Process - 'Human Hands' - Games Exhibition 2012

'Human Hands' by Deirdre Finnerty, 2012

My panel, 'Human Hands', won third prize in the Games Exhibition in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The exhibition was hosted by the Swansea School of Glass and in association with the British Society of Master Glass Painters. The exhibition consisted of 37 glass artists, many of whom are both nationally and internationally renowned.

I have posted here my process of design and fabrication for this panel. Process is an integral part of my own personal arts practice.

DESIGN & CARTOON - My idea for this panel was simple. I wanted to illustrate a pair of hands using stained glass techniques. I selected the colours of glass I wanted and placed them side by side in the window to work out an arrangement to suit my design. My design process for this was intentionally intuitive and immediate. I designed very freely and probably for the first time as it was not being graded. The only true judge was myself.

A cartoon is a full scale working drawing that shows where texture and paint is applied to the glass.

The cartoon or full scale working drawing

CUTLINE - The cutline is used to cut the precise shapes of glass. The cutline is an accurate plan of the heartline of the lead - this must be 1.4mm thickness. The cutline will also show you where you may need to adjust to eliminate unforeseen impossible cuts!

Cutting glass requires accuracy and skill. I immensely enjoy this part as I gain immense satisfaction from cutting a tricky curve or a temperamental type of glass. Personally, I see myself firstly as a craftsman and secondly as an artist. 

Cutline, set-square, grozers on a light-box

BLACKLINE - A blackline is when you paint the lead lines onto a piece of glass larger than the panel you're making using an acrylic based paint. This allows to see how your panel will look like when it is leaded up.

Selecting Glass

Using the blackline to see how the colours work together

Selecting more glass

SURFACE  - The techniques that I intended to use were sandblasting and painting. I chose to sandblast first and used the cartoon as a plan to show where the glass would be etched.

Looking at the cartoon next to the blackline to see where the paint and texture will go

Sandblasted glass in the window to see how the light works

PAINTING - I painted the glass whilst it was on the blackline so that I could see how the daylight worked with what I applied

Painting directly onto the blackline

Adding and removing paint

Unfired paint and enamels

Unfired paint on light-box

FIRING - The glass then needs to be fired to make the paint permanent. Firing temperatures depend on the type of kiln you have.

Glass in the kiln

'Human Hands' - Finished piece

Deirdre the Curator

I am, at the moment, seeing what it is like to be a curator of an exhibition. It was an opportunity provided to me through the Mission Gallery and Jamie Hill partnership and also because I expressed an interest in knowing more about exhibitions and how they happen.


So far it has been a relatively stress-free experience and has been quite exciting too. All the artists that I invited accepted and are submitting really exciting pieces for the space!


I currently have less than two weeks to get a catalogue together and to arrange the installation of the show - and to decide what work to put in myself! I think that is the hardest part - it would be really great to make a new piece for this show but it just isn't feasible at the moment. The glass department is closed for the summer as they are starting construction work on the new extension. So I have to use something I made earlier.


Today I plan on writing the press release/catalogue intro, my own artists statement and choose what pieces to put in, all this amongst bringing the cat to the vet and decide what to wear for my friend's birthday tonight.


There's just so many distractions!


Oh! Look! It's lunch time!

The International Symposium of Architectural Glass

It is Monday and I feel that it is about time that I write about what I thought of the International Symposium of Architectural Glass. It was held at the National Glass Centre in the city of Sunderland. The theme of the symposium was "Working with light as a means of interaction between space and mind".


The opening key speaker was Judith Schaechter with a truly inspirational speech about, well, inspiration itself - the 'AHA! moment. That was a highlight of mine, I also had a chance to speak with her and ask her briefly about her work. I relayed my own situation, struggling with tradition and contemporary in my glass practice and asked how she sees herself. She said that she is often 'left-out' of the glass scene in America as is influenced and practices stained glass techniques. She is greatly inspired by the medieval stained glass and this is clearly reflected in her glass through colour, pattern, composition and subject matter. 


Alex Beleschenko spoke about his work saying that "architectural glass is at its best when it reveals itself over time" - glass with hidden secrets.


Carrie Fertig's piece called 'Homing' was quite resonant with me. I was drawn to the scale of the work, the site, the interaction and sense of inclusion that it had too. Each piece was carefully worked by hand and suspended individually to make a whole. I feel that I am inspired by it because of the craftsmanship involved, because she worked with every piece and how important that was to the finished work.


