Return in Spring

We are back home from our Australian adventure and loving the beautiful Alberta spring weather. Our last four months there were full of great experiences and accomplishments. Tyler has completed his masters in visual art and Julia was an artist in residence at the renowned Canberra Glassworks. For both of us this time was incredibly creative and productive and we have returned home with new ideas and many plans. We will be busy this spring participating in a glass symposium at the Alberta College of Art and Design and a group exhibition, “Assembly of Light” at Endeavor Arts Gallery
 I hope you can join us for this event. The studio will also be busy with two beginner glassblowing workshops in May & June and we are creating a custom annual award for the Rozsa Foundation. On a more international level Tyler’s work will be featured in an exhibition at the South Australia School of Art Gallery and we have both been published in an Australian magazine Craft Arts International. To have this recognition of our work on both a local and international level is something we are quite pleased about.
The studio is open for visits and tours by appointment and we have some new pieces available here at the studio for wedding/ birthday and hostess gifts. Please give us a call or send us an email if you would like to stop by the studio. I have attached an images of Tyler’s masters exhibition, other images can also be found on our facebook page.

Artist Residency at the Canberra Glassworks

I ( Julia) have spent the past month as an artist in residence at the Canberra Glassworks. What an amazing facility! I was lucky enough to have the time to work like a mad scientist experimenting with what glass will let me do , and it turns out it will do a lot! I have some great test pieces, knowledge of new processes and I feel inspired by the artists I met and worked with there. Here are some images of some of my tests and the space I worked in.

A lovely piece of work

Back in the fall our friends Lana and Adam came to the studio one night and shot a video of us working. We love the detail shots or Tyler making his chandelier for his master graduate piece and there is also some images of me making my ice series bowls. The up close images reflect the calm repetition that goes into making fine craft. There is also a nice image of our assistant Sam Clemencon’s hands at the end spreading the ice crystals .
http://vimeo.com/58855738

Us n Oz & NZ

We are back down under again while Tyler finishes up his masters at the University of South Australia and I am set to do an artist residency at the Canberra Glassworks ( lucky me!) We have had a great time so far reconnecting with the dynamic glass community here and on our way were lucky enough to teach a workshop at Chronicle Glass Studio in New Zealand. We had a fabulous time getting to know some of the glass community there and really enjoyed working with the students in our 3 day Anatomy of Vessel workshop. The workshop explored vessel and forms with demonstrations and aesthetic discussions about proportion, design basics, form and function. Everyone had a good time working together and some lovely pieces were made.

Studio Open House

Our Christmas Studio Open House is next Saturday! December 1st from 11am to 5pm at Firebrand Glass.
We have been busy in the studio creating Christmas ornaments, platters, wine decanters and many other beautiful one of a kind glass pieces. Please join us to view our new work, see some exciting demonstrations and enjoy holiday season refreshments.
We have also set the dates for our spring weekend workshops:
-May 18/19th
-June 15/16th
These classes offer one on one instruction on the fascinating art of glassblowing.
For further information on the open house, custom gifts, workshop gift certificates or any upcoming events, please contact me at julia@firebrandglass.ca

Christmas Open House

Mark your calendars and pass on the attached invitation to friends and family. Our annual Winter Open House will take place December 1st from 11-5pm! Please join us to view our new series of work inspired by our stay in Australia, as well as enjoy some exciting demonstrations and holiday season refreshments.

Our custom business has been growing significantly in the past few years. As well as creating commissioned gifts and employee awards, we have also begun hosting customized Christmas events in the studio. These events are ideal for groups looking to do something that is fun, unique, exciting and social this holiday season while having a chance to create glass pieces of their own.

For further information on custom gifts or any of these events, please contact me at julia@firebrandglass.ca or visit our website www.firebrandglass.ca

For the month of December the studio will also be open to the public Monday to Saturday 10-7pm, or by appointment.

Glassblowing Workshops this Fall

You’ve heard about it, watched it being done, now you can try it! Glassblowing can be done by people of all ages and skill levels. Due to continuing popular demand, Firebrand Glass is offering glassblowing weekend workshops this fall. Don’t miss this opportunity! Only three weekends are being offered,
September 29/30th
October 20/21st
November 17/18th
The courses are an affordable $275.00 which includes two days of instruction, all materials, tools, and glass art you create and keep. Book early and guarantee a place in one of Canada’s premier glassblowing studios.

Each intensive class will utilize one-on-one instruction to guide participants of all skill levels, beginner to experienced, in a fun, step-by-step approach to the fascinating process of blowing glass. You’ll not only create beautiful, blown glass artwork to keep but will take away the memory of a unique and meaningful experience. Register as an individual or book a one-of-a-kind weekend vacation as a family or corporate teambuilding workshop – we’ll customize a weekend just for you!

In order to keep the participant/instructor ratio quality highest, class size is limited to eight per class. Classes are booked on a first come first serve basis. To register or for more information, please contact us at Julia@firebrandglass.ca or phone 403-933-2264.

We hope you are enjoying summer and look forward to sharing our passion for glass with you this fall!

We’re Finalists!

Both Tyler and I are thrilled to be chosen as finalists in the Ranamok Glass Prize. The Ranamok is considered the premier showcase of art glass offers a prize of $15,000.00 for work that is innovative, displaying excellence and imagination in quality of idea and execution in contemporary practice. There will be a catalogue of the show published. For more information to order catalogues go to: http://www.ranamok.com
As there is a touring exhibition of the finalists at the following locations.
Canberra Glassworks, ACT———————-15 August – 13 September 2012

Foyer, Riverside Centre, QLD——————-24 – 28 September 2012

Foyer, Angel Place Office Tower, NSW——–8 – 20 October 2012

Glasshouse Regional Gallery, NSW————23 November 2012 – 3 February 2013

Western Plains Cultural Centre, NSW———-4 May – 30 June 2013

Manly Art Gallery and Museum, NSW———-26 July – 1 September 2013

International Glass

Here are some images of a recent commission for a client in Calgary. Although we are currently residing in Adelaide, we thought, why not make it here, lots of people ship glass from Australia. So we figured out a design that we could easily and safely send back home. We made the pieces at The Jam Factory and availed ourselves of some skilled glass artists spanning from Canada to Australia.

Commissioned Gift for the University of South Australia

Here are some photos of a recent commission I did with the students from the University of South Australia. These gifts are for international recruiters and were designed by myself and recent graduate Natasha Natale. To make these pieces we created our own colour in the furnace and I had a great time working with students and recent grads, Zoe Woods, Alex Valero, Ursula Halpin and Lucy Palmer. It was great team and the pieces turned out lovely!