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.

There will be a Vendor Fair in Redmond WA (near Seattle) May 11th and one in the Portland area October 12th. The purpose is to raise money for the Guild, give sponsors a way to interact with our members, give members a good deal on the donated items and have a fun time.

The May 11th Vendor Fair will be held at sponsor NW Art Glass in their newly remodeled ground floor classroom. Donated items from sponsors and anyone else will be part of a silent auction. Anyone interested in glass is welcome to attend.

Sponsor donations 2023

You are encouraged to bring finger food to share (Portland 2023)

Sponsors will be able to set up small displays on a space available basis. We will also have space for members who teach to put out class information. We already have a specialist grinder demo and a maker of wooden stands planning to be there. Contact Sponsorship to reserve a space or make a donation for the auction.

How did you learn to be a glass artist? Perhaps you took an initial class, and then began experimenting and learning on your own. Or were you fortunate to have a mentor or teacher take you under their wing and teach you the craft? While some glass artists have training through art schools, it is rare to encounter someone who was introduced to glass art or learned the skills in a formal way when they were young.

That is what is so remarkable about the Hilltop Artists program, one of the few programs of its kind in the country to introduce students as young as age 12 to glass art, including blown glass. Founded in 1994 by Dale Chihuly and Kathy Kaperick, the mission of Hilltop Artists is “Using glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to better futures.”

Celebrating its 30th year in 2024, the Hilltop Artists program, located in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington introduces young people ages 12-26 to the various forms of glass art through its partnership with Tacoma Public Schools and the glass art community. Middle school and high school students have the unique opportunity to learn glassblowing (the program operates two hot shops), fusing, torchwork, beadwork, and even neon through free school day, after-school, and summer school programs.

More advanced students go on to participate on the Production team, getting paid to work with professional artists to design and create commissions and public art installations. Students also have the chance to work with internationally renowned glass artists through residencies and partnerships with organizations such as the Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, the Appalachian Center for Crafts, Better Together (a BIPOC artists organization) and Corning Museum of Glass

Hilltop Artists serves more than 650 students every year. The majority of the teaching staff are alumni. Some alums have gone on to professional glass careers, including teaching, glass production, or working in glass studios. Student and alumni work has been exhibited at Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, Bainbridge Art Museum, and other prestigious institutions. Several Hilltop Artists alumni, including Jason McDonald, Edgar Valentine, and Trenton Quiocho have competed on Netflix’s glass competition show, Blown Away. The intergenerational rapport students form with alumni creates a powerful connection and motivation for students, and the alumni bring new ideas, creative energy, and artistic perspectives back to the program. Students also benefit from meeting and working with professional glass artists such as Dan Friday, Sayuri Fukuda, Cedric Mitchell, and Jen Elek. The value of such mentorship and support for young people, whether or not they go on to be glass artists, cannot be overstated.

Learning glass art skills and expressing their creativity through art is just a part of what Hilltop Artists offers youth. Hilltop Artists offers a safe, healing space for kids where they can receive care from supportive adults, connect with other students in healthy ways, and learn to express themselves through glass art. Students often come from challenging circumstances, and the program staff approaches each one holistically, meeting them where they are, building on their inherent strengths, and providing resources and support to help them overcome barriers to success. Working with Tacoma Public Schools and other community partners, Hilltop Artists offers assistance with basic needs such as food or housing for students’ families, as well as mentorship and guidance to complete their academic path and pursue an artistic career, if they so choose.

As stated by Executive Director Dr. Kimberly Keith, Hilltop Artists is committed to making a “…conscientious and sustained effort to remove barriers and hold space in the glass field/community for Black and Brown students and artists. Glass has been overwhelmingly white and male since the 12th century and continues to be one of the most expensive and exclusive art mediums.” The work that Hilltop Artists is doing benefits everyone in the glass art community, by teaching a diverse group of young people the art and science of glass, helping to ensure that glass art continues to thrive long into the future in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

If you are interested in learning more, volunteering, or seeing the program in action, check out their website: Hilltop Artists. If you live near Tacoma, you might want to attend one of their upcoming March events, including their March Gallery, the Third Thursday at the Museum of Glass (take advantage of the free admission!) or Hot Shop Hot Nights, featuring New York glass artist Adeye Jean Baptiste.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles profiling programs, projects, or people in the greater glass art world. If you know of a program in the Pacific Northwest that might be of interest to glass artists, please let the newsletter team know.

