2008 Interpretations of Self: Self Portraits in Glass

The challenge of exploring the self portrait was presented to members of the Warm Glass Bulletin Board the first time in 2005, http://www.warmglass.com/phpBB/index.php

and their works were shown in Spring, 2006

http://firedglassportrait.blogspot.com/

The rules for participation were that the artists have a desire to investigate the concept of self portrait, and execute that concept using kiln forming techniques.

It’s Spring, 2008 and I present to you the works of the 34 artists who took the self portrait challenge.

Enjoy your visit to our virtual gallery.
Please feel free to offer your comments to the artists.

Cynthia Oliver

All works depicted here are protected by copyright and should not be reproduced and/or copied without the express permission of the respective artists.

Tony Smith "Tony's Comet"

out-of-control
but in total control
speeding toward the end

living as though on fire
multiple lives at once
friends and relations in my wake

burning brightly
taking it all in
just to become ash



Technique
The piece is 10 inches tall and 18 inches wide. The glass is System 96. The base is a layer of 6mm clear with a layer of white on top. The face is three layers with a layer of black on the bottom, a layer of red and a layer of black irid on top. Each layer was cut on a Taurus 3 ring saw, then coldworked on the wet belt sander and tabletop grinder. The irid on the top layer of the face was masked and sandblasted.
Finally, the face and base were fused separately and combined with the tail of frit in the final, contour firing.

Michele Gutlove “Scattering Stars”

When I see myself, I see my hands. I see my hands in motion.

My most recent glass art commissions have been for large installations in spiritual settings. These commissions are where I want to be. The colored glass I use represents the greens of the Earth, the blues of the sky and the purples of the universe beyond.

For me the fluid nature of glass is paramount, which is why I choose to render colors and effects that change as they are viewed dynamically in reflected and transmitted light. In the shifting colors, the mirage of movement in the still medium, I attempt to capture the ceaseless flow of the universe. My hands are the means through which my inspiration flows, diminutive as they are relative to the larger pieces I create, insignificant as they are compared to the Earth, sky and universe that the work represents.

This 14.5” x 19.5” x 1” piece was created using transparent sheet glass and frits as well as dichroic glass in multiple, progressively cooler firings. The piece initiated with a sketch. The translation of the sketch onto a sheet of glass with a frit drawing of my hands and the background was fired at full fusing temperatures to flat smoothness. The next firings added increasing texture to the background and virtual depth to the smooth hands. I then created six crystal clear hands in subtly changing positions. In the last, and coolest firing, the original piece was kiln carved onto a mold, giving actual depth to the smooth colored hands. The six crystal clear hands were gently draped over the color kiln carved hands embracing and transforming them while creating the impression of motion.

Cynthia Morgan "Oh, really?"

In my last self-portrait I stuck to the minimum, making the simplest, least complicated form of glasswork I could do: a simple powder sketch. In this one I went back to my first love, pate de verre, and tried some tricks with perspective. The original image from this photo was shot from a point just above my forehead. To make the portrait appear fully three-dimensional yet remain relatively flat, I tried foreshortening the bottom of the face and proportionally increasing the top, to make it appear as though the head was sloping out of the frame at a much greater angle.

The mold was invested from a clay model, cleaned and corrected. I sifted a color layer of BE powder into the mold to shade in the features of the face, hair and background, then packed in powder-tinted mixtures of fine frit mixed with water and gum arabic. The glasses were cast separately and attached.

Right before I started this piece, a couple of people had remarked that I express doubt by looking over my glasses at the speaker as if I’m saying, “Oh, really?” So I decided to try posing that way.

http://www.morganica.com/bloggery/2008/03/27/making-me-self-portrait/
Cynthia's tutorial of how she made "Oh Really"

Dimensions: 10”x13”x2”
Technique: Pate de verre
Glass used: Bullseye frits

Andrea Reaburn "C’est Moi (It’s Me)"

This was a very interesting process of looking at myself. Looking at pictures to see what I really look like. To see the aging process over the last 20 years and to find my true self in those images. This is where the name comes from. This piece is far from perfect, but it does capture the essence of me. My work process started with buying The Art of Painting on Glass by Albinas Elskus. I used a pen with enamel and clove oil to do the outline. Black and white enamels watered down with brushes and a palette knife to give depth and I used the gold and lustres to highlight. The glass used was Bullseye Light Peach Cream. I wanted the glass to have a fleshy tone after it was fired. The entire process was five different firings and each one brought out another layer of intricacies. It was also great learning experience. Learning to stop. I love the process and will continue with painting on glass.

