Sponsor News

Learning Better with Technology at Bullseye

Along with everyone in the Northwest, Bullseye Glass Co. continues to work through challenges brought by the pandemic and the record-breaking summer heat. A year and a half ago, 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.

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 better learning experience than an in-person class. This was the case for several reasons.

In Bullseye’s online classes:

• 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 plan and program their own firing cycles, which typically does not happen in a studio class.
• 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.

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.

This very hard year and a half has left us with a silver lining: we can do things in new ways if we keep an open mind.

In the beginning, there was Roses Glass & Gifts. A small gift shop that included stained glass and lessons.
Several years later a fair Damsel named Pam stumbled across this store, took some lessons, became a teacher, and thus decided to purchase this small store with her husband Mitch – The knight in dented armor.

Over the next year, the store was registered as “Roses Glassworks Art Glass School Inc.” The small building was cleaned, painted , gifts gone – glass art filled the studio, inventory changed and expanded, everyone happy, and the Kingdom thrived.

Roses has not only survived the last couple decades under the tender care of Pam and Mitch, but has grown to be a first class adult art school, glass art studio and retail supplier giving people almost anything they could desire within the Art Glass Realm.

Roses Glassworks carries 96 COE fusible glass with supplies, many different manufacturers of stained glass, clear textured glass, and above all, Roses Glassworks strives to keep all the dragons at bay by keeping all shelves full.

Come visit us some fortnight, or seek us out online. www.rosesglassworks.com / (5030 246-9897
Roses Glassworks Art Glass School , 10105 SW Hall Blvd. Portland Oregon 97223
info@rosesglassworks.com Tuesday – Thursday 10am – 6pm , Friday 10am – 3pm , Saturday 10am – 4pm

Marvelous Mosaics

Marvelous Mosaic specializes in stained glass on glass mosaics. We offer retreats, classes, custom mosaics, shower and backslash installs and much more! https://marvelousmosaic.com/

Kory Dollar is a stained glass mosaic artist from the Pacific Northwest. She has been creating colorful mosaics for 23 years and is a self-taught artist.
Kory uses a wide range of materials to create her mosaics searching far and wide for unique bits and pieces that can be turned into treasures. She strives to keep items out of the landfill by recycling stained glass, antique bottles, vintage windows, and just about any piece she can find beauty in. She uses color and texture to create 3-dimensional elements in nature and fantasy. All of the works of art she creates are one-of-a-kind and assembled one piece at a time, making sure every piece is placed perfectly. Kory uses a broad range of materials, shaping them to fit like puzzle pieces, combining texture, reflectivity, and spacing to achieve her vision. She is intrigued by mandalas, nature, and the human body. Her inspiration comes from her surroundings; “I watch nature and people, studying movement, expression, tone, and light. I allow my imagination free reign, creating vivid themes and dramatic expressions for others to interpret.”

Glass Expressions

Glass Expressions has been in business in Burien since 1974.  Glass Expressions sells fusing glass and supplies in addition to standard stained glass supplies. We’ve been doing custom stained glass projects and repairs since 1983. M Kathy Johnson teaches basic stained glass and bead making. Her business partner, Lael Bennett teaches beginning fusing, reactive glass fusing and jewellery fusing classes. In normal times we offer our students and semi-experienced stained glass artists an open-lab membership program. We also have kilns available for firing projects for customers who don’t have their own kilns. “We hope to see you soon.”

http://glassexpressions.com/

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.

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

Colour de Verre principals are two people with very different skill sets. Craig Smith is a ceramic designer and master mold maker. Early in his career, Craig designed and created wares for the craft gallery marketplace, work that has been featured in presentations of The Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery. Later in his career, he developed complex ceramic and porcelain mold systems for other artists and industries throughout North America and Europe.
His business partner, Larry Jacobsen, started his career in high-tech marketing specializing in children’s gaming and entertainment software. Craig serves as the company’s creative director and is responsible for all the company’s designs. Larry leads operations and marketing.

Prior to starting Colour de Verre, Craig had been experimenting with glass. He met with glass artists to learn about their processes and how they worked with glass. He quickly realized that most glass workers were intimidated by the idea of creating their own molds. However, these same people were eager to expand beyond the plates, platters, and bowls that are staples of glass fusing. Craig saw an opportunity to combine his knowledge of ceramics, glass, and mold systems to create the technology and systems that form the basis of Colour de Verre.

• Good design—The founders wanted to create sophisticated designs that served as a springboard for the artist’s own creativity. They didn’t want to “hem in” the artist, but, on the other hand, wanted designs that inspired users.
  
• Informative content—Craig and Larry realized people need good instructions, firing schedules, and inspiration. The company shouldn’t be about selling molds, but, instead, about enabling a successful, creative experience. This also meant sourcing and testing reliable separation agents. Craig found a separation agent used in metal casting called ZYP. It was the perfect primer for Colour de Verre’s molds and has since become an ubiquitous tool in the casting community.
  
• Quality—Larry and Craig partnered with domestic art potteries to produce Colour de Verre products. This made it easier to monitor quality and to bring new designs to the market quickly. Further, it was important to the founders that the people producing Colour de Verre products were making living wages, and were working in a healthy environment. All of Colour de Verre products are made in the Pacific Northwest.

Fast forward 15 years: Colour de Verre sells its product through every major art glass distributor in North America and Western Europe. In the Pacific Northwest people can purchase Colour de Verre products through Bullseye Glass or online through Colour de Verre’s website. However, Colour de Verre’s website serves a more important role than just a sales portal. It hosts a plethora of project sheets, firing schedules, and educational videos. While there have been imitators, Colour de Verre is still known as the originator of this format and the premier product line.
If you have questions about Colour de Verre or its products, don’t hesitate to call or email them. Contact information can be found at www.colourdeverre.com/go/contactus.