist, and researcher born in 1990 in Nazareth. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Kingston University (2012) and a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture (2016). ​Srouji's interdisciplinary practice explores the ground as a repository of cultural narratives and potential collective healing. She employs various media—including glass, text, archives, maps, plaster casts, and film—to interrogate concepts of cultural heritage and public space, particularly within the Middle East and Palestine. Her collaborative approach involves working closely with archaeologists, anthropologists, sound designers, and glassblowers. ​In 2016, Srouji founded Hollow Forms, a glassblowing initiative in collaboration with the Twam family in Jaba', Palestine, aiming to revitalize traditional glassblowing techniques. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the Sharjah Art Biennial, the Islamic Art Biennial in Jeddah, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. Her pieces are part of permanent collections at institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Victoria & Albert Museum. ​Srouji has contributed to academic discourse through her writings in publications like The Architectural Review and The Avery Review. She currently leads the MA City Design studio at the Royal College of Art in London, focusing on archaeological sites in Palestine as contexts for urban analysis. ​In recognition of her contributions to art and architecture, Srouji was awarded the Jameel Fellowship at the Victoria & Albert Museum for 2022-2023. ​Through her multifaceted work, Srouji challenges conventional narratives, offering new perspectives on cultural heritage and identity within contested spaces.​Support the Architecture Foundation – visit https://www.patreon.com/ArchitectureFoundation to find out how. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Perceiving her role as a record keeper, artist Jen Blazina captures the essence of lost memories and forgotten voices. Through her work, she holds onto fragments of personal history, transforming common objects into poignant relics of the past. Her visual narratives express universal concepts of memory, inviting audiences to connect with the stories she preserves.  Blazina states: “Memory is embodied in everything around us: in our culture, beliefs, objects, and ourselves. Discarded objects and those passed down to me become personal keepsakes and icons of the past, rather than overlooked or regarded as useless. My collections represent a sense of holding onto a place in time. By re-creating these keepsakes, I re-cast their history into my own voice.” A sculptor and printmaker who uses glass as her primary medium, Blazina currently resides in Philadelphia where she is a working artist and professor at Drexel University in the College of Media Arts and Design. Blazina's work can be found in multiple collections such as the Neuberger Museum of Art, The Imagine Museum, The Cranbrook Museum of Art, and the Corning Museum of Glass, to name a few.  The artist has been awarded numerous residencies including: the Corning Artist in Residency at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; GAPP Residency at Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, OH; Bezalel Art and Design Academy in Jerusalem, Israel; and the Creative Glass Center of America in Millville, NJ.  She has also been awarded prestigious grants such as the Bessie and Louis Stein Fellowship; Independence Foundation Grant; and a National Endowment for the Arts Grant. Nominated for the 2022 Pew Fellowship Award, Blazina received her M.F.A. in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art, her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in New York and her B.F.A., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Purchase College.  Blazina is represented by Habatat Detroit Fine Art in Royal Oak, MI; Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, NC; Vetri Glass Gallery in Seattle, WA; Kittrell Riffkind Gallery in Dallas, TX; Bullseye Projects in Portland, OR; and Koelsch Gallery in Houston, TX.  In 2025, Blazina will have work on view at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI, in New Art on the Block: Selections from the Permanent Collections, October 31, 2024 – April 6, 2025; in Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith at 20*20 Gallery, Lansdowne, PA, February 22 –  April 15; in Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, April 24 to October 5, 2025; in Collections at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC, May 2 – June 25; and in Glass 53: International Glass Invitational at Habatat Fine Art Gallery, Royal Oak, MI, May 1 – September 6. She will teach Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass at Corning Museum of Glass Studios, Corning, NY, June 16 – June 21; and In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting at Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey, August 25 – August 29. Says Blazina: “As an artist, I am intrigued with the idea that what is precious to one person will be discarded by another. My work is influenced by commonplace possessions, familial vignettes and photographs. These evoke an ephemeral sense of past memories. Whether found in a second-hand shop or passed down from my family, I am often attracted to and captivated by the lost beauty of subtle images and materials. By re-creating and casting momentos in glass and metal, I can capture and hold on to another time in the past. Photographs and chosen objects allude to narratives of fleeting moments.” ​UPCOMING EVENTS New Art On The Block: Selections From The Permanent Collections Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Neenah, WI Dates: October 31 – April 6, 2025 Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith 20*20 Gallery Lansdowne, PA Dates: February 22 – April 15 Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Neenah, WI Opening: April 24 Dates: April 24 to October 5 Collections Blue Spiral 1 Gallery Asheville, NC Opening Reception: May 2, 5 – 7 pm Dates: May 2 – June 25 Glass 53: International Glass Invitational Habatat Fine Art Gallery Royal Oak, MI Opening: May 3, 8 pm Dates: May 1- September 6 Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass Corning Museum of Glass Studios Corning, NY Dates: June 16- June 21 In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting Glass Furnace Istanbul, Turkey Dates: August 25 – August 29    

#135: In this episode, Frauke sits down with curator Julie Bellemare to talk about the millennia-long relationships between glass, perfumery, and the storage of scent. Her curated exhibit called Sensorium: Stories of Glass and Fragrance is currently on display through February 23, 2025 at the Corning Museum of Glass. Julie shares the role glass has played in medicine and chemistry, and reveals the first time a glass bottle was tied to a specific scent. She explains how perfume innovations like distillation and advances in chemistry reshaped glass bottles, and introduced beautiful new artistic trends. Julie also shares the specific glass techniques that were used throughout history, and reveals how perfume bottles evolved as glass evolved. This episode is for everyone who enjoys perfume and appreciates the unique relationship between glass and scent. Visit the Corning Museum of Glass to learn more about the exhibit.  Visit the Corning Museum of Glass YouTube channel. Watch Julie take you on a tour of the exhibition. ⁠Get No Place for Plants children's book on Amazon⁠ Follow Frauke on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@an_aromatic_life ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit Frauke's website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.anaromaticlife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn about Frauke's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Scent*Tattoo Project

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Combining technical skill with a strong aesthetic, flameworking pioneer Sally Prasch is known for her work that places other-worldly figures in glowing globes filled with rare gasses. She has also constructed portraits from broken shards of glass and is well known for her goblets made with coiled stems that allow them to bounce when handled. Her latest work incorporates cast bronze with glass. But perhaps Prasch's greatest fulfillment has come from teaching. She has taught flameworking workshops at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn; the famous Niijima Glass School, Japan; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA; Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC; Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Grove Gas & Light Co, University of CA, San Diego, CA; Ingalena Klenell's Studio, Sweden, and many more. States Prasch: “Teaching has always been a part of my life. My parents were teachers, and both my brother and sister have also been teachers. Lloyd Moore, my first teacher, found it very important not to have any secrets but to share your knowledge with others – share your love of glass and making things. He taught thousands of people, and I continue in his tradition. Lloyd started me teaching at age 15. It was scary for me to teach adults, but made me practice things over and over again. We started people on soft glass tubing and then worked them up to borosilicate.”  Prasch began her career at age 13 with Moore working as a part-time apprentice at the University of Nebraska and then worked as a glassblowing instructor for the City of Lincoln Recreation Department. Later on, she took workshops from some of the best glassblowers of the time including William Bernstein, Ray Schultz, and Lino Tagliapietra. She attended the University of Kansas from 1977 to 1980 and received a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art in Glass and Ceramics.  After college, Prasch started her glass art business that is still active today. She soon began to receive recognition for her artistic work and was selected for the Corning Museum of Glass' New Glass Review in 1993. The artist has been attending Glass Art Society (GAS) Conferences since 1978 and continues to participate by giving demonstrations and lec-moes, serving on the GAS Advisory Board and working with the organization's History Committee. In 1985, Prasch received her Certificate in Scientific Glass Technology from Salem Community College (SCC), Carneys Point, New Jersey. Soon afterwards, she obtained a position with AT&T doing large quartz work for the semiconductor industry. Continuing with her studies, Prasch earned her degree in Applied Science from SCC in 1986. Later that year she got a job as a scientific glassblower and glass instructor at the University of Massachusetts. She has worked as a scientific glassblower at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass Amherst), Syracuse University, and the University of Vermont, Burlington.  Currently, Prasch is the scientific glassblower and also teaches Scientific Glassblowing and the Properties of Glass to graduate students in Chemistry, Art and Physics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a member of the American Scientific Glassblowers Society (ASGS) and the director of the Northeast section. Her ASGS experience includes participating in seminars on such subjects like vacuum technology, quartz technology, and glass sealing. She has instructed a neon class with David Wilson, presented a paper on her work with the discovery of the gravitational wave, and co-chaired symposiums.  In 2025, Prasch will exhibit her work in Glass Lifeforms at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, opening February 7 and running through April 20. Her work will also be on view in Glasstastic at the Brattleboro Art Museum, Brattleboro, VT, March 22 through November 1. The artist will teach at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA, from July 28 – August 1. After curating the annual glass exhibit at Leverett Crafts and Arts in Leverett, MA for the month of November, Prasch will have a one-week fall residency with George Kennard at SCC, as well as a residency at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 2026, the Herter main gallery at UMass Amherst will host a solo exhibit of Prasch's work from January 29 through May 8. The opening will take place Friday, April 24, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. with an artist talk from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Her work will also be on display at the Science Library and at the Durfee Conservatory at UMass during the show.  As Prasch develops new work, including pieces for Laura Donefer's 2026 Glass Fashion Show to be held at GAS, she continues to teach and fabricate scientific glassware at UMass. She says: “I have taught on average 25 students a month for my entire career, only taking a break during the pandemic. Obviously, teaching is a part of me, and I gain so much. It is not about teaching, not about glass, not about notoriety, not about pay – it is about the energy between people. It is about trust.”  UPCOMING EVENT LINKS Spring and Fall semester classes and weekend workshops at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/scientific-glassblowing-laboratory February 7 – April 20, 2025 – Glass Lifeforms Exhibit, Pittsburgh Glass Center https://www.pittsburghglasscenter.org/event/exhibition-lifeforms/ March 22 – November 1, 2025 – Glasstastic, Brattleboro Art Museum, Brattleboro VT https://www.brattleboromuseum.org/2024/09/06/glasstastic-2025/ March 21 – 23, 2025 – International Flameworking Conference, Salem Community College, Carneys Point, NJ https://www.salemcc.edu/glass/international-flameworking-conference April 5, 2025 – Northeast American Scientific Glassblowers Section Meeting, Cornell University https://northeast.asgs-glass.org/ May 14 – 17, 2025 –Glass Art Society Conference https://www.glassart.org/conference/texas-2025/ July 28 – August 1, 2025 – Teaching at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh PA https://canvas.pittsburghglasscenter.org/classes/1632 Fall, 2025 – one week residency with George Kennard at Salem Community College, Carneys Point, NJ https://www.salemcc.edu/glass Fall, 2025 – one week residency at the University of Massachusetts https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/scientific-glassblowing-laboratory January 29 – May 8, 2026 – Exhibit at the Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Opening April 24, 5 – 7 p.m. with artist talk 6:00 – 6:30pm https://www.umass.edu/herterartgallery/herter-art-gallery January 29 – May 8, 2026 Exhibit at the Science and Engineering Library and the Durfee Conservatory https://www.library.umass.edu/sel/ https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/greenhouses/durfee-conservatory  

Childhood experiences of life on a sailboat in the Bahamas and Caribbean left a profound mark on Kait Rhoads. The experience of growing up on the water has provided great inspiration for her artwork. The artist's Sea Stones series hints at its watery origins. Each sculpture is a small world in itself, an intimate object you can hold in your hand. A talisman, the work looks almost molecular, like plankton carapaces as observed under a microscope. Rhoads states: “My work is inspired by nature and informed by memory. And, three oceans—the Caribbean, the Indian and the Pacific – delineate the imaginative boundaries of my practice. I grew up on the water of the Caribbean in a ship with my family where my deep affinity for biological systems began. I lived surrounded by nature; the liquid light and aquatic life imprinted upon my senses. The sculptures I create emanate from my early experiences within and curiosity about the natural world. While exploring the waters around Bali, I experienced the extraordinary biodiversity and extensive architecture of coral colonies there. This has been a deep influence on my sculptural forms and process of making.” Best-known for her innovative use of Venetian techniques such as murrine and filigrana, she applies these decorative processes to sculptural forms as well as to vessels. She was influenced early on by Lino Tagliapietra's work with cane and Richard Marquis' use of murrine as a structural material. Rhoads' unique process involves weaving pieces of blown and cut glass tubes with copper wire to create flexible looking “soft sculptures.”  States Rhoads: “My method of construction mirrors how my life has formed me, with individual elements woven together to create a strong whole. I consider the individual units, conical hexagonal forms known as hollow murrine, as architectural elements that fit together to create a fluid or floating object. The concept of the work develops slowly, and the production of a complicated piece can take months to years to complete.” Rhoads is also well known for her public art installations including Bloom, commissioned in 2018 for the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art's two-story tall window space. In 2022, Bloom was chosen to be permanently installed inside of the biology department at Highline College, Des Moines, Washington. She also created Salish Nettles, her largest work to date, for the Pacific Seas Aquarium, Tacoma, Washington, and Proto Kelp, which was on view through October of 2024 at Method Gallery, Seattle, Washington. In 2025, the artist will apply for residencies and funding to expand the project sustainably. In all of these public projects Rhoads hopes to inspire in the viewer empathy, curiosity and interest in ocean ecology.  Receiving her BFA in glass from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1993, Rhoads earned her MFA in glass from Alfred University, New York in 2001. She has been an Artist in Residence at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, Washington, and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Doug and Dale Anderson Scholarship, The Anne Gould Hauberg Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship for the study of sculpture in Venice, Italy. She has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Her work can be found in many collections, including the Seattle Art Museum; the Toyama Institute of Glass in Toyama, Japan; the Glasmuseum in Ebeltoft, Denmark; Shanghai Museum of Glass, China; and The Corning Museum of Glass. She maintains a studio in Seattle, Washington. “The cold, deep green waters of Puget Sound are a more recent source of inspiration in my work.  Since moving to the Northwest over two decades ago, my fascination extended from coral colonies to kelp forests. Seaweed's pliable forms continually inspire me—they stretch up from the depths, undulate in the shallows, and lie on tidal surfaces. Aquatic life infuses my sculptures with animated forms, sparkling surfaces and faceted exoskeletons.” In 2025, Rhoads will continue to work on a community generated art project called Fused Together (2021-2025), for which she is the lead artist. She shepards stained glass windows made by the public that are donated to Tacoma libraries. She will also participate in group shows including Habatat's Glass Coast show at Ringling School of the Arts in Sarasota, Florida, and Women Who Make Glass at the Vashon Center for the Arts, Vashon, Washington, in March 2025.   Of her work Rhoads states: “I desire my work to be emotionally affective—that it evoke for audiences a similar sense of wonder in our blue planet that continues to inspire me. And even, perhaps, to instill a desire to conserve our fragile aquatic ecosystems.”  

From his Micromorphisms to his Opticals and Pinwheels, Dan Alexander explores the mesmerizing world of optical illusions, where intricate designs and mind-bending patterns come to life in stunning glass artistry. From captivating sculptures to breathtaking installations, each piece in this collection is a testament to his artistry and craftsmanship. Much of Alexander's inspiration comes from photographs he has taken or his travels. Looking at one micro-aspect of an object, he envisions how that small segment could be used in repetition to create an overall pattern. An example would be looking at one single coral in the ocean and repeating its colors and shape over and over again to make a large glass tile. By rolling that glass tile up hot around a glass bubble or collar, he makes a large vessel. The artist uses the blown glass process to create a three-dimensional canvas on which his murrine and patterns can be displayed.  Says Alexander: “The work I am currently exploring is inspired by nature, textiles, travel, and architecture – more specifically patterns therein. Being an artist and world traveler, I look at the world around me and try to determine how it could be translated to glass.” Having grown up in a small farming town in northeast Ohio, Alexander has always been interested in art, history, nature, and creating. Upon seeing glass being made for the first time at Hale Farm and Village, Bath, Ohio, he knew this was a trade he had to master. He received his BFA in glass from Kent State University, where he was able to explore glass as an artistic medium while being introduced to working with other materials, history, color theory, and composition.  Following graduation, Alexander studied with some of the top glass artists in the field today and worked in Murano, Italy, with Maestro Davide Salvadore creating large scale blown glass art. Later, he worked for the Corning Museum of Glass as lead gaffer, where he spent six years traveling the world and educating the public about the science and history of glass art. Eventually Alexander decided to take on a new role as the studio director of Third Degree glass factory, St. Louis, Missouri, producing higher volume work, site specific installations, and overseeing studio operations and glass production.  In 2016, Alexander began to branch out and create a name for himself as an independent artist. In recent years he was awarded an emerging artist residency at Duncan McClellan's Gallery in St. Petersburg Florida, the AACG professional artist residency at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Empire of Glass exhibition/residency in Vienna, Austria. He was nominated for the Glass Art Society's Saxe Emerging Artist Award and received an international exhibiting artist award from the Effect, Dream, Transform exhibition in Uskudar, Turkiye. Alexander is currently building a private studio and 501C3 nonprofit in St. Petersburg, Florida, called Art, Education, Gathering Inc. or AEG. Its tagline is: From Glass to Growth – Building Communities Together. AEG will offer community outreach, using glass as a form of STEM education, residencies, mentorships, classes and an emergency program for artists affected by disaster. Says Alexander: “Education is an extremely important aspect. If the public wasn't interested in art, many mediums would suffer. The more knowledge we can share with the public, the more sales, donations, and funding will be put into the arts.”    

As the pioneer of Vitis Vinifera in the Eastern US, Dr. Konstantin Frank is one of the key leaders of the Fingers Lakes region in New York. Meaghan Frank, a fourth-generation vintner, has been leading the charge to evolve its hospitality program to create brand ambassadors for the winery and the region. Its 1886 Wine Experience has won Best Wine Tour by USA Today in the last two years. Meaghan breaks down their hospitality program and its impact on their business. Detailed Show Notes: Finger Lakes region, NY - 150 wineries (of 400 in NY), NW NY State - 5 hrs from NYCSkinny, deep lakes that moderate weatherGlaciers left diverse soilsTourism-driven, seasonal visitors (spring to fall) for lakes, hiking, close to Niagara Falls, Corning Museum of GlassDr. Konstantin Frank - PhD in Viticulture from Odesa, Ukraine; a grape scientist; fled to NY during WWII35 years of cold climate grape growing experience when moved to NY1st to plant vinifera in Eastern USPlanted experiment station in the 1950s - 68 varieties, including Furmit, Pedro Ximenez, and Touriga Nacional) to research what would work bestDr. K Frank Winery17 vinifera varieties → 40 wines60% wholesale, 40% DTC40 states, 9 export markets (5%, incl Japan, Aruba (lots of NY visitors), UK)DTC 60% e-commerce (driven by wine club), 40% hospitalityHospitality programThe goal is to create brand ambassadors and loyalty, get the word out about the Finger LakesInspired by Australian hospitality programs - private, educational~40k visitors/year (#1 PA - 1 hour away, NJ, OH, NY core markets) - all seated, paidPre-pandemic - ~80k visitors/year for free bar tastingsMoved to an experience-driven program with wine educators, take advantage of lake viewThree experiences: Eugenia's Garden - modeled after great grandmother's garden, most casual, can do a la carte glasses/bottles/flights; enables people to enjoy the day; targets a younger demographicSignature Seated ($15pp) - most popular, educational, 1 hr, 6 wines, 5 different themes that are part of the winery's story (e.g., traditional sparkling, Riesling pioneer, groundbreaking grapes, red wines)The 1886 Wine Experience ($75pp) - only May-Oct, 2-2.5 hrs, led by wine educator, a tour of the vineyard, sparkling and still wine cellars, seated tasting of 4 wines with bites, followed by additional tastings; won best wine tour by USA Today last 2 years; lots of 1st-time visitors book 1886 due to unique natureLessons learned - used to do 6 wine flight w/ bites, which was too many; did themed months (e.g., sparkling) - did not work with mostly touristsDifferentiators - spend lots of time, has a separate private space for 1886Wine club evolutionUsed to have people pay upfront for the year - bigger barrier to signing up, always feel like “playing catchup” to ensure value delivered, concentrated work during shipment periodsMoved to more subscription model - quarterly, 3 wines w/ default package, fully customizable, no upfront fee, 20% discount on wines, and get free tastings (no limit)8% club conversion - the only way to get free tastings now, used to waive w/ 4 bottle purchaseLocals small portion of the club - pickup option only 10%, PA #1Avg tenure 1.5 years, seeing it extend with the new club modelPopular winesHospitality - Rkatsiteli #1, traditional method sparklingWholesale - #1 & #2 - dry & semi-dry RieslingRiesling 60% of production, traditional method growingIncreasing issues around climate change - 2023 had the largest spring frost in history, increasing water issues Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's it like to work on glass? Jenny and Phedra are joined by emerging conservator Terri Costello as they explore this fragile but ancient material. Also tune in for Solange's interview with artist Freya Laughton about preserving memories in glass. 01:40 Phedra's adventures with Roman glass 04:30 All the exciting places we find it in collections 11:36 Trying out glassblowing and involving expert makers 19:03 Chemistry, imperfections and tools 34:00 Colourful chemistry and stresses in glass 41:56 Getting started in glass 43:31 Interview with Freya Laughton 54:44 Patreon shout-out Show Notes: - Costello Conservation: https://costelloconservation.com/ - Go follow Terri on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t.costello.conservation/ - Glass and ceramics programme at University of Amsterdam: https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/programmas/en/masters/conservation-and-restoration-of-cultural-heritage/study-programme/glass-and-ceramics/glass-and-ceramics.html - Egyptian faïence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_faience - Glasriket: https://glasriket.se/en/ - Blown Away on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80215147 - Allard Pierson Museum: https://allardpierson.nl/en/ - Corning Museum of Glass: https://home.cmog.org/ - The Glass Heart exhibition: https://twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/the-glass-heart/ - A beautiful infographic about coloured glass: https://www.compoundchem.com/2015/03/03/coloured-glass/ - Fractography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractography - The Techniques of Roman-Period Glassblowing: https://romanglassblowing.cmog.org/ - Seafire Design: https://www.seafiredesign.co.uk/ - Follow Freya on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seafire_design Support us on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/thecword Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Phedra Komodromou, and Terri Costello. Intro and outro music by DDmyzik, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. A Wooden Dice production, 2024.

Gene Koss uses glass as a medium of pure sculptural expression resulting in monumental sculptures of cast glass, steel and light. He developed innovative techniques to transform his memories of the mechanized Wisconsin farm of his youth into foundry-based glass sculptures. He combines glass and steel found objects to create small-scale sculptures that often also serve as studies for his larger-scale works. Opening on September 20, 2024 and running through February 9, 2025, The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass (BMM), Neenah, Wisconsin, presents a major solo exhibition of Koss' work: From Farm to Flame. Says Casey Eichhorn, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at BMM: “Gene Koss' career in glass has been one informed by experience, and driven by creative experimentation. Alongside two of his sketchbooks, Farm to Flame showcases the tangible results of these experiments in the form of 14 sculptures of glass, steel and wood – each highlighting a specific point in time in the artist's illustrious career.” After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls in 1974, Koss then earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia. In 1976, he moved to New Orleans to develop a new glass facility and program for Tulane University, and subsequently became head of the department.  “Gene's career at Tulane University helped shape the Newcomb Art Department, and he is a pivotal figure in the teaching and creation of glass art in the South,” said Stephanie Porras, chair of the Newcomb Art Department.  Koss is the recipient of several awards including the National Endowment for the Arts, The New Orleans Community Arts Board and Pace-Willson Art Foundation grants. His work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans; the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana; the Sculpture Center in New York City; as well as the International Biennale for Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy. It has been published in International Glass Art, Contemporary Glass-Color, Light & Form and Glass Art from Urban Glass publications. Koss is represented by Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, LA. His work is in many prominent collections including the Pan American Life Collection in New Orleans and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. The Arnoldsche Art Publishers of Germany released a 2019 retrospective monograph of his work, Gene Koss Sculpture. Creating Koss' majestic works in glass and steel requires demanding techniques to realize their monumental scale. These massive volumes of glass are married with elaborately engineered steel elements. The artist casts molten glass directly from the hot furnace, working with teams of highly-skilled assistants and rigging elaborate systems for transporting his finished abstract works for display in museums, galleries and public spaces. Working with serial cast glass parts to enlarge scale and combining these elements with iron and neon, he has raised glass sculpture to the realm of public art. Koss' work has had a profound impact on American artists working in both steel and glass media.  