Linda Steider & Haley Menton “In Search of Flower Fairies”

Haley, my niece, and I have searched for flower fairies since Haley was two years old. We’ve looked in every corner of every garden we’ve ever been in, and believe we caught a glimpse of one last summer. We finally decided the best way to find fairies is to pretend we are fairies. These portraits represent our fairy selves.


Haley’s portraits are my rendition in glass from her original drawings. She included one of her ‘real’ self and her ‘fairy’ self in flight.

Mine show a metamorphosis from ‘believer in all things magical’ to ‘inquisitive seeker of all truths’ to ‘wizened memory spouter’.


4” x 4” tiles, using Bullseye powdered glass atop a white base. Process temperature was 1300˚ Fahrenheit to retain texture and dimension.

Amy Houston "Goddess"

Creating goddess beads is one of my favorite ways to play with hot glass. I start with a basic body shape, and then I add the curves. The surface tension of glass makes it "want" to be round, and this works like magic to create a voluptuous female form. I mostly use this surface tension, in addition to gravity, to shape my piece; a small amount of shaping with various tools is also involved.

The bead-hole runs from head to toe lengthwise, so this bead can be easily attached to a necklace, or displayed as a miniature art piece.

In a very real way, all of my goddesses are self-portraits. Like many women, I have certainly suffered from my share of body image and self esteem issues. But these goddess beads are about celebrating the beauty of the female shape - they just wouldn't be as lovely without those curves. In this way, they are both inspiring and empowering to me. They are a reminder that there is an intrinsic beauty that all women possess - something female that is intangible but absolutely there.
I work in soft glass, and I love the reactive alchemy that I can produce with just the right combinations of colour. To me, working with glass is a contemplative, almost meditative process. Its vast potential for experimentation makes it such a wonderful source of creativity and self-expression.

I have a small glasswork studio in the (converted) garage of my home in Victoria, B.C.

Dimensions: ~2.5" long from end to end
Materials: soft glass, torch-formed

Terry Curtis "Self Esteem"

My portrait is entitled “Self Esteem” and represents how body image can impact your view of self. My weight and dress size have played a significant role in my life since my teens. It is only as I enter middle age that I realize that neither weight nor size define who I am.

7.5 x 10 “
Fused glass sheets, powders and frit.
I mixed Teal powder and fine frit and sifted it over a sheet of French Vanilla and added/subtracted to create the internal body shape. I selected colors that react as I wanted to use that to also help define the shapes. I then added additional parallel lines to my shape to indicate changing size. This was brought to a tack fuse. Next the tile was centered on a base of Teal topped with Clear Iridescent. More frit and powder were added to the lines to ensure they stayed raised and crisp. This was then brought to a dimensional fuse.

Terrie Corbett "Inner Countenance"

I am a painter and glass is my canvas. The work is opaque and abstract. By using brushes, palette knives or any implement I choose in the moment, I indulge my need for the expressive experience. I use high fire enamels, specifically Paradise Paint.

When I first began painting with these enamels, an unexpected learning curve materialized! The act of pushing the paint around was difficult. Enough medium had to be used to facilitate its movement, but not too much or the pigment’s intensity was lost. However, as with any challenge, you forge ahead, develop new mark-making skills, and hope that your technical proficiency will catch up with your ideas!

Like most painters and artists, I spend long hours in the studio and often work late into the night. I began inscribing personal notes in the paint to my husband. When I fire the piece, the enamels will flow and obscure the intimate nature of those words. The remaining glyphs contribute to the surface design and the messages remain, for me, an important part of the work.

There is an element of surprise when you combine the act of painting with the capricious
nature of kiln-fired glass. This is both the challenge and the reward!

High fire enamels, sgraffito
15” Square

Peter Cummings "The Artist as Observer"

Before and after developing a technique I feel an obligation as an observer. Then to present a celebration, a revelation, a conscience or a discussion. There are a lot of personal details here, but different parts will be relevant to different viewers.

