Current Issue

2025: March Issue

PNWGlassGuild.org

Bob Heath

Upcoming events: pnwglassguild.org/events/
(Bolded events are Guild sponsored)

March
16 General Meeting: Creating Stunning Sliders via Zoom
21 Play Day: scrap flow, Seattle WA
22 Pedestal pick up, Portland OR
22 Glass Artists of Central Oregon meetup, Bend OR
26 Sherlocking, Fairview OR (NE Portland) & Zoom

April
6 Glass Artists’ Brunch, Seattle WA
25-27 Gathering of the Guilds, Portland OR
(see article)
26-27 Garden Art Tour and Sale, Seattle WA

May
2-4 Gorge Artists studio tour, The Dalles OR
3 Storage clean out, Portland OR
17 Storage move, Portland OR
25 General Meeting via Zoom

Members can log in and submit their events by clicking About>Contact Us, and filling out the Submit Calendar Event form

Contents

  • Featured Artists: Bob Heath, David Smith
  • President’s Message
  • Board of Directors
  • Welcome to our Newest Members
  • Tacoma Art Museum Exhibit
  • Gathering of the Guilds
  • General Meetings
  • Guild News: Free pedestals, volunteers needed
  • Recent Event Photos
  • Coming Events
  • Featured Sponsor: Bullseye Glass Company
  • Thanks to All Our Sponsors

Read the whole issue on the website:
https://www.pnwglassguild.org/article-cat/issue-2025-03/

(If you’ve just clicked the link and are seeing this page again, scroll down)

Featured Artist: Bob Heath, Aloha, OR

I’d always been drawn to glass art, especially glass paper weights and stained glass, but it had never occurred to me that it was something that I might be able to create myself. That changed in 1998 when my wife and I took a class in stained glass at Roses Glassworks in Tigard. I was immediately hooked and after careful consideration, decided that I enjoyed it enough to justify buying my own tools and investing in a grinder. Little did I realize how those decisions would evolve into the hobby that would consume most of my free time and finances for the next quarter century and more.

I subsequently learned about glass fusing and decided to explore that with my first kiln in 2000. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Oregon Glass Guild, which has since evolved into the Pacific Northwest Glass Guild, also got its start that year thanks to George Kjaer, an amateur glass blower in Eugene. The guild soon expanded to include chapters in the Gorge and Portland, where I discovered it and began attending meetings and taking classes. I kept asking why the OGG website wasn’t being updated and soon found myself being tasked with building an entirely new website and being invited to join the guild board of directors. I wound up serving as webmaster and board member in various capacities through about 2016.

As happens with many volunteer run organizations, only a few people actually volunteer for leadership positions and those leading the Portland chapter were getting burnt out after many years at the helm. I naively accepted an invitation to dinner one night with those current leaders at which I was shanghaied into becoming the new Portland chapter President in 2008, continuing through the end of 2010. A couple of years later, facing the possibility of seeing the guild disband due to a lack of leader candidates at the state level, I volunteered to be the state president was served in that role from 2012 through 2014.

I’ve since retired from guild leadership but have remained involved with the guild as it has grown into the PNWGG. Most notably, my wife and I have worked with fellow guild member, Linda Gerrard to host classes at our studio where guild members have an opportunity to learn from visiting glass artists that are leaders in their field. The first work I created and exhibited at the Gathering of the Guilds show was pretty basic stuff; coasters, business card holders and the like. I didn’t sell much, but I was having fun.

I soon began to develop a style and became known for work that was primarily based on straight lines and geometric patterns. For a period of time, I was really into reproducing quilt patterns in glass

Then in 2009, inspired by the work of Steve Immerman, I started working with strip construction. That’s where you cut narrow strips of sheet glass, about 3/8” wide, then stand them on edge to create 3mm wide lines. That technique allowed me to create much more intricate patterns, such as my Bargello Platter which is still one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever done.

After the Bargello Platter, I continued to pursue the idea of creating “pattern bars” using strip construction, then cutting them on a wet tile saw to create components that could be assembled into complex patterns such as this bowl with a woven basket motif.