This week the Filipina artist Goldie Poblador who works in scent and glass interactive instillation art.  Goldie specializes in glass flameworking combined with performance, video, installation, and scent embodying themes of feminism, the environment, and decolonization as it relates to the body.  Goldie was born in Manila, The Philippines in 1987. Her parents; Napoleon Poblador, a lawyer and painter and Gizela Poblador, a home-maker who had earlier studied dentistry. Goldie is the eldest of four children; she has three younger brothers. She was, she says, an imaginative child who enjoyed creating worlds and performing. Her parents exposed her to art and music; she visited art shows, galleries and museums, learned the piano, and performed in a drama club. By the age of 18 Goldie was performing in a Punk band; something she likes to recreate today for fun. But it was her fascination with glass and painting that would steer her through college. She graduated from the University of The Philippines in 2009 with a BFA in Studio Art and later with an MFA Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. Between colleges Goldie was introduced to the Scuola Abate Zanetti in Murano, Italy. She also worked as an artist and attended the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, co-founded by the renown glass sculptor Dale Chihuly.  Goldie has been exhibited internationally at such institutions as the Yangon Secretariat Building Knockdown Center, Cemeti Art House, Singapore Art Museum, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Fine Art Museum of Hanoi and The Cultural Center of the Philippines. She is currently working on a show for the Art Fair in The Philippines in 2025. Goldie will be a featured artist in the Sensorium, Stories of Glass and Fragrance; an exhibition that will explore the millennia-long relationships between glass, perfumery, and the storage of scent, at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) from September 7, 2024 - February 1, 2025.  Goldie is married to Joseph Sousa and the couple live in New York City. https://goldiepoblador.com/InformationInstagram: @_goldieland https://www.instagram.com/_goldieland Goldie's favorite female artists:Janine AntoniAgnes ArellanoJoan JonasCamille ClaudelKiki SmithHost: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support.

This week the Filipina artist Goldie Poblador who works in scent and glass interactive instillation art.  Goldie specializes in glass flameworking combined with performance, video, installation, and scent embodying themes of feminism, the environment, and decolonization as it relates to the body.  Goldie was born in Manila, The Philippines in 1987. Her parents; Napoleon Poblador, a lawyer and painter and Gizela Poblador, a home-maker who had earlier studied dentistry. Goldie is the eldest of four children; she has three younger brothers. She was, she says, an imaginative child who enjoyed creating worlds and performing. Her parents exposed her to art and music; she visited art shows, galleries and museums, learned the piano, and performed in a drama club. By the age of 18 Goldie was performing in a Punk band; something she likes to recreate today for fun. But it was her fascination with glass and painting that would steer her through college. She graduated from the University of The Philippines in 2009 with a BFA in Studio Art and later with an MFA Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. Between colleges Goldie was introduced to the Scuola Abate Zanetti in Murano, Italy. She also worked as an artist and attended the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, co-founded by the renown glass sculptor Dale Chihuly.  Goldie has been exhibited internationally at such institutions as the Yangon Secretariat Building Knockdown Center, Cemeti Art House, Singapore Art Museum, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Fine Art Museum of Hanoi and The Cultural Center of the Philippines. She is currently working on a show for the Art Fair in The Philippines in 2025. Goldie will be a featured artist in the Sensorium, Stories of Glass and Fragrance; an exhibition that will explore the millennia-long relationships between glass, perfumery, and the storage of scent, at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) from September 7, 2024 - February 1, 2025.  Goldie is married to Joseph Sousa and the couple live in New York City.  https://goldiepoblador.com/InformationInstagram: @_goldieland https://www.instagram.com/_goldieland Goldie's favorite female artists:Janine AntoniAgnes ArellanoJoan JonasCamille ClaudelKiki SmithHost: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.

Send us a Text Message.Guest: Liza LittleSculptorIn this interview episode, Eileen and Amy discuss Liza's journey from being a dancer to becoming a sculptor as well as the intersection of art and science, the importance of curiosity, and the challenges of the audition world. Liza shares her motivation to understand the self-image and the human body through sculpture and emphasizes the need for artists to step outside of their bubble and connect with the world around them. In this conversation, they also discuss how dance and sculpture meet, the importance of history and tradition in art, and the role of cross-training in their creative practices. The physicality and mindfulness of swimming as a form of cross-training and the need for dancers to be their own advocates is explored as well as the need for inclusivity and openness in the art world and the importance of celebrating different bodies and perspectives. Overall, this episode highlights the power of art to connect and express the human experience.Liza (she/her) is a figurative sculptor based in Queens, NY. Passionate for learning and driven by curiosity, Liza is always searching for connections between mediums. She graduated from the Certificate program at The Ailey School, studied at The Feldenkrais Institute, and The Art Students League of New York. She received a BS from The City College of New York with a Psychology major and Biology minor, and finished an honors research project in a neuroscience lab. In 2022, Liza received her MFA in Sculpture with a minor in Anatomy from the New York Academy of Art. She has received scholarships from Urban Glass, The Studio at Corning Museum of Glass, Penland School of Craft, and The Fantasy Fountain Fund for the Arts. Her sculpture practice uses ceramic, glass and stone to express the physicality of the human figure, especially of women. Recently, Liza‘s work was selected for the Libensky Award Exhibition in Prague, Czech Republic, among a cohort of emerging glass artists.Follow / Learn More / Mentions:IG: @lizagracelittle_sculptor Website: https://www.lizagracelittlesculpture.com/ Backstage.com I Robert Beverly Hale I Stephen Rogers Peck I Dr. Paul Richer I Feldenkrais Institute I Linda Celeste SimsSupport the Show.M.O.V.E. with Eileen + Amy is a Kaia Evolutions Podcast.New episodes air on Wednesdays when in season.To learn more about Eileen + Amy, be sure to follow them on IG at @ekielty + @amyreah and keep up to date on the podcast at @movewitheileenandamy. For more information about Kaia Evolutions, a culmination of Eileen's life's work and a love letter to her sister, Katie, who died by suicide in 2019 - visit https://www.kaiaevolutions.com/ or follow on IG at @kaia.evolutions If you want to share part of your dancer / movement artist journey with us, email us at movepod@kaiaevolutions.com*If you or anyone you know is in need of support, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800.273.8255 OR text 988. You are not alone.

Kristina Logan makes unique and complex beads in intricate patterns whose sometimes knobby forms recall the remarkable eye beads made in ancient China. Yet Logan's style is purely contemporary, reflected in work that stands out for its originality, sophistication, and innovation. She is not only interested in beads as body adornment but also as decorative elements for boxes, candlesticks, goblets and teapots. Logan states: “Beads are part of my lifelong fascination with art and ornamentation. Glass beads form a historical thread, connecting people and cultures throughout our history.” In 2002, Logan was one of only four artists selected for exhibition in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery Invitational Four Discoveries in Craft. “Logan's beads exist in their own right as art… ,” writes Kenneth Trapp, Curator-in-Charge at the Renwick Gallery.  Articles about Logan's work have appeared in numerous publications including ORNAMENT magazine, GLASS magazine, Beadwork magazine, Bead & Button magazine, Lapidary Journal, and La Revue de la Céramique et du Verre. Her work has been collected by the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery, The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Musée du Verre de Sars-Poteries, France. The artist served as president of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers from 1996 to 1998. Logan's work and desire to educate has been an inspiration for many glass beadmakers throughout the world. She travels extensively throughout the United States and Europe teaching workshops and lecturing on contemporary glass beads and jewelry at places such as The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, UrbanGlass, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School of Craft, Carlisle School of Glass Art, Millville, New Jersey, Musée-Atelier du Verre à Sars-Poteries in France, and Centro Studio Vetro and Abate Zanetti in Venice, Italy. The Corning Museum of Glass produced a DVD video in 2009 of Logan's flamework beadmaking as part of their Master Class Series. An excerpt and full version of the video is available on YouTube and on Logan's website. https://www.kristinalogan.com/videos Having taught at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass earlier this year, Logan is now focusing on several projects that have been incubating over the years, including casting small vessels and encrusting them with beads and metal – some that stand alone individually and also as a group of 12 vessels that represent a personal calendar or living reliquary. She also continues working on a new collection of beads centric necklaces. And most importantly, Logan is documenting more of her work on YouTube. She says: “I would like to document with videos more of what I do. I am not ready to teach online or offer specific tutorials, but I would like to use YouTube as a way to share footage from my studio. I am thinking about this as an extension of my creative process–I love being behind a camera. I love being a maker, and I have been so fortunate to learn from others over the years. I want to be part of what I see as a cycle of learning and giving back. As I age, I also think about how I would like to document what I do for my kids and future artists.   “I have been fortunate enough to have made a living at what I do, and I would like to be honest about how I have done that.”  

More than 50 years after Henry Halem designed a series of cast glass sculptures inspired by the Kent State shootings, he decided to bring the imagery back to life. At a time when the Vietnam War empowered social activism and fueled political debates, the May 4, 1970, Kent State shootings seemed to take center stage, influencing several genres of music and art. Among these works was Halem's glass sculptures. “The imagery was based on the shootings at Kent State and the blindness that the political system had in relationship to what young people were about in protesting the war. They were blind to the generation that was protesting. And, so, I made these blinded images that had their eyes covered,” Halem said. Today, Halem is at it again, creating another series of blinded sculptures, but this time for a different reason. He has created seven blinded sculptures in the series so far, three of which are on view at Habatat Galleries Detroit. “I revived the imagery,” Halem said, “the blind imagery, to reflect the narrative of our blindness to the destruction of the earth, and who we are, what we are.” As a teenager growing up in the Bronx, Halem learned to throw pots at the Greenwich House Pottery in New York's Greenwich Village. Now, at 86 years old, he's still making art. Holding a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from George Washington University, Halem did post graduate work at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant to Harvey Littleton in 1968. In 1969, Halem founded the glass program at Kent State University (KSU) and taught there for 29 years, subsequently teaching at Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School of Craft. He was one of the founders of the Glass Art Society and served as its first president.  Halem's body of work ranges from his early blown vessels to Vitrolite glass collages, glass castings to enameled and painted glass wall panels. His narrative boxes have been described as “… ordinary glass boxes filled with enigmatic objects and reverse glass drawings and paintings.” He is known for powerful responses to political events – the 1970 Kent State shootings, 9/11, and a memorial for American soldiers who died in Iraq.  Exhibiting extensively throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan, Halem's work is in the permanent collections of The Corning Museum of Glass, Cleveland Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Toledo Museum, Detroit Institute of Art, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Hokkaido & Niijima Museums in Japan, and the Decorative Arts Museum, Prague. He has been honored by the Glass Art Society and the American Crafts Council; he received the Governor's Award from the State of Ohio as well as the President's Medal for Outstanding Achievement from KSU. He penned Glass Notes: A Reference for the Glass Artist and is still an authority on all things glass. Throughout the years, Halem has amassed a diverse set of techniques that are put into action with a little bit of know-how. No matter what he does regarding art, it gets “distilled” through what he has learned from one of his favorite books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. “The moral of that book was, in order to fix something, you have to know how it works,” Halem said. “So, my search is into finding out how things work. That, and my belief that the artist's job is to question authority in itself, is what drives me.”  

An artist using the allegorical power of medieval stained glass as a vehicle for contemporary expression, Pinkie Maclure marries traditional craft techniques with a radically different aesthetic. Stained glass was invented in the 12th century to communicate to a largely illiterate population, its vivid colors having a seductive quality that's hard to resist. However, its narrative role has been largely abandoned in recent years, which is something Maclure hopes to change through her architectural installations and highly-detailed stained glass light boxes that reflect her commentary on the modern world around us.  Maclure states: “My goal is to seduce the eye, but crucially, to deal with contemporary subject matter, telling darkly humorous stories from modern life.”  For example, in her piece Beauty Tricks, the artist questions interpretations of beauty and a multitude of thorny contradictions. Her central figure is based around a classic Madonna, but she has liposuction lines on her torso and hypodermic needles and scalpels adorning her halo. Her nipples have been censored. Two little girls gaze up at her beautiful pink frock from a grey world of abandoned plastic containers. A woman fires a gun at a mirror, smashing it to smithereens. To her left, a grandmother knits a web of Barbie dolls and to her right is a bulimic Rapunzel. The palm trees refer to the palm oil industry; the roses symbolize feminine beauty. At the top, Satan is hopping across the towers of Oxbridge with a pile of books heaped on his back, stealing all the knowledge while the women are distracted. This work was acquired by the Stained Glass Museum for the national collection of stained glass and is now on permanent display in Ely Cathedral. Maclure was raised in a small fishing town in the northeast of Scotland by an atheist mother, a talented musician who loved to sing sacred music. A prolific child artist, she drew on old wallpaper samples in front of the television every night, but was later put off by a sexist art teacher and turned to music and performance instead. As a singer-songwriter, she has recorded 10 albums over 30 years and performed internationally. To support her music career, after 25 years of depending on low-paying jobs, Maclure found work helping a friend in a commercial stained glass studio. It was not very creative, however, she did start to study the history of stained glass and became disheartened by what she saw as the contemporary dumbing down of this extraordinary medium. She says: “I noticed that many churches now avoid using any imagery and that fewer stained glass artists have the very particular skills required to paint images on glass. In contrast with the heady, dazzling power of figurative medieval glass, many 20th-century stained glass windows had become simple blocks of cheap, colored glass, often designed and mass-produced by glaziers, with no artistic intent behind them – their function was reduced to something purely physical; a kind of upmarket net curtain.” ​Maclure decided to develop her painting, sandblasting and engraving skills in order to harness the spiritual power of stained glass, exploring the big issues of today such as climate, women's rights, addiction and grassroots activism. Instead of removing the images, she changes them. Her references include bible stories, folklore, tabloid newspaper headlines and personal experiences. She uses stained glass as a language, as they did in the Middle Ages. “I love the peculiar character of very old, broken windows, which have been repaired many times over the centuries. They have a particular poignancy which reminds us of our mortality and the fragility of the earth.”  ​For Maclure's 2023 solo exhibition at CCA Glasgow, Lost Congregation, she combined large-scale stained glass, 3D sound, film and live performance, to create a fictional, abandoned rural chapel, haunted by its lost congregation. This multi-media installation questions our relationship with the land and celebrates the way nature and grassroots activism, such as compost-making, can reclaim abandoned places. The show attracted record numbers to the venue and was extended by a month. Scotsman review of the exhibition; https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/art/art-reviews-monster-chetwynd-pinkie-maclure-nicolas-party-cathy-wilkes-jala-wahid-4222378 The central work in the show, The Soil was a room-sized installation evoking an abandoned chapel where ivy grows up the sides of the old pews and the wind whistles through the broken door. At one end is a resplendent stained-glass window featuring a woman gardener, hands clasped in a secular prayer, urinating on her compost heap (human urine being an ideal activator of compost). A soundscape of whispers, children's voices and snatches of song adds to the atmosphere. It's both monumental and irreverent, elevating the humble pursuit of gardening while thumbing its nose at the grandiose history of the medium. While concerns about vanishing communities, climate change and damage done to topsoil by intensive farming are all present in this work, there is also a businesslike cheerfulness to the welly-wearing modern saint and her no-nonsense pursuit of her purpose. The Soil was subsequently on display at Two Temple Place, London, from January 27 – April 21, 2024. In the collection of the National Museum of Scotland and recently exhibiting at Homo Faber (Venice), Collect (London), the Outsider Art Fair (New York) and the John Ruskin Prize (Manchester), Maclure has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Sequested Prize, John Byrne Prize, Zealous Craft Prize and Jerwood Makers. Her work Two Witches (Knowledge is Power) was selected for publication in the 2024 issue of New Glass Review, the Corning Museum of Glass' survey of cutting-edge glass. Two Witches was also on view at the John Ruskin Prize group exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Poplar, London back in February. The National Museum of Scotland acquired Self-Portrait Dreaming of Portavadie in 2021. Maclure plans a solo show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in the near future. ​“I find medieval stained glass bewitching and daring… I want to elevate the medium into a contemporary art form, using its seductive beauty and historical associations to stimulate debate and to tell my own stories.”  

An American glass artist best known for his modern approach to centuries-old techniques, Rocko Belloso specializes in murrine, cut and flip, stringer drawing, and sculpture. He is an innovator in his combination of these elements as well as his custom color mixing methods. His work presents an updated aesthetic with influences from comic books, cult movies, metal music, and lowbrow art, ranging from stylized depictions to hyper-realistic portraits. As a young teen, Belloso anticipated attending art school to become a cartoonist, but his plans changed in 2003 when he saw the two-dimensional rendering possibilities of murrine glass. He consequentially accepted a glassblowing apprenticeship and employment at Third Eye Design in California, where he spent the next seven years as a production artist, assigned to making mostly dry pipes.  In his free time, Belloso took classes from artists including Scott Deppe, Jesse Taj, Marcel Braun, and Jason Lee, whom he respectively credits with learning murrine, chip stacking, line-work, and reticello. In 2010, Belloso began doing hourly work for an independent glass distributor, affording him more freedom to explore these specialized techniques. In 2014, as his murrine work gained popularity in flameworking circles, the artist took the leap and began working for himself.  Since becoming an independent artist, Belloso has received accolades for his unique work, which has been displayed at galleries and created at live demos across the country. His art has been included in various glass competitions, for which he has received medals and first-place awards. He has also served as a judge at the World Series of Glass and Champs Glass Games. The artist was recently a selected competitor among some of the best boro artists in the industry at Midwest Meltdown. To date, Belloso has been an integral part of every Molten Build – the brainchild of friend and artist Adam Hoobrey aka “Hoobs” – an incredible collaboration with some of the most skilled torch artists, resulting in massive, detailed functional boro sculpture. As a result of his extensive knowledge and groundbreaking applications, Belloso has been invited to teach workshops at institutions including the Corning Museum of Glass, Carlisle School of Glass Art, and numerous glass studios coast-to-coast. He just finished a glass sculpting class at Salem Community College Glass Center and will be teaching Creating Narratives in 2D: Borosilicate Cut & Flip Techniques, August 3 – 14, 2024, at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, with Eriko Kobayashi as his TA. Info and registration:  https://www.pilchuck.org/programs/session_5_storykeeping Over the past year, Belloso and flameworking icon Paul Stankard have been transferring the soft glass techniques Stankard pioneered into borosilicate glass. The duo recently demonstrated the processes at Salem Community College's International Flameworking Conference, held March 15 – 17, 2024. They are currently developing a new body of work, Momento Mori, for future exhibition at WheatonArts, Millville, New Jersey, dates TBA.  Stankard states: “Rocko Belloso, who is a master in the borosilicate world, was able to interpret my botanical vocabulary in a way that has inspired me, knowing that a new botanical aesthetic is going to evolve in borosilicate glass. I was assisting Rocko with keeping things hot, organizing the vacuum pick-up for the honeybees, and all-around taking advantage of his incredible talent. I'm fascinated with the possibility of different aesthetic results that could develop by using borosilicate glass. The quality of the colors and clear glass rods is impressive. It takes a lot longer to encase the components and ball up the glass; that said Rocko brings skill and patience to the task. I prefer the title Boro Flower Balls and believe that future collectors will embrace this new work – going beyond the paperweight world with enthusiastic collectors building large collections with a wide range of artists represented.”  

Housed in a 19th-century cheese factory, Audrey Handler's studio was founded in 1970 and is one of the oldest continually operating glassblowing facilities in the country. Through demonstrations she gave there and workshops she taught on the road at places such as Penland School of Craft and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, she helped spread the idea that glass could be used as a medium for personal artistic expression.  A pioneer of the Studio Glass Movement, Handler started working in glass in 1965 as one of Harvey Littleton's first female glass students. He and his students experimented and learned together, renting old glassblowing films from the Corning Museum of Glass and trying to emulate the techniques. “It was so exciting,” Handler recalls. “Every day was something new.”   As a glassblower, Handler creates fruit forms, glass platters, and vases but also sculptural environments that comment on universal experiences, usually domestic in nature. These sculptures reflect small worlds and landscape portraits with life-sized objects and tiny sterling silver or gold people that evoke a surrealistic time and place. In well-known series the artist calls Monuments in a Park, Pear in a Chair and Wedding Pair, glass, wood and precious metal combine to tell a story. These works are made in collaboration with her husband, John Martner, who fabricates the tiny wooden chairs and love seats.   Wrote James Auer, Art Critic, The Milwaukee Journal: “By combining pieces of hand-blown fruit, in particular apples and pears, with tiny, hand-cast silver figures, (Audrey Handler) creates bizarre, Lilliputian landscapes that evoke universal human emotions and experiences. …this universality – combined with a neat sense of humor – is Handler's principal strength. It permits her to invest her work with a cutting satirical edge, to the point where her miniaturized depictions of conventional household scenes and cliched gender role models become winning little exercises in small-town surrealism.” Handler was a board member of the Glass Art Society, an international organization she helped create in 1971. She holds a BFA from Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts and a MS and MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Department of Art. Her work was represented in the New Glass 1979 and New Glass Now 2019 exhibitions and published in the Corning Museum's survey of cutting edge-glass art, New Glass Review, in issues 5, 16 and 43. In 2014, Handler was awarded the Wisconsin Visual Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, joining fellow honorees Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia O'Keeffe. The artist currently serves on the Glass Advisory Board of the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, Wisconsin. Handler's sculptures can be found in collections and museums worldwide. During 2023 and 2024, her work was exhibited at the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin, in two separate group shows: Women in Glass and Wisconsin Artists: 1960 – 1990: A Survey. Her work is on view now at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, in 60 Years of Studio Glass, 2022 to present, and at the Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin, in Recent Acquisitions, 2021 to 2023, and an ongoing exhibit of her work from 1965 to present. Her latest endeavor involves creating new mixed media sculpture and painting with low-fire glass paints on tiles and glass, creating landscapes of the prairie seen from her studio window, areas around Wisconsin and visions of landscapes from her many travels. These glass paintings are an extension of her work with blown glass – an endeavor which spans more than 50 years – as well as a return to her roots as an oil painter.    

The inspiration for Jonathan Capp's art comes from the experiences that shape his life. Whether hiking the Appalachian Trail, coaching Little League Baseball, becoming an archaeological illustrator halfway around the world, or competing on Blown Away, he channels those experiences into ideas and fully embraces life as a part of his art. Capps states: “I welcome new ideas and innovations in the studio, bringing fun, energy, and an inspiring enthusiasm into the hot shop.” Raised in Knoxville, TN, Capps spent much of his youth outdoors, camping, hiking, and playing baseball. After moving to Kentucky in 2001, he developed a passion for glassblowing during undergraduate school at Centre College in Danville, KY, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2005. For the following decade, he worked as a freelance glassblower, artist, and designer, traveling extensively to learn, teach, and pursue the mastery of his craft. During this time, he received several residencies and scholarships, including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Corning Museum of Glass, Penland School of Crafts, and an International Artist Residency at Lasikompannia in Nuutajärvi, Finland. After “thru-hiking” the Appalachian Trail in 2013, Capps attended graduate school at Ohio State University and, in 2016, earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He received several awards and scholarships, most notably a travel grant and fellowship as an archaeological illustrator in the remote Oğlanqala region of the Autonomous Republic of Naxçivan, Azerbaijan. In 2018 and 2019, Capps was awarded a U.S. Fulbright Arts Grant to research Finnish glass and design for a year in Finland. In 2020, he was chosen to serve as an Alumni Ambassador to the U.S. Student Fulbright Program; today, he continues to engage in outreach and recruitment for the Fulbright Program and Finland's National Fulbright Foundation. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Finnish Glass Museum and the Prykäri Glass Museum in addition to private collections. Capps has taught and exhibited extensively in the United States and Internationally. Throughout his career, he has worked with many glass artists and master craftspeople, developing a diverse practice that fluently moves between traditional techniques and experimental methods, pushing the boundaries and seeking new applications of the glass medium. He says: “My studio practice is rooted in the multicultural traditions of the glass craft; significantly, the physical nature of glass blowing requires reliance on others to create art successfully. For me, learning and then mastering a variety of glass techniques is where the culture behind the craft comes alive. “My work in the visual arts is rooted in the hot glass studio. My research has developed, over time, into a global practice of interdisciplinary collaboration, social engagement, and cultural exchange. I have learned that there is something in my use of the glassmaking tradition that goes beyond form and function, and enters into the realm of experience, relationships, and communication.” Most recently, Capps competed in Season 4 of the hit Netflix series Blown Away. On Saturday, May 18 at the Glass Art Society convention in Berlin, Germany, Capps will demonstrate at Berlin Glassworks from 10 a.m. to 12   – an opportunity he won on the show. From June 10 – 14, he will teach a summer intensive at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Lifting the Veil, and present a free lecture on June 11.  He will also be the featured guest artist for this year's Gay Fad Studio's Festival hosted at the Ohio Glass Museum. https://www.gayfadstudios.com    

We welcome Kimberly Mckinnis to our series on Virtual Reality for World Languages and Cultures Using ImmerseMe where she will share her experiences on emerging technologies to learn French. Professor McKinnis is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Art at Old Dominion University and Lake Taylor High School, as well as a member of the glass studio team at the Chrysler Museum of Art. She holds an M.F.A. in Art (Exhibition Design) from California State University in Fullerton, California. In her studio practice, she utilizes a variety of media including silver, glass, video, and performance. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been featured in publications such as the annual New Glass Review by the Corning Museum of Glass.Professor McKinnis is the winner of the Silver Global Citizen Award for the 2023 ImmerseMe Cup and was at the top 9% of over 1,750 competitors worldwide!  Our gratitude goes to Ayat Yousef for expertly hosting this episode.

