2021: March Issue

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PNWglassguild.org

Frog by editor Sharon Dunham

Upcoming events:

(Bolded events are Guild sponsored)

April 8 Guild Play Day: Flexi-Glass (Zoom)
Member only, please join before attending

April 18 Guild General Meeting: Mosaics (Zoom)
with Korry Dollar, open to all

April 21 Fuser’s Group (Zoom)

April 24-25 Garden art tour (In-person, Seattle)

April 30 – May 2 Gathering Of The Guilds (Virtual)


Contents

Featured Artist: Serena Smith

President’s Message

Editor’s Message

Gathering of the Guilds 2021 Update

Membership Update & Website Update

Guild Play Days Are Back

From Our Sponsor—The Last Stand

Read the whole issue on the website

Featured Artist: Serena Smith

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Serena Smith’s fused figure 1
Serena Smith’s fused figure 2

This work explores my interest in ideas of self and sensuality; the internal dialogue and the external representation.
Glass is a wonderful and complex material that encompasses many of the same issues that interest me. Like the body, it is a material that is at once extraordinarily fragile and extraordinarily strong; like the mind it can be both transparent and opaque; and, like humanity itself, no matter our knowledge or under-standing glass remains a mysterious thing.
Glass techniques
I started lampworking in 1991 and in 1993 went back to get my BFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. I am best known (if you can say that about yourself!) for my lampwork glass flower beads which you can find in my Etsy shop (SerenaSmithLampwork). I have also done casting, fusing, pate de verre, blown work, and I have found ways to incorporate lampwork in all those endeavors.
Quite a while ago now, I started making the line drawings (lampwork lines fused onto sheet glass). A couple years ago I started painting on paper again, watercolors, and thought I would try to recreate that imagery in glass, which you can also see here.
I’m looking forward to developing an Etsy shop to display my glass drawings at this year’s Glass Gallery at the Gathering of the Guilds Virtual show!

Serena Smith
Serena Smith’s fused figure 3

President’s Message

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Hello fellow glass artists!


It doesn’t seem possible it has been a year since Covid-19 started. We are still doing our board and general meetings online. Because we have many new members that live outside of the Portland area, we will continue to be online for these meetings as well as Play Days. Our next General Meeting will be exploring the use of Flexi-Glass on March 21st from 4-6PM. Mark your calendars and join us. Check the Event Calendar (under News and Events) for other meetings and Play Days being set up.


Our new website has launched. We will have gallery space for every member to have 9 photos of their work for people to see and buy through you. Please check out the guide on how to download and place/size your photos on the website.


Our name Oregon Glass Guild has changed to Pacific NW Glass Guild with the new website.
Stay well and keep on creating glass pieces.
Lyn Kennison,
President Pacific NW Glass Guild

Editor’s Message

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To all my fellow guild members,


Over 20 years ago George Kjaer, the founder of the Oregon Glass Guild, handed me a copy of the guild’s newsletter at a Hot Glass Horizons Show and Sale event. This was the start of my very long relationship with the glass guild. As a labor of love and as an homage to George, I started a quarterly newsletter while serving as the state board’s Secretary. It was my hope that the newsletter would augment other forms of guild communication and would help to feature our guild’s artists.


After having produced the newsletter for almost five years I have come to the difficult decision that this is my last edition (with the exception of a fuller In Memoriam tribute to Roger Thomas later this month). As the newsletter has been a quarterly publication the next issue would be scheduled for June or July. If you are interested in seeing the newsletter continue and would like to become the newsletter editor/director I would be more than happy to help in the process. Doing the newsletter has been a source of joy as I have gotten to know and feature many of you.

hank you for the opportunity to celebrate both the guild and you!

With gratitude, Sharon Dunham

2021 Gathering of the Guilds Virtual Show Update

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We didn’t know what to expect with our first online Glass Gallery show, but you all did not disappoint! We had 40 slots to fill, and we have just started a waiting list for the over flow.


Over the next month, Sharon and I will be working with the 40 artists who have signed up so far. If “something happens” and we have an opening, we will start at the top of the waiting list so if you think you might want to participate, please fill out the google form (link below) as soon as possible.
https://forms.gle/3Gr2DYYxoNwmwgBT9


The Gathering of the Guilds web site is still in development but I am attaching a draft image of the home page so you can see how lovely it will be. The most important thing for us will be to present the best images we can of our work to get customers excited about purchasing!


This year’s Glass Gallery at the Gathering of the Guilds will be a bit different since it is on-line rather than in person but it will still be well worth your time to visit. In fact, a virtual show is even easier to see.

Check-out what your fellow glass artists have been doing during the pandemic. Spot techniques you may want to try. Find a new piece for your wall, garden, or as a gift. The show begins April 30th; check it out at https://www.nwguildsshowcase.com/
Questions? For more information contact Serena Smith at serenasmith@embarqmail.com

Membership: Join and Renew

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We are pleased to announce that the Oregon Glass Guild is now the Pacific Northwest Glass Guild in recognition of our more regional focus. With our new name comes a brand new website, PNWglassguild.org.


Why join the Guild?


Keep learning new skills: The Guild has expanded its online presence with Zoom meetings, Play Days, videos, classes, and much more. In-person Play Days, classes and other learning opportunities will resume as soon as it is safe to do so.


