issue-2023-03

2023: March Issue

PNWglassguild.org

Mitzi Kugler

Upcoming events: pnwglassguild.org/events/

(Bolded events are Guild sponsored)

2023

March
17 Member Evan Burnett on Think Out Loud podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting
25 General Meeting Zoom & Portland OR

April
3 Board meeting Zoom
15-16 Best of the NW art show Seattle, WA
28-30 Gathering of the Guilds, Portland OR
29-30 Art In Bloom studio tour, Seattle WA

May
3-6 Pilchuck spring tours, Stanwood WA
7 General Meeting via Zoom
26-29 Rose Festival display, Portland OR

June
2-4 Rose Festival display, Portland OR
9-11 Rose Festival display, Portland OR
9-11 Sorticulture, Everett WA
25 General Meeting via Zoom

member Ann Cavanaugh and sponsor Marvelous Mosaic submitted several classes to the calendar: check their websites for more details


Contents

  • Featured Artists: Mitzi Kugler, Gail Haskett
  • Gathering of the Guilds
  • Newsflash: Evan Barnett on OPB podcast
  • Rose Festival Display Opportunity
  • President’s Message
  • 2023 Board of Directors
  • Welcome to our Newest Members
  • Editors’ Spotlight: The Glass Guru, Inc.
  • Spring is Just Around the Corner
  • Which of these is You?
  • Website Tour, part 5
  • General Meetings
  • Play Days: Having Fun Together
  • Guild Notes
  • PNW Glass Events, past & future
  • Featured Sponsor: Creative Paradise Inc.
  • Thanks to All Our Sponsors

Read the whole issue on the website:
https://www.pnwglassguild.org/article-cat/issue-2023-03/

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

Featured Artist: Mitzi Kugler, West Linn OR

I believe that being a member of a guild you get out as much as you put in. You learn through active participation. Our guild has been through many changes, but it is still strong and will continue to morph through new members and new ideas always making us grow. You also gain friendship and comradery by having a ‘like’ interest plus someone to help you out when you can’t figure it out yourself.

Pacific Northwest Glass Guild – member since 2008
Positions held in guild: Past president; President; Open Studio Coordinator; Coordinator of Annual Meeting; Board member, Volunteer Coordinator for Gathering of the Guilds

I’m always changing and continue to transform my art by gaining new skills and honing already acquired ones. Now is a new adventure for me as I move from a glass artist to a multi-medium artist. I will still fuse and lampwork glass, but it will be reduced while my metal work will intertwine and becoming one with my glass. I’m excited for my new adventure because I love integrating the two mediums together. See more of Mitzi’s work in the Member’s Gallery or at her store https://mitzikart.com/store

Newsflash:

Friday March 17th see and hear Member Evan Burnett on “Think Out Loud” show on Oregon Public Broadcasting and OPB radio stations — this opportunity came from Evan being a guild member and was one of several suggested when OPB contacted the Guild for someone who’s artwork process would give a soundtrack.

“Think Out Loud” airs from 12-1 p.m. each weekday and again at 8 p.m. on all OPB radio stations. Here’s a list of where people can listen based on location. “Think Out Loud” also stream online. Stay tuned as we will post a link once the program airs and it will include pictures from the shoot.

Here is a direct link to the segment featuring Evan OPB link

Gathering of the Guilds April 28-30

The Group Booth is nearly full with a wide variety of glass guild members exhibiting their work for the first time at GOTG. A new feature this year is a special section dedicated to the work of new and upcoming artists. There is still room for more and the deadline for sign up is April 8th. The booth will also feature a charity table with items from all 5 guilds for sale. The proceeds will be donated to a relief fund for the people of Ukraine.

We are almost sold out of the booths featuring one or two artists exhibiting their work.


Two Spotlight artists have signed up and more are signing up in the next couple of weeks, which will give us a fantastic way of showing off the work of guild artists who aren’t available to have booths in the show. The deadline for sign up is April 19th.

Demonstrations will be ongoing by the glass artists participating in the show. This is one of the most popular activities of the show and we are quite pleased to be able to resume this activity this year.