Said Blown Away Season 4 winner, Morgan Peterson, “I'm not just the creepy weirdo lurking in the background anymore. I'm right up front.” As champion of Netflix's 2024 glassblowing competition series, the Seattle-based artist received a whopping cash prize of $100,000, a paid residency in Venice, Italy, with glass legend Adriano Berengo, and a residency at the world-renowned Corning Museum of Glass. Growing up in Boston, MA, Peterson's watched horror films and Unsolved Mysteries with her Godmother, introducing her to the unnerving  and creepy style so associated with her unique work that uses metaphor and imagery to address themes of pop culture and addiction. On Blown Away 4, from her initial bathtub-toaster combo titled Best Friends to a knife thrower's impeccably made knives, black and white targets, and puddles of blood to her unforgettable monster mushroom, dark humor and twisted style set Peterson's work apart- not just from other artists on the show, but from other artists making work in glass today. Her final gallery, 6 Crime Scenes, included 80 glass objects and was described by guest evaluator Berengo as “fresh, new, and very contemporary.” The crime scene installation was based on six murders that occurred in Chicago during the 1920s and inspired by the artist's obsession with the musical Chicago. Peterson graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a dual degree in 2006. Upon completion of her degrees, she relocated to Seattle, WA, to pursue a career and continue her education and advancement in the arts. She has worked for many notable artists including Buster Simpson and Bruce Mau, and is a full-time team member for Dale Chihuly. Heavily involved with Pratt Fine Arts and Pilchuck Glass School, she is not only a member of the staff but also an instructor.  Included in The Young Glass Exhibition, hosted by the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, which is an international competition that only occurs once a decade, Peterson has also participated in multiple group shows in 2019, including Pittsburgh Glass Center, The Habatat Invitational, CHROMA (Nashville, TN), Traver Gallery (Seattle, WA), REFRACT (Seattle's Glass Art Fair), and the Irish Glass Biennale (Dublin also in 2023). In 2020 and 2022, the artist exhibited virtual solo shows through Habatat in Royal Oaks, MI. Her first in person solo exhibition was held at Method Gallery, Seattle, WA, in October 2021. Since winning Blown Away 4, Peterson says she has been “very busy in the best ways possible.” Her latest work will be on view in Once Upon a Crime In Hollywood, opening Saturday, April 13, 6 p.m. -10 p.m. at the new Nathie Katzoff Art Gallery, 8900 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood. PLEASE RSVP – info@nathiekatzoff.com. Her Corning residency takes place April 22 – 28, and she'll participate in a group show at Traver Gallery in Seattle this October.  

Glass has been around for more than 35 centuries, but the process to make it can still boggle our minds. Humans use their own lungs to breathe life into glass pieces such as those seen on the Netflix show “Blown Away”. The fourth season of the show just premiered, and a collection of the pieces featured on the program are on display at the Corning Museum of Glass. “Something Offbeat” host Mike Rogers talked with Eric Meek – the senior manager of hot glass programs at the museum and is a longtime glassblower. 

Enjoy this stained glass panel discussion with top industry professionals and educators Judith Schaechter, Stephen Hartley, Megan McElfresh, and Amy Valuck. Topics addressed include: what is needed in stained glass education; how the massive number of Instagrammers making suncatchers and trinkets affect stained glass; how to promote stained glass in a gallery setting; and how to stay relevant as stained glass artists. The panelists: By single-handedly revolutionizing the craft of stained glass through her unique aesthetic and inventive approach to materials, Judith Schaechter championed her medium into the world of fine art. The content of her work – some of which gives voice to those who experience pain, grief, despair, and hopelessness – resonates with viewers, leaving a profound and lasting impression. Schaechter has lived and worked in Philadelphia since graduating in 1983 with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design Glass Program. She has exhibited her glass art widely, including in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, The Hague and Vaxjo, Sweden. She is the recipient of many grants, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Crafts, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, The Joan Mitchell Award, two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts awards, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts and a Leeway Foundation grant. Her work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Hermitage in Russia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution and numerous other public and private collections. Schaechter's work was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, a collateral exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2012, and she is a 2008 USA Artists Rockefeller Fellow. In 2013 the artist was inducted to the American Craft Council College of Fellows. The Glass Art Society presented Schaechter with a Lifetime Achievement award in 2023, and this year she will receive the Smithsonian Visionary Award. Schaechter has taught workshops at numerous venues, including the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, the Penland School of Crafts, Toyama Institute of Glass (Toyama, Japan), Australia National University in Canberra, Australia. She has taught courses at Rhode Island School of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy, and the New York Academy of Art. She is ranked as an Adjunct Professor at The University of the Arts and Tyler School of Art Glass Program, both in Philly . Born in Philadelphia, Stephen Hartley began his craft career working on a variety of historic buildings and monuments throughout the region. In 1999, he moved to South Carolina to attend Coastal Carolina University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in History. He then relocated to Savannah, Georgia, and continued to work in the traditional crafts and conservation fields while attending graduate school. After completing his MFA in Historic Preservation at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Hartley was employed as an instructor at various colleges within the Savannah area. He earned his PhD from the University of York in 2018 where his dissertation thesis studied the historical and modern frameworks of trades training in the US and the UK.  Hartley eventually returned to the Philadelphia area and accepted the position of Head of Building Arts at Bryn Athyn College, where he formulated the first Bachelor's of Fine Arts (BFA) in traditional building within the United States. Hartley, currently an associate professor in Notre Dame's School of Architecture, wants his students to have a deeper appreciation for the work craftspeople do to fulfill an architect's vision—by learning the vocabulary of the trades, understanding their history, and, when possible, trying out the tools. Executive Director of the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA), Megan McElfresh has dedicated her professional life to community service and the art and science of stained glass. With a background in fine arts and operations management, she joined the Association as a professional member in 2015 and became the Executive Director in the fall of 2017. Growing up in small stained glass studios, McElfresh continued to build on her technical skills in the medium by seeking mentorship opportunities throughout college. Some of the highlights of her glass studies were traveling to Pilchuck Glass School and time spent at the nationally recognized kiln forming resource center, Vitrum Studio.  Prior to working with the SGAA, McElfresh worked in a variety of roles from operations management at a life sciences firm in Washington, D.C. to IT and web support for small non-profit art organizations. In 2011, McElfresh moved from Northern Virginia to Buffalo, New York, and founded her studio, McElf GlassWorks. With a passion for her professional career as well as her new community, she never turned down an opportunity to collaborate with neighborhood teens and local programs to provide enthusiastic and creative educational enrichment. In her personal work, McElfresh uses her artwork in the advocacy of issues she became passionate about during her time working at a forensics laboratory concerning subjects like domestic violence and rape, and DNA backlogs. Her studio work has been featured in the Stained Glass Quarterly, Design NY, The Buffalo News, and Buffalo Rising. Find out more about the SGAA's 2024 conference here: Conference 2024: Sand to Sash | The Stained Glass Association of America Amy Valuck is a stained glass artist and conservator based in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the current president of the American Glass Guild. She began her apprenticeship in 1998 at The Art of Glass in Media, PA, and in 2014 went on to establish her own studio, Amy Valuck Glass Art, now located in West Chester, PA. Her studio's primary work is the restoration and conservation of historical windows from churches, universities, and private residences. As a conservator she specializes in complex lead work, plated windows, and replication painting. Valuck also maintains a personal art practice, producing autonomous stained glass panels for private commissions and public exhibition, including the AGG's American Glass Now annual exhibit. Her personal work is heavily influenced by the fabrication and painting techniques of historical windows but frequently includes experimental fused glass elements.  Valuck is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, who earned her BFA degree in jewelry and light metals. Her work in jewelry earned awards including the first annual Cartier Prize, and the MJSA (Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths' Association) Award. She has served on the board of directors of the American Glass Guild since 2017 and has participated as a lecturer and instructor at several of the AGG's annual conferences. Registration is now open for the 2024 Grand Rapids conference, July 9 – 14. Find out more about the AGG's 2024 conference here: https://www.americanglassguild.org/events/agg-2024-conference-grand-rapids-mi For further exploration of panel discussion topics: The Campaign for Historic Trades Releases First-of-its-Kind Labor Study on the Status of Historic Trades in America – The Campaign for Historic Trades   

Jessica Loughlin's work is characterized by a strict reductive sensibility and restricted use of color. Fusing kiln formed sheets of opaque and translucent glass together in flat panels or in thin, geometric compositions and vessels, she alludes to shadow, reflection and refraction. Loughlin's work is influenced by the flat landscapes and salt lakes of South Australia, and the recurring motif of the mirage appears in much of her work. Each piece makes its own poetic statement.  “My work investigates space, seeing distance and understanding how wide-open spaces, particularly of the Australian landscape, affect us. I am fascinated by the unreachable space. The view we look upon, but can never reach. In this minimal landscape, all elements are stripped back, light becomes the landscape, and I am left looking at space, the space between here.…and there. This viewed distance is a place we can never reach, never get to, for as we move towards it, it moves away from you. Is this a real place or is it a projected space of the imagination. My work does not aim to represent this landscape directly but rather induce a state of looking inward and outward simultaneously.”   Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Loughlin is a graduate of the Canberra School of Art under the tutelage of late Stephen Procter. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, the National Gallery of Australia, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh GB, and the Musee de Design et d'Arts Appliques Contemporains in Lausanne, Switzerland. A studio artist for over 20 years, Loughlin has exhibited both nationally and internationally. In 2020, she was only the second Australian to have work selected as a finalist in the Loewe Craft Prize. In 2018, she was awarded the Fuse Glass Prize, and in 2004 and 2007, the Tom Malone Art Prize. She is represented by Sabbia Gallery, Sydney, Australia, and Caterina Tognon, Venice, Italy. A committed and passionate artist who is highly regarded both in Australia and internationally, Loughlin combines her thoughtful and instinctual approach with extraordinary technical skills. With a gentle color palette of soft muted hues, her work often explores ideas of evaporation, space and distance, all inherent in the Australian landscape. Loughlin's work was on view in late 2023 in a solo exhibition near | far at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney, and her piece of light is on national tour as part of the Jamfactory Icon series, accompanied by a monograph of her art Jessica Loughlin: from here published by Wakefield Press. In 2024, Loughlin was selected for and will participate in the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia, March 29 through June 2.  

Apollo 8, which launched on December 21, 1968, was the first mission to take humans to the moon and back. While the crew did not land on the moon's surface, the flight was an important prelude to a lunar landing, testing the flight trajectory and operations getting there and back. Capt. James A Lovell, Apollo 8 astronaut, shared his memories of that historic mission: “Then, looking up I saw it, the Earth, a blue and white ball, just above the lunar horizon, 240,000 miles away…I put my thumb up to the window and completely hid the Earth. Just think, over five billion people, everything I ever knew was behind my thumb…I began to question my own existence. How do I fit in to what I see?” Inspired by this wonderment and interest in perspective, glass artist Josh Simpson embarked on his own exploration of the cosmos. Born on August 17, 1949 and educated at Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York (1972), much of Simpson's career in glass has been dedicated to communicating his fascination with the earth and its role as our planet, first through entertaining demonstrations for middle schoolers, then with art lovers worldwide. He has enthusiastically shared his glass art in much the same way the astronauts shared their experiences – with any man, woman or child whose heart fills with excitement just thinking of the possibilities. Since the 1980s, Simpson has been hiding his glass Planets all over our Earth. In 2000 he launched the Infinity Project, which invites people around the world to hide Planets in exotic, mysterious, and sometimes even seemingly mundane – but personally meaningful – locations. Simpson's space-inspired glass art includes Planets, vases, platters, and sculpture. The artist has dedicated more than 50 years to inventing new glass formulas and making unique objects that embody his fascination with color, form, light, pattern, complexity, and the working of the universe. His iconic Planets evoke imaginary worlds that might exist in distant undiscovered galaxies. His New Mexico Glass suggests star-filled night skies and swirling blue seas, while Corona Glass evokes deep-space images captured by the Hubble Telescope.  Simpson's work has been exhibited in the White House and numerous international museums. Select pieces are currently on permanent display at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum, Yale University Art Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and many more. Says Simpson: “I am moved by the beauty of the night sky and other astronomical phenomena. Physics and cosmology fascinate me, as does high temperature chemistry, powered flight, and all things mechanical. I am mesmerized by color, form, contrast, iridescence, tessellating patterns, and complexity.” Located in the rural hills of Western Massachusetts, Simpson's studio can be found in a converted dairy barn beside his home. Every night, the last thing he does is walk from the house to his studio to check the furnaces. Seeing an aurora borealis, watching a storm develop down the valley, or looking at the sky on a perfect summer night, compels him to translate some of the wonder of the universe into his glass. This process doesn't happen in any planned way, but gradually and unpredictably. He never tries to replicate what he sees around him, and in fact often doesn't recognize the source of inspiration until someone points it out later.  Simpson states: “Molten glass consists of sand and metallic oxides combined with extraordinary, blinding heat. The result is a material that flows like honey. When it's hot, glass is alive! It moves gracefully and inexorably in response to gravity and centripetal force. It possesses an inner light and transcendent radiant heat that make it simultaneously one of the most rewarding and one of the most frustrating materials for an artist to work with. Most of my work reflects a compromise between the molten material and me; each finished piece is a solidified moment when we both agree.” In his most recent book, Josh Simpson 50 Years of Visionary Glass, 500 beautiful photos and informative (and humorous) narration by the artist, reveals the evolution of Simpson's evocative glass art over the past 50 years. In-depth looks at his several signature series and experimental works illustrate how the artist has continually explored new ways to express—in glass—his fascination with outer space, the natural world, and the workings of the universe. Text and photo spreads narrate the story of Simpson's glass, details of his life and process, and his contributions within the craft world. Text by experts in the glass world, including William Warmus, Tina Oldknow, Nezka Pfeifer, and others, supplies additional views. In addition, strategically placed comments from numerous museum curators, along with insights from astrophysicists and space flight professionals, present a unique perspective on the meanings and broad appeal of his unique glass. From playing the spoons, to winning story slams and flying high performance planes to the wrong number that resulted in him marrying astronaut Cady Coleman – enjoy this fascinating conversation with Josh Simpson.    

Wesley Fleming brings the fantastic realism of the microcosmos to life in glass. An ambassador for smaller denizens of the earth, his passion for nature sparks awe and curiosity in others. Growing up in the countryside, his favorite pastime was exploring beneath logs and rocks in the woods or reading science fiction and comic books. Hence the natural world and his own imagination became his muse. Says Fleming: “I hope to rekindle awe and curiosity for nature with my fantastic realism. I've focused more than two decades honing my flameworking skills and trying to capture the essence of actual species with intricate detail of tiny stamen or antennae. Today, I conjure plants, animals and mystical beings by merging the fantastical with the real through choice of color palette and referencing familiar archetypes. Regardless of the end result, I love the alchemical potential of sculpting glass – a brittle and cold substance transformed by fire into a pliable and molten material.” In 2001, Fleming began working with glass, learning via apprenticeship under the tutelage of Italian maestros Vittorio Costantini and Lucio Bubacco in Venice, Italy. He subsequently gained valuable experience working for Josh Simpson and the MIT Glass Lab. His work has been included in numerous publications, exhibited around the United States and included in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Kobe Lampwork Museum, Tacoma Museum of Glass and Racine Art Museum. Recently, Fleming was commissioned by Wes Anderson to make glass flowers, which were animated by a studio in London for his 2023 movie Asteroid City. Along with his wife, Rebecca, the artist demonstrated his techniques at Denizli Glass Bienali in Denizli, Turkey, where she played her composed pieces on the cello while Fleming worked at the torch. In March 2020, his first solo museum exhibit was scheduled to open at Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Brattleboro, Vermont. Sadly, opening day the museum was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Says Fleming: “Insects have been my main focus for many years, but recently I have been very inspired by the Blaschka Glass Flowers at Harvard and have been working on developing my plants and flowers. This was what was so exciting for me about the Brattleboro exhibit – that I was given trust and free rein to make my new passion and to focus on local wildflowers, which I see on the regular hikes I do around my home.” In 2024, Fleming will co-teach “Bugs, Figures, Plants, & Beyond” with Emilio Santini at Penland School of Crafts, April 28 – May 3. He will also co-teach “Collaborative Soft Glass Sculpture” with Michael Mangiafico at Touchstone Center for Crafts, August 5 -9 .

