Habatat Galleries
Seattle Glass Tour
September 4-9th, 2012
Tuesday, September 4 Arrival Seattle
Independent arrivals and transfer in Seattle to the Hotel Andra for check-in. This stylish re-created boutique hotel is located in the heart of the trendy Belltown neighborhood. Outside the door are numerous boutiques, galleries, and Tom Douglas Restaurants.
*Please arrange your flight arrival no later than 1:00pm.
The program begins with a mid-afternoon gathering in a Hotel Andra meeting room, for introductions and a brief rundown of the tour.
Internationally known lamp-work artist Ginny Ruffner has offered a peek into her artistically funky home/studio to start off our Seattle stay. Delicate flowers to political statements run through her intelligent and witty art statements. Recently, Ginny has mixed glass and metal, to produce metaphors exploring the workings of the brain and also beautiful still lifes.
A Group “Welcome Dinner” will follow at the new “hot” Contemporary-Italian Volterra Restaurant located in downtown Ballard.
(D)
Wednesday, September 5 Tacoma
*Full Breakfast is included each morning on the tour program. Each tour member will receive a $20.00 gift card per day, to be used for your breakfast at Lola Restaurant or for room service.
We begin our glass explorations by traveling south of the city to Tacoma, to tour the Museum of Glass. We are joined by a member of the docent staff, who will accompany us over the 500-foot long “Chihuly Bridge of Glass”. This walkway rises 70 feet in the air and sports two tall “Crystal Towers”. On the bridge is the “Venetian Wall”, with its assortment of odd shaped and colorful glass sculptures, created by glass master Dale Chihuly. There is also the “Seaform Pavillion” with an installation of many of Chihuly’s works, suspended inside a glass ceiling.
One of the Pacific Northwest’s accomplished glass artists, Martin Blank has created a permanent large-scale installation for the Museum of Glass. Marty has invited us to view his dynamic work “Fluent Steps,” while he relates from start to finish how this project was developed. 754 individually hand-sculpted, curved glass pieces, made in the MOG hot shop, span the entire length of the shimmering Main Plaza Reflecting Pool. The changing natural light affects the mood and scope of this artwork.
Going inside this uniquely designed museum, we view the current glass exhibitions: “Scapes” by Laura de Santillana and Alessandro Diaz de Santillana; “Maestro: Recent Works by Lino Tagliapietra” and “Origins: Dale Chihuly’s Early Work.”
Time will be available to the watch hot shop activities and museum store shopping.
We head into downtown Tacoma to The Hotel Murano, a totally renovated hotel property that houses a collection of contemporary glass. The exhibitions of American and internationally known glass artists are sprinkled in the Grand Corridor, Lobby and assorted sculpture are displayed on each floor of the hotel.
A Group Luncheon will be provided in The Hotel Murano’s restaurant, BITE.
For over 19 years Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles have collaborated on the design and fabrication of their artwork. Working in glass and steel, they include a myriad of adornments strung on the sculptures, inspired by many ancient cultures.
Energetic Martin Blank will once again meet with our group, as he welcomes us to his private working studio for a reception.
Mr. Blank is one of America’s most highly regarded and intuitive glass artists. He sculpts floral and active figures, in representational and abstract forms spanning all sizes. We plan to see a selection of his spirited sculptures.
Return to the hotel and dinner is on your own tonight.
(B,L)
Thursday, September 6 Ballard/Seattle
Cruising back to Ballard this morning, our coach driver drops us in downtown. Judith La Scola has invited us up to her studio to see her duets of “glass objects and reflections”. Judith has focused on vessel shapes for both form and element, detailing surfaces and textures. She has blown, acid-etched, sand carved and brushed gold and silver leaf on her pieces.
We have organized a behind-the-scenes look of the Northwest icon, Dale Chihuly’s private Boat House.
The staff will accompany us through this rustic facility and into the experimental hot-shop for a private demonstration. The staff is working on a commission for a large-scale glass chandelier.