Detail of a window showing both copper foil and lead came before soldering
Cutting glass for a piece

Publicity has started in newspapers, TV, social media, and other outlets so look for those ads from here on out that will feature work of vendors in the show.

We will be displaying a list of the names of our members who teach classes and their contact information so prospective students can contact them to sign up for their classes.

Anyone can participate:

As always we’ll need lots of volunteers to make this event happen. Fill out the form so we know who you are. If you have any questions please contact our volunteer coordinator Greta Schneider

FREE ADMISSION! Don’t forget to share information on the show with your family, friends and co-workers and we will see you there.

2023 Portland Rose Festival Booth

Pacific Northwest Glass Guild has been approached about providing an opportunity for our member artists to sell within the Maker’s Market at the 2023 Portland Rose Festival CityFair.

Makers Market Booth Opportunity

Portland Rose Festival planners are offering PNWGG an opportunity to have our member artists have a booth during the 2023 Rose Festival CityFair. The booth would be part of the Makers Market and envisioned to include at least four booths. The CityFair exhibit space is within a fully fenced perimeter and includes 24-hour security.

The PNWGG booth would be 10’x10′ space and Portland Rose Festival will provide tent, table, two chairs, and one 20amp/120volt electrical outlet. This means you will have the ability to add a few lights to showcase your glass art. If possible and practical, they are interested in having working artists as part of the booth at times.

The daily fee would be $25 per day and can be split between the vendor artists for that day. A $25 deposit will be required as part of the registration process. Final amount will be due once final vendor lineup has been determined.

2023 CityFair Dates & Hours

  • May 26 5pm – 10pm
  • May 27-29 12pm – 9pm
  • June 2 – 4 12pm – 9pm
  • June 9 – 11 12pm – 9pm

Location: Tom McCall Park, Downtown Portland

PNWGG Guidelines

  • PNWGG signage and materials need to be prominently displayed. 
  • Member Artist to provide their own signage
  • Member Artist to supply their own point-of-sale devices
  • Booth Selling Opportunity open to PNWGG members only. Membership must be current and paid.
  • PNWGG members must be willing to promote PNWGG during their sale
  • Space and Time Slots can be shared with other member artists (have to be current and paid members as well) with daily booth fee prorated accordingly.
  • Minimal set-up or tear down during Festival operating hours

What is the Portland Rose Festival CityFair?

Rose Festival CityFair is Portland’s largest waterfront event. Open three full weekends, CityFair features exciting attractions, concerts, and exhibits plus great food and shopping.

What you can find at Rose Festival CityFair:

Entertainment – CityFair is also proud to showcase the best local music and performance art from the Northwest and beyond on three stages.

Free activities – Family-friendly displays, interactive educational exhibits, sponsors offering free samples, and a dramatic opening night fireworks display are among the great activities that are included with CityFair admission. The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and the Royal Canadian Navy sail in during the final weekend of CityFair for Fleet Week.

Questions?

Reach out to event planning team leader Carlyne Lynch.

Interested? Sign up today!

Register today for a great opportunity to market your art at the 2023 Portland Rose Festival CityFair while spreading the word about Pacific Northwest Glass Guild. Registration Deadline is April 30, 2023.

2023 Board of Directors

The 2023 PNWGG Board of Directors are:

  • President – Terry Thomas
  • Vice President – Rachel Dollar
  • Secretary- Haley Wigent
  • Co-Treasurers – Linda Roman and Kate Nicklos
  • Sponsorship Chair – Linda Gerrard
  • Membership Chair – Rae Williamson
  • Newsletter Chair – Greta Schneider
  • Communications Chair – Stephanie Johnston
  • Website Chair – Karen Seymour

A special thank you to Jennifer Hart who has volunteered to shadow Rachel Dollar during 2023. We are looking for other members to shadow board members 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 Terry Thomas (president@pnwglassguild.org) to volunteer or if you have any questions.

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 brings 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.