And this wavy piece that I call Magic Carpet.

I love experimenting with new techniques, so my work tends to jump from one extreme to another over time. In 2022, I was intrigued by Paul Tarlow’s “frit stretching”. Not being one to follow directions though, I decided to try using pieces of pattern bars instead of frit and came up with a series of pieces I call Time Portals. Some people have commented that this example makes them think of a faceted diamond.

I’ve long admired the work of Ian Chadwick because it was also based on the same type of straight-line intricate patterns that I had striven to create with strip construction. However, Ian’s work used stringers rather than the edges of 3mm sheet glass, so he was able to create more detailed patterns than I had managed. Last December, I had an opportunity to take a class from Ian to learn the details of how he creates his pieces. Ian works almost exclusively with 45 and 90 degree angles when cutting components for his work which gives his pieces a characteristic look that is unmistakably his. Wanting to differentiate my work, I decided to see if I could apply his technique while using 30, 60 and 90 degree angles and came up with this piece that I call Fusion Reactor.

Another artist whose work I admired is Glenda Kronke. I purchased a video class of her teaching the technique she uses glass powder to create fantastic “Coral” like works. As usual, wanting to differentiate my work from hers, I experimented with variations on her methods to develop my own ways of working. I do enjoy making Coral pieces that resemble Glenda’s, but I am especially happy with this open weave technique that grew out of my experiments. I especially like the shadows that these pieces cast when lit from above.

More of Bob’s work can be seen at candlelightglass.com

Featured Artist: David Smith, Seattle WA

David blows a challenge piece during RefractSeattle.org every year. This one was into driftwood.

If you get glass blower David Smith talking about glass, local or otherwise, you’ll find it both informative and entertaining. He has been working with glass and the people who do it for a long time. As the owner/operator of Blowing Sands Glass and the attached Laura Frost Gallery in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle David is among the few guild members who have an actual open-to-the-public workspace (you do need to make an appointment and wear a mask). His students rate his classes very highly and his class schedule is often filled two months ahead.

He was introduced to the art of glass blowing in 1978 while studying for a degree in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. His final two years were spent in the Materials Artifacts Laboratory where he did analysis on man’s earliest evidence of ceramic processing, the pigment used in cave paintings, and worked on a project tracing the transfer of porcelain technology from China down the silk road to Europe. His thesis subject was soft-paste porcelain produced in France during the 18th Century. After graduating in 1983, he returned to Seattle and started working full-time as a glass blower.

In 1987, he bought a one-way ticket to China and then traveled across Asia and the Soviet Union, and spent the next 5 years living and working with artists in Finland, Germany, France and Ireland. He returned to Seattle in 1992 and established his own studio/hot-shop in Ballard. His art glass has been collected and appreciated around the world, and his glass castings are installed in the Atlanta Federal Building as well as public and private buildings in the northwest. His work is an extension of his technical background in glass science and his love of the traditions and history of glass blowing throughout the world.

Blowing Sands will be one of the stops on Seattle’s Art In Bloom garden art studio tour and sale April 26-27 so you can easily be tempted to get one of his colorful balls, birds or other pieces for your yard. You can see more of David’s work at BlowingSands.com

2025 Board of Directors

We are looking for members to shadow board members and/or join the various teams in the upcoming year. This will aid in a smoother transition as new board members step up in the future. It also gives you a chance to see behind the scenes and what it takes to keep the Guild engaging and relevant in your glass journey. Reach out to president Lesley Kelly to volunteer or if you have any questions.

President’s Message

March 2025

Hi everyone,

We are at the time to switch over to Daylight Savings time and get a start in Spring, especially with the nice weather we are having. A lot of us start thinking about spring cleaning when the weather starts to get sunny, and that is what the guild will be doing from March-May of this year.

The guild has started to clean out our storage unit in Portland that has been used for many years to store everything that the guild has used for shows, etc. The guild has a large amount of pedestal furniture left over from previous year’s Gathering of the Guilds. We want to make this furniture available to guild members as we work to clean out the storage unit and move to a smaller, less costly unit. The furniture can be picked up from the storage unit on Saturday, March 22nd. Please see the event section on the website for more information.

