Master Class Programme Update

Unfortunately Tiina Sarapu is no longer able to come to North Lands for her class on 10-18 September. Our Artistic Director, Mieke Groot, asked Eeva Käsper to lead a class in Tiina’s place and we’re delighted that she agreed.

The details of Eeva’s class are as follows:

10-18 September:  ‘Influences’

We are often (always) influenced by something or someone. With this Master Class I invite the participants to discover and to map the influences which guide and affect us throughout our lives, or which are important to us at any given moment. By mapping them, we can better recognize their impact on ourselves as artists as well as find inspiration for our creative work. I am convinced that by working openly with the influences we experience, we can turn them in the direction that best suits us, and exploit them deliberately, even when they involve contradictions.

Sheet glass is a wonderful source material which, with the help of heat and gravitation, can transform from two-dimensional into three-dimensional, which enables playing with transparency, layers, surfaces and edges, surface structures, graphic images, reflections and optical distortions. Slumping techniques allow a lot of playfulness. In addition to various molds used in slumping, the process can also be interferred with during firing: one can influence it physically, or simply observe and end the process at a suitable moment.

Thanks to the transparency of glass, the finished work is always affected by its surroundings, and so further and unpredictable influences will come to bear on the final art piece.

Eeva Käsper

Click here to apply for Eeva’s Master Class on our website

Glass Skills Class: Sculptural Flameworking

We were delighted to welcome Carrie Fertig to North Lands to lead a Glass Skills Class in Sculptural Flameworking.

Also known as lampworking , flameworking is the manipulation of glass rods and tubes. The heat from the flame of a gas torch enables one to add and subtract solid glass, and blow hollow glass, all with minute detail.   Hand torch use was also taught to enable the building of large-scale sculpture.

The class ran over five days with intensive tuition focusing on techniques but in the context of more conceptual approaches.
” whilst this was…a techniques class, the skills learned have broadened the aesthetic vocabulary of the students.” Carrie Fertig

Participants had this to say about the class:
“worth every penny. Great to learn so much in such a short space of time. Great teacher…”

“Carrie has a really positive attitude…it’s really encouraging”

“I have gained confidence in my ability to work independently”
You can see more images from the class in our Flickr set

We asked Carrie what appeals to her about North Lands…

“From my experience as artist in residence in 2007, to teaching, to making my largest pieces up here, each trip to North Lands has a profoundly positive effect on my work. I know that I am hardly alone in this observation, so why is this? The people at North Lands, from the amazingly helpful staff, to the artists who come here to teach, be students, or assist, to the local inhabitants, form a community that seems to urge one on in new paths of creativity. The history and stunning but bleak beauty of the area inspire aesthetically and in some deeper internal place to foment work that bursts forth in the now, but also develops over years. Mix this with an innervating studio and you get  a heady environment of possibility and creative juicyness, unlike any other. I come for the current project to hand. But I always leave with something far greater than its completion.”

More about Carrie:

Carrie’s work explores connection and disconnection within sculpture, installation and performance. In 2010 she founded a flameworking performance group called Torcher Chamber Arkestra. Comprised of an international team of flameworkers from neon, bead, and sculptural backgrounds,  they use glass, fire, dance, music, and pyrotechnics to bring flameworking to a wider audience in innovative, exciting performances involving the audience in new methods of engagement. The next performance is August 25th at the International Festival of Glass at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge, England. Carrie is Chair of the Scottish Glass Society. www.carriefertig.com

Look out for other Glass Skills Classes on our website
www.northlandsglass.com

New Year, New Skills…

There’s still time to book your place on our new Glass Skills Classes for 2012, a great opportunity to develop existing skills and learn new techniques.

Sculptural Flameworking Techiques with Carrie Fertig,
20-24 February

The Floating Glass World,
Engraving Techniques with Dominic Fondé,
5-9 March

Glass Painting Techniques with Michael Bullen,
14-18 June

You can book your place through our website

Festive Glass Activities at North Lands

Join us for our drop-in Christmas Family Day on Sunday 11 December, 12.00 – 16.00. Design and make your own glass Christmas decoration. All materials are provided and activities are suitable for all ages. Cost £5 per decoration

Make festive gifts and get an introduction to glass making in our Christmas Evening Classes. Pendant Making on 14 December and Christmas Decorations on 15 December, 6.30-9.30pm. You will develop glass cutting skills, learn fusing techniques and, in the Christmas Decorations class, also experiment with frits and powders. Both classes are suitable for beginners and include all materials. They cost £30 per class, or book both for £50.

Check our website for more information and Evening Class booking details http://www.northlandsglass.com/category/events