Vickie Buckner Camas WA
Julie Erickson Sedro Wooley WA
Ken Hashagen Portland OR
Wendy Hatch Mukilteo WA
Lee Jones Aumsville OR
Catherine La Tempa Beaverton OR

Kylea Le Mond Portland OR
Teri Ruter Endicott WA
Joanie Schwartz Anacortes WA
Debbie Vourlas Vancouver WA
Tracy Walstead Longview WA
Nellie Witt Vancouver WA

Editors’ Spotlight: The Glass Guru, Inc

Bob Thompson

and His Fabulous Glass from Around the World

(Bob is not only a member of our guild…..but spent most of his life working with incredible glass products from all over the world that were used in mostly architectural projects. He lives in Portland OR and has also been a longtime supporter of our guild plus done classes with and purchased glass art from many of our members. He is sharing some of his unique history with glass here. We will break this story and photos into three parts over the next three newsletters. The last section will show his more recent innovative use of mostly non fusible glass using special UV glues.)

I got into the International Decorative Glass business more by default than intention.It seemed, at the time, no one else could see the potential, creative possibilities and market for the beautiful and unusual glass I was fortunate to have gained access to.The glass business was the final link in the chain of six distinct, unique and satisfying careers that stretched, unbroken, back through my life. I couldn’t proceed to the next link until the last one had been forged in place. There was also an enormous amount of serendipity, synchronicity and blind luck involved that connected this chain together.

Bob Thompson, our Glass Guru

The foundation started with a child who always liked making and building stuff and helping others who were doing the same. It continued with a wonderful, transformative High School art teacher and then an extensive and comprehensive education in architecture, followed some years later by a glorious four years in Europe. This was an Age long before computers, cell phones, computer aided design (CAD), color TV and the internet. Everything was done by hand, lettering, arrowheads at the ends of dimension lines, prospectives and watercolor skies done in the bathtub for project renderings.

Skipping ahead through the next exciting, dynamic thirty-six years, we have to pause a tthe link preceding the last glass link in my life chain.I was asked by a friend, who had taken over the Pella Window franchise in Oregon, to run the Commercial window, department of one, since I was familiar with most of the architects in town and a member of the AIA (American Institute of Architects). These were part of the residue of relationships from the previous career that was now complete. I had also recently completed a course in the new Auto Cad technology that had recently come to market that pre-empted my MBA program at PSU which no longer seemed relevant at this point in my life at the tender age of 45.

A fabulous and ever changing play of light possible with glass in architecture

The time in the commercial portion of Pella produced some noteworthy projects such as the Mt. Saint Helen’s Visitors Center, the Vollum Science Center at OHSU, the window replacement in the historic McKensie Hall at OHSU, student housing window replacement at Willamette University, window replacement in the historic Post Office building in Corvallis with large double-hung windows that only Pella could do, the Engineering building at OIT in Klamath Falls, the tear down and windows in the rebuilt, historic Crater Lake Lodge and Ranger buildings, the window replacement in the Children’s wing of the Providence Medical Center in Portland and the Water Resource Building for the Portland Water Department with the largest order for tilt-turn windows anywhere in the country.

One of the unique features of Pella windows happened to be the introduction of low emissivity glass (Low-E) that totally revolutionized the energy efficiency of windows and the cost savings in energy use for customers. No one else in the window industry was offering this technology and no one was producing this type of glass in the States. As a result, Pella was buying it from Glaverbel in Brussels, Belgium. One interesting facet of the glass business is that there were only six major manufacturers in the world and they owned all the other glass companies. By chance, the company that owned Glaverbel was Asahi Glass Company in Japan, the largest glass producer in the world.

Again, a gorgeous play of light that changes as the sunlight moves across a building.

They had been part of the massive Mitsubishi conglomerate that had, theoretically, been broken up into separate pieces after World War II, but there still remained some close interlocking relationship between the companies. As a result of my dealings with Asahi, through their subsidiary in the U.S., AMA Glass (one Asahi representative, one from Mitsubishi and one American), I was introduced to their lady rep. who had been marketing Asahi glass throughout the East Coast, South and Mid-West for some ten years. They had been selling mostly wire-glass for safety installations, but she showed me their catalog of amazing interior glass unlike anything anyone could possibly imagine in this country and Iwas totally ‘hooked’. She also showed me some samples of their line of ‘Shoji glass’ laminated patterns.