A reminder that coming up in April we will have members participating in the Gathering of the Guilds April 25-27, 2025. The show will be at the Oregon Convention Center again this year, and not only will there be amazing work on display and for sale from our members and other guilds and the Oregon Potter’s Association, but this year we will feature work from new guilds such as the Oregon Blacksmith’s Guild, the Sculptor’s Guild and the Printmakers Guild. See the event listing for the times of the show.

We are still looking for a volunteer to lead the Newsletter Team and represent the team on the PNWGG Board. This is a very important position that is invaluable to the guild. Please contact Greta Schneider for information on the newsletter duties.

And plan to attend one or more of the four guild picnics that will be scheduled throughout the summer – dates to be announced soon.

President Lesley Kelly

Thanks,
Lesley

Welcome to our Newest Members

Please take time to reach out and connect…even if you don’t live in the same area. The wonders of technology bring us all just a few clicks away. Members can find contact info for these folks and other members if you log in to pnwglassguild.org and go to “For Members” (which only appears when logged in) and choose Member Contacts List.

Kristin Culotta, Camas WA
Lulie Hardenburger, Corvallis OR
Tyra Hart, Dupont WA
Heather Howard, Issaquah WA
Josephine Isaacson, Kirkland WA

Kari Kerr, Forest Grove OR
Nancy LaCivita, La Pine OR
Rachael Osborn, Vashon WA
Jackie Richens, Aloha OR
Kim Stover, Bend OR

Tacoma Glass Museum Vittorio Costantini Exhibit

Now through June 15, 2025

By Greta Schneider

Mitzi Kugler and I were at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington a couple of months ago and got to see some gorgeous work in the current gallery exhibition. There is a wonderful combination of the museum (with both permanent and traveling exhibitions), a hot shop – so you can actually watch hot glass being made, a terrific store and much more. Whether you CREATE glass art or just love looking at it, you will enjoy the Tacoma Museum of Glass. More info and details are available online.


One artist whose work Mitzi and I were particularly interested in seeing is Vittorio Costantini. He was born near Murano, Italy in 1944 and started doing glass at the age of 11! He does absolutely incredible torch work creating insects, butterflies, fish, shells, birds, flowers and more. Those tiny bees and the other insects are life size and they literally look real!

If you look back at the much larger insect pieces done by Sean Goddard, a member of our guild who was one of the featured artists in our last issue, it is fascinating to look at the incredible realism and beautiful workmanship creating glass insects, but using two entirely different techniques and very different sizes! It shows what an amazing variety of artistic work that can be created in glass using very similar subjects!

Vittorio’s work will be on display through June 15, 2025 along with beautiful artwork by several other highly talented artists. More info and details are available online. There is a small booklet of postcards of Vittorio’s bugs for sale in the store too (see photo). I’ve attached some photos for a taste of the quality of his amazing work, but there are many more to see in the museum. Those of you who have tried torch work will understand how incredible these are. The wings especially amazed me.

The Tacoma Museum of Glass has several other exhibits too:

• Internationally acclaimed glass artist Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma and helped put a spotlight on glass art in the Northwest and has been quite involved with the museum over the years. The museum has a number of his pieces in a permanent collection plus a beautiful 500 ft. long Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a pedestrian overpass that links the museum to downtown Tacoma!

• If you get to go to the museum don’t miss the “Kid’s Design Glass” in one of the hallways. Those pieces will make you smile! Anyway, this is a wonderful resource that is close enough for most of us to visit…and well worth it.

Gathering of The Guilds

April 25-27 in Hall D of the Oregon Convention Center in downtown Portland OR. Admission is FREE

PNW Glass Guild members Teresa Kaufman, Lyn Kennison, Barbara Kienle, Carlyne Lynch, Daryle Rider, Linda Roman, and Greta Schneider will be selling their artwork.

Carlyne Lynch and sponsor Bullseye Glass will be putting together a weekend full of great glass demos.