Australia.
12 inch high. 14 inch wide.
Applied cameo carving using System 96, Spectrum and Uroboros glass

Jeanette Bailor “Can’t See The Forest For The Trees”

Every now and then I approach a project and my mind is too muddled with details and random thoughts to plainly see the best way to attain my goal. I feel as though I am battling my way through the forest as I try to find my focus. Then, without consciously being aware of it happening, it will seem as though I have come through the trees and everything has fallen into place. It is as though the trees were never as hard to see through as I had imagined.

This piece signifies me looking through the forest trying to find my way.
This piece is a composition of imagery within a glass block, using Bullseye Tekta and powders. The base is 3mm French Vanilla, topped by four layers of 3mm Tekta. Powders were used to create images on each of the five layers. Each layer was fired separately after the application of powder, then all were stacked, dammed and fired to create the final piece. The edges were sanded to a polished finish using a wet belt sander.

7” x 10”

photos by Jeff Hoss

JJ Jacobs "Goddess of the Sea"

My 2008 self-portrait contribution is a pate de verre tile measuring 5.5” wide; 4.5” tall; and 1” deep.

I have always been drawn to the ocean and stories about mermaids. Legends describe mermaids who would sing to sailors and enchant them, distract them from their work and cause them to walk off the deck or cause shipwrecks. A mermaid’s affections were not to be toyed with—for if they were, the mermaid would wrap her tail around the victim and drag them to the bottom of the sea. Still--in my mind mermaids are beautiful, kind and loving creatures who love music and who would never harm humans.

Unless,of course, someone deserved it.

Nicole M. Hanna "Self Portrait"

The piece I’ve made for this Self Portrait project is pretty self explanatory, I think! I chose to make an image of myself, surrounded by several, but not all, of the things I enjoy in my life, depicted in cartoon-ish “thought bubbles”. These are the things I think about most, care about most; things that, in general, make me who I am. On the far right are flowers, which represent my love for gardening and nature. Next to that you’ll see a bad rendition of two of my vices, Jack Daniels and cigarettes. Next are three stick figures representing my husband and two sons. The light bulb represents my “aha moments” that I have quite often when an idea strikes me, or I finally “get” something that had previously escaped me, all too often revealing my tendency to be quite “blonde”. The next one depicts the two little loves in my life, my black Chihuahua Spike, and my newest baby, Roxie the Yorkie, whom I recently stole from Faye Malench. Last but not least is a book, representing my love for reading, learning, and writing.

At times I can be quite ornery, so I have that little devil sitting on my shoulder, which is usually responsible for steering me off path. Other times I try to behave, so the little angel gets credit for those times…although, you might notice she’s not a pure white angel…she’s a little tarnished, which explains why I‘m never too well behaved!

My project was done all in glass, which in itself represents my most favorite pastime. I began with two 12” circles of BE Tekta full fused together to attain proper volume. I then used powdered frit mixed with CMC to “paint” on my images. My face, the devil, angel, and light bulb were all done with this method. The thought bubbles were done separately, also done with liquid stringer, but then later tack fused onto the main piece. The book was done using a candy mold and the freeze and fuse method. The hair consists of a base full fuse using liquid stringer and loose frit in Woodland Brown and Amber. Tack fused on top of that is custom made vitrograph stringers, in amber and French vanilla, in an effort to assimilate the varying shades of blonde in my hair. The lips look a little “injected” which is not indicative of my own at all…frit tends to spread when you least want it to! All in all I am pleased with the results, but if I had to do it over again I would have built it on a colored base, and filled in the face area with a skin tone.

Lib Elder "Three Faces of Me"

These images reflect the complexity of self. The first is an open faced cast done as an aperture pour using mostly blues with some greens and purples, and is perhaps the truest representation of my physical self. The cracks and flaws while not planned into the design are certainly apropos, reflecting the cracks and flaws in the facade of "self" that is shown to the world.

The second is float glass slumped over a mold from the same casting and represents the mask that is sometimes worn, and sometimes removed. These two elements can be presented either nested together as a masked face, or apart to reflect true self unmasked, with the mask close at hand.

The third is a box casting again from the same original mold using pieces of clear BE sheet glass to create bubbles, and cast to a depth that leaves the tip of my nose protruding from the surface of the glass with the image of my face in negative space; sort of a "drowning" image, indicative of a feeling of loss of self, of being drowned in outer, worldly concerns, but rising through those concerns to surface whole and intact.



Open faced cast- 9”x5¼”x2½”
Slumped float mask- 12”x12”x2½”
Box cast- 8”x8”x2¼”