To a person with creative inclinations, this was exciting stuff and I could see the potential for diversifying my marketing efforts to all the Interior Designers as well as architects in town. I contacted the AMA Glass manager at their office in Los Angeles and he agreed to come to Portland and, over a cup of tea, we agreed to import and market their interior glass products. This had never been done before, since Asahi had not the slightest interest in marketing these products in this country because they could sell their entire interior glass production at home. I happened to show some of the Shoji patterns to the Interior Designer working on the new NIKE International Headquarters in Beaverton and they were interested.

The beautiful tower in Orlando Florida.

Culturally, the Japanese are interested in privacy, while the Americans are interested in transparency. One of the patterns was selected, but was too opaque, so a NIKE team flew over to Tokyo and had a meeting with Asahi. In two weeks, Asahi came back with two more transparent versions, ‘Cloud Dragon 6 and 8’, the higher number being the most transparent, and ‘Cloud Dragon 8’ was approved. The Pella International Glass business was off and running (pun intended). We imported and furnished all of the glass in the doors, relites, signage, work cubicles and name plates on the desks throughout all the buildings in the complex, the airplane hanger in Hillsboro and later, the additional Sequent Computer buildings that were leased in an expansion off the main campus.

Our little Pella franchise had also expanded into doors, wood trim and mill work for the residential market as a diversification move. Unfortunately, this did not meet with resounding approval at the Mother Pella headquarters in Pella, Iowa. They surmised that we were getting too far from the primary business of windows and doors as well as the other Pella products and we needed to promptly exit all this glass foolishness and other extraneous distractions.


Both transmitted and reflected light affect the look of glass structures.

This was the beginning of the financial demise of our franchise in Oregon for a number of other non-related reasons. Eventually, the franchise was sold to the one in California and later to Washington, effectively ignoring Oregon. The owner decided to shut down the commercial unit along with the Asahi glass distribution and so, this link in the chain came to a necessary end.

An ever changing light colors and patterns……
A different hour and a different look.

Which of these is You?

Likes to meet new people: contact prospective members and members who have had trouble joining or renewing to resolve the issue (please contact Rae Williamson to join the membership team)

Likes to solve puzzles: figure out and document solutions to help other volunteers with the website (please contact Karen Seymour to join the website team).

Likes to teach: edit and improve the “Glass” section of the website (please contact Terry Thomas to join the education team).

Wants to be in the know: be the person who puts events up on the website and sends out the emails about them (please contact Stephanie Johnston to join the Communications Team).

Has a flare for presentations: edit the General Meeting and Play Day videos in YouTube before linking them to the education section of the website (please contact Terry Thomas to join the education team).

Seeks education: research and coordinate subsidized classes for members and help the VP set up General Meetings (please contact Terry Thomas to join the education team).

Runs meetings well: The Vice President organizes and runs the General Meetings and is part of the Education Team. We’ll be voting for a new Vice President in October. We’re also going to need a President and a Secretary (the currently serving volunteers have served the allowed maximum of 2 consecutive 1 year terms). Please contact the President about running for office.

Likes to sit back and watch: if you leave it to everyone else you risk losing all the benefits the Guild is trying to bring to its members: bargains in the classifieds, access to opportunities from subsidized classes to organized shows, discounts from sponsors, and all the networking and new glass-friends you won’t even know you missed.

We can train you to do any of these except the last item. You just need to be willing to give about 3 to 6 hours a month to our community in return. You’ll get so much more in return.

Website Tour: 5) “For Members” Menu

We’re pausing our member benefits series to cover the website in detail so you know better know how to use this tool to further your glass experience.

When you go to PNWGlassGuild.org and Log in “For Members” is added to the top menu. “Join” and “Login” disappear. You’ll see this drop-down:

I) Member Contacts List
When we invite you to reach out to new members in your area, or if you meet someone at a Play Day, Guild Picnic, or other event here’s where you can find their contact info.