Continuing on we enter the cutting-edge Chihuly Ballad Studio, for an exclusive tour of the facility. This studio is where all large-scale architectural installations are composed and shipped.
A Group Lunch will be held at the Metropolitan Grill in the heart of Seattle.
A stop is planned to the newly opened “Chihuly Garden & Glass” exhibition hall located at the foot of the Seattle Center’s Space Needle.
In this largest museum in the world devoted to the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly, there is a 100-foot long glass sculpture installation of 13,400 pieces!
This complex has a forty foot tall Glass House, Outdoor Garden, eight galleries, and shows many of the artist’s private collections of old radios, cameras, and vintage accordions.
We proceed to the combined studio of Benjamin and Debora Moore.
Benjamin Moore is a pioneer in the contemporary glass movement. Schooled at the California College of Arts & Design under Marvin Lipovsky, and later worked as Dale Chihuly’s first hot glass assistant. Ben went on to become Pilchuck’s Creative and Education Director between 1974-1987. Further education at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the Venini Glass Factory in Venice, lead Ben to invite glass “Maestro” Lino Tagliapietra to Pilchuck to teach classic glass techniques, thus changing glass history.
Influenced by the Venetian traditions, Mr. Moore works in clean sleek minimal shapes. His cone and disk shaped sculptures have great impact on the eye with their use of bold pure colors.
Deborah Moore is known for her hauntingly beautiful and graceful nature studies. The “Plant Sculptures Series” highlights many varieties of orchids with foliage in glass ensembles, all of which are hand blown unique pieces.
Our group has been invited into an important Private Collection of Contemporary Glass. TBA
Dinner is on your own tonight. Check out the waterfront restaurants for the freshest seafood!
(B,L)
Friday, September 7 Whidbey Island/
Stanwood
Traveling north to the Mukilteo Ferry Terminal, we board the ferry for the short voyage to the art community on Whidbey Island. Here we find glass artist KeKe Cribbs and her daughter Alicia Lomne. They will have set up an exhibition of work and will provide insight into their respective work.
Ms. Cribbs roots have sprung from in a fully artistic family. Mom Ann, three siblings, a niece and her daughter all are working artists. The family Cribbs is often featured in gallery and museum shows on the island.
With this exhibit we enter Keke’s magical “other world” of enchanting whimsical fairy-tale figures. Her figurative bodies, cloaked in colorful hand-cut glass enamel mosaics, combined elaborate and finely detailed arrangements.
Alicia works glass using the casting technique of pate de verre. This process demands creating a model, making a mold, placing a thin layer of powdered frite, or tiny pieces of glass against the sides of the mold and firing it all with precision timing in the kiln.
A picnic boxed lunch will be provided.
We return to Clinton for the Ferry and the short ride back to the mainland.
Traveling north from the ferry, we find the studio of Ross Richmond, a Pilchuck alum connected with William Morris’ team. Ross will give a slide/talk and show an exhibition of work for us to view. Ross’ blown and sculpted pieces are typically narrative figurative elements, with symbolic objects.
As we continue on we enter the sleepy town of Bow, Washington. Nestled near a pine woods on a meadow is the glass studio of Shelley Muzylowski Allen and her husband Rik Allen.
Shelley, once a member of William Morris’ team, now creates sculptures of mythical horses and beasts of burden, reflecting on the icons of past cultures. Through form, color and scale she makes us think of the significant history of the collective society, and the relevance of past gods or “avatars”.
Rik has been completely influenced by mid-century science and technology. A student of science fiction through movies and books, he has used metal and glass to show futuristic forms in his works.
Nearby we aim for the studio of Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. Karen’s work has centered around the theme of realistic nature by concentrating on sculptures of birds and animals. She works with hot glass and glass powders. Ms. Willenbrink-Johnsen has been a member of noted glass artist William Morris’ team from 1987-2007, plus being on the teaching staff of Pilchuck and other art institutions. Her work has been shown all over the US in many galleries and museum exhibitions.