Socialize with other glass enthusiasts at Guild sponsored events: In the post-Covid days ahead we’ll continue both in-person and virtual events:
Join the Members Facebook page for glass discussions with other Members.
This year Gathering of the Guilds is virtual.
Hopefully, come this summer we can begin to have in-person events: Open Studio Tours, our member only Summer Picnic, Holiday Party, and Vendor Fair. The Vendor Fair is our Annual Meeting when we elect new officers.
We hope to add events in other regions, such as sponsoring Seattle’s GlassAndDecor.com Studio Tour. As other areas of the Northwest gather members, we are open to having events in other regions.


Show off your work: The new site has an improved Member Gallery. Members can upload photos and captions of their work in addition to their artist contact information. Together, we can reach more glass collectors, potential students and possible new members. After you join or renew you will receive an email with detailed instructions for creating your gallery and making it public.


Publicize YOUR events: We are posting member shows and classes on our events calendar and our new Facebook page. You can also join our members-only Facebook discussion group and tell people about yourself.


Participate in Gathering of the Guilds: We had 40 slots to fill, and we have just started a waiting list for the over flow. See page 3 to get on the wait list.


Even if you are registered on the OGG website, you will need to fill out your information again on the new PNWglassguild.org website. Go to the Join page and follow the instructions as if you are a new member (not as a renewal). You can pay by credit card or check. Do not click on Renew because we are all NEW members to the PNW Glass Guild website.


If you haven’t signed up in the new website, you are a new member

Please click Join now!


Go to http://pnwglassguild.org/ to continue your exciting journey as a member of the Pacific Northwest Glass Guild! Log in and go to the Welcome page for help using your new benefits.

Regards,
Margie Rieff, Membership Chair PNW Glass Guild

Website Updates

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The New PNWglassguild.org Website Has Launched!


The new website will help tie together the wider Pacific NW region of glass enthusiasts, making it easier for you to find people in your area who share your passion.

The calendar shows a list view of all upcoming events, making it easy to scroll through to find things of interest to you throughout the region, including glass-related events submitted by members. To submit your show, class or event, log-in and use the form on the About > Contacts page.

You and the general public can scan through the Members’ Gallery to find artists and instructors in your area of interest. Clicking the artist brings up a page of up to 9 images and a short description of what they do. Participation in the Gallery is optional. For instructions, log in, and choose For Members > Website Help from the menu, scroll down to “Members’ Gallery”. OR try using the search feature on the home page by entering “Gallery Guide”.

If you’re participating in the virtual Gathering of the Guilds show which begins April 30th (see page 3 for details), be sure to upload your images here so we see YOU in the Members’ Gallery as well.

“1-Welcome to the Guild” at the top of Website Help has links to help with these and other membership benefits.

Guild Play Days are back!

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After missing “Play Days” for several months the Guild was happy to have them back! 15 people joined us on a Zoom Play Day with Karen Seymour. The topic was Fossil Vitria, how to use leaves and other organic matter to shape glass powder images. Karen supplied a list of supplies and two people worked along with her. The video and handout are now up our new website under Glass>Education, available to members once they log in. Great lessons and a great thank you to Karen Seymour.

Greta Schneider's patchwork

On March 13th the guild offered a Zoom Play Day “Making a Patchwork Quilt”. Led by past Vice President, Greta Schneider, it featured Tabitha Burrill’s patchwork YouTube video. Greta showed us how use enamels, stencils and powders instead of more expensive options, such as cane and murrini. Thanks Greta!

Sunday, March 21 from 4-6PM Sharon Dunham, PNWGG’s Newsletter Editor, facilitated a discussion about Flexi-Glass. This included Gil Reynolds How To video as well as several members’ works using this product. Plus Fusion Headquarters is giving 15% off on Flexi-Glass to MEMBERS through the end of March. Login for code


The meeting was recorded and should be available soon under Glass>Education. Thanks Sharon!

There will be a Flexi-Glass Play Day for Members on April 8th at 7pm via Zoom

From One of Our Sponsors—The Last Stand

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Gerald McBride:
I’ve always liked wood. There is something soothing in shaping and polishing a piece of wood and making it your own. I never wanted to work construction carpentry or that kind of wood-work, just the personal, touchy kind of woodwork.

Sponsor: The Last Stand, Gerald McBride


This might seem a little out there in a glass guild setting, but for years I worked with wood in my spare time, but always wanted to slump glass as a hobby. Now I have a bit more time on my hands everyone wants my woodwork and I have no time for glass.


My wife and I are both interested in glass, she does beautiful things with stained glass art and I break things in the kiln, although I’m learning and getting better, and sometimes I make things that resemble the ideas that were floating around in my head!


Making art stands was about the last thing I ever saw myself doing until someone asked me for a custom stand for an art piece so that it didn’t have to go in a window to catch the light and it could be displayed anywhere. So, that’s where we are now, sorting through wood to find the best pieces of grain, the wildest raw edges and the most prominent colors. I’m still looking for time to slump glass. I have endless enthusiasm and I would love to do custom display stands in coordination with PNW Glass Guild artists.
Gerald McBride, The Last Stand

In Memoriam: Roger V Thomas

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March 13, 1951—February 20, 2021

Editor’s Note: “Father of the Birch Tree”, “My Mr. Science”, JoAnn, Ingrid . . . Roger was many things to many people, among them Master Glass Artist, teacher, mentor. Celebrating your 70th birthday in the cosmos. So many are thinking of you. I will send out a fuller In Memoriam as soon as the official information is available. Forever in our thoughts.

Roger Thomas
Glass by Roger Thomas
Roger Thomas
Glass by Roger Thomas
Glass by Roger Thomas
Roger Thomas
Glass by Roger Thomas