• The March 24th meeting has been postponed until May and will discuss kiln carving. Come and learn more, or bring samples of your own kiln-carved works and techniques to share! Contact our VPs Barbara Kienle and Carlyne Lynch to get on the speakers list or if you have an idea for a future meeting topic.

• Did you miss a recent meeting but wish you hadn’t?General meetings are open to everyone but you have to join the Guild and log in to view the videos:

Unedited videos of the January meeting on Enamels and the February meeting on how to use your Scrap are now posted. There are also many other meeting videos under Glass>Education.

Some of the recent videos are unedited in order to make them available sooner. If someone wants to help their fellow members by editing them we’d really appreciate it, please contact our VPs to volunteer.

Kiln carved example from Rae Williamson

Looking Ahead to Summer Picnics:

In July and August our General Meetings on Zoom are replaced by in-person potluck picnics. Members, spouses, friends and anyone else interested in discussing glass is welcome. Some picnics will also have a mold exchange. Mark your calendar now to attend at least one (and send us photos!):

Last summer at Gail Haskett’s

July 14, Keyport WA (Kitsap Peninsula, west of Seattle) hosted by Fred Buxton
July 28, Seattle, WA hosted by Karen Seymour –2fer: the Bellevue Art Museum Fair is all weekend
August 4, Turner OR (S of Salem) hosted by Rose and Gerald McBride
August 10, Battle Ground WA (N of Vancouver WA) hosted by Gail Haskett
August 24, Fairview OR (E Portland) hosted by Margie Reiff

Past events:

The first two General Meetings of 2024 were great and unedited recordings have been uploaded to the Glass>Education section of the website (“Enamel On Glass” & “Scrap Glass Tips“) for logged in members to see as mentioned in the “General Meetings” article above.

The February Sherlocking meeting in Portland had 10 people attending and the Glass Brunch in Seattle had 9 people attending but we have no photos of either.

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 if you can help it).

Future events

The Gathering of the Guilds show (GOTG) in Portland April 19-21 will take much of the Guild’s energy from now til then as previously mentioned. Be sure to attend if you can. You will be rewarded with lots of glass inspiration.
• See last year’s event writeup for photos of 2023.
• Please fill out the volunteer form and join a lot of other glass aficionados in helping put on the show. There are lots of jobs still needing to be filled: Photographer, Booth Sitter, Gallery set up or take down, Counter at the door and many more.

Rae Williamson came all the way from Canada to volunteer last year. Here she booth sits for Mitzi Kugler.

• Vendor Fair May 11 in Redmond WA, near Seattle (there will also be one in Portland October 12th) see article above.

• “Sherlocking” The monthly troubleshooting and discussion group is for members wanting to troubleshoot their glass pieces and techniques has decided to meet most 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 6:30 pm — April will be the 24th because of GOTG. In person near Portland and via Zoom. Check the Calendar for upcoming meeting dates.

General meetings in 2024 are via Zoom, usually on the 4th Sunday of most months, at 3:30 pm (not 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.

Spring Events:

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

(Guild sponsored events are in bold)

March
11 Board meeting via Zoom
20 Sherlocking, Fairview OR & Zoom
24 Vitrigraph Demo, by member Carlyne Lynch, Portland OR
24 General meeting via Zoom postponed until May
30 Flameworking demo by member Carlyne Lynch, Portland OR

April
8 Board Meeting via Zoom
13-14 Best of the Northwest art show, Seattle WA
19-21 Gathering of the Guilds Portland OR
24 Sherlocking, Fairview OR & Zoom
27-28 Art In Bloom garden art studio tour with lots of PNWGG members, Seattle

May
5 General Meeting via Zoom
11 PNWGG Vendor Fair, Redmond WA (near Seattle)
13 Board meeting via Zoom
15 Sherlocking, Fairview OR (E Portland) & Zoom
CANCELLED: PNWGG Booth at Portland Rose Festival Cityfair

(see the General Meetings article just above for the July and August picnic dates. Mark your calendar now!)