2) Member News and Classifieds
This is an archive of recent Member News and Classified emails. You can quickly find that recent offer to sell a kiln or person looking for a repair.

3) My Profile: Set up what you display in the Members’ Gallery. Note that you need to turn it on in the privacy settings in “My account” for the public to see it.

4) My Account your account settings such as renewal date, list of payments, email preferences, turning on your Member’s Gallery display so the public can see your work etc.

5) Website Help: Here’s where “Welcome to the Guild” outlines how to take advantage of your benefits including guidance in setting up your Members Gallery display, how to access you Member Benefits, controlling what emails you get from the Guild and anything else that we find more than 1 person asking for help with. There are more detailed help posts here for volunteers who edit the website. If you have any suggestions for additions or corrections to the website help please contact Karen Seymour

6) Guild Documents: here’s where you find the Board Meeting minutes, the Policies and Procedures, and Officer Job Descriptions (the list of current officers is under About>The Guild as discussed in the January 2023 issue).

7) Log out: this is mostly used by volunteer editors who want to switch between what an editor sees and what the public sees. You should also use this after posting your profile to the Member’s Gallery to see if it shows up when you are not logged in. If not, you forgot to turn it on. Log in and see “Members’ Gallery: adding your work” under For Members>Website help for more info.

Tip: if you log-in first whenever you go to the website, you’ll be able to see more, especially in this case.

If you are not yet a member and therefore can’t Login we encourage you to join by pushing “Join” from the menu so you can take advantage of the many benefits (your dues help us pay for the software that runs the website).

March 25th General Meeting 3:30-5:30

Want to Learn More About The Magic of Vitrigraph?

For several hundred years glass crafts people have created murrine, small slices of cane traditionally created in hot shop crucibles. This ancient technique required hot glass to be melted in crucibles around the clock. The Vitrigraph kiln changed that and now within a few hours artists can replicate this hot shop process and produce cane and elements for their fusing glass projects.

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Hot glass being pulled from the bottom of a vitrigraph kiln

At the Saturday March 25th meeting Carlyne Lynch will explore the tools and design methodology for creating cane (the precursor to murrine). This meeting will be a live in-person presentation as well as a Zoom meeting (Log in and see the event listing for the Zoom link). We welcome all to either session.

It will be held in the Annex of Artistic Portland Gallery: the address is 4110 NE Fremont, Portland (see map).

Many examples of cane will be available to see and explanations on how it were designed will be revealed. Carlyne Lynch will share design tips on the innumerable possibilities for Vitrigraph. You do not need to own your own kiln, just get to know one of the many Vitrigraph owners in our Guild. See you there!

Pulling hot glass from a vitrigraph kiln
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Close up of murrine made by pulling organized glass from a vitrigraph kiln

May 7th General Meeting 3:30 via Zoom

Slumping, Draping, Kiln Casting etc.

What is your most unusual shaping tool? What’s the best firing schedule to use for it? This is a show and tell of things you’ve tried that worked and those that didn’t. Bring your questions such as “What is SilkeMat and how do you use it?” “Can you fire on stainless steel screen without the glass sticking?”…

Please contact VP Rachel Dollar to get in the speaker line up (it makes things run so much smoother to know who to call on next).

Log in and see the event listing for the Zoom

Leaf by Lael Bennett shaped by firing on stainless screen

Next meeting June 25th: Public Glass Art 3:30 via Zoom

Where do you find public art, how do you get such commissions, what challenges should you expect. We’re assembling a set of local artists who have done public installations — please contact VP Rachel Dollar if you’ve got some experiences to share or know someone who might have.

Play Days: Having Fun Together

Greta Schneider: “Several of us had a wonderful time getting together in person recently for a Play Day at Shirley Bishop’s home to learn about making silicone molds for Freeze’n’Fuse from Stephanie Johnston. I would say we made a bit of a mess at times and it was pretty funny and some of us actually made some molds but it was fun either way and it was still a learning experience. We arrived with various kinds of silicone and liquid soap. We learned the molds work best with 100% clear silicone, COLD water and very soapy soap!I would say we would all highly recommend Play Days for both the camaraderie and the lessons learned. It is also a great way to make new friends and welcome new members to the glass guild! Thanks to Shirley and Stephanie for the lovely time.”