Bex Scott hosts one of her all-time favorite Pyrex and vintage collectors, Nate Smith of @MyVintageIs1976, on the show today. Bex and Nate talk about all things Pyrex from how they got started collecting and Nate's favorite patterns to Pyrex swaps and overpriced pieces. Nate is a natural educator and happily shares his passion and Pyrex knowledge, which is vast, with all Bex's listeners.Nate, like Bex, started collecting in 2020 through the need to clear out family houses. Once started, he fell in love with Pyrex and dug into research and collecting on his own. While his husband doesn't share his Pyrex collection love, he is incredibly supportive of Nate's thrifting, reselling, and the revolving seasonal displays in their home. Nate lets Bex in on the best Pyrex finds he's made, his most treasured complete collection, and the rare boxes he's now searching out. They discuss their belief on why kindness and sharing knowledge with new collectors is the best way forward, investigate the differences between pieces named differently in America versus in Canada, and Nate shares his top tips for thrifting success. If you love Pyrex, and you must if you're here, this is one conversation you won't want to miss!Resources discussed in this episode:Nate Smith on Instagram: MyVintageIs1976Colonial MistHorizon Blue“Lady on the Left” Butterprint bowlWillow 473Penn Dutch Friendship boxMrs. Maisel“Pyrex Passion (2nd ed.)” by Michael D. Barber—Contact Rebecca Scott | Pyrex With Bex: Website: PyrexWithBex.comInstagram: @pyrexwithbexContact Bex on her website—TranscriptBex Scott: [00:00:02] Hey everybody, it's Bex Scott and welcome to the Pyrex with Bex podcast where, you guessed it, I talk about vintage Pyrex, but also all things vintage housewares. I'll take you on my latest thrifting adventures, talk about reselling, chat with other enthusiasts about their collections, and learn about a bunch of really awesome items from the past. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you love listening to podcasts so you don't miss a beat. Bex Scott: [00:00:31] Hey everybody, thanks for tuning in to the Pyrex with Bex podcast. Today I am super excited because I have one of my all-time favorite collectors of Pyrex and vintage on today chatting, and it's Nate Smith. You can find him on Instagram at MyVintageIs1976 and I was super excited when I came across your Instagram, Nate, because I love all the education you provide, all of the things that you sell. I wish I had enough money to buy all of them because they're adorable and I could see all of them in my house. But you were also the friendliest and most open to teaching people about what you know and helping new collectors, and I'm super grateful for that. So welcome to the show. Nate Smith: [00:01:16] Thank you so much. It's my pleasure to be here. Bex Scott: [00:01:19] Awesome. So I thought we'd start out with how you got into Pyrex and vintage collecting. Nate Smith: [00:01:26] That's a great question. I had a lot of tragedy actually in 2020, and my sister and I were forced to clean out both my parents and my grandparents homes. My dad died in September and my grandmother died in October right after. And then my mother went into an assisted living at the time. So my sister and I were left with all this stuff and we were like, what are we going to do? So we just started digging in and having to clean out the houses. And that's in Kentucky and I'm in Texas now, so I would go as often as I could to go and help her out. But as we were cleaning out my parents home, we just kept coming across these beautiful bowls and casseroles in this huge variety of patterns, and my parents came by it, honestly. Me growing up too, if there was a wide spot in the road for a yard sale, if there was a thrift store, my mom would want to stop on the way to town. And just in case they put something out on the way back that she would want to stop on the way back. So she was a double stop thrift store kind of gal. Nate Smith: [00:02:32] And a lot of these bowls still had the original $2 $4 dollar thrift store tags on them when she picked them up and my sister and I, we took a lot of stuff to the local thrift store just to donate back. But I couldn't take these bowls. I just kept circling back to them, and I just found them to be so beautiful. And so I asked my sister, can I take some of these back to Texas with me? I just want to research and find out a little bit more. And that deep rabbit hole kept going and going and going, and I started as to resell some of the things instead of just donating them. I saw value in them and I told my sister, like, I'm going to sell some of these. And then there were more and more patterns that I couldn't sell back because I didn't want to let go of them, because I started falling in love with them. And then a new collector was born. Bex Scott: [00:03:31] That's awesome. And do you have family members that collect as well? Does your sister collect? Nate Smith: [00:03:40] My sister has a pattern that she likes. She does the Colonial Mist, which is great because I don't care for it at all. Even though it's blue, I still don't care for it very much at all. But it was one of the last kind of opal ware patterns that Pyrex put out. And so it's pretty easy, still pretty common to find because it's one of the newer patterns. And so I've helped her complete her collections just in my own sourcing and thrifting and antiquing, I've been able to finish out her collection of Colonial Mist for her. But the next generation, like her kids and her kids' kids, no, I think we're pretty much it in the family. So, and none of my husband's side of the family really collects. So yeah, it's just me. I do enough for all of us. Bex Scott: [00:04:30] That's like me as well. It's just me right now. We have two boys and a girl, and I'm trying to get our sons into it. I don't think I'm going to be successful, but maybe. Our daughter's only one so there's lots of years to get her into collecting and hopefully passing my collection on to her, because there's quite a bit of it. Nate Smith: [00:04:50] Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:04:53] And does your husband share your love of vintage as well? Nate Smith: [00:04:57] No, not even a little bit. And like, he humors me sometimes and goes with me to the antique stores, but he will find himself bored pretty quick and will ask me for the keys to the car pretty quick because he can go up and down the aisles relatively quickly and just say, yeah, I'm done. But he humors me, like he never makes me feel bad about my collections. He never questions me about anything. So if anything, he is also like all-star drop stuff off at the post office. All-star I have a lot of boxes to box will you help me? Absolutely. So he's roll up his sleeves, all hands on deck when it comes to that stuff. But he's not himself a collector by nature. Bex Scott: [00:05:51] Yeah, it's good to have that support on that side of things too, with the packing. And that can get to be a lot. Nate Smith: [00:05:58] Yeah, I turn and burn it pretty quickly. Like I can't let it pile up because then my OCD and anxiety just kind of spirals out of control. So like if somebody buys something, I try my best to hurry up and get it out because if it piles up, then I can feel my anxiety increasing. Bex Scott: [00:06:17] Yeah. I remember buying some little bluebirds from you and they arrived so quickly. I was very impressed. So you definitely do get things out the door quickly. Nate Smith: [00:06:30] Thank you, thank you. Bex Scott: [00:06:32] And what does your home look like for displaying your Pyrex and your other vintage items? Nate Smith: [00:06:39] Yeah. Good question. So again, I'm very lucky to have a husband who gives me that kind of creative license, but under a watchful eye of control, which is also good. We live in Texas, so there is no basement. The land of basements is not in Texas, so there aren't a lot of basements here. So I just have to make do with what we've got. And so I have kind of a prized hutch collection of my Pyrex kind of in our sitting room. And then we have some display cabinets in the kitchen that I display pretty regularly. And then I have a rotating seasonal display as well. Other than that, it's usually put in a what I call my Pyrex closet that I use to rotate things in and out for display. And then I also have an inventory room, which is where all the things that I have in preparation for my upcoming Instagram sales or Pyrex swaps kind of lives. So no kids. So easy to just put that stuff in the extra bedroom. Bex Scott: [00:07:49] Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a very organized way to do it. I might have to implement some of that, because I took over our extra bedroom in the basement of our old house, so my parents and my in-laws weren't able to stay over anymore. So that was the Pyrex room. That was an issue. And now we have more storage in this house, but it's quickly escaping the storage room and making its way into other places. So definitely need a new system. Nate Smith: [00:08:19] I could easily fill every cabinet and every display shelf and every closet with my collections. And so then I just kind of realized, yes, I love to look at this, but I know not everyone else does. And so that's why I just make sure I rotate things out so that I can appreciate it not all year long, but for a significant amount of time. And then when I'm tired and I want to see something different, I can pull something else out of the closet. Bex Scott: [00:08:48] Yeah, that makes it fun too, coming up with new displays and seasonal things. Mhm. Nate Smith: [00:08:54] Yeah, absolutely. And my collection too has evolved, I will say. So a lot of the things that I used to collect, like I've kind of pared down. So I don't do a lot of like, when I started collecting I had every refrigerator set. And so then over time I've gotten rid of most of those. I collected a lot of the bowl sets. I don't do any Cinderella bowls in my collection, so I give myself rules in my collection so that it allows for easier storage and better and better collections. Bex Scott: [00:09:27] So is that just a change in taste of what you were collecting? Nate Smith: [00:09:31] Yeah, I think based on what I heard from some of your previous podcasts, we started out very similarly in that if I saw it, I bought it because like, I felt like it was finding gold in a thrift store or finding, you know, and when we first started collecting, because I was right around the same time, 2020, you know, beginning of the pandemic, it was hard to find even in antique stores, if the antique stores were even open, like you weren't finding it. I feel like everybody was just grabbing it when they saw it. And so when I did come across a piece or pieces, I grabbed it if it was affordable and it was in my budget. So that's kind of how I started. And then as you grow as a collector, you start realizing, what do you really love? What patterns do you really want to dive into and collect? I ended up collecting the entire Horizon Blue pattern. That's my favorite kind of standard pattern. So I have the entire line. And then from there you just kind of start realizing, like, okay, I use these seasonally, those I don't use at all, so they're just sitting there, I would rather either pass them on to someone who can appreciate them more than I am right now. And that's kind of how I started becoming a reseller on Instagram. Bex Scott: [00:10:49] That's very similar to kind of how I started as well, because like you said, there were no antique stores. I bought most of it on Marketplace and not knowing what dishwasher damage and what a bowl should look like at the very beginning of my collecting, I think I bought a ton of dishes and bowls and pie plates that I really shouldn't have. They were luckily cheap. But yeah, looking back, there's a lot of things that I wouldn't get now, but it was fun. The process of it, learning about them and starting to resell the ones that I didn't use very often, and it's all part of the Pyrex fun, I think. So it's worth it. Nate Smith: [00:11:28] Absolutely agree. Bex Scott: [00:11:30] And what have been some of your best Pyrex finds that you've had? Nate Smith: [00:11:34] Good question. And I don't know, have you ever been to a Pyrex swap? Bex Scott: [00:11:39] I haven't. I don't think we have many in Canada. There's been 1 or 2 that I've heard of, but I feel like they're really common in the States, which is sad that we don't have them as much here. Nate Smith: [00:11:50] Yeah, and they're growing. Like there are a couple near me that are starting up this next year. I know both Oklahoma and Arkansas are starting swaps and at least closer to you I know there's one in Wisconsin and one in Michigan. So depending on where in Canada you are, right. So there have been some amazing finds at Pyrex swaps just across the country. And for the listeners who aren't familiar, it's basically just kind of a focused flea market. You know, all vintage is up for grabs, like anybody can come and set up at these Pyrex swaps, but it's kind of a definite focus on Vintage Kitchen and Pyrex at these, kind of just I don't want to call it a convention, but depending on how many vendors there are, you know, like Michigan had like 60 plus vendors, Tennessee had over 60 vendors. So a lot of people come from all over the country. I went last year to Pyrex Fest in Maryland. And you do, you find treasures. And it's not just Pyrex. You also find vintage Christmas and other treasures all along at these swaps. And so you never know what you're going to find, because people are coming from all over the country to these swaps. Nate Smith: [00:13:04] In addition, like great antique stores, great thrift stores, like you, I definitely turned online both and Marketplace and Facebook or even eBay to find some great finds that I feel like I was in the right place at the right time and was able to pounce and and grabbed it. And so that gives you that thrill. So obviously there have been just some wonderful things. Dallas where I live, it's pretty dog eat dog. So like I don't do estate sales because the lines are just mammoth around-- Bex Scott: [00:13:41] Oh, I bet. Nate Smith: [00:13:41] I feel like there are a lot of antique stores and a lot of resellers here in such a large metropolis metropolitan area. And so I feel like the competition is high. And so I just say, you know, I'm not from here. I don't know anybody. I don't have any inside tracks here in Dallas. And so I just leave that to them. And so I turn mostly to either the people I know in the Pyrex community or online, mostly, for my finds. Bex Scott: [00:14:10] Yeah, I'll have to start looking for Pyrex swaps, because that's something that I've watched on people's Instagrams that look so fun, and just seeing what they've found from going to them is a lot better than going to the antique stores. We have a ton of antique stores around here, and they're all super overpriced, so it's very rare to find something affordable that's on your list there. But I keep trying. Nate Smith: [00:14:36] Yeah. And sometimes even at the swaps you think it's a gather of collectors, but also it's just people who are vendors. And a friend of mine found a Lady on the Left Butterprint 503, so the large refrigerator dish, priced as if it were a regular refrigerator dish. And so that was a huge score for her. And I was like, because even as collectors and it was like midway through the swap and how many people were there and had noticed and just like, oh, it's just another 503. And she took the time to really pay attention and realize that it was a Lady on the Left. And so big score for her. We were all just like cheering her on. It was so awesome. Bex Scott: [00:15:22] That's awesome. I would be very excited if I found that. And it does make a difference if you take the time to look through things and you can find stuff like that if you're patient. Nate Smith: [00:15:33] Dig a little bit. Absolutely. Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:15:34] Yeah. Mhmm. So what would you say are the most prized pieces in your collection? Nate Smith: [00:15:41] So I will say that as my collection evolved, I have definitely kind of refocused on two major categories. Like I'm never going to get rid of any of my Horizon Blue. That's part of my complete collection, but focused for me now as far as Pyrex goes, I collect the boxes. The boxes have been a wonderfully deep rabbit hole that I have just absolutely fallen in love with the original artwork on the boxes. And then the rares. So those pieces that were either test patterns or things that were maybe one-offs that people made in the factories, and I've even found some people from other people who found out from people who worked there at the factory. A friend of mine bought some pieces directly from someone who used to work there, and he told my friend that basically after hours they could go down into the basement, and if there was already a pattern and already colors and anything, they could just mix and match things in a way for their wives or for anybody that they wanted to. And so he was able to find a Snowflake Cinderella bowl set that somebody had made their wife. And like, obviously that doesn't exist. And so it was amazing. Absolutely. And so for me, obviously, I'm lucky enough to own the Lucky in Love and I own the Constellation, Oh My Stars as it's called sometimes. I own a one of a kind, which is the Tulips, it's usually a white on blue, the 043 Tulip pattern, and I have it as a gold on cream. Bex Scott: [00:17:29] Oh that would be pretty. Nate Smith: [00:17:30] It's just beautiful. I have the Clover Berry. I mean, I'm so lucky to have so many of the rare pieces. And that's actually another reason why I'm still buying and selling on Instagram. You know, My Vintage Is 1976 was kind of born because like, I want to buy and sell. And then that kind of goes into my little Pyrex fun money stockpile that I can afford some of these things that I want to treat myself with. So. Bex Scott: [00:17:57] And the Lucky in Love, there's two different versions, right? Nate Smith: [00:18:01] I don't know what you mean. There's the clear. You know, that's kind of the new version that they kind of reissued that's pretty common that you can find. I think it was done, you know, not so long ago. But then it's on the opal. Bex Scott: [00:18:17] Is there one without hearts? Does it have hearts? Nate Smith: [00:18:19] Oh okay. Now. Yes. So there is one I think in the Corning Museum before they added the hearts. And that's the reason that I also have heard why it never made it to the run. On mine you can see that this is 100% true, the way they layered the paint, so there's some overlap with the heart over the shamrock. And you can see the green shamrock through the light kind of bubblegum pink. And I think so then it didn't pass their standards that you could see one through the other. And so then that's kind of why they stopped production or it never made it to market. Bex Scott: [00:19:01] Interesting. Nate Smith: [00:19:03] Yeah. Yeah. And the reason my second guess is there's a one of a kind, I think that's on the 475, the large casserole. And my friend owns that one and so. It'd be pretty cool to stack a 473 on a 475 just to see it. Bex Scott: [00:19:19] Yeah. Nate Smith: [00:19:20] You know, but. Bex Scott: [00:19:21] That would be very cool. That's awesome. With all of the information that's out there, what's something that people, it's kind of like how do you say it, that isn't accurate that people talk about Pyrex? That you'd say that's kind of like a misinformation about Pyrex, if there is any. Nate Smith: [00:19:40] Sure. Well, I see a lot of times people will say Pyrex as the brand, you know, and Pyrex is a product within the Corning company, you know, so Corning that also made Corelle, that also made Corning Ware, also made Pyrex. So it's easy to talk about, you know, Pyrex as the manufacturer. But they're not, you know, it's just another brand in in the Corning company. A lot of people will call, it's kind of like, oh, you know, you call every adhesive bandage a Band-Aid, you call every facial tissue Kleenex, or every pill Tylenol. You know, I feel like a lot of people will call all kinds Pyrex. You know, whether it's Fire King, Hazel, Atlas, Federal, McKee, any of it. It's just all Pyrex. And I'm like, no, no, it's not. So, that's another one that I'm like, gosh, see that all the time, is that they'll just label it all Pyrex, you know, like it's a one stop shop, one name for all of that kind of cookware. But obviously it's not. Bex Scott: [00:20:51] Right. Yeah, that's a good point. Lots of my family members do that. They'll bring home something for me and they'll say, I got you some Pyrex. Thank you very much. But it's glass, actually. And are there any pieces that you're still on the hunt for in terms of Pyrex? Nate Smith: [00:21:15] Always, always. You know, and it's so easy when in any collection, I feel like, it's so easy to become jealous. And I hate that word, but jealous of other people's collections because, you know, like, oh my gosh, they just have such beautiful... Even if it's just the way they display it. And I hear that often like, oh, I'm so jealous of your collection, but you should be happy with the collection you have. And so, and I oftentimes say, if I never get another piece of Pyrex, the fact that I've been able to be a part of the pieces I currently have history, then I feel beyond lucky. There are several boxes that I would love to add to my collection. If you know the Willow casserole, the cute little 473, I would love to have that box. There are several others. The Penn Dutch promotional friendship pattern. I would love to have that box. The grapes with the little plastic hugger, I think it's a 473 as well. I would love to have that box. Some of the boxes are just really cute, and I would just love to checkmark and add that to my collection. Nate Smith: [00:22:24] As far as just general rares go, I have the turquoise Hex pattern with the lid and it came with an under plate. So I have two pieces. I have the lid and the casserole, but I don't have the under plate, so I would love to add that to my collection. All kinds. There's all kinds. Yeah, it's so funny though that there are some that they're like, Nate, do you want this or whatever? Because once you get to a certain level, a lot of it is just passed amongst the collectors, right? Like once you hit a certain tier, people call and say, hey, I've got this and I'm going to sell. Or hey, if you ever want to sell this, let me know. And a lot of it is just passed and will never hit eBay and will never hit, you know, the market. So I'm lucky enough to be in a lot of those circles as well. And so there are definitely some pieces that my friends have that I was like, if you ever want to let that go. Bex Scott: [00:23:17] Yeah, let me know. Have the boxes been pretty hard to find? Nate Smith: [00:23:25] So I've run across a lot of boxes in person in antique malls. I'm trying to stay very specific. Like I'm trying not to, unless it's just a gorgeous box or Horizon Blue, I'm trying not to do standard line boxes because then that just opens the whole floodgates, right? That's like every pattern, every different casserole, every different everything that, I mean, that's just a lot of boxes. So I'm trying to stay close with just the promotional pieces or the Horizon Blue pieces as far as boxes go, but I'll see several from time to time just, you know, you can tell whether they're Spring Blossom or Butterfly Gold or Snowflake Garland or several others, the Forest Fancies I see a lot, a lot of the later ones, the Shenandoah or the Colonial Mist I'll see pretty often, and you'll see those pop up pretty often on eBay as well, the especially the later ones, because they only have had to be in a basement for, you know, 40 years instead of, uh, 60 years. Bex Scott: [00:24:37] And my grandma has a storage room right now that nobody knows what's in it. I don't think she even knows. So my hope is that she'll let me clean it out someday soon, and I'll find something great in there. Nate Smith: [00:24:53] That's every person's goal. And I feel like that's how, that's why so much is hitting the market and has hit the market so much in the last five years, is because I think the generations of people who received these pieces as wedding gifts, as housewarming presents, now are unfortunately of the age that either they've passed and their children are cleaning out their homes, or they're downsizing and going to live their best condo life in the beach somewhere, you know, and they're finally cleaning out that basement. And they've been in boxes for 60 years. And another reason I love boxes is because they can so easily stack in my closet. And so it's so much easier than having to find individual shelves or, you know, trying to pull a balancing act with how many bowls can I stack on top of each other. Bex Scott: [00:25:52] Can maximize the use of space. Nate Smith: [00:25:54] Just as if they were in a basement. So I love that. Bex Scott: [00:25:57] That's my new reasoning for starting to collect boxes. That they stack well, yeah. Nate Smith: [00:26:02] Absolutely. Bex Scott: [00:26:02] I'm going to tell my husband right after this. And the number of garage sales I've been to where people have had all types of items and they've said, we got this for our wedding 60 years ago and it never came out of our cupboard. It's just mind blowing. And they're selling it for super cheap because they never wanted it, and they expect that nobody else will. Nate Smith: [00:26:28] Absolutely. Or if when these were purchased, I've gotten the boxes that still have the original price on the cardboard or even cut slash prices, it was $3.98 now it's $1.99, you know, on super sale. And I'm like, it's easy to understand that they feel like they can sell this for $5 because it was only $2 back then, you know. So I feel like to them, if they're not checking the eBay comps and in the Facebook groups like we are, understandably so, they don't necessarily see or understand why they would be so valuable. Bex Scott: [00:27:07] Yeah, yeah. Nate Smith: [00:27:10] Because I've had lots of grandmas see my prices at a swap and just be like, you're crazy. I'm like, I'm really not. Bex Scott: [00:27:19] Yeah. Oh that's funny. I've had a few of those when I had a garage sale in the summer, and they were all older women coming into my sale and looking through and seeing all these things from their past. And a bunch of them said, you can't sell it for this much, like it wasn't this when I bought it so that's ridiculous. I'm like, well, like, thanks for your opinion, but... Nate Smith: [00:27:44] Stand over to the side and wait till a couple more customers come through and you'll see this stuff flying out the door. Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:27:51] That's funny. You mentioned Facebook groups. So how do you feel about all of the Pyrex Facebook groups out there and the information that's being spread about, and yeah. What are your thoughts? Nate Smith: [00:28:10] So I do have a lot of opinions about that. Now I will say I'm pretty loyal to my Instagram. Obviously I've mentioned it, My Vintage Is 1976. I feel like it's a wonderful place to come and get information. In 2022, I hosted a year-long series called Let's Chat About Pyrex. And so twice a month I did kind of an educational series, it's a great place all the way to start from here's how the numbers work, here's the different patterns, here's maybe pieces you've never seen before. And then I eventually invited guests on so that they could show pieces from their collection as well. So I feel like it's a great visual educational series that you can still go back and watch. The Facebook groups I feel like it became a lot for me, and if I'm being honest, because there's so many different groups and all of them you can sell in this one and you can't sell in that one, or you better not show a picture that doesn't have a rare in that one or it's going to get deleted. So there just became a lot of rules. And so I left a large percentage of the groups. There are a couple that I absolutely love. I'm a member of the one it's called Pyrex Snobs, so I love that one. It's really cute. It's run by my friend Annette. And then I also love the, it's fairly new group, called Homestead Relics, and that's run by my friends Lindsay and Nicole. And they are phenomenal and they have lots of sales, but they also are just open whether you're a new collector or a veteran collector, it's kind of like we all knew them from the swaps and all that stuff, and they were like, let's go do this right. And they have just been phenomenal. I'm so happy to see the success of their Facebook page. It's been great. Bex Scott: [00:30:08] I'm going to have to go join those groups because I've been considering leaving a lot of the other ones that as a newer collector, I'm scared to ask questions in. Nate Smith: [00:30:20] Yeah, and and there are some people, whether they're the people who run the page or not, there are people in the Pyrex community, and I don't want to just say Pyrex community because it's most collecting groups, who want to make new collectors feel bad about their lack of knowledge, when it's really not their fault and they're really just trying to learn. And as a former educator, like I was a teacher in the classroom for 15 years, and now I'm a counselor, so I've been in education this is my 25th year. And so it's really hard for me not to want to meet people where they're at because as a kid comes into my classroom, you never know where they're coming from, what their background is, what teachers they had last year, what they know, what they don't know. Maybe they're new to your school. And it's the same way with collecting. There's a whole wealth of reasons why people want to start collecting anything. Could be the passing of a loved one. It could be just they found something and they like it, and they want to know more about it, you know? And it's the people who just want to shut them out or make them feel less than because they don't know the answer that makes me just, it made me want to leave a lot of the Facebook groups originally, so I did. Bex Scott: [00:31:35] Mhm. And how have you found the community overall? Do you find that it's mostly supportive and friendly? Nate Smith: [00:31:44] Highs and lows. I'm going to be honest. Because it comes down with different people's personalities. You know, like I've made a lot of people mad in the community. I have people who've blocked me and don't want to talk to me anymore because of the pieces I have and how they think I got them, which it's so funny how it all just, it all spirals like that. But there are also wonderful people and and I feel like as in any group, you get to see these people. I am in the swap circuit. So like I see people a few times a year, you know, when I can and I have my like inner circle of really close friends and then they're just everyone else that you're just friendly with, you know? So I feel like, and just because you see some people a few times a year, sometimes you think people are going to be great people, and then maybe they turn out not to be great people, or you very quickly realize you have a piece that they want and so they're just being kind or nice to you because they, and then when you don't give them what they want then they're like ease on down the road. So yeah like just like in all communities I feel like it's The Breakfast Club. Right? You're going to have all the different kinds of personalities represented. So you just have to find your tribe within this much larger community that can build you up from where you are. And I think that's where you'll get your joy and find your joy. Bex Scott: [00:33:14] I agree. That's a great way to put it. And I've met a lot of really awesome people who have ended up becoming friends just through Instagram, and those are the ones you want to focus on, the ones that support you with your collecting and learning, and just want to have fun with you throughout the whole process of it. Nate Smith: [00:33:33] Absolutely agree. Bex Scott: [00:33:36] And how have you found that collecting has changed from when you first started to now? If it has? Nate Smith: [00:33:42] No, it definitely has. I feel like, well I find joy that there seems to be a steady stream of new collectors in my world on Instagram, like new customers. So there are new people who seem to be buying Pyrex. So that gives me joy to think that it's not a fad or a flash in the pan that's over. I think there are prices that are getting and becoming astronomical that I'm like, oh my gosh, like three years ago I could find that piece for this and now there's no way I'm touching it for that. You know? Like I see some of the pieces and just how they're escalating on eBay or in some of the groups, you know? So I think that has changed. But I do think the joy and love that people get from collecting Pyrex is continuing to spread. Just like I said, there are new Pyrex swaps in different parts of the countries that are popping up. That tells me that there are new people and new communities gathered together to celebrate this and to find joy in it. And I do think that as long as that continues to happen, then I'm super excited that our community is going to continue to grow. I think that people who did collect during the pandemic, it's kind of like all things, right? Like either now they're to the point of where they're over it and they're done and they're ready to move on. Or like we had said, they're to the point to where they want to fine tune their collection a little bit and make it not just a Pyrex collection, but their Pyrex collection, and have it be a reflection of what they enjoy most and what they find the most joy in. So. Bex Scott: [00:35:24] What would you say are the most overpriced right now pieces that are out there? Nate Smith: [00:35:31] So we just came off of Christmas and Christmas always escalates prices. Because we see, whether it be the husbands who are buying something for their wives on eBay or even in the antique stores, people trying to think like, I've saved this back for the customers for Christmas, to think that I'm going to get more out of it, etc. you just never know. So I think that has skewed what I am currently getting ready to say. Overpriced, I feel like everything has gone up, but some of the, well, I don't know, I don't know, no, I don't, I want to say like the Duchess box that went for like five grand a couple months ago on eBay, like that still blows me away. But it was pristine. It was pristine. And even the Duchess in general, which I know is the piece, your unicorn, right? Like it's a beautiful piece. I've had it and sold it. And I've had and sold Pink Stems twice. I just can't keep pink. I just, there's something about I just don't like, I just don't like their pink. So those to me seem the most, or even, oh, here's a good one, Mrs. Maisel. You know, the Mrs. Maisel casserole, the white daisy on pink 045 casserole. That was part of a standard line that was one of the first standard line so maybe a little harder to come by. But I mean, there were thousands out there, but what people were paying for it just because it was on a television show, I was like, well, this was on Murder She Wrote, could I ask more for it? Bex Scott: [00:37:16] Oh, I love Murder, She Wrote. That's a great one. Nate Smith: [00:37:19] Oh, girl, we need to be best friends. Jessica Fletcher and I are tight. We're tight. Bex Scott: [00:37:26] Oh, that's a good point about TV shows and kind of what they do to Pyrex. And I was looking through on Pinterest the other day, which Pyrex pieces have been shown in which shows? And there's so many of them. And this one, yeah, Mrs. Maisel, just everybody gravitated to it and it exploded. Nate Smith: [00:37:46] Well, and they still call it The Mrs. Maisel casserole. You know, I think it was in the first or second episode that she took something to the comedy club in that casserole. And I was like, there have been four seasons since then. Why are we still focused on that? Is that, did you guys only get to the second episode? But that just kind of came became known as The Mrs. Maisel Casserole. And then people were just paying ungodly amounts for it. You know, but yeah. Bex Scott: [00:38:15] Yeah. That's the one that always surfaces. Nate Smith: [00:38:16]  A standard line piece. Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:38:19] Yeah Facebook Marketplace, it's all over here, and it's always dishwasher damaged, and it's always like $300 for the worst condition piece of it. Nate Smith: [00:38:29] So can I ask you a question? So you are obviously in the land of the North. So to me, like you always want what you can't have. Right? So I feel like in Canada, I hear about these dream Fire King mugs that never kind of made it down to our market, but they always seem so readily available in Canada. And Federal, you know, like you guys, like all the Federal patterns and bowls and they're so pretty. And I never see Federal. Bex Scott: [00:39:05] Oh really? Nate Smith: [00:39:06] Like yes. All my friends like in Wisconsin or Michigan said like, oh yeah, it all comes down from Canada. It all comes down from Canada. So I have to feel like you're just living in a Federal and Fire King dream up there. Bex Scott: [00:39:20] There does seem to be a ton of it. It's always in the thrift stores and people are always selling it on Marketplace, especially the mugs. There's a few sellers in my area who seem to have every mug possible, and they just slowly leak them out on their Marketplace page, and I see them coming up and it's always 'rare, hard to find' like $1 million for this mug. So yeah, there's a lot of it up here. But yeah, if there's anything specific you're ever looking for, it's probably at Value Village. Nate Smith: [00:39:53] I will, I'll let you know for sure. I was a mug guy for a long, long time. I'm trying to slowly break away from the mugs. We're breaking up. We're on a break. We're on a break. But then, do you know the two US Pyrex patterns that were named differently in Canada? Bex Scott: [00:40:12] Was one Colonial Mist? Nate Smith: [00:40:14] Oh, if it was Colonial Mist, I don't know. The two I know, and may have, so Early American was called Early Canadian, I think, because I think they found a box called Early Canadian. And then I think our Shenandoah pattern is called Wintergreen. Bex Scott: [00:40:33] Oh, cool. Nate Smith: [00:40:34] And was called Wintergreen in the Canada market. Bex Scott: [00:40:37] I didn't know that. Nate Smith: [00:40:39] I would love to have a Wintergreen box. That's the goal. It's the same as Shenandoah, but it just says Wintergreen and I think it's so cute. Like perfect for winter, you know. Bex Scott: [00:40:51] Yeah. We, I very rarely find Early American here. I think I've found it one in British Columbia once, but it doesn't show up very often. Nate Smith: [00:41:01] Yeah. I think it was called Early Canadian. I think. Bex Scott: [00:41:05] That's really cool. Nate Smith: [00:41:07] Because I mean, that makes sense for Canadian market. If it's called Early American, who's going to buy it in a Canadian market? But that's why the Colonial Mist makes pattern or makes sense too, you know, colonial is so oftentimes associated, just the word, with colonial America. So it would make sense that they would change that name for the Canadian market as well. That's being, that's interesting. Bex Scott: [00:41:30] That's really cool. One thing I've been wondering for a long time is what is the difference between Delphite and Bluebell? Is there something different? Because I've posted about Delphite Pyrex and I've had people correct me before. So yeah, I was wondering. Nate Smith: [00:41:49] So I feel like Delphite, so I feel like the bowls here, or the bowls that were created in the US market, are referred to as Bluebell, right? But I feel like you guys had plates and all that kind of dinnerware that I don't necessarily think of as part of that Bluebell pattern. So is that what's considered Delphite? Bex Scott: [00:42:17] Yeah, I don't, I'm not sure. Nate Smith: [00:42:18] In Pyrex world? Bex Scott: [00:42:20] I have a ton of the plates and I never know because I look them up and I get different answers online, so that might be it. Nate Smith: [00:42:29] Yeah. Like I know there's another Pyrex passion book. There's two different ones. There's one that is the promotionals and the lines, and that's kind of the Pyrex passion second edition. I love it. But then I feel like there's one that focuses on dinnerware and tableware and things like that. So I don't know if it's covered in that one or not, but I don't know the answer. Bex Scott: [00:42:56] I'll have to take a look. Nate Smith: [00:42:57] Like I do know in Fire King, which I found this interesting, that they called what we would normally call Delphitec Turquoise. Bex Scott: [00:43:07] Oh. Nate Smith: [00:43:09] Yeah. Like if you look in the old Fire King books, like the teardrop bowls, the Swedish modern mixing balls that they did, like those are referenced as Turquoise, not Delphite. Bex Scott: [00:43:21] Interesting. Huh. Nate Smith: [00:43:23] Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:43:24] That makes things even more confusing. Nate Smith: [00:43:27] Because, like, that's not really turquoise but whatever. Speaker3: [00:43:30] No, that's definitely not. Bex Scott: [00:43:35] So outside of Pyrex, you collect other things as well. Nate Smith: [00:43:39] I do, so I do feel like I in general have an addictive personality, like I, by nature am a completist. So if I collect something, I want as much of it as I can have to say that I've completed the collection, and then I can put it to rest and then move on. So I do love collecting the Holt Howard pixie ware, the little condiment jars and oil and vinegar and dressing cruet, all the things like, I just, I've fallen in love with those wacky little faces. Bex Scott: [00:44:14] They're very cute. Nate Smith: [00:44:14] I think they're so cute. Yeah. I do a lot of vintage Christmas, but I'm very specific about what I collect in the world of vintage Christmas. I buy and sell a lot of vintage Christmas, but for me, I collect a very, very small, defined amount of that. And then, as given by my Instagram handle, my vintage is 1976. You can probably guess that I'm a child of the 80s, and so I love a good 80s toy as well. So whether if that's He-Man, ThunderCats, Monchichi, Smurfs, Pac-Man, if it brings back any sort of nostalgia for me, like I'll have a hard time walking away from that. So yeah, that too. Those three: Pyrex, the pixie ware, and the 80s toys are probably my three favorite things to collect. Bex Scott: [00:45:08] Is it pretty easy to find toys in your area, or do you mostly find them online? Nate Smith: [00:45:13] It's a mix, so I very rarely go looking for something specific in that world. So that's usually like if I find it and I love it, then I let myself have it. I found a boxed Monchichi in an antique store. And I was like, I can't walk away from this. Like, I want it real, real bad, like, instantly. So, like, stuff like that I have to do. I very rarely go searching for He-Man on eBay or anything like that. I tell myself eventually I'm going to recreate my entire ThunderCats collection that I had when I was a kid. So that's an eventual like, maybe I'll get there goal. But for here and now, like, if I find it and I pick it up, that's great. But like I said, I'm a completist. So if I just find a loose guy in an antique mall or a thrift store, I can't buy it because I know he had weapons or something with him, some little accessory. And if it's not there too, like, I can't because then I'll just drive myself crazy looking for that one little piece that I don't have. Bex Scott: [00:46:24] That makes sense. Yeah. It has to be complete. Do you have any advice for new collectors that want to get into Pyrex collecting or kind of vintage as a whole? Nate Smith: [00:46:39] Yeah. So as hard as this may be, I would try to find a Pyrex mentor if you can. You know, someone who's not going to judge you, but someone who's also going to hold your hand and help you through the process. Because while it is super exciting to buy it when you see it, if you see it you buy it, kind of thing, that can become overwhelming very quickly. And so just to have someone kind of put you on pause and say, do you really love this pattern or do you think you're going to eventually love it? Like why or do you just want to buy it because it's Pyrex? You know, something like that. I do think that there are an abundance of resources out there. The Pyrex Passion second edition that I mentioned earlier kind of was my Pyrex Bible when I started. I learned a lot, and I think it's organized very, very well, like the promotionals that you can kind of see with the brief little description in a history of when it came out, all the standard lines and all the pieces within the standard lines. It's organized in a way that I appreciated as a new collector. So I would say find a Pyrex mentor. I would say get a copy of the Pyrex Passion second edition. I would say listen to Pyrex with Bex, and I would say follow Nate, MyVintageIs1976. Bex Scott: [00:48:09] That is all amazing advice. Nate Smith: [00:48:10] That's all you need to do. Bex Scott: [00:48:13] All you need for your Pyrex world domination. Nate Smith: [00:48:19] That's it. Bex Scott: [00:48:21] Love it. Well, do you have any other educational tidbits or anything you'd like to pass on to listeners in closing? Nate Smith: [00:48:33] Absolutely. So I feel like if you are a thrifter, I think it's getting easier to find Pyrex at least than it was a year ago, a year and a half ago, in the thrift stores. I feel like it's showing up again, just like glass. I feel like you couldn't find mid-century glass in thrift stores a year and a half ago, and I'm starting to see it creep back in as well. So I would encourage anybody who is a thrifter to be consistent. If you're going to go, go on a regular basis is the only way you're really going to find something. Like, you might have that jackpot hit every once in a while, but it's the consistency that's really going to help you. I feel like always check the bottom shelf because boxes and other things kind of hide down there. And I would encourage you to do one pass in one direction in a thrift store. And then I would encourage you to turn around and go in the opposite direction. I would encourage you to look with the plates, and you might find some of the casserole lids or other lids that you're looking for. if they put the plates in one section, but a lot of times they'll put the pots and pans in the other section, and a lot of times for a long time, I skip the pots and pans aisle. But then I found like some of the things that they don't know what to do with, like the cradles, are living over there with the other metal pot and pans, and so it helps to look everywhere because you never know where you're going to find something if you're a thrifter. Bex Scott: [00:50:01] Those are all great points, especially about looking in aisles that you don't expect things to be in. And the bottom. I've found so many things on the floor, like underneath the shelves too. So I've even gone on the floor flat on my stomach, looking underneath shelves. So I will do anything to find a good one. Nate Smith: [00:50:21] Absolutely. I'm right there with you. I'm all about, you know, rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty. Absolutely. We have this great, it's about an hour east of Dallas, it's called Canton. Canton. And it's called First Monday Trade Days. And it's like this, it's, I mean, it goes on and on and on, and it's this massive flea market that they have this particular weekend of the first Monday each month. And I found so many treasures there. But it's all about, like I said, being consistent. My biggest advice is just be nice, because these vendors who you're talking to, striking up conversation with, you never know what else they have that they haven't put out. But because you are nice and you asked a question that they might dig out of their van for you, or that they have a whole barn at their house that they, you know, were only able to bring so much. And I've been able to do two house picks just because I struck up a conversation with the right people. And so, you know, people always say a smile doesn't cost a dime. And that's 100% true. So I think there's no harm in putting your best foot forward, striking up a conversation with people, being nice and it's not to get something out of it. But sometimes because you are kind, good things will come back to you. And that's my big piece of advice and takeaway for that. Bex Scott: [00:51:47] Yeah. Kindness definitely goes a long way. And it's, yeah, I agree 100% with what you said. Well thank you so much for chatting with me today. Everybody head over to My Vintage Is 1976 on Instagram. Give Nate a follow. You'll have a ton of fun looking through his posts, looking through what he's selling and up to, and just a lot of great education. So make sure to give him a follow. And thank you so much, Nate. Nate Smith: [00:52:19] Thank you. It was a pleasure. 