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

• President – Lesley Kelly
• Past President – Terry Thomas
• Vice Presidents – Barbara Kienle and Carlyne Lynch
• Secretary – Becky Meinhart
• Treasurers – Linda Roman
• Sponsorship Team Lead – Stephanie Johnston
• Membership Team Lead – Kate Nicklos
• Newsletter Team Lead – Greta Schneider
• Communications Team Lead – Stephanie Johnston
• Website Team Lead – Karen Seymour

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 Lesley Kelly (president@pnwglassguild.org) to volunteer or if you have any questions.

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.

This well-attended annual event will be held in a different, larger room at the Portland Convention Center [ booth sales have closed].

In February the GOTG committee will take unsold space and reallocate it to guilds who have already sold out so it’s important to buy your booth by the end of January to avoid missing your chance. Contact Lesley Kelly the GOTG coordinator if you have questions.

Booth prices and commissions remain the same as last year. See Registration info for specifics (this link will be available shortly both here and from the home page).

We’re counting on those who volunteered last year to do so again and talk their glass friends into volunteering too. Please fill out the volunteer form. It’s a great way to talk with other glass artists in person and be inspired by lots of great art.

The Washington State Governor’s Arts and Heritage Awards, announced in late November 2023, included two glass artists this year – Lino Tagliopietra and Ginny Ruffner both won Individual Awards.

These are very prestigious awards. According to the press release from ArtsWA, “Established in 1966, the Governor’s Arts & Heritage Awards are the highest honor bestowed by the Governor’s office for accomplishments in arts and culture.”

“These awards are a true community celebration,” said Karen Hanan, Executive Director of ArtsWA. “Nominations poured in from across the state with a clear message: Washington is home to outstanding artists, organizations, and culture bearers that deserve to stand up and be recognized. Their work enriches our communities and enlivens the entire state.”

Originally from Murano, Italy, Lino Tagliapietra is a world renowned glass artist who has had a huge influence on the world of art glass in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In 1979, Dale Chihuly invited him to the Pilchuck Glass School where he introduced students to the traditions of Venetian glassblowing. Tagliapietra continues to teach and mentor hundreds of artists. He played a key role in laying the foundation for the American Studio Glass movement. His work is displayed internationally as well as in his Seattle showroom.

Ginny Ruffner is a pioneering American glass artist based in Seattle, Washington, with a wide range of work. From lampworking to painted glass sculptures incorporating borosilicate glass, Ruffner has pushed the boundaries of glass art, even venturing into the world of augmented reality. Her public art installations can be found across the Pacific Northwest, including at the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Ruffner has inspired, mentored, taught, and supported hundreds of other artists both on her own and through SOLA, the nonprofit organization she founded which recognizes and rewards mature women artists.

Congratulations to both Tagliopietra and Ruffner! Both of these amazing artists have pioneered new techniques and styles, helping make Washington State an international hub for glass art. It is exciting to see fellow glass artists and the medium we love honored and celebrated in this way.

What are the most frequently asked questions in fusing?

• What to do with scrap?
• What is your firing schedule?
• What is the best glue?
• Is there a tutorial?

I want to share a glass project that truly made my holidays very special this year.

Let’s talk about scrap…we all have it.

For stained glass artists it becomes smaller art pieces and then over to mosaics for those beautiful shard creations. For fused glass artists there are pot melts, screen melts, vitrograph pots, pattern bars, and so forth.

Our Leduc Lions Club decided to bring some joy to the care homes in our community. We rounded up a choir of our members, picked some well known Christmas carols, dressed up our mascot Lion and brought some goodies with us.

One of the care facilities we wanted to visit did not allow plants, baked goods or chocolates…so the dilemma was, what could we bring as I did not want to disappoint the residents? Simple – since it was Christmas, I volunteered to make and donate a decoration for each person.