Some finished molds (Stephanie Johnston)

Shirley Bishop couldn’t wait to try her new molds for Freeze & Fuse. The unmolded powder pieces are on the left side (except for the stars which are commercial molds) just out of the mold and ready to go into the kiln. In the next photo they are fired. Shirley wrote “The fish was curved so it broke in 1/2 when it flattened. The starfish legs are not deep enough so they all separated. The ones in the right are the candy molds. I’m surprised the green succulent broke like that

If you want more info here is a video on silicone mold making and one on freeze & fuse and there are more available on YouTube. Give it a try and invite your glass friends.

You’ll notice another Play Day coming up in Portland on Fiberglass Mold Making (there are no spaces left and they have a waiting list). Thanks to Margie Reiff and Linda Ethier for organizing it and to Linda Ethier for hosting.

Think about hosting a Play Day in your area and make new glass friends. We’ve added a list of suggested topics under the Glass menu>Play Days. Log in and fill out the “submit calendar event” form (it’s under About>contact us). If you have difficulty with the form please contact Karen Seymour

Note that Play Days are member only events: Please Join the Guild before attending.

Guild Notes

February 8th was the 2nd Board meeting of the new year.

Gathering of the Guilds booth sales progress and Charity booth info were reported by Lesley Kelly. Having a booth at the Rose Festival was discussed (see article above).

The next Board meeting will be April 3rd

You’re part of the team: Please send in photos of your glass events, new techniques you’re trying, problems you’re having etc. so we may include them in the next newsletter!

Pacific NW Glass Events, past & future

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 publicity team (400 to 600 px or “medium” resolution, about 500 KB, not more than 1MB).

General meetings in 2023

Zoom, usually on the 4th Sunday of most months, at 3:30pm. Contact Rachel Dollar, our VP, 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.

Spring events:

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

(Guild sponsored events are in bold)

March
18 Play Day (Full)
25 General Meeting Zoom & Portland: (note this is a Saturday) Vitrigraph and Murrine
31 Local 14 show application new deadline

April
1 Troutdale Arts Festival application deadline
3 Board meeting Zoom
15-16 Best of the NW show Seattle, WA
28-30 Gathering of the Guilds, Portland OR
29-30 Art In Bloom garden art studio tour, Seattle WA

May
3-6 Pilchuck spring tours, Stanwood WA
7 General Meeting via Zoom
26-29 Rose Festival display, Portland OR

June
2-4 Rose Festival display, Portland OR
9-11 Rose Festival display, Portland OR
9-11 Sorticulture, Everett WA
25 General Meeting via Zoom

member Ann Cavanaugh and sponsor Marvelous Mosaic submitted several classes to the calendar: check their websites for more details

Featured Sponsor Creative Paradise Inc.

Creative Paradise is dedicated to providing innovative projects and tools to light the creative fire in every artist. Plaster molds for casting ceramics, plaster forms to aid the clay hand building artist and potter as well as the world’s most innovative line of earthenware molds for glass artists are designed and manufactured at our facility in Goddard, KS. Dedicated to innovation, quality and customer satisfaction, Creative Paradise, Inc. continues to discover fresh new concepts and tools.

Contact Us:
Creative Paradise, Inc.
PO Box 734
415 Industrial
Goddard, KS 67052

Telephone: 316-794-8621
Fax: 316-794-8226
creativeparadiseinc@live.comPlease be aware that for the best discounted prices on our molds it is best to buy through a local distributor. We offer retail prices only to the public. Click on the distributor menu option to find the nearest distributor to you.


Please do not use High Temp Slide glass separator on any of your Creative Paradise, Inc molds. It does not work with our molds.

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




Skutt logo

Silver Level Sponsors

Artifex Toolworks – Glass Alchemy – HIS Glass Works