Plus there will be about 300 artists from 8 other organizations: • Creative Metal Arts Guild • Guild of Oregon Woodworkers • Northwest Blacksmiths Association • Oregon Potters Association • Pacific Northwest Sculptors • Portland Bead Society • Portland Handweavers Guild • Print Arts Northwest — for more about the event as a whole see GatheringOfTheGuilds.com

Treasurer Linda Roman and President Lesley Kelly have volunteered to manage the common check-out and wrapping table again this year. Volunteers help make it easy for you to buy additions to your glass art collection. To volunteer to help with the event please contact Lesley Kelly

General Meetings

March 16th: Create Stunning Sliders. Carlyne Lynch and Andrew Jagels will be demonstrating this technique of making sheet glass.

There will be no General Meeting in April. We encourage you to go see the demos at the Gathering of the Guilds in Portland.

Videos of the January (Photographing and Uploading Images) and February (Organizing Your Studio) General Meetings are now available to logged in members. After logging in go to Glass>Education and scroll to the topic you want to watch.

Please contact VP Barb Kienle if you have an idea for a future meeting.

Slider from Carlyne Lynch’s Play Day

Guild News

Free Display Pedestals, pick them up on Saturday, March 22nd in Portland:

The guild has display furniture and lights left over from previous years’ Gathering of the Guilds and we need to clear it out of storage.
# available — type of item
12 — Hollow Core Doors 6’8″ tall, 28″ wide

Pedestals (made of plywood, you’ll need both a base and a top)
4 — 45″ Tall Medium Pedestal Base Tall 45″ tall
4 — 41″ Tall Medium Pedestal Base Medium 41″ tall
8 — Medium Pedestal Tops 16″x16″

4 — 48″ Very Tall Narrow Pedestal Base
8 — 45″ Tall Narrow Pedestal Base Tall
4 — 42″ Medium Narrow Pedestal Base Medium
4 — 37″ Short Narrow Pedestal Base
20 — Narrow Pedestal Tops 12″x12″

Lights – Many sizes and types – first come first served
Here are some pictures of what the furniture looks like assembled and unassembled

The pedestal pieces and lights will be available for pick up at the storage unit in downtown Portland on Saturday, March 22nd. The available time slots are 11:00 am, 12:00 noon, 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Contact Lesley Kelly We have no capacity to deliver the material to any other location and we cannot hold it for you. Members have priority but if you are not a member you can ask Lesley to let you know if there is a time slot left.

Secure Storage Portland is at 1323 NW 16TH Avenue, Portland, 97209. Because the storage facility is small and access to the unit itself is only by coded elevator, we can deal with only one party at a time. In addition, you will need to bring someone to help you load your pieces into your vehicle; other volunteers are not available for that. It is important to decide what slot works for you and to contact Lesley Kelly. Please provide good contact information so that you can contact Lesley to let her know you are at the location so she can get you in. Carts will be available at the storage location to help bring material down from the unit and out to your vehicle.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

We will have a clean out day at the storage unit on Saturday, May 3, 2025, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm to clear out as much stuff as possible before we close out the storage unit. In addition, we will be having a load out of all the remaining stuff in the storage unit on Saturday, May 17, 2025, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm to move the material to the new storage location. Assistance from as many guild members to help with this clean out and move will be greatly appreciated. We will be moving to a new storage unit that we hope will cost us much less than what we are paying now for storage and so any help you can provide will be much appreciated. Contact Lesley Kelly

Recent Event Photos

Slider Play Day in Portland
Sliders Will Be Discussed At Our Next Meeting March 16th!

Recently Carlyne Lynch, Margie Reiff, Greta Schneider, and Andrew Jagels did a SLIDER Play Day at Carlyne’s house. This coming general meeting on March 16th will be a presentation by Carlyne and Andrew talking about how to have fun doing sliders and showing some more of the results from our play day. It is also a good source of information about how to use up some of that scrap glass we all have!

slider by Greta Schneider

Another scrap Play Day:

Members Debbie Marchione and Heidi Federspiel set up their pieces during a recent scrap melt Play Day at Karen Seymour’s in Seattle. The Play Day on Friday March 21st has space for one more.

3 of the resulting bowls.