Blog: www.taminglightning.net Instagram @taminglightning Mark Ditzler: www.markditzler.com Support on Patreon.com/taminglightning In today's podcast, recorded July 2023, I'll be joined by Mark Ditzler. Who has been hospital in my visit to the seattle area, after the class I taught at Pilchuck this summer with Harriet Schwarzrock. Mark Ditzler is a trained industrial designer, ceramic artist, and self-taught fused glass expert based in Seattle. With over 30 years of experience, he crafts kilnformed glass for commissions and galleries, blending clay techniques seamlessly into his work. Mark has taught fusing classes both locally and nationwide, with a notable tenure at Corning Museum of Glass. His expertise spans neon tube bending in the 1980s, pioneering fused plasma projects with James Nowark Studio in the 1990s, and a collaborative residency at Corning focused on plasma with Wayne Strattman (2017). His work has graced prestigious venues like Bellevue Art Museum (2018) and Hong Kong Science Museum (2019). Currently, Mark is innovating in plasma, creating a bespoke “hood ornament” for a Corvette in L.A. and pioneering flat “neon” using cutting-edge kiln-forming techniques and glass cutting technology.  Music Credits:  Preview - Retro by ONE  The opening theme -Taming Lightning by Trav B. Ryan    Sponsor - Good2Go by ONE  Credits - Walking by Ras-Hop

Talking Out Your Glass podcast kicks off 2024 with our first episode of Season 9! This  fascinating panel discussion on flameworking features four of the technique's most well-known artists: Paul Stankard, Carmen Lozar, Dan Coyle aka coylecondenser and Trina Weintraub. At different points in their careers, these four artists compare and contrast their journeys and experiences working glass behind the torch.  Considered a living master in the art of the paperweight, Paul Stankard's work is represented in more than 75 museums around the world. Over his 52-year artistic journey, he has received two honorary doctorate degrees, an honorary associate's degree, and many awards within the glass community, including the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian's The James Renwick Alliance and the Glass Art Society's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the UrbanGlass Award—Innovation in a Glassworking Technique.   Stankard's current exhibition From Flame to Flower: The Art of Paul J. Stankard can be seen at the Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey, now through February 4. A documentary film titled Paul J. Stankard: Flower and Flame by award-winning filmmaker Dan Collins, premiers on January 31. On March 16, the film will be shown at Salem County Community College, Carney's Point, New Jersey, at the International Flameworking Conference, presented there by Collins. Born in 1975, Carmen Lozar lives in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, where she maintains a studio and is a member of the art faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. She has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass School, Appalachian Center for Crafts, The Chrysler Museum, and the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. She has had residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass and Penland School of Craft. Although she travels abroad to teach and share her love for glass – most recently to Turkey, Italy, and New Zealand – she always returns to her Midwestern roots. Lozar is represented by the Ken Saunders Gallery in Chicago, and her work is included in the permanent collection at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin. Besides continuing her work at Illinois Wesleyan University, Lozar will be teaching workshops at UrbanGlass, June 4 – 8, 2024, and at Ox Bow School of Craft, Saugatuck, Michigan, August 4 – 10, 2024. Menacing monkeys. Peeled bananas. Bad-tempered bears. Uniquely original Munnies. Daniel S. Coyle's whimsical, toy-inspired aesthetic in concert with mind-blowing skills on the torch have earned the artist a hefty 116K following on Instagram. The artist recently celebrated 12 years of being a full-time pipe maker. Coyle's work has been displayed in galleries around the world, and has been seen in print and web publications including Vice, Huffington Post, NY Times, and in the books This Is A Pipe and his self-published Munny Project book. Now residing in Western Massachusetts, he works alongside some of the state's top pipe makers. Coyle's 2024 events include: Community Bonfire (Maine), January 27; Michigan Glass Project, June 21 – 23: two-week intensive class at Corning Studios, Corning, New York, June 24 – July 5; Parlay Philly in September TBA; and Bad Boyz Do Basel 3 (Miami), September TBA. Creating playful objects and curious scenes inspired by childhood memories and dreams, Caterina Weintraub uses glass, a fragile and heavy material, to recreate iconic toys or re-imagine personal memories that evoke a sense of sentiment, wonder and discomfort. She utilizes a variety of techniques to create sculptures and installations in her Boston-based studio, Fiamma Glass. From intricate torch work to large-scale kiln castings and hot blown pieces, she chooses the process best suited to realize her vision. In 2024, Weintraub will participate in Habatat's Glass Coast Weekend, Sarasota, Florida, February 1 – 4; Glass52, International Glass Show, Habatat Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan, May 5 – September 6; and the International Glass Show, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana, December 2 – February 18.  Enjoy this panel discussion about how these four artists crafted careers using the techniques and appeal of flameworking and where the process is headed into the next decade and beyond.     