After a couple of days of production, I thought maybe I should ask how many decorations we needed. You can probably understand my surprise when the answer was approximately 85…just a few more than I had anticipated. Not a problem though as I had ten days, and I did not want to leave anyone out. I knew I needed to come up with a variety of designs to keep me on task though, as I am not a production artist.

I started by digging through my drawers, shelves, and scrap bin. I found I had a variety of different sizes/colors of dots; murrini and cane I could chop up or already had fused; scrap bits of dichro – some pre-fused, some unfused, a variety of colors of vitrograph pulls; bits of stringers and lots of scrap glass in my stock.

Thank goodness I fill in the extra space in every kiln load with bits, so I had lots of material to play with. I had some clear glass so cut out some triangles, put five together and decorated them…voila stars!

I love hearts so I cut out a heart template and traced it onto two layers of 3mm fiber paper. Using a craft knife, I cut out twenty hearts and filled them with bits of murrini and added some clear powder.

You know you can’t have Christmas without some trees and Santas right? These were made mostly of various triangles and bits of scrap glass, dichro, and stringers…aren’t they adorable?

Melted snowman followed next. I sometimes (well most of the time) have fun cutting white glass, so I had a big bin of white glass to play with for these. They were so fun to make. Just different sized circles, some black iridescent scrap for the hats and eyes and a bit of orange for the “carrot” nose. I added some stringer arms and more dichro scrap for buttons etc. and a little blue frit for contrast. (I recommend a tack fuse on these).

Lastly, we had to have some Christmas balls to put on the trees, so back to the scrap bins. The iridescent clear specialty glass was perfect for these. I made a circle and a teardrop shape and then decorated them. Next time I would add a bit of gold irid or silver irid at the top to represent the metal hanger.

I have some new ideas for next year already, but I’m happy to say that the residents and staff loved their little gift. Best Christmas ever!

Now, what will you do with your scrap??? Share your ideas at the February 25th General Meeting.

The Flash Play Day (see the link for firing schedules) was fun but most participants hadn’t had time during the holidays to finish their projects. Here are two variations explored by Karen Seymour:

Powder on clear with circular stencils

Set for first firing. The rectangles are powder on clear for the other project

Stacks of circles ready for second firing to melt them to puddles. The black steel frame is to keep them from running off the edge if I miscalculated.

The bottom side of melted stacks is sharper. It is the top that spreads out.

3 of the 6mm puddles set to smoosh to 3mm. As you can see in the next photo smooshing exudes the center of the 6mm and blurs the colors.

After the smoosh all 5 pieces were slumped. Here are the final bowls.

The second project was to cut 3/4 tall strips of flash glass (the rectangles in photo 2 above) and then cut them into patterns:

Pieces stacked, dammed, and ready to fire.

Resulting pieces from previous firing ready to melt into 6mm puddles

The resulting 6mm pieces ready for slumping

The final bowls

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The Next Newsletter Challenge:

Use your scrap glass, created by any method, in an art piece and send us a photo by March 1st so we can show off your work in the March Newsletter.

At the January 28th meeting, we will discuss “Using Enamels in Glasswork”. Sponsor Fusion Headquarters‘ owner Gil Reynolds will demonstrate how their lines of enamels work and which are best for certain types of work. Plus he will show some new techniques. We’ve also heard he may announce a short special sale on enamels for our members.

Several other people will be talking about other types of enamels and techniques (so far Greta Schneider and Rae Williamson)

On February 25th we will talk about “Ways to Use Your Scrap” Do you have an interesting way to use up scrap glass? Please contact our VPs so they can add you to the speaker lineup (and please send a photo of a scrap project for the March newsletter).

Enameled owl by Greta Schneider

The unedited November 2023 “Kid’s Projects” Meeting Recording is now available to logged in members under Glass>Education . Here are some images Rachel was trying to show in the video.

Did you miss a recent meeting but wish you hadn’t? Members can log in to view videos of recent General Meetings that have been uploaded to Glass>Education on the PNWGlassGuild.org menu. Some of the recent ones are unedited in order to make them available sooner. If someone wants to help their fellow members by editing them we’d really appreciate it, please contact Karen Seymour to volunteer.