No Seattle craft experience would be complete without traveling to the campus of Pilchuck Glass School. Nestled in the wooded foothills of the Cascade Mountains, overlooking Puget Sound, this pastoral campus is a primary educational glass art center. Maestros (Masters) and students come here to teach or take classes, to round out their knowledge of all aspects of glass making.
This facility began in 1971 by Dale Chihuly and “friends,” as a hippie commune. It evolved into the beginning of the American Studio Glass Movement. Pilchuck Glass School now is one of the world’s most important art institutions.
The campus tour features the hot glass shop, a kiln shop, cold working studio, flame-work studio, wood and metal workshop and a print making studio.
Tonight we are attending the culminating dinner of “Hands On History”, a week-long teaching event being held at the school. Cocktails, Dinner and a live Auction of approximately 10 special pieces of glass sculpture, made by this week’s guest artists will be offered as a fund-raising for Pilchuck Glass School.
Return to the hotel late evening.
(B,L,D)
Saturday, September 8
Ballard/Bainbridge Island
Our program today begins in the northern suburb of Ballard, at the studio of Dante Marioni. Mr. Marioni is a second generation glass worker, who combines the use of a distinctive color palette with crisp classical Venetian forms, on both large and small scale vessels. His work has been included in the White House Collection of American Craft.
Optical glass and colored vitrolite make up the highly polished layers and intricate patterns of
David Huchthausen’s sculptures. When we visit his studio, David will share with us stories related to the “hunt” for this special 1930’s glass, rescued from old buildings. David’s work shows an amazing play of reflected and refracted light, both in spheres and cut pieces.
Moving to the Bemis Building, known for housing many artist’s studios, David has invited us into his apartment. Here we will see his private collection of turn of the last century posters and his extensive retro bakelite items.
A catered lunch will be offered.
In suite #411 we find the studio of Richard Royal. A long time glass teacher, Richard has been on the Pilchuck Glass School faculty and associated with Haystack Mountain School of Craft, The Corning Museum of Glass, Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii.
For over 25 years Mr. Royal has worked to define glass sculpture. From his Relationship to Aperture Series, the fluidity of his forms shows the purity and connectedness of his creations.
Richard’s work has been displayed in many museums and private collections.
Also being shown in Mr. Royal’s studio, we find the work of Danny Perkins. Danny is best known for his elongated elegant, glass objects, formed into sleek towering bodies, with beautiful colored fields. Mr. Perkins will explain his art background and some of the processes used in creating his art.
Walking through the building we find the studio shared by Ethan Stern and April Surgent.
Form, Color and Texture play the biggest role in Ethan’s designs. By carving matte and polished finishes on the surfaces of his pieces, a luminous sophisticated look is accomplished to his sculptures.
In 2009 Mr. Stern was one of 10 artists to be recognized by the Wheaton Arts Center as a “Rising Star-Contemporary Glass Artist for the 21st Century”.
Studio-mate April Surgent is from Seattle and studied at the Australia National University in Canberra for her BFA. A Neddy Fellowship recipient from the Behnke Foundation, she is also a “New Talent” Award winner in 2010 from Urban Glass. Ms. Surgent is mostly influenced by Czech master engraver Jiri Harcuba, whom she met at a 2003 Pilchuck class.
A cold worker engraving on sheet glass, April has been inspired by photography and depicts everyday scenes of life in Seattle in her work, focusing on person and place.
Group “Farewell Dinner” will be held near our hotel at the exotic Wild Ginger. (B,L,D)
Sunday, September 9 Departure
After Breakfast we individually check-out of the hotel, reflect on all we have seen in this great “Arts” city, and say “Good-Bye” to our traveling friends. (B)
*Your return flight to your home city or your next destination could be scheduled for any time of your choosing.