Host Bex Scott invites the husband of a Pyrex collector, or hoarder, onto the show to tell what it's like to be the partner of a collector. To protect his identity, since his wife doesn't know he's on the podcast, he is called Rex. This is his uncensored view of Pyrex collecting from the support side.Protected by anonymity, Bex gets Rex's unguarded opinions on all things Pyrex. He shares that they recently had to move house due to his wife's collecting “vintage knickknacky whatnots and doohickeys”. He answers every question you want to be answered: what his favorite pattern is, what Pyrex dish he exploded, how often he is dragged to thrift stores, why his wife is like the United Colors of Benetton, and what his most hated pattern is. This is an amazing look behind the veil of a Pyrex home from the perspective of the non-collecting partner. Resources discussed in this episode:Corning Museum of Glass Pyrex Pattern Library—Contact Rebecca Scott | Pyrex With Bex: Website: PyrexWithBex.comInstagram: @pyrexwithbex—TranscriptBex Scott: [00:00:02] Hey everybody, it's Bex Scott and welcome to the Pyrex With Bex podcast where, you guessed it, I talk about vintage Pyrex, but also all things vintage housewares. I'll take you on my latest thrifting adventures, talk about reselling, chat with other enthusiasts about their collections, and learn about a bunch of really awesome items from the past. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you love listening to podcasts so you don't miss a beat. Bex Scott: [00:00:31] Hey, everybody, this is Bex Scott, and you're listening to the Pyrex With Bex podcast. Today's episode is one that you don't want to miss because I am interviewing the husband of a Pyrex collector, so stay tuned to learn all about his side of the Pyrex addiction. Bex Scott: [00:00:49] Hey everybody, welcome back for another episode of the Pyrex With Bex podcast. I am super excited for you guys to listen to this one today, because I have a special guest that I know you'll all love. He is the husband of a Pyrex collector or hoarder, if you will, and he's here secretly so his wife doesn't know that he's doing this podcast. So to keep his anonymity, we are going to give him an alias. And today he's going to be known as Rex. So I'd like to welcome Rex to the show today. He's going to give you a little bit of insight into his world, having a wife that is a Pyrex hoarder, a vintage lover. And I know that behind every collector and Pyrex obsessed collector and vintage lover, there is a spouse, a partner, somebody who is in the background having to put up with everything that we put them through on a daily basis. So welcome, Rex. Rex: [00:01:52] Thanks for having me. I wish you had one of those voice synthesizers that make it even better. Bex Scott: [00:01:58] Turn you into T-Pain on the Pyrex podcast. Rex: [00:02:02] That'd be sweet. Bex Scott: [00:02:03] So thanks so much for being here today, and I hope your wife isn't too mad that we're doing this if she ever finds out. But I wanted to get your take on what your life is like living with a Pyrex collector. Rex: [00:02:17] Well, simply put, we have lots and lots of stuff in the house. We have a storage room that is dedicated to all of her stuff. We have boxes full of all sorts of different Pyrex and vintage knickknacksy whatnots and doohickeys and thingamajigs. So we are, we are surrounded from every direction. Bex Scott: [00:02:46] That sounds like a dream for me. Rex: [00:02:50] I thought you might say that. Bex Scott: [00:02:53] And how would you say her collecting and hoarding has impacted your life? Rex: [00:02:59] Well, recently we had to move, recently, and I will say here as Rex that it was because we ran out of space for Pyrex and our children. But, uh, it's very interesting to say the least. And being an older guy, it's funny how some of the things that she has found or digs up out of the archives of the 10 billion boxes that we have in the house, take me back to moments in my childhood, whether it be from my grandparents or my parents when I was a kid remembering different kinds of balls and knickknacks and whatnots that we used to have around the house. Bex Scott: [00:03:41] Nice. So from the standpoint of it bringing back great memories of family and things that you've had from your childhood, it sounds like a positive thing, but maybe not on the side of running out of space in your home, having to potentially relocate because of her addiction. Rex: [00:04:01] Yeah, that part's good. I mean, we got to the point where we had a spare bedroom in the basement of our old house that had to be converted into a Pyrex knickknack warehouse. We had to put up shelving and and all sorts of tables and shipping labels and bubble wrap and those foamy popcorn thingamajigs that get everywhere. So, yeah, it was, uh, anybody who wanted to sleep over is on the couch or on the floor. Bex Scott: [00:04:35] Displaced by old bowls. Rex: [00:04:38] Yeah. How odd does that sound? Bex Scott: [00:04:41] Well, you sound like a very caring and understanding husband for building all these shelves and dedicating a whole room in your house just for her. So I think she's a pretty lucky lady. Rex: [00:04:54] The things we do for love, you know. Bex Scott: [00:04:57] And how long has your wife been collecting for? Rex: [00:05:00] I think it's about four years now. Four long years. But yeah, but four years. Bex Scott: [00:05:09] Four of the longest years of your life, would you say? Rex: [00:05:11] Most definitely. Bex Scott: [00:05:14] And when she started collecting, did you know about Pyrex and what it was, or what were your kind of initial thoughts and your headspace around Pyrex? Rex: [00:05:27] Well, my initial thoughts or concerns was that my wife had been possessed by a very old geriatric woman in that she had this massive obsession with matching bowls and relic knickknacks and stuff. Sorry. What was the other part of your question? Bex Scott: [00:05:48] And did you know what Pyrex was when she started collecting? Rex: [00:05:54] I, yeah, I knew the name. I knew it was used for like cooking and stuff because we had some clear Pyrex that we used for casseroles or whatever. So I was familiar with the name, but I had no clue that there were so many patterns and colors and shapes and all that. Like, I was flabbergasted, honestly, at how much variety there was. I don't know if it's still like that, but, uh, definitely in the old days, it was certainly a thing. Bex Scott: [00:06:28] Yeah. Pyrex has gotten, I think, a lot more boring lately with the modern types that they're making. They definitely don't make it like they used to with the nice milk glass and the different patterns and colors. It's all very... There's Disney and they've remade some of the vintage pieces into the more modern take, the glass, clear glass bottoms with the plastic lids and it's to me not as exciting, but I guess it is a way for the company to carry on and keep making money. And it has a place in some people's homes, so that's a good thing. Rex: [00:07:07] Yeah, I'm not familiar with the modern stuff. I'm only familiar with the stuff that's as old as me. Bex Scott: [00:07:12] That's good. Rex: [00:07:13] Or older. Bex Scott: [00:07:14] That's how it should be. So in your household, who does most of the cooking? Rex: [00:07:23] Uh, that's all on my shoulders. Yeah, I do all the cooking and predominantly all the baking and stuff, too, in the house. Bex Scott: [00:07:31] Very nice. You have a very lucky wife then. Rex: [00:07:33] You got that right. Bex Scott: [00:07:37] And when you cook and you bake, do you use the Pyrex that she collects? Are you allowed to use it? Rex: [00:07:44] Well, that's a, that could be a bit of a delicate subject, but short answer, yes. And you know, I'll admit that despite my smarty pants remarks about everything, I have a signature chocolate cake that I make that's gluten free and can be lactose free and, um, I always use the standard kind of tin cake pans, and they always would stick, no matter how many gallons of Pam you dump in it, it would still stick. And parchment paper just made them look weird. And, uh, she suggested trying this one pink and one weird lime looking colored round Pyrex dishes from 1876 and gave it a little spurt of Pam. And the cakes just came out perfect, and they came right off the bottom. There was like, almost no residue left. I was thoroughly, thoroughly blown away with how how well they performed. So I was a convert there for sure. In terms of casseroles and stuff, I sometimes will use them like for shepherd's pie. It works really well, especially for keeping the heat in after. The delicate subject was, she had this one bowl that she was very proud that she acquired, which was, well you people will know what it is, this Big Bertha, I'm not sure what the print was. It was yellow with some white flowery things on it or something. Anyway, I was, uh, making a roast in it, and I'd like to say for the record that I had zero direction on Pyrex. Bex Scott: [00:09:25] Sure, sure. Blame it on the wife. Rex: [00:09:27] Well, it's true story. So, um, there are no, uh, 1950s directions with this thing. So, anyway, I, uh, mistakenly had put the Pyrex dish on the stove. Bex Scott: [00:09:41] Oh, no. Rex: [00:09:42] With the roast in it that I had, uh, seared and had turned it on. And then I had a jus that I'd made that I was pouring in. And for those of you who know what you're not supposed to do, it quite literally exploded. Bex Scott: [00:10:00] Oh, no. Rex: [00:10:02] Yeah, that was one of my prouder Pyrex moments in my life. Bex Scott: [00:10:07] How long were you in the doghouse for that one? Rex: [00:10:11] Oh, I didn't hear the end of it for a good three months. Yeah. And it still was brought up to this day. So it's going to be one of those things that's kind of like, uh, a cold sore. You just, you never get rid of it. Bex Scott: [00:10:22] And did you finally replace the Bertha for her? Rex: [00:10:26] Uh, well she did. I'm hopeless at finding this stuff, but she managed to find a replacement and then forbade me from touching it ever again. Bex Scott: [00:10:34] That's a pretty scary story. And hopefully you have proof of this to show people down the road. Rex: [00:10:41] Well, I did take a picture of the aftermath, but I was trying to be all, you know, uh, Gordon Ramsay style and show off my cooking abilities. So I'm sad to say, for my own sake, that I actually videotaped the, uh, the event as I was pouring in the jus you can see the whole thing just explode. Bex Scott: [00:11:03] That's amazing. I think you're gonna have to share that video with me. Rex: [00:11:08] For the right price. Sure. Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:11:12] Oh, your poor wife. It's hard to find those Berthas. They're expensive, and they don't come around very often. Rex: [00:11:20] Yeah, there's one less Bertha in the world now. Bex Scott: [00:11:23] That's okay. You make up for it by doing all the cooking for her. So you're redeemed. Rex: [00:11:28] Perfect. Can you let her know? That'd be great. Bex Scott: [00:11:30] I'll try. I'll put a memo in. And does your wife collect one particular color or pattern, or does she tend to hoard them all, like some of us do? Rex: [00:11:43] We should really refer to her as the United Colors of Benetton. She doesn't discriminate. She loves all patterns and shapes and bowls equally, as can be witnessed by the copious boxes we have on the shelves in the basement. Bex Scott: [00:12:00] Very nice. That sounds like a great collector. A little bit of everything. Rex: [00:12:06] Uh, sure. Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:12:08] You're not convinced, though? Rex: [00:12:11] I plead the fifth. Bex Scott: [00:12:13] And of all of the patterns that she has, do you have a favorite pattern? Rex: [00:12:19] Yeah. Once I started to warm up to the whole thing, I started to turn, I too became, you know, I was, what's the word? Bex Scott: [00:12:30] You saw the light? Rex: [00:12:32] Possessed. No, no, no, it's like the demon possessing me. Pyrex demon. And she has a lot of the Homestead it's called, pattern in the blue. I like the look of it. It was cool. And when I saw it all together, like, laid out, I was kind of impressed with all the different sizes and shapes. And I ended up gravitating to using them for serving because it, yeah, you know what? It makes the table look nice instead of the way I used to do it, which is just like, you know, dinner plates with different piles of food on it. Um, presentation wise, it was great. So that when we had, like, our parents over or whatever, then it just made for a nice spread. So that was a pattern that I originally liked. But then, and I will admit this, I am very fond of the black snowflake pattern. I really, really, really like that. Bex Scott: [00:13:28] So that is a great one. Rex: [00:13:29] That has given her all the green light that she wanted in her life to go out and go forth and seek out and find all the black snowflake. And we have a fairly good, we're only missing, I think, a couple of the entire collection and have some doubles, but they are, they look really nice and uh, of course function great. So that's my favorite. There's a few others that are cool, like the one-offs that have the gold foil. Those look pretty neat. But the black snowflake is kind of my favorite serving dish that I like to use. Bex Scott: [00:14:01] So I have to agree with you that the black snowflake is an awesome pattern. But have you seen the English Pyrex? The JAJ Pyrex version? That's the white with the black snowflake. Rex: [00:14:15] Yes. As part of my, uh, Pyrex indoctrination by my wife, I have learned about there being an alternate Pyrex universe across the pond, and, uh, she showed me how they have a snowflake one, but it's sort of like the inverse, I guess, of what is here. One of my grievances that I can't voice because they stopped making them back before I was born, was that they didn't seem to have a butter dish or a gravy boat that matched the black snowflake that we have now, to kind of compliment like a turkey dinner or whatever. And, um, yeah, she showed me that there's these butter dishes and gravy boats over in the UK that are the sort of inverted snowflake version of what we have, which I would really love to get. They look super nice, even though they are kind of the flip side color pattern. It's crazy though, like you can get the dish for 10 or 15 bucks, but then it's like $30 shipping or something ridiculous or, so I mean, as much as I'd like to have those, it seems a bit excessive to pay that much money, so hold out for when we have a friend going back to England or something. See if they can't fill a suitcase full of-- Bex Scott: [00:15:36] -- that would be great-- Rex: [00:15:37] -- Pyrex to bring back. Bex Scott: [00:15:38] Yeah, yeah. It's funny how there's the JAJ in the UK and then they have Aggie Pyrex as well, which I believe is from Australia, and they're beautiful dishes. And like you said, there's a whole other universe of these dishes out there, but it is quite expensive with shipping and you don't find them here as often as you would just because they're made over there. And we have the US and the Canadian Pyrex here. So it's always fun to look online and see what you could purchase from Etsy or Poshmark or eBay, but that shipping really kills you. So not as fun on that side of things. So you've talked about Homestead, the black snowflake, is there a pattern that you really dislike that your wife has either bought, brought home, and forced you to look at or you just know exists? And you, she may not have any of it, but you just really despise. Rex: [00:16:41] Well, we do have the, uh, Space Traveler's Guide to Pyrex book that she that bought shows all the different patterns and whatnot, which again blew my mind as to how many different things have been produced. But of all the ones I - and if anybody takes offense to this, I'm sorry, but you know, with therapy and counseling, you'll get past it - the Verdey or Verde, that green one with the weird sort of like round, smudgy fingerprint flower thingies on the lid, like... Bex Scott: [00:17:12] That's a beautiful description. Rex: [00:17:15] It's just so ugly. I just, it's a color I just can't get past. And she has a bunch of it, which, you know, it'd be a shame, but, you know, a box may fall on the concrete floor one day. Bex Scott: [00:17:28] Uh oh. The Pyrex graveyard with the Bertha that you destroyed. Rex: [00:17:33] Yeah. But, you know, in fairness, she's broken her fair share of dishes, too. So. And not from cooking, just from, you know, hacky sack, the bowl, or butterfingers or... Bex Scott: [00:17:46] I can understand that. I've broken a ton of them myself. So the graveyard is getting bigger and bigger every day. Rex: [00:17:54] Well, if you could, uh, you know, impart some skills and ideas on how she could improve our graveyard here, that'd be amazing, because then we'd have so much more space. Bex Scott: [00:18:04] Well, there are people who make jewelry out of the broken Pyrex so you could scoop up-- Rex: [00:18:09] So I'll grab my sledgehammer and just give her. Bex Scott: [00:18:13] Yeah and then send it away and have some jewelry made for her. There, I have solved all of the problems. Rex: [00:18:18] I'm sure she would just be so happy with that. Bex Scott: [00:18:21] I bet she would. So is it just Pyrex that your wife collects and hoards, or is it various other vintage items as well? Rex: [00:18:31] Well, in staying true to the theme of Benetton, she doesn't discriminate with just only collecting Pyrex. She collects anything and everything that's old and dusty and musty and is, in quotes, vintage. So we have, oh my gosh, we have glasses and mugs and shirts and magazine holders and ashtrays. What else? There's just Christmas lights, old Christmas lights, old Christmas ornaments, you name it. We're, yeah, we're like a vintage thrift store. Bex Scott: [00:19:10] That sounds amazing. Rex: [00:19:12] I figured you might say that. Bex Scott: [00:19:13] And is this all in your basement, or is it kind of decorating your house, or do you live in a very vintage-y, musty, dusty house as you describe these items? Rex: [00:19:29] Well, most of it is contained within the room, but it does seem to find ways to sneak out at night and place itself on various countertops, couches, floors. Yeah. Railings? Yeah. Bex Scott: [00:19:46] Like vintage booby traps? Rex: [00:19:49] Exactly. It's like, you know, like the movie Gremlins. Like, they just seem to multiply and they're everywhere. That's dating myself. But yes, if anybody's familiar with the movie Gremlins, that's what it's like. Somebody spilling water and there's little vintage gremlins everywhere. Bex Scott: [00:20:04] And does she keep all of the vintage items or is she a reseller? Rex: [00:20:10] She is a reseller. She needed a bit of a push to get going on the reselling because she was just more focused on the hoarding part. And then when the kids were having to sleep with Pyrex bowls and vintage shirts, we realized that, you know, she needs to start, uh, parting ways with some things. So. So she's gone into, um, listing the bowls and other vintage knickknacks that she doesn't like as much as her coveted - what the heck is it called? The pink and the turquoise Pyrex? Like, that's her, those are her babies as well as the, uh, primary color ones. But other ones she, like I can tell you one thing. Those Verde ones are not moving fast enough, but, she-- Rex: [00:21:05] They're haunting you. Bex Scott: [00:21:05] -- no she does sell it. They do. I have, I'm in therapy right now for it because I've had to talk about it. So now when she goes, finds things, it's not necessarily stuff that she wants, which is what she used to do. It's more kind of like things that she thinks other people might appreciate. Bex Scott: [00:21:24] That sounds like the right way to do it for reselling. It's tricky when you tend to buy things that only you like, and then you try to move them, and nobody wants to buy them because it's your taste instead of kind of predicting what the market out there wants. So that's a very savvy way of reselling. And how did she find all of her items? Rex: [00:21:49] For the most part she frequents the, you know, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Vallue Village up here in Canada for anybody's from the States, just another sort of, uh, thrift store. There are sometimes these one-off ones that she comes across in different towns and cities that she'll go in and see, but that's probably the main way. She's, uh, also got big into watching estate sales and, uh, online auctions because it seems that there's a lot of old stuff that gets sold in those things, just mostly because there's only a a small group of you crazy folk who want that stuff. So a lot of people, that's why I find it kind of surprising, honestly, like she found a snowflake dish, black snowflake dish the other day. Like, was it a couple of weeks ago, maybe, in one of the stores and I was blown away that she found it, because I just find it surprising that - maybe it's just because it's the pattern I like - but that people would just donate it and not even look to see if it's worth anything. But I guess if you're, you know, sadly, clearing out a loved one, like grandparent's, house or something you don't want to be belaboring your grief by going through all their stuff like that. But anyway, so it's nice that people will donate that stuff so that other people can enjoy it. Bex Scott: [00:23:15] Yeah. The estate sales are, they're definitely fun. It is sad to think that somebody may have passed and these are their belongings that are being sold. But the way I see it is I'm collecting them to kind of help keep that memory going. And all the Pyrex dishes that I keep, I love each of them, and... It really does sound like they're my children. Jeeze, maybe I am a crazy person. On that note... Rex: [00:23:48] I'll plead the fifth again. Bex Scott: [00:23:52] Has she ever taken you to the thrift stores when she's gone? Rex: [00:23:57] Oh, my God, all the time. Yeah. No, it's, uh, it's become a mainstay of our routine. Buy food for the family, go to the thrift store, get gas for the car, go to the thrift store. Go to the thrift store. Go to the thrift store. Take the kids to swimming, go to the thrift store. Yeah. So we, uh, go frequently, but it's, you know, I've been somewhat infected by it. It is pretty fun. Uh, sometimes, like I will, you know, with shame admit there is one time we were at, I'm really quite enamored with the carnival glass stuff that looks, I like the look of it, it's really quite cool. Bex Scott: [00:24:38] Yeah. It's pretty. Rex: [00:24:38] And we were at a Vallue Village one day, and I was looking down the aisles and I got all giddy like a school girl when I found this gigantic carnival glass punchbowl with 14 carnival glass, like it was all intact except for the spoon, I guess. The serving spoon or ladle. It was beautiful. And, uh, I was quite excited about that. So I showed it to her, and I think she was quite happy that I was all excited about it. Bex Scott: [00:25:12] That's a great score. Rex: [00:25:13] It was a smoking good deal. It was, I think it was like $14 or something or $12 for this entire thing. So. Bex Scott: [00:25:21] That's awesome. Rex: [00:25:22] I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but, uh, maybe this coming summer, next summer we'll bust it out. Bex Scott: [00:25:28] Very cool. And has there been anything weird or strange that you've come across? What's your best Value Village or thrift store experience? Rex: [00:25:42] Oh my gosh, there's so many. There is so much weird stuff there that I'm surprised that they can even sell it. More to do with clothing, but, uh, I don't know. Sometimes you see stuff in there that you're questioning why they're even trying to sell it, because the condition of it is just so bad. Like there's those cornflower metal, I don't know what those are called, those big metal cooking like, I guess, a crock pot in a way, maybe? Bex Scott: [00:26:14] Oh, yeah. Like the roasting pans? Rex: [00:26:16] There was one, yeah, exactly. And there was one that I saw and it was just chipped to death like it'd be horrible to cook with. And I was a bit surprised to see something in that poor condition on the shelf. Especially, it was quite expensive too, it wasn't all that cheap. It was like 25 or $30. And I was just kind of like, that seems like a lot of money for something that's so used and abused. One thing I've found in all the multitude of stores that we've been to, there are definitely some that just, you know, they put a price tag on it and they just sell it for whatever seems reasonable to them. And there's others that seem to be more savvy with the value of the Pyrex world or the cornflower world or all this vintage stuff. And I've learned through my wife, like some of these prices are, they're just kind of ridiculous, especially from a resale standpoint. But even from a non-resale standpoint, like they're just, some places are just kind of a little out to lunch or maybe, I don't want to, I feel bad calling a thrift store greedy, but for the sake that they're doing stuff for good, but it's like if you really want to move the items, you have to be, you know, somewhat reasonable with your pricing. So it's just been funny to kind of see the disparity between different locations because obviously some people that work there are dialed in and others aren't. And so yeah. Bex Scott: [00:27:44] Yeah, and I think a lot of them have gotten savvy to people coming in that are collectors and resellers, and they Google the items that people have donated to find out the prices and they jack them up. Even when I've gone, I've found certain shelves that you can tell the staff have been hiding items on behind things. So I've found PlayStation games and Pyrex dishes in totally the wrong aisle. But it's likely because somebody works there that knows somebody who would want it and they hide it for them. So I've gone back 3 or 4 nights in a row, and it's always in that one spot that they're hiding something, and the price is really low so that this person gets a good deal. So it works out well for me. But there's definitely some shady stuff that goes on. Rex: [00:28:35] Yeah, it's good when you've cracked the code, hey? Bex Scott: [00:28:38] Well, so in closing, Rex, what would you say? As words of encouragement for anyone living with a Pyrex hoarder that may have a partner that's one, a friend, a family member, that they have to endure on a daily basis. Rex: [00:28:56] Well. Be strong, for one. You have to be understanding and considerate. But, you know, let's be honest here, this is a golden key for you to do your own thing and have your own obsession or your own thing, and they can't say anything about it. So in my case, I have a big car hobby fetish and yeah, so it's like a get out of jail free card. I can do it all I want. And she doesn't have any recourse because of, well, look at our storage room. So my words of encouragement are if you are wanting to have some sort of a vice or hobby or addiction of your own, and you have a Pyrex hoarder in your life, now is the time. Bex Scott: [00:29:48] That is spoken like a true survivor of a Pyrex hoarder. Bex Scott: [00:29:57] Well, thank you so much, Rex, for being on my podcast. I'm sure it was very enlightening for my listeners and myself even, to hear about the other side of the Pyrex collector world. Rex: [00:30:10] Well, my darling wife, it was my absolute pleasure and pure joy to be on your show today, to share my side of my life with you. And it's amazing and interesting and definitely never dull. So. But I have to go, dinner's almost ready, so don't be late. Love you. Bex Scott: [00:30:29] Well, thank you for supporting me through my addiction. And I'll help you through your car addiction as well. And I will see you in the kitchen. Love you. 

Master Glass Painter at Judson Studios in Los Angeles, California, Indre Bileris earned a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design and became involved in stained glass conservation during that same time at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity's conservation program. Having been a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters from 2007 to 2012, the artist arrived at the Judson Studios with an extensive body of design and painting work for liturgical, educational, and residential installations. Her hand can be seen in much of the painted work that comes out of the studio today. As a replication painter since 1996, Bileris has learned her craft from masters no longer bound by earthly constraints. Their work remains, part legacy, part teacher, and in learning how to recreate their style and imagery she is now able to incorporate elements of each master into her own artwork. The artist has created new work and done replication painting in equal portions, with a side of autonomous work made for art shows and donations to the American Glass Guild (AGG) auction. With a Masters in education, for a time she countered her solitary life as a glass painter by working with young children as an art teacher. Bileris began her training as a stained glass replication painter while still attending and completing undergraduate work at Parsons School of Design. As a funded Kress Fellow and conservation apprentice at St. Ann's for Restoration and the Arts, Inc. in Brooklyn Heights, New York, she recreated numerous damaged or destroyed painted works. Following her apprenticeship she did internships at Canterbury Cathedral Stained Glass Studio, England, and the Cologne, Germany Cathedral Studio. Early in her career Bileris was employed by Jack Cushen Studio Restoration, East Marion, New York, to replicate the painting and staining of The Four Winds stained glass window for the Stanford White Cottage, Tick Hall, Montauk, New York. Some of her other freelance projects for Cushen include painting and staining work for the Church of the Ascension, Fifth Ave, New York, and painting two figures in a Tiffany Studios window (circa 1900), which was in the possession of a private collector.  “As a replicator, it's not about you, but the people who came before. It's detective work. You have to figure out what the artist did. It's never gotten any easier. Now that I know more I realize how challenging it is to do. Part of what I love about stained glass is that it's handed off from generation to generation. Replication allows you to be trained by artists who are no longer with us.” Her career as a replication painter has allowed Bileris to work on prestigious commissions with many of the best stained glass studios in the country. She co-designed and created watercolor sketches and cartoons for Venturella Studio, Union Square, New York, for the studio's 68 square feet of designed and fabricated stained glass for The Ivy Club, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. These windows commemorate the inclusion of women into the club through the imagery of migrating butterflies and ivy. Another project for Venturella Studio involved designing and painting windows for a synagogue in Maple Glenn, Pennsylvania, home to 70 windows created by Benoît Gilsoul.  Like many glass painters, Bileris' process begins with a trace and matte. She started out working with gum and water for tracing, but eventually switched to clove oil because it's much more forgiving and flexible. In 2013, Bileris  was awarded an AGG scholarship to study glass painting with Jonathan Cooke at Wheaton Village, Milleville, New Jersey. Cooke served a traditional apprenticeship at York Minster and started his own business in 1987. His book Time and Temperature was published early in 2013. Bileris' projects have included residential commissions, such as her work for a private wine cellar on Oyster Bay, Long Island. This commission included four windows: a plated window that mimics tile patterns and displays an iron work pattern on a separate piece of plated glass; a pair of sandblasted, painted, and stained glass windows that feature animals drinking wine; and a tessellating pattern window also featuring wildlife. “Those windows feel very much like me,” she states. As a submission for the Corning Museum of Glass' New Glass Review, Bileris created her autonomous work The Show as well as a nursery window based on her love of English illustration. Fabricated at Venturella Studios, The Show was included in AGG's 2011 members' exhibition.  “It's challenging to find an in-road to doing painted windows as personal artistic expression. Stained glass is not considered art because there are a lot of works out there taken directly from pattern books. The ecclesiastic tie reminds many people of houses of worship rather than galleries. And stained glass is dependent on light and environment and somehow is too crafty or pretty or religious. But it fits me. I want to keep growing and see if I can really become an artist in this medium, to be brave enough to go beyond being an able illustrator on glass. Georgia O'Keeffe said: ‘Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.'”  At the end of 2015, Bileris left New York and took a position as lead painter at Judson Studios in LA. Though she has never prioritized showing gallery work, thanks to Judson Studios the artist exhibited in a group LA Art show, and a small work was included in the 2023 show through the SGAA. She is starting work for a group show at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, this upcoming year and may be working with Narcissus Quagliata on his online class in 2024. Earlier this year, Bileris taught a two-week course at the Vilnius Academy of Art In Lithuania, which was a dream come true as she is the child of Lithuanian immigrants. “I was born in the US but spoke Lithuanian as my first language, so that chance basically pulled together everything I care about.”  

Following her father's passing 10 years ago, Deanna Clayton's artwork took an unexpected turn when she found herself modeling clay into a figurative vessel rather than a decorative one. The translation of the clay form into glass symbolized glass' inherent life-affirming qualities. Soft, flowing edges at the bases of these sculptures add to the sense of impermanence; electroplated copper helps to ground the figures, enhancing their presence. Clayton states: “The inspiration for this new body of work is a true love of the life inherent in glass itself. To create a face in glass is a self-evident evocation of the material's life quality. Creating abstracted forms in glass that become believable as life is what is truly inspiring. This is what continues my quest to experiment and explore glass and its capabilities as an art form.” Clayton started working with glass 35 years ago as a student in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She began as most glass artists do, by being introduced to a blow pipe and a furnace of molten glass. Her work prior to finding glass was primarily drawing and printmaking, with an emphasis on representing the human form. She earned her associates in fine arts degree at Bucks County Community College. Wanting to continue her education in glass, Clayton chose Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where the program taught by Henry Halem had produced some of the most successful glass artists working at the time. After two years, she moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where she graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor of fine arts degree in art history in 2002. While attending the University of Illinois, Clayton started her own glass studio with her husband, Keith Clayton. After 10 years in Illinois, in 1995 the couple discovered beautiful Door County, Wisconsin, where they moved with their three children. The studio was known for its pate de verre technique and electroplated copper vessels – a successful source of inspiration to her for over 20 years. Today, D.C. Studios LLC is designed to educate others in the ancient and rewarding process of pate de verre. Clayton has taught classes at the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; The Cleveland Institute of Art; and Duncan McClellan Glass Project, St. Petersburg, Florida. Her work can be seen in public and private collections around the world. This year's exhibitions included a solo exhibition, Surging Forward, at Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, Florida; Glass Coast Weekend, Habatat Fine Art, Sarasota, Florida; and Art Palm Beach, Mattsen Fine Art, Palm Beach, Florida. Artist awards include the 2019 Collectors Choice, 47th Annual International Glass Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan; SAC Award, Professional Dimensions Group, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Most Unique Interpretation of a Vessel, Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, Florida. Says Clayton: “I love the versatility and freshness of glass as an artistic medium. The potential for expression in contemporary glass is limitless.”  

Some might say that Daniel Clayman is more a sculptor using glass as his primary material than a glass artist. That is to say his sculptures would be successful from a formal point of view no matter what material they were created in. With one major exception: the play of light in Clayman's glass art enhances the objects dramatically in comparison with how they might appear in a solid, non-translucent medium. Born in 1957 in Lynn, Massachusetts, Clayman planned a career as a theater lighting designer, studying in the theater and dance departments at Connecticut College, eventually dropping out of college to work in the professional theater, dance and opera world. A chance class in 1980 introduced the artist to using glass as a sculptural material. In 1986, he received his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and has maintained a studio in East Providence, Rhode Island since then. ​Clayman's interests in engineering, the behavior of light, and the memory of experience, act as an impetus for much of his work. Having turned his attention to large-scale installations, he employs technology from the simplest hand tool to the latest three-dimensional modeling and production tools. Recent public projects include Rainfield, Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Media Center Atrium, exhibition dates: January 23, 2017 – January 23, 2018; and Radiant Landscape, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, exhibition dates: May 7, 2017 – February 28, 2018. Clayman is the recipient of several grants and awards and has had numerous one-person shows throughout the country to include the Tacoma Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. Works in glass sculpture by the artist can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Art in San Francisco, The Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  An artist/educator, Clayman has taught in Japan, Israel and Australia in addition to a robust teaching schedule here in the U.S. He has been a Visiting Critic at the Rhode Island School of Design and Artist in Residence at Tyler School of Art and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He lectures frequently and teaches workshops at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, among others. In 2018, Clayman became the first endowed chair of glass at University of the Arts, Philadelphia.  Clayman states: “While I moved away from a professional career pursuit in lighting design, I have never turned away from my observations of light. Using glass as my primary sculptural material, I have spent the last 20 years developing a vocabulary of forms which describe volumes of light. Over the past four years, my studio work has centered around the creation of large-scale glass castings that thematically reference the capturing of light. One of the many mysteries of light is that it refuses to reveal any of its essence until it happens to reflect on something other than itself. For instance, the headlight of a car projects (reflects) light onto objects as the viewer approaches, but not until there is a foggy mist in the air does one see the shape and arc of the beam.”  