Karen Azinger’s Gallery Exhibit in Lake Oswego

Karen Azinger, one of our glass guild members, approached the guild with a unique opportunity! She could have an Art Exhibit at the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego based on the subjects of her books. The book series she created, the Silk and Steel Saga, is about the Steel Queen. It is a seven-book adventure full of knights and swords, love and betrayal, sorcery and seduction. Kingdoms and characters come alive as they are woven together in complex plot twists. She gave us a three month window to get the pieces done using subjects of our choosing.

The Pacific NW Glass Guild responded and a number of members each created one or two pieces of art based on this awesome book series.

Karen Azinger and her husband Rick Holmes

“The MAP” by Carlyne Lynch

“Honor” by Rick Holmes

“Escape” by Linda Gerrard

Artists that participated in the exhibit: Karen Azinger and her husband Rick Holmes, Ann Cavanaugh, Megan Andrews, Greta Rice Schneider, Carlyne Lynch, Linda Gerrard, Dianne Muhly, and Juliet Peterson Spaulding.

At the opening, music and light food and beverages were offered. Karen gave a fascinating description of how she got started and how she learned to give depth and individuality to the various story lines, locations of events and of course, the many characters involved in the story lines. It was a very unusual and fun subject matter to use to come up with glass designs.

Thanks for a fabulous glass exhibit and the opportunity to create and display our high-end artwork. We need more events like this! Any ideas?

“Queen Liandra” by Karen Azinger

The Crystal Daggar” by Megan Andrews

‘the Deep” by Ann Cavanaugh

“Illumination” by Greta Schneider

Karen Azinger’s Castle Theme Suncatcher

“Castle” by Diane Muhly

“Kraken” by Carlyne Lynch

Ocean Vase by Juliet Peterson Spaulding

Please send us photos of your glass events:

Having a photo makes it so much easier to invite people to participate in an event next year. If you are part of or go to a glass event please take some photos and send the best 2 to the Newsletter team (400 to 600 px or “medium” resolution, about 500 KB, not more than 1MB if you can help it).

Coming Glass Events

Gathering of The Guilds April 25-27 in downtown Portland, see article above.

General meetings in 2025

are via Zoom, usually on the 4th Sunday of most months, at 3:30 pm (no meetings in April, July, August, or December).

Contact our VPs if you have suggestions for future topics. You don’t need to be a member to attend our General Meetings but we would love to have you join. Videos of many meetings are available to members by choosing Glass>Education from the menu.

Logged in members can submit their events under About> Contact Us, Submit Calendar Event tab

Spring 2025:

(Guild sponsored events are in bold)

March
16 General Meeting: Creating Stunning Sliders via Zoom
21 Play Day: scrap flow, Seattle WA
22 Pedestal pick up, Portland OR
22 Glass Artists of Central Oregon meetup, Bend OR
26 Sherlocking, Fairview OR (NE Portland) & Zoom

April
6 Glass Artists’ Brunch, Seattle WA
25-27 Gathering of the Guilds, Portland OR
(see article)
26-27 Garden Art Tour and Sale, Seattle WA

May
2-4 Gorge Artists studio tour, The Dalles OR
3 Storage clean out, Portland OR
17 Storage move, Portland OR
25 General Meeting via Zoom

Pre-covid glass brunch at Karen Seymour's

In addition to Portland’s Gathering of the Guilds April 26-27 there are also in-person events in
• Bend OR March 22nd meetup with the Glass Artists of Central Oregon
• Seattle WA April 6th glass artists’ brunch and the April 26-27 ArtInBloomSeattle.com garden art studio tour and sale has many Seattle PNWGG members participating and they love talking glass.
• The Dalles OR May 2-4 stop and talk glass with Stephanie Johnston in her new studio on the Gorge Artists’ Studio Tour
• Fairview OR (NE Portland) March 26 Sherlocking meetings at Margie’s are back

Looking Ahead: Volunteers needed NOW

Our glass events don’t happen spontaneously: it takes organizing and prep. Give a little time and energy, get a lot more fun, glass info and sense of community.