At this point, the discussion began to evolve around the question of 'intimacy' of the work and the processes involved - I feel that this was more directed at the larger architectural commissions but also at the cost involved in working in glass. Sometimes it is cheaper to get someone else to make it but then is the integrity of the work lost? Where is the craftsmanship in that? This was generally opposed to as the artists in question Alex Beleschenko and Judith Schaechter were both able to show that they both retain close contact with the glass during the process of fabrication - they were both very passionate about this as they are, quite clearly, very passionate about their glass.


Then Aidan Williams spoke - I'm not sure if I quite followed it exactly but my notes read about how we as people bring our own preconceptions into every space we go in. We all have memories and layers that we implant into a space - we wear them. That's about all I can make sense of but it was a very intriguing talk.


It was a great eye-opener to the contemporary architectural glass scene today with speakers from Europe, UK, Ireland and America - and a strong Swansea presence!


Another personal highlight was getting to meet Peadar Lamb and Debbie Dawson, both Irish stained glass artists that I greatly admire. Hopefully, I can meet them again and actually ask them some questions as they did most of the asking!


Links:
National Glass Centre:  www.nationalglasscentre.com
Judith Schaechter: judithschaechterglass.blogspot.co.uk
Peadar Lamb: www.peadarlamb.com
Debbie Dawson: www.debbiedawsonstainedglass.com

Prioritise! Sure there's plenty of time!

Sitting at the computer, trying to focus on what's important at this moment in time.

I am trying to pull together an application for the Glaziers Awards for this year and I am really quite enjoying the process. It's a pity that there is so much more that needs my time too! I've another application to send off by next week for the Futuremakers through the Crafts Council of Ireland.

I got a list a mile long!

Here's some images of my favourite windows from our recent study trip to Germany!

Windows by Markus Lupertz, St. Andreas, Kologne

Applications for Competitions

I am completing an application for the Welsh Artist of the Year, deadline is Wednesday!All the info can be found at this link below:


http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/English/Exhibitions/


It's a difficult task but it is definitely worth it in the end. Completing and sending off an application is an experience in itself - working to deadlines, amending your artist statement and CV to suit the competition requirements and costing your own work!


That's where I am at the moment - I've just quickly costed my work really. I considered the overall visual value of the piece and the thought and design time that has gone into it rather than actually working out the time and cost of the physical/technical processes involved. Sometimes they don't reflect the true value of the work.


Just have to finish my statement and then pop it in the post and keep my fingers crossed!


Next application: The National Eisteddfod
http://www.eisteddfod.org.uk/english/content.php?nID=421

After that? Futuremakers, Crafts Council of Ireland
http://www.futuremakers.ie/

WISH ME LUCK!

Drawing on glass

This is what I've been working on recently as part of my MA module.

Ink drawing on the back of a white flashed glass (clear glass with a thin layer of white glass on top) and some surface abrasion with an diamond bit. I also drilled holes and threaded through with embroidery thread. Even though the glass is about 3mm thick, there is an enthralling fuzziness to the lines from the back and from the threads that cross behind the glass.

Glass Routes '11

Some images of my work for the BA (Hons) Architectural Glass exhibition at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Surface

As you can see, it has been a very long time since I've posted anything but I now will start using this properly!


I am about six weeks into my first practical project of the masters and it is taking a while to get into it! But after a very clarifying tutorial session with my tutor I feel like I'm on the right track!


TRADITION - that is my theme, the idea/concept that I am exploring and investigating. So I have also chosen a site, my mother's cousin's cottage in the countryside of County Wexford and I have some interesting imagery to work from. Lots to delve into.....


Images coming soon of what I've been working on! (Left the camera in Uni really!)

The WHITE Series

Mirrorbox...

These are some of my latest pieces that I've made. They're quite small really, the smaller one measures about 180mm/sq and the larger about 270mm/sq.

They are meant to hang on the wall, for people who do not have a large window space or a large wallet to acquire an architectural panel. There is a mirror in the back of it (it's the bit that looks quite black) so it would reflect the light from the room.

The pieces are backlit to show what they would look like if they were sitting on a window sill or with a simple lamp behind them.

I really love the potential that glass has to become part of interior decoration of a space. (And this is also an exercise in getting the lighting right! I think they look fairly professional!)

It's a busy life!

At the moment, I am feeling pretty rushed off my feet whilst still just sitting at my desk thinking! The coming months promise to be super busy and I am both excited and apprehensive about what it will entail!

 

First things first: Make a list!

The beginnings...

Hi all and welcome to my new blog where I hope to post news about designs and projects that I'm working on and also what inspires me to do what I do! Hopefully I'll have something to post after I graduate....fingers-crossed!