Bex Scott is ready for Christmas and talks about her favorite Christmas traditions, collecting vintage decorations, and the beautiful vintage Pyrex Christmas pieces she loves and is searching for. Bex shares cute throwback ad copy - with mind-blowing vintage pricing - and investigates rare Corning employee gift holiday designs worth seeking. Some of Bex's Christmas memories were made by watching her mom decorate their tree with vintage decorations passed down from her mother and grandmother. Holiday music and decor started in November when she was little, and it's something she still enjoys. Now, though, Bex has the added pleasure of adding to her own vintage and Pyrex holiday piece collection. She describes the excitement of finding a Red 024 Holiday Casserole from 1960 in the wild and how she immediately snapped it up. Pyrex didn't make a lot of holiday pieces but the ones they did make are rare, charming, and unique. Fellow enthusiasts and collectors will love exploring the festive vintage designs with Bex in this holiday episode.Resources discussed in this episode:Holt HowardWhatnotCorning Glass Works ad, Saturday Evening Post, December 9, 1939Pyrex Holiday Casserole, Red 024, 1960Pyrex Golden Poinsettias, Deluxe Buffet Server, 1961Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Bowl, Corning employee holiday gift, 1971  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Mug, 1410, Charleroi plant holiday gift, late 1960sMerry Christmas Luncheon Plate, 1965Rum Pa Pum Pum Bowl, late 1960s“Chronicles: A Very Merry Pyrex Holiday” by Emily Davis, Corning Museum of Glass, Pyrex Potluck—Contact Rebecca Scott | Pyrex With Bex: Website: PyrexWithBex.comInstagram: @pyrexwithbex—TranscriptBex Scott: [00:00:02] Hey everybody, it's Bex Scott and welcome to the Pyrex with Bex podcast where, you guessed it, I talk about vintage Pyrex, but also all things vintage housewares. I'll take you on my latest thrifting adventures, talk about reselling, chat with other enthusiasts about their collections, and learn about a bunch of really awesome items from the past. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you love listening to podcasts so you don't miss a beat. Bex Scott: [00:00:30] Hey everybody, this is Bex Scott and you're listening to the Pyrex with Bex podcast. On today's episode, I'll be chatting all about Christmas. That includes Christmas themed Pyrex, some of the traditions that I had with my family as a kid, and just everything that I love about the season. So growing up, my family, especially my mom, really loved Christmas, and November would roll around and Christmas carols would be playing. She would start decorating right after Halloween ended, and I remember growing up, I wasn't super excited about having Christmas carols playing that early, but now I absolutely love it. And I've become a little bit like that where Christmas starts early in our house, for me at least, where I'm humming Christmas songs, I'm starting to play them on the radio, and I'm thinking about decorating the house. And this year especially, I've gotten really into vintage Christmas. And growing up I remember my mom had all of her granny's and her mom's Christmas decorations on our tree. They were super delicate little vintage Christmas balls and lights, and they were some of the most beautiful ornaments that we had and my mom still has. Bex Scott: [00:01:50] So every year when we go over to their house to decorate their big tree, I see the little vintage ones and pull them out and of course, there's still some that my brother and I have made over the years. There's some with sprinkles, some with markers, and they're definitely not the highest quality decorations, but they still have a place on that tree, which is really amazing. So I've kicked off Christmas this year with a ton of vintage Christmas shopping, and I should probably cut myself off at some point. But I was looking on Facebook Marketplace and there was a lady selling her full mid-century Christmas decoration collection. She was selling just the regular part of her collection as well, which included a ton of Holt Howard and Lefton and everything. Unfortunately, I didn't buy that portion of it, but I did buy the Christmas side, which I'm still unboxing. And the reason I've gotten so big into buying the Christmas this year is because I have a huge Christmas sale coming up. I've recently started selling on Whatnot. If you haven't heard of Whatnot, you should check it out, but beware, it is super dangerous because it's very easy to shop on there. So essentially, Whatnot is a platform where you can download it on your phone or on your desktop, and sellers go on there live and it's a live auction and a live sale. Bex Scott: [00:03:23] So you're talking to the buyers and chatting and they're writing comments and purchasing from you while you're showing all the items that you have. So I have this big Christmas sale coming up, and it's going to include a ton of the little vintage flocked deer and Santas and elves, as well as ceramics. And I'm going to even be selling a ceramic Christmas tree. So that's one of the things I promised I would do. We were going through all of our boxes in the basement and cleaning up a bit, and my husband said, Hey, I noticed you have three of these ceramic trees. I said, Yes, yes I do. There was an awkward pause and I said, okay, I guess I have three. I'll get rid of one of them, but I'm keeping these two for sure. So that one's coming up in my sale next week. So aside from all of the amazing mid-century vintage Christmas pieces I managed to pick up, finding vintage Christmas Pyrex is always one of my goals. There are so many amazing pieces, and at least where I am in Canada, in the wild they don't ever show up, very rarely, if you do find something, you're super lucky. So I've been looking online, trying not to spend an arm and a leg on these items. And I think I mentioned in a previous episode of my podcast that I do have one of the Christmas mugs, but I thought it would be really fun in this episode to go over some of my very favorite Christmas Pyrex pieces, and then some of my favorite Corning employee Christmas pieces. Because I have to say, Corning treated their employees right with those gifts. I wish I could go back and work for them just to get the amazing Pyrex that they gave at Christmas time. Bex Scott: [00:05:13] So I thought I would start off with a pretty cool ad that I found when I was looking into Pyrex, Christmas, and Corning. So this ad was in the Saturday Evening Post and I believe it is from December 9th, 1939. So this is before there was the nice colorful Pyrex. This was the clear Pyrex that you got the ovenware for baking and cooking. So it says, 'See these Merry Pyrexmas bargains at your favorite store'. There's a little Santa, and he's pointing out all the black and white photos, and he's saying 'Pyrex ovenware prices reduced 30% to 50% in the last two years'. And on the right, there's a housewife holding her casserole wrapped with a red ribbon, and it says, 'Here's a gift that gives double, and it's catching on fast. Rich, wholesome fruit cake baked in a Pyrex casserole offered by leading bakers. Look for it in your favorite store or bake shop, or use that pet recipe of your own'. And then they go into all of the different items of Pyrex that you can buy for Christmas. Bex Scott: [00:06:27] So number one, 'Mother will be upset if she doesn't get this cup set. Six Pyrex utility cups for custard, storage, or tidbits. Only $0.39'. And these are the little V shaped custard cups, the glass ones that you can get that stack really nicely on top of each other. Next, 'Let them eat cake, breads and meats look tasty too in this gleaming Pyrex loaf pan. Now only $0.45. Pyrextra'. Pyrextra. It actually says 'Pyrextra special for modern cooks, this round casserole is a honey. Knob cover keeps food hot on table. Quart sized $0.50'. 'Flakier pie crust all year round with this Pyrexmas pie plate bargain. Only $0.20'. Imagine a pie plate for $0.20. 'Cooks as good as it looks. Oblong utility dish for cornbread, desserts, cake, meats, baked stores serves. Now only $0.50'. 'A 2 in 1 pyrexmas surprise. Round casserole does double duty with pie plate cover. Three quart size $0.95, two quart, $0.75'. That's a pretty good deal. 'Give her this round cake dish with handles. She'll give you cake, gingerbread, Brown Betty cobblers. You can't lose. Only $0.35'. 'Deep dish meat and chicken pies taste yummy in these individual Pyrex baking dishes and apple pie. Wow. Eight ounces now $0.10'. Any woman'd get excited over this deep oval casserole. Knob cover. At new low price. Popular quart size now only $0.50' and they spelt woman would as w o m a n apostrophe d. 'It's not only a gift, it's a give away. Nine pieces of sparkling Pyrex ware. Six gleaming custard cups in a handy wire rack. An eight ounce measuring cup and a 9.5in pie plate. The whole combination can be yours for only $0.89'. Bex Scott: [00:08:34] Oh, no. Okay, this one's going to kill you guys. 'She'll go into Pyrextacies over this beautiful set. Ten pieces, including bread or loaf pan, casserole with knob cover, utility dish, pie plate, and six gleaming Pyrex custard cups. Now only $2.15'. Pyrextacies. Remember that one, guys. Oh, this one's handsome. 'A handsome 15 piece set, six custard cups, nine and a half and ten and a half pie plates, six cup flameware teapot, two piece casserole, utility dish, eight ounce measuring cup, loaf pan and one quart open baker, only $4.75'. And then on the bottom left it says 'There are few gifts that go to a woman's heart like gleaming Pyrex ware. And this year, you can make your gift all the more exciting because in many cases, a dollar will buy twice as much of this modern cooking, storing, and serving ware as it would have a couple of Christmases ago. Buy Pyrex ware singly or in sets. And remember, sets are attractively gift boxed at no extra cost. Look for the trademark Pyrex stamped on every dish and the famous replacement offer'. And then on the right it says 'It's different. Pyrex flameware. Three new designs, flameware saucepans, glass handles detach for serving, storing, lock on covers only $1.65'. 'Flameware seven inch one pint frying pan for use directly over open flame, complete with detachable chrome handle, $0.90'. 'Grand for cream sauce and icings, one and a half court flameware double boiler $3.95'. A Christmas morning eyeful, 2 new flameware percolators, stainless glass pumps. Nine cup size. $2.45'. And last but not least, we have 'New low price, sturdy Pyrex all glass tea kettle. Smart for table use. Full year replacement offers two and a half quart size. Was $3.25, now only $2.95'. And one of the last pieces of Pyrex that I actually bought was this sturdy Pyrex all glass tea kettle. I definitely did not pay $2.95, but it's very interesting to see. It's quite a wide tea kettle, and it has a little lid that I'm looking for on the top. So very interesting ad to find. Bex Scott: [00:11:02] Next we have a more modern ad, and this was when all of the beautiful colored milk glass came into play. So this next ad is from an unknown periodical in 1955, and it says 'Solve your gift problems right here with beautiful, durable Pyrex ware'. And it has four different sections. We have gifts under $2, gifts under $3, gifts under $4, and gifts under $10. And the gifts under $2, we have the Pyrex oven roaster. 'The Pyrex round baking and serving dish comes in desert dawn yellow or desert dawn pink. The Pyrex covered bowl casserole lets food brown more evenly in desert dawn yellow or pink as well'. Gifts under $3. 'The Pyrex colorware bowl set has lots of different uses for baking, serving, storing, and mixing. Bowls nest to save space. Complete set of four only $2.95'. And that's the primary set they're talking about. Gifts under $4. We have the Pyrex Colorware oven and refrigerator set. That's the primary fridge set. 'For baking, serving, storing. Yellow dish holds one and a half quarts. Blue dish one and a half pints. Red dishes one and a half cups. Get the complete set of four for only $3.25'. Then they also have the percolator and the double boiler and the flameware for under $4. And then the gifts under $10, this is the Pyrex dinnerware sets. And I love these. It says, 'They're beautiful enough for entertaining, yet durable enough for everyday family use'. And they have a blue, pink, green and red. Bex Scott: [00:12:54] And one last ad that I really liked. This one says, 'Just in time for Christmas giving. New Pyrex ware decorator casseroles. Any woman who cooks will be delighted with these beautiful and practical decorator casseroles. Their famous Pyrex ware in new oval shape, and the cover becomes an extra baking and serving dish on hot pad. Choose from four smart designs and color combinations, each packed in attractive gift carton. 48 ounce size $4.50'. And this is talking about the turquoise snowflake on white, the white snowflake on turquoise, the white snowflake on charcoal, and the white daisy on pink. And then on the right they have a new Pyrex instant coffee maker and warmer. And I actually just came across tonight the warmer. I purchased it from someone and it's pretty cool. I'm excited to use it because I do have the carafe as well. And the one in this ad is the starburst carafe, which is beautiful. Bex Scott: [00:13:58] So I know that Pyrex didn't make a ton of Christmas dishes, but the ones that they did make, I think they did an amazing job on. And there are three that are my absolute favorites. And the first one is the holiday casserole. So this one was made in 1960 to 1961. It's an 024. It's a two quart round casserole with a clear single knob lid. And it came with a brass cradle with two large plastic handles. And it's a wreath design on it with little pine cones. And I found this one in an antique store in British Columbia two summers ago for about $20. And I remember walking into the store, looking around, not expecting to find any Pyrex, and I came across this display and saw this red bowl, this red casserole, and I grabbed it, and I ran to the till as fast as I could, and I wasn't paying any attention, I probably ran down a few people during this whole process, but I was so excited to find a piece of Christmas Pyrex in the wild that it was going to be mine no matter what. Bex Scott: [00:15:11] So next we have the Golden Leaf casserole with cradle, and I don't have this one yet. It's a 404 mixing bowl with a clear single knob lid, and this one came with a brass cradle with flat walnut handles. And it's similar to the holiday casserole, but the pattern is more of an ivy leaf. It's gold metallic, so it's a really beautiful bowl. Next up I have the deluxe buffet server with candle warmer, and this one is the Golden Poinsettia. And I remember I bought this one off of Poshmark about three years ago. It was posted as a beautiful dish with no condition issues at all, and I remember opening it in the mail, getting it from Poshmark, and there was a huge scratch on the side and I was so upset. But this one, it still has a place in our house. It's displayed with our other dishes and it's so pretty. I especially like the top of the lid because it does have the golden poinsettia pattern on it. And it included a brass cradle with flat walnut handles and a dual candle warmer on the bottom. There's two sizes of matching carafes as well, an 8 cup and a 12 cup. And they both have the really pretty poinsettia design on the outside. Bex Scott: [00:16:37] So next up, I have a feeling that this one is a little bit harder to find. I've never seen it in real life. It's the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Bowl from 1971 and Corning employee holiday gift, it says, with the text Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And in Pyrex Passion, where I'm getting all my information from, my Pyrex Bible, it says other versions existed in green with orange holly and one with the design printed on opal. It was a Cinderella Bowl. The date estimated is based on 1971 Crazy Quilt promo, which includes the same background color, which I thought was pretty cool. Next up we have Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too, late 1960s. So this Christmas themed item was produced as an employee holiday gift for the Charleroi plant. A matching mug, 1410, was also created. The date estimate is based on the backstamp of matching mugs, and it's a round casserole with a clear lid that had the text Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on one side. Definitely one of my all-time must-have pieces here. I don't know how many were made, but who knows if I'll find one one day. Bex Scott: [00:17:56] Okay, so next we have more employee Christmas pieces. The first one is a Merry Christmas plate from 1965. This one I don't know how I feel about. If you guys have seen this one in the Pyrex Passion book or in real life, let me know your thoughts. So this was produced as an employee holiday gift. It's a luncheon plate and it has a flamingo pink solid border on the outside, and it has a green and red design of a snowman with a holly on the inside. And below the design is the text 1965 Merry Christmas. It's cute, it's cute. The snowman is a little interesting looking, but I'd love to see one of these in real life. Next up we have the Green Castle Christmas party bowl from 1964. For the 1964 Christmas party at the Green Castle plant, employees received a one pint bowl as a holiday gift. The maroon text reads Corning Christmas Party, Greencastle, 1964. The bowl includes eight Christmas images around the circumference. Christmas mugs with matching images exist, but were produced in the mid to late 1970s and include the microwave backstamp. Next up we have Merry Christmas mug, mid 1960s. So this was a nine ounce mug. And I love this mug because I have a Santa addiction. Anything Santa, especially vintage Santa, I need. I don't have this mug. Another one on my list. My list is pretty long. So this one was nine ounce mug with red text and graphics. The mug includes the text Merry Christmas along with an image of Santa on each side. The backstamp says Corning, along with the mold number produced as an employee holiday gift. Next up we have Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year mug from the late 1960s. This one has red text and a bluish green and red graphic. The text reads Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The mug includes green holly leaves with red berries and a red ribbon, likely produced as an employee holiday gift, and it matches the casserole that I mentioned earlier. Another late 1960s was the Rum Pum Pum Pum bowl and mug. This was produced as an employee gift as well, and they included red text and graphics of a drummer boy and a lamb. The red is the same color used on the Red Circus Child feeding set, and the backstamp reads Pyrex brand tableware. So there was a ten ounce bowl and a nine ounce mug, and they're really cute. They have a little Drummer Boy walking in a circle around the mug and the bowl. Bex Scott: [00:20:41] Now we're into the early 1970s, and this is the Merry Christmas Santa mug. And this is the mug that I was able to find in Portland, Maine. And it cost me $54 US and I'm in Canada, so increase that by however much you need to to get the actual price that I paid. It was worth it though. I have no regrets. So this mug is a nine ounce mug with all red, all green, or alternating red and green graphics. It includes the text Merry Christmas in a Christmas Tree design, along with holiday images produced as an employee gift. And I have the all red version of this one. And the last one I have is from the mid 1980s, and this one was a flared handled mug, ten ounces with red and green printing. One side includes a graphic of Santa riding a candy cane with holly leaves, while the other side says Season's Greetings, produced as an employee holiday gift. And this one is pretty cute, but you can definitely tell the style change of the mugs that were in the 60s. And then you fast forward to this one. The graphics look different and even the mug style is a little bit different, but definitely still cute and would love to add it to my collection. Bex Scott: [00:22:06] And while I was doing my research, I came across this blog post. It's from Corning Museum of Glass Pyrex Potluck, and if you haven't checked out that site, make sure you do, because there is a huge amount of information for Pyrex collectors and lovers on there that'll be a really interesting read for you. And it's from the Chronicles and it's called A Very Merry Pyrex Holiday. And it talks about how during the Christmas season, Pyrex advertising was focused on one side consumers and one side store buyers, and the marketing was totally different for them. To the store buyers, it was important for Corning Glass because these were the people who were responsible for closing the final sales with shoppers, and they offered different promotions like counter cards and display kits to make stores into what they called gift headquarters. So they periodically sent out inserts called the Pyrex Sales Maker. And it was a little publication read by store buyers such as Home Furnishings Daily. Many publications offered display setup ideas to increase sales, and I found an example of one of them online. And it's actually really cute. The illustrations are amazing. There's little drawings of Pyrex and ladies behind the the desk or the tills selling their Pyrex, and it gives ideas of how the department store should be setting up their Pyrex for people during the Christmas season to hopefully buy them. Bex Scott: [00:23:47] So, idea number one, 'Show the seven advertised items sitting on top of their gaily designed Christmas packages, set in front of a small Christmas tree. Add a theme sign reading New Pyrex Holiday House gifts'. And in this little illustration, there's a tiny little Charlie Brown-looking Christmas Tree, and they have a carafe and a bunch of casseroles on their beautiful boxes in front of this tree. Second idea, 'Set up a Christmas party table in a traffic location, and show the items featured in the Pyrex ware ad. On a tea stand, mount the Pyrex ad along with the copy line The Holiday Look for the Christmas Cook'. Idea three, 'Mount a copy of the ad on your regular Pyrex display fixture to remind shoppers that Pyrex ware is needed for holiday entertaining, and makes an ideal Christmas gift for homemakers'. Idea four, 'Promote the glamor of Pyrex for Christmas entertaining by grouping the items featured in the Christmas ad next to mannequins dressed in party frocks. Sign reads Hostess ideas for holiday entertaining, today's look for today's cook'. Idea five, 'Brew coffee or tea in your Pyrex beverage makers and serve to Christmas shoppers on Christmas shopping nights in your store. Mount copy of ad near the serving table', and there's two little Christmas decorations with a holly or a Garland and two women in cute little dresses serving coffee out of their Pyrex carafes. And the last idea, 'In outpost locations, use Pyrex casseroles and beverage makers as containers for holiday greenery. Show a mounted copy of the Christmas ad beside the arrangement'. This one I can actually see people doing in their displays of Pyrex. They have a Pyrex casserole full of greenery and then they have one on the side, it's the pink scroll, and it's full of Christmas balls, which is pretty neat. Bex Scott: [00:25:49] So these promotions all came to the stores in, it looks like a package, and there's an ad below that says 'Pyrex Ware Christmas promotion to make your store gift headquarters. Your Pyrex Ware Christmas Display kit contains these 12 counter cards', and I wish I could find these in real life because they are adorable. There's little Santas and Christmas Trees and a Santa with his sleigh, and these are all just the pop up cardboard stands or the ads that they would have in the store while you're shopping and it says will arrive before November 15th. Pyrex collectors and lovers out there, I would like to know what your number one Pyrex piece would be on your Christmas list this year. I know for me it would be the Pink Gooseberry fridge set. That's definitely on my list to complete, and I hope that you guys all find some amazing Pyrex under the tree this year. 

Since joining the New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA) as President & CEO in September of 2018, Bob has focused on NYSTIA's programming, marketing & data analytics, advocacy efforts, and destination stewardship strategies. He has enhanced member communications and collaborative initiatives, facilitated rebranding, and the restatement of vision and purpose for the organization. He worked hand-in-hand with tourism industry members across the state and leadership in Washington, DC, and Albany to coordinate response and recovery efforts during and following the pandemic. Post-pandemic initiatives include the creation of member task force teams on sustainability, workforce development, and higher education. Today, the New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA) is a nonprofit, member-driven organization at the vanguard of tourism destination stewardship and long-term strategic planning. Tourism is not a goal; it is a means to an end, states Bob. Tourism is a tool to power economic growth, job creation, small business success, community revitalization, increased local and state tax revenues, improved standard of living and quality of life, and pride of place. NYSTIAs membership includes the leadership of New York State County Tourism Promotion Agencies (TPAs), major urban and remote/rural Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), key executives from major attractions (e.g., LEGOLAND NY), museums (e.g., Baseball Hall of Fame, Corning Museum of Glass, Strong Museum of Play), resort hotels and major marketing firms from across the U.S and Canada. Born in Bayshore, Long Island, Bob Provost LOVES NY, vacationing everywhere from Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands to New York City, Lake Placid to Corning, with stops everywhere in between. He resides with his wife, Pam, just outside Albany, NY, on a rural property in Rensselaer County. On this episode of Destination on the Left, I talk with Bob Provost, who shares why he sees the travel and tourism industry as a stimulant for change. We discuss transformational development, stewardship, and the importance of long-term strategic thinking for DMOs. Bob also shares how the New York State Tourism Industry Association is facilitating the discussion around best practices in DEI. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How creating a bundle of attractions and destinations helped the New York State Tourism Industry Association's recovery and resurgence Defining leadership versus management and the importance of both qualities for organizational success The importance of long-term strategic thinking and vision as a DMO How the New York State Tourism Industry Association utilizes tourism as a tool to achieve economic growth, job creation, and community revitalization Outcomes and best practices discussed during the panel on Diversity in Action Transformational Development In our conversation Bob emphasizes the role of tourism as a catalyst for change, transforming stagnant markets and revitalizing communities. He describes why their focus is not just on short-term goals but also on long-term strategic thinking, envisioning a future state and working collaboratively to achieve it. Through various projects such as building arenas, developing destination marketing organizations, and creating vibrant tourism assets like the National Museum of Play, communities experience lasting positive impact. Collaboration is at the heart of Bob Provost's approach and he describes how by bringing together diverse industry professionals, sharing expertise, and working towards a common vision, the association has been successful in implementing initiatives that have had a positive effect on the community as a whole. Stewardship and Long-Term Thinking We discuss the significance of stewardship in destination management and why DMOs have a . responsibility to preserve and enhance both natural and cultural resources, ensuring their sustainable use for future generations. Bob discusses the domino effect, and encourages leaders to exercise vision and work towards shared goals, aligning the interests of all stakeholders. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Recognizing the importance of diversity within the tourism industry, the New York State Tourism Industry Association's focus has shifted to diversifying supply chains, reaching out to different demographic groups, and promoting diversity within communities and organizations. Bob discusses the well-received panel on Diversity in Action and describes how the association is facilitating the discussion, highlighting positive outcomes and signposting to best practices in DEI. Resources: Website: https://www.nystia.org/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobprovost/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nystia/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NYSTIA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nystia Bob's Previous DOTL Episode: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcasts/bob-provost/

From his studio in Dania Beach, Florida, Rob Stern creates his signature Windstar sculptures, dedicated to his father, a consummate stargazer fascinated by cosmic phenomena. Stern was also inspired by his surname, which means star in German. The artist often names his stars to reveal their celestial spheres. Copernica is derived from Copernicus, visible in the evening sky over Miami Beach. Polaris, known as the North Star, is the brightest in the constellation of Ursa Minor. Antares is the 15th brightest star in the night sky and is part of the constellation Scorpius. Other Windstar titles conjure colors and experiences, such as Red Dawn, which takes its name from a glowing red center or Modra, the Czech word for blue. Stern's Windstars are a testament to his deep understanding of glass and belief that the material takes him where it wants to go during the making process. Another iconic body of work, Stern's Stilettos, was inspired by his wife's vast collection of designer shoes that includes Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, and Alexander McQueen. However, these glass slippers are even more extreme with wild bejeweled designs that could make even Lady Gaga swoon.  Stern states: “My creative endeavors and sculptures are mere stepping stones towards my search for understanding life. Harmonic instances between what I sense and do are the signals that guide me through my processes and prompt daily decisions. My works act as a communicative device which seeks to connect my thoughts and my actions to the collective human consciousness. A path seeking insight and enlightenment carries me forwards and always seems to bring me back to the glass.” His mother an art teacher and father a filmmaker, Stern attended Northside High School for Performing Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was part of an elite group that performed internationally. He later pursued visual arts, receiving a BFA from San Francisco State University (1989) and an MFA from the University of Miami (2003). Other glass training includes a five-year apprenticeship with John Lewis Glass, Oakland, California, where he trained to be a metal fabricator and expert glass caster/cold-worker. Stern went on to assist Czech master Petr Novotny and worked in the Czech glass factories as a designer/maker for two years. The artist also assisted or collaborated with many masters such as Dale Chihuly, William Morris, Martin Blank, Richard Royal, Richard Jolley, Dante Marioni, Therman Statom, Stanislav Libensky, Rene Roubicek, and Vladimir Klien, among many others. Lecturing at the University of Miami for 10 years, Stern also acted as interim professor at University of Texas Arlington in 2009. He has frequented the premier glass institutions, most notably Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, for a 30-year consecutive run where he has taught, been a gaffer, TA, AA, and worked with the most notable international artists. Dedicated to education, the artist has also taught at the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; the Penland School of Craft, North Carolina; The Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey; Bildwerk Frauenau, Germany; and Ways of Glass, Czech Republic. Stern designed and created many centerpiece collections for various institutions including Pilchuck in 2011, and he received the Amazon award for his Pilchuck auction piece in 2021. This year he has a prominent piece in Pilchuck's October Auction. Currently involved in long-term residencies at YZ Center for the Arts, China, and Bezaiten Arts Center in Lake Worth, Florida, Stern will serve as the future director of glass at The Dania Art Park, now in development. Meanwhile he and his team design and create original sculpture, architectural commissions, and unique lighting that has been commissioned, exhibited, and collected internationally. Recently, the artist participated in Habatat Gallery's Glass 51 exhibition, and several of his works were acquired by Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Eighty of his pieces have become part of the permanent collection of the Weiner Museum of Decorative Arts (WMODA), Dania Beach, Florida. Says Stern: “My aesthetic resides at the crossroads where humans and nature intersect. Between organic and angular, a space connects the temporary man-made to the pre-existing and eternal cosmos. Here, we begin to measure our perspective and contemplate the perception of our place in the world as it is one that is always changing with the evolution of space, light, and time. I venture to capture moments with materials that speak to a fleeting sensibility of the permanence or importance of this balancing act. Color and form dictate emotion, and humanity is transcended as we reflect in the inherent rhythm and fractal patterning in this natural world. My constant observation of details persuades my attention to nuances in an attempt to mimic the complexity of its simplicity.”  Stern's work will be exhibited at Kittrell Riffkind in Dallas, Texas, in April 2024.  