• Just a few hours a month helping one of the teams with the many ongoing, easily-leaned tasks will be greatly appreciated.
For more info contact: Newsletter/publicity team, Website team, Sponsorship team,

• Portland/Vancouver area Vendor Fair needs someone to start organizing now. Contact the sponsorship team lead.

• Gathering of the Guilds (GOTG) will need volunteers before the April 25-27 event. Contact Lesley Kelly

Featured Sponsor: Bullseye Glass

How Technology changed Teaching…

Along with everyone in the Northwest, Bullseye Glass Co. worked through the challenges brought by the pandemic. Our robust education program of in-person classes at five locations around the nation came to a sudden halt as businesses and schools were required to close to the public.

  • Necessity is the mother of invention. Ted Sawyer, Bullseye’s Director of Research and Education suddenly had no students, so no classes! He switched gears and started working on an instructional video, Under Pressure.
  • After finishing the video, he met with Bullseye’s marketing department to discuss how an online class could give glass students an educational experience comparable to attending an in-person class. They concluded that an enriching online class would include:
  • A class guide, with extensive notes and illustrations to supplement the material covered in the video.
  • A private online gallery so that students could show their projects to each other and to the instructor.
  • Delivery of the class guide pdf file and on-demand video immediately upon registration, so students could start studying the materials before the actual class sessions.
  • Two live class sessions. The first would be a “Watch Party” where everyone could watch the video together, live, with the instructor to answer questions. The second live session would be a “Show and Tell” where the instructor and students could share observations and feedback about the projects.
  • Community. To support a community network for online students after the class, many of Bullseye’s classes offer a private Facebook Group where students can ask questions, offer insights, and share both their class projects and their follow-p projects, revealing more variations on the class technique.
Student work

Even with these features added, we assumed that a remote online class could not rival the quality of an in-person class. To our complete surprise, as students joined and completed classes, we learned that for any students who already own a kiln, the online experience with these features offered a different learning experience than an in-person class. This was the case for several reasons.

In Bullseye’s online classes:

  • Students plan and program their own firing cycles, which typically does not happen in a studio class.
  • Students set up the kiln shelf and kiln furniture on their own. (In a live class, a teaching assistant or the instructor does this.)
  • Students select their own supplies, including choosing glass colors. Typically, a studio class offers limited color options. When students select their own colors, the final projects reflect more palettes—students get the benefit of seeing the project completed in a wide array of palettes and sizes.
  • Follow-up projects: online class students have more confidence about following up their project with a new variation, perhaps because they are confident in how to set up and fire the piece, and have the support of the class guide, streaming video, and an online community to help with any questions.

It has been gratifying to see students take an online class, experience a new technique, and then run with it, making original work beyond the original class project. We have also noticed that more students are accessing classes because no travel is required.

Since “Under Pressure,” Bullseye has produced additional online classes based on the format described above, including many with guest artists. These artists include Tim Carey, Amanda Simmons, Richard Parrish, Nathan Sandberg, and Ian Chadwick, among others. We invite you to learn more at https://classes.bullseyeglass.com. Seeing how well students learn when they have less help from the teaching assistant has influenced our overall approach to in-person classes for beginners.

Tim Carey
Ian Chadwick

For example, in our introductory class, “Great Plates,.” students get access to a streaming video and illustrated class guide upon registration. As a result, less studio time is used to explain the process, and we now support students in programming their own firing cycles.

Taking a class like Great Plates further empowers students by qualifying them to use our Open Studio facilities, which now include the chance to use coldworking tools like our belt sanders and sandblasters, after a brief orientation.

Other ways Bullseye teaches our students is through our subscription program and again through in person classes.

To learn more stop by the Bullseye Glass Booth at the Gathering of the Guilds April 25-27 in Portland or visit their website or a Bullseye Resource Center

Thanks to our Sponsors!

These companies and organizations are an integral part of the glass art community. We thank our Sponsors for supporting our Guild through either generous donations or by offering discounts to our Members. Please take time to thank them for their generosity when you visit their businesses.

Gold Level Sponsors




Silver Level Sponsors

Artifex Toolworks – Glass Alchemy – HIS Glass Works