With glass as her medium and lost wax casting as her primary technique, Anja Isphording creates idiosyncratic sculptures familiar enough for us to recognize that they are inspired by nature, yet rarely resembling anything that we have actually encountered. Her intimate-scale objects, tactile and rich with deeply saturated colors, are reminiscent of basic molecular structures, honeycombs or coral reefs, but their biological reference remains ambiguous.   In Germany, Isphording's early glass engraving studies in the 1980s with FS Zwiesel and Franz X Hoeller were followed by a stint as an engraving instructor at the summer school Bild-Werk, Frauenau. She founded her first studio in Helminghausen, Germany, in 1989, but relocated to Vancouver, BC, Canada, in 2000 and switched her focus to casting. Isphording's work has been exhibited in Europe and the United States, and collected by museums worldwide, including the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Museum of American Glass, Wheaton, NJ; Glass Museum Kamenicky Senov, Czech Republic; Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt; and Kuntsgewerbemuseum, Berlin Germany, among others. She has been juried into New Glass Review – the Corning Museum of Glass' prestigious annual survey of cutting-edge glass – an unprecedented 10 times. Many consider Isphording's intimate sculptures among the most intriguing objects ever made from glass. They embody reverence for nature's mysteries and explore the patterns and structures of nature without ever literally reproducing them. Often they evoke a mood as much as an image. Plants and marine creatures may echo in the forms, but ultimately, they are guided by the artist's exquisite imagination.   Isphording's awards include 1998-2001 scholarships at Pilchuck Glass School, WA; 1995 scholarship at the Creative Glass Center of America, Wheaton Village, NJ; 1993-1994 scholarship at the Academy of Applied Arts, class Vladimir Kopecky, Prague, Czech Republic; 2011-2012 prizes in TGK Competition, Germany; 2004 Artist of the Month, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass; 2001 prize, WG at BE Exhibition, Portland, OR; 1993 Bayrischer Staatspreis; and 1986 prize, Leistungswettbewerb der Handwerksjugend, Germany. First modeled full-size in wax and then cast in glass, Isphording's intricate compositions often require multiple firings. When finished, the sculptures have a tactile quality and emotional range that sets them apart from contemporary trends and renders them timeless. Each piece takes months to create – follow this link to learn more about her process. Demanding technical challenges coupled with the complexity of her forms conspire to limit her output. This Friday, August 18 – September 1, 2023, Heller Gallery in NYC will present Isphording's latest sculptures as part of their summer pop-up series titled Rotations.  

In 1963, archaeologists from the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York began excavations in an ancient Levantine town called Jalame, in today's Israel. For eight years they uncovered objects—many of which were brought back to the Corning—related to the production of glass in the Late Roman Empire. Most of the pieces produced in the Jalame workshop were workaday, monochrome items, but a few were more luxurious, such as a conical beaker decorated with blue dots (from copper). Untreated glass is naturally green or blue, from the iron found in sand, so the glass for this beaker would have to have been de-colorized with manganese. “The Jalame excavation was transformative because it was really the first scientific investigation of a glass workshop from antiquity,” says Katherine Larson, the guest for this episode of Curious Objects and curator of the exhibition "Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop in Corning."

British born artist, Joanna Manousis creates sculptural objects and installations in glass and mixed media, manipulating materials through a multi-disciplinary process that includes bronze casting, enamels, and even taxidermy. With a hands-on studio practice spanning 17 years, she strives to transform cast glass surfaces into reflective, three-dimensional mirrors, shifting the viewers' perspective and bringing new experiential possibilities. Wrote Eve Kahn in a 2018 Todd Merrill exhibition catalog: “Joanna Manousis mines her life experiences while exploring broader themes—materialism, memory, domesticity, vanity, iridescence—in acclaimed sculptures that mingle glass with wheat husks and taxidermied birds. Viewers may find themselves reflecting on the transience of existence while seeing themselves literally and metaphorically mirrored in her works.” An only child raised by her mother, growing up Manousis loved drawing and painting. During early meditations with mirrors, she had the initial experience of being somehow detached from her body – a phenomenon whereby her spirit seemed disconnected from her visual appearance. In college, Manousis set out to become a painter, but the canvas plane gave her artist's block. She enrolled at Wolverhampton University for a bachelor of fine art-glass degree, and during a year abroad studied neon and glass casting and blowing at Alfred University in western New York. In 2008, she earned her MFA at Alfred, and by then had met her future husband, the Maine-born glass artist Zac Weinberg.  Now a working mom of two, Manousis travels the world to teach, exhibit, and make artworks, while winning awards and grants. Her work has been recognized with nominations for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and a Bombay Sapphire Award Nomination for ‘Excellence in Glass' as well as the Margaret M. Mead Award and the Hans Godo Frabel Award. She has received support from internationally recognized residency programs including the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; and Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France. Her work has been exhibited at Design Miami and Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland; FOG Art + Design, San Francisco; the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark; and the British Glass Biennale, Stourbridge, England. The artist has worked, studied and taught in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. Manousis states: “My work is born out of a sustained exploration of human nature and the conflicts that exist between our inner reality and the world we occupy. I often emphasize decadence and grandiosity to illuminate the superfluous nature of accumulated luxury when faced with our own impermanence. I am also interested in engaging the viewer's gaze, drawing the participant into a state of reflection, literally and philosophically, about the essence of human existence and ideas related to growth, emotionality, aspiration and mortality.” She continues: “Glass is my chosen medium, and I am drawn to its contrasting qualities–transparent yet solid, it simultaneously reveals yet barricades. In recent works I use cast glass as a lens to magnify residual formations of objects within. On occasion these negative spaces are mirrored, enlivening static surfaces in my pursuit to reflect the viewer and the environment that the work inhabits. Incorporating the audience's gaze, whether it is distorted or clear, centralizes the viewer within the work itself, facilitating a stronger connection between observer and object.” ToYG podcast caught up with Manousis just prior to two US workshops: Penland School of Craft, Bakersville, North Carolina, July 2 – 14 and The Corning Museum of Glass, July 31 – August 6. In addition to her core-cast pieces with internal spaces, she continues her PhD testing, along with a new venture in customizable wall installations made with graphite molding techniques that she and husband Weinberg create together in their company Manberg Projects. Manousis' PhD research focuses on three-dimensional mirrors within cast glass resulting in work that deals with reflection, both physically and metaphorically. The artist has also recently started making jewelry – small scale pieces that are more accessible and used to adorn. Check out this new work on Instagram @jomanousis. Her sculptural practice can be found @joanna.manousis.  

Loretta H. Yang and Chang Yi, founders and artists of LIULI Crystal Art, devoted their life to the art of LIULI for three decades. In the process, they revived the ancient Chinese technique of pâte de verre lost wax casting and instigated the contemporary glass art movement in Asia. Richly imbued with traditional Chinese artistic vocabulary and philosophical thinking, Yang's works have been acquired by more than 22 museums for their permanent collections including Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Palace Museum in Beijing, New York Museum of Arts and Design, The Corning Museum of Glass, and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. She has created work for the Oscars, Grammys and 32 world leaders. “Beauty transformed” is how Japanese critics have described Yang's multiple talents. Named Best Leading Actress in the 21st and 22nd Golden Horse Film Awards ceremony, she was the first actress who won this award two years in a row. In 1987, Yang left the film industry along with her late husband, film director Chang Yi, and several other people from the film industry to establish the glass workshop and studio LIULI Crystal Art near Taipei, Taiwan. The industrious group invested their resources in rehabilitating a dilapidated factory and learned the techniques and process of glass casting in the French manner, similar to the luxury glass made by Lalique and Daum. Yang single-handedly rediscovered the techniques of pâte de verre glass casting and uses this technique to create works with a traditional Chinese artistic flare.  When asked, “What has it been like being a woman in the glass arts industry all these years,” Yang responded: “Honestly, I haven't given this topic much thought. Don't exceptional women exist in all industries? Chang Yi believed that women were the stronger gender and possess a resilience men don't. He would use the saying ‘will of steel, gentle heart' to describe women, because he observed that we lead with a gentleness of heart and an unwavering will. Maybe I've been lucky to work with Chang Yi all this time because despite what other people said, we took it with a grain of salt and continued to live according to our own set of rules. We complemented each other. He was responsible for the development, planning and operational aspects of the company. And because of this, he was able to steer our team in the right direction and instill an equitable value system.”  She continues: “I, on the other hand, have more patience and lean more toward innovation. I enjoy researching techniques – LIULI Crystal Art's 12-step technique is a product of my work. Yes, the process was challenging, but what would we be without it? LIULI Crystal Art faced a lot of challenges in our 36 years. The sheer will to complete a project was our greatest encouragement and got us through them. Chang Yi used to good-naturedly admonish that I was the type of person who doesn't know when to quit. But really, I'm the type of person who immerses themselves in something and will continue searching for an answer until I find it. Value and strength are creations of our own design. I refuse to put myself in a box or limit myself in any way. Women can be just as bold as men, men can be just as resilient as women.”  Today, LIULI Crystal Art owns factories on Taiwan (Tamshui) and in Shanghai, and numerous galleries on Taiwan and in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and United States. The group decided to use the Chinese word LIULI as opposed to more common names for glass in the Chinese language. It is commonly believed that the word LIULI first appeared during the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1045-771 BCE), which referred to the glass being produced at the time. For Yang especially, using the term LIULI greatly references her own body of work, which draws upon traditional Chinese motifs and such Buddhist teachings as enlightenment and transparency, evoking an almost meditative practice and devotional purpose. Each piece undergoes a comprehensive 12-step process and requires six to eight months to complete. Known for her floral sculptures, in 2006 Yang removed all traces of color from her work. This pure, transparent series debuted at Leo Kaplan Modern in New York in 2007 with Proof of Awareness, an oversized and colorless blooming peony, garnering widespread acclaim. To Yang, the oversized flowers of Proof of Awareness represented her life reflections and the next stage of her creative journey. Says Yang: “LIULI petals, when looked at individually, hold little significance. But when clustered together, these petals manifest a symbiotic relationship to create a single large and flawless flower. A harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship does not focus on the self but on the greater good of everyone involved.”  Combining pâte de verre with hot casting, Yang uses multiple castings to create the abstract form of Buddha. Because life is impermanent, LIULI is the perfect material to capture its wavering illusory and tangible qualities. Yang explored the Buddhist philosophy of enlightenment and non-attachment in her exhibition Diamond Sutra held at the Grand Palais in 2015. The Ateliers d'Art de France commented: “The collection exudes a meditative philosophy that captures the Parisian way of life yet is an uncommon component in contemporary French art.” In 1996, when Yang and Chan Yi visited the Buddhist grottoes near the desert oasis of Dunhuang in western China, the moment they saw the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin fresco in Cave 3 at Mogao, painted during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) and slowly disappearing under the relentless weathering of the desert sandstorms, Yang vowed to recreate the image in glass as a way of handing down to future generations the wisdom and compassion it has accumulated over the centuries. On the reverse side is engraved the Great Compassion Dharani, a popular incantation in Chinese Buddhism. The unique transparent nimbus represents the wisdom and compassion of Guanyin illuminating the world. The image exudes an air of boundless compassion, quelling the anxiety of a troubled heart. Though Yang has completed a 200cm version, her deepest wish is to complete a LIULI-made Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin that measures14.7 feet tall!  In order to “continuously create art for the good of the heart,” Chang wrote a dedicated poem for each artwork. It took great determination and faith to accumulate such a compelling body of work. He viewed LIULI as a communicator of life and death, and as the state between illusion and reality, light and shadow. Even though life was illusory, a dream and ephemeral like bubbles, there was always an unwavering touch of red in the heart urging all to never give up life and never give up hope.  Says Yang: “Although it's been more than three decades, we know there's a lot more to achieve. And the only way to do so is to continuously practice what we believe in. The mission of LIULI has always been more than LIULI. It is the society, the culture, and the human beings.  

In this episode of The Living Artist, Preston sits down with California based glass artist and business owner Annie Morhauser. Annie is the owner and founder of Annieglass, where she has been a thriving artisan and business owner for 40 years, making her line of handmade fine glass tableware and art. Annie's work can be seen on permanent display in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, in the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, and the Glasgow Museum of Modern Design in Scotland. Annie was also named the Santa Cruz County artist of the year in 2022 and was elected to the Monterey Bay Business Hall of Fame in 2018. Annie sits down with Preston to talk all things art and business, share her stories of resilience and success in a male dominated field, talk about the process of making her famous glass tableware and art, shares stories of obtaining large loans and surviving massive earthquakes, recycling and upcycling materials in her work, working with CCA on a scholarship and mentorship program, learning from mistakes and jumping right into the process, gratitude, the importance of customer service, a legacy of kindness, and so much more. Please enjoy this conversation with the amazing Annie Morhauser! If you would like to purchase and/or see more of Annie's beautiful glass artwork/tableware and read more about her story, you can visit: https://annieglass.com. You can also follow Annieglass on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annieglass For more information on Preston M. Smith and his artwork, visit https://www.pmsartwork.com, or follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pmsartwork (social media everywhere @pmsartwork). You can also now subscribe to his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/pmsartwork. The Living Artist makes the top of the Audible Blog's List of the Best Art Podcasts to listen to For Artists! Check it! Thrilled to announce that Artwork Archive just included The Living Artist on their list of the The Best Art Podcasts of 2021! Check it out. Excited that Agora Group International Fine Art included The Living Artist on its list of The Best Art Podcasts To Listen To (coming in at #5). Huge thank you to Feedspot for choosing The Living Artist for their list of the Top 70 Art Podcasts You Must Follow in 2023. It is a huge honor to have made this amazing list (coming in at #8) with so many other wonderful podcasts. Big thank you to Feedspot! You can check out this list and more of Feedspot at https://blog.feedspot.com/art_podcasts. Podcast theme music: "Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com"

For four generations, the Raiffe family toy designers and inventors used ingenuity and creativity to bring joy to others. In homage to this family tradition, Josh Raiffe carries out that mission in his own uniquely beautiful medium – hot glass. He recently caught the attention of both art and fashion lovers with his creative glass interpretation of the Coperni Swipe Bag – a modern handbag designed to adorn a subject's hand.  Coperni approached Raiffe to create a glass bag for a photo shoot. His original design was inspired by the painting of Saint Denis of Paris. Holding his head in his hands, a halo appears where St. Denis' head once rested. Raiffe wanted to create a glass handbag that would reveal a halo around the hand of its wearer, selecting colors to illuminate the hand as if to reveal a divinity from within.  Experimenting with glass color combinations, he applies an overlay to the inside and outside of each of his bags. The glass layers work in concert to create color combinations that are amplified through a coldworking process. The resulting objects have captured the attention of art and fashion enthusiasts alike, making the laborious process required to create them worthwhile.  Raiffe loves to create in a space where emotion and instinct supersede language and rationality. His pieces are first and foremost inspired by personal relationships and emotions such as love, conflict, anger or intimacy. He creates pieces that allow the owner/observer to feel something unique based on their own personal experiences. As an artist who celebrates self-expression, he explains: “I hope people use my work to express themselves by adorning their spaces and their bodies with objects that speak to them.” The son of Meryl Raiffe, owner of The Glass Underground, Warren, New Jersey, Josh Raiffe earned his BFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During that time, he worked for Belle Mead Hot Glass, Township, New Jersey, producing blown chandelier parts and taught classes at the Crefeld School in Philly. Upon graduating from Tyler, he received the Steve Stormer Award and the Penland Partner Scholarship, which allowed him to attend the Penland School of Craft, Bakersfield, North Carolina. He has also been fortunate enough to attend classes at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, and the Bullseye Resource Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Raiffe has taught glass classes at the Tyler School of Art, East Falls Glassworks in Philly, Brooklyn Glass and UrbanGlass in New York. He also assists with fabrication for glass artists Thaddeus Wolf, Rob Wynne, Mitchiko Sakano, Jamie Harris and Deborah Czeresko. As a Brooklyn-based designer, Raiffe has collaborated with DesignSpec Co-Founder Fiona Sanipelli to create original art installations for interiors projects. His work, which also includes lighting and neon, has been exhibited at Philadelphia locations such as the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Sculpture Gym, and the Spirit of the Artist, and at 555 Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. It was featured on the pages of New Glass Review 38, The Corning Museum of Glass' yearly survey of cutting-edge artworks made with glass. Raiffe is represented by Habatat Gallery, Piece Gallery, Strada and Hawk Gallery. Objects become memorable when they prompt an emotional response from their audience. Though Raiffe's glass work has been owned by celebrities such as Dojacat, Kylie Jenner, JT, Beth Dewoody, Olivia Song and Snoop Dog, he makes art to be enjoyed by the masses.  

Both through his own works and his activities in education, Richard Meitner has had a profoundly positive and highly visible impact on art in glass internationally. His works have been shown around the world and have been included in almost every major international museum exhibition of art in glass for the last 25 years. In spite of his considerable reknown, Meitner's work has never been mainstream. His place is always on the outer edge of what is happening, searching, challenging, discovering, taking risks, as if he were a child at play. It is this desire to discover and speak as a child does, to learn and rejoice in that learning, but also the willingness to be caught off guard, and amazed or puzzled by experience, which has always been at the heart of his activities.  Anna Venini wrote: “The best way to express what I like most about Richard and his work is perhaps this: he lives in an extraordinary world, one that is not simply the pleasing world of fairy tales but is at the same time a breeding ground for some serious (albeit elusive) philosophical thought and research. It is from this place that he creates. It is my feeling that he has not only already accomplished great things, but has, in addition, a long career in front of him as an important artist. I come from a family of glass makers. I love Richard's work most certainly not only for that reason, but also because Richard is able to approach that material and to use it with culture, with great fantasy and originality, with authority and great thoughtfulness. That combination is, in my experience, highly unusual.”  An artist with decades of experience and practice in art and art education, Meitner has lived in Amsterdam since 1972. He has lectured and conducted workshops in the U.S.A., Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Italy and Japan. He has been invited artist-in-residence in many countries and has worked as a designer for the glass industry in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Additionally, Meitner has served on the Dutch National Commission for Endowments for the Arts and the Dutch National Advisory Board for the Arts. Together with Mieke Groot, he was responsible from 1981 to 2000 for the glass department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. In 2006, he was appointed to the faculty for Science and Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (New University of Lisbon), Portugal. Meitner's major exhibitions include a retrospective at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs of the Louvre in Paris, and solo shows at the National Museum for the History of Science and Medicine in Leiden, Netherlands, the National Glass Museum in Sunderland, England, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Corning Museum of Glass in the U.S.A. His work is included in the permanent collections of more than 60 museums in 16 countries. In 2020, the artist received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Art Society. In 2016, Meitner earned a PhD in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. His doctoral thesis made the case that in education and public policy for art, the way we define, make policy for and teach art is in many respects incorrect and ineffective. He formulates his arguments citing science and many other sources that strongly suggest that we need urgently to discuss, rethink and come to much more accurate and useful understandings of what making and appreciating art are really about.  In 2023, Meitner will begin work for his upcoming solo show at Galeria Caterina Tognon in Venice during the Biennale and continue to build a working collaboration with his partner, Nataliya Vladychko, a talented Ukrainian artist. He will also carry on his work with the Vicarte Research Unit at Universidade Nova in Lisbon, i.e. working with young student artists in the Master's degree program for the Art and Science of Glass and Ceramics.  Saya Meitner: “Helping young talented artists as a teacher is something I've done for many decades, and has become quite an important aspect of both my career and my life.”  

Travelling the world participating in internships and workshops is the cornerstone of Sofia Villamarin's glass experience. Her unique personal works in stained glass utilize three-dimensionality, fragmented imagery and her stunning painting abilities to express stories and reflections of self as well as her unique perspective on life. Of Argentinian and Italian nationality, Villamarin was born in 1979 and lived in Argentina until she was 28 years old. In 2003, she graduated with a degree in Visual Communication Design, but the following year began her education in stained glass art. Awarded a scholarship to study glass painting, in 2008 Villamarin travelled to the studio of Italian artist Sante Pizzol in Milan, Italy. She also attended Vetroricerca Glas & Modern in Bolzano, Italy, garnering a more comprehensive education in glass.  Villamarin established and ran her own studio in Argentina from 2011 to 2015. The following year she went to work for The Cathedral Studios, the stained glass studio at Canterbury Cathedral, UK, followed by a stint at Barley Studio in York. Currently living in Munich, Germany, and working for Mayer'sche Hofkunstanstalt” GmbH, Villamarin focuses on portraiture painting on stained glass windows. With a unique and international perspective on stained glass, Villamarin has been recognized by The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning New York, in its publication of cutting-edge glass, New Glass Review 33. She is also the recipient of last year's Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass for her work My Fragments, accompanied by an exhibition at Veste Coburg and at the European Museum of Modern Glass, Rödental, Germany. Focusing on new trends in glass art, the works of 90 international artists were on display at these venues in 2022. The highly topical objects and variety of production techniques made this show a fascinating event in the International Year of Glass.  A 2016 recipient of the Stevens Glass Artist of the Year award, Villamarin was honored, along with other students and emerging architectural glass artists, at a ceremony at Glaziers' Hall. From a record number of high-quality entries from the UK and other international entrants, Villamarin was presented with the opportunity to design a window commemorating the lost crew of the iconic Titanic for St Mary's Church, Southampton.  With uniquely personal works such as her painted self-portraits Time Without Time I and II; Resilience – made with glass, enamels and rope; or the many works that break free of the single flat plane of stained glass as seen in Free, Villamarin has left her mark on the world of modern stained glass. Having participated in the American Congress' Women in Glass conference, the artist lends her voice to the independent work she designs and fabricates as well as to the work she paints for Mayer'sche Hofkunstanstalt” GmbH.  

Hellooooo and welcome back to Cracked with Chevonne Ariss! Today's guest is Jax Partlow. Jax Partlow is a glass artist based in Los Angeles. While formally trained in graphic design, Jax prefers the longevity and physical aspects that glasswork affords her, as well as a very tangible connection with her late father. It was only after she was left his tools that she gravitated toward the craft while living in Hungary. Thoughtful, romantic and functional, stained glass fulfills a creative desire for Jax as an artist, while meeting her designer side with its utilitarian appeal. She is most recognized for her Public Piece Project in which she installs her art in unlikely spaces. It's my favorite. It's so smart and cool and she's my absolute favorite street artist. Jax's work has been featured in Stained Glass Magazine, The Corning Museum of Glass: New Glass Review 2022 and by her own accord in the streets of Los Angeles.Let's get into it.Join me as I crack it wide open!Watch Jax and I here: https://youtu.be/dCer2e0t8r8Kintsugi wikipedia.orgLarry Bellguggenheim.orgEgon Schiele “Mother and Child”wikiart.orgLeopold Museum in Vienna leopoldmuseum.orgHelen Frankenthalerfrankenthalerfoundation.orgEtel Adnaneteladnan.comWillem de Kooningdekooning.org Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooningwikipedia.orgQuinn Gilmer@mdrnwldngPaul Lozano@compasssssionSzápör Klub@szaporklubBad BunnyJax's Bad Bunny Songs Playlist