Sculpture in the landscape and glass shadows

For most of the week Fiona and I were in Canberra for work, art and catch-ups. A couple of the things we got to do between appointments was to visit the arboretum and the glass factory.

I just loved the huge rusted metal sculptures scattered on the hills of the arboretum including this breathtaking piece of calligraphy on one of the summits.

©2017 Barry Smith - wide brown land by: Tatton, Viney and Futago - 2010

©2017 Barry Smith - Magpies on land

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith - Fiona approaches the amazing complex curves of rusted calligraphic metal 

And Nest III on another hill.

©2017 Barry Smith - Nest 111 - Moffatt 2007

©2017 Barry Smith - Scale!!!!

And of course the beauty of the setting with its extraordinary

©2017 Barry Smith

There was a glass exhibition by Rowney at the glass factory - beautiful traditional blown glass with exquisite markings. I prefer moulded and ground glass; I loved the shadows and refections from the light through the glass.

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith

We got home to the mountain this afternoon - I like the trips away; & love the return to the mountain.

Glass fragments in Canberra

On our recent work trip south Fiona and I were fortunate to be able to fit in a couple of quick visits to favourite galleries including Canberra Glassworks.

They had a public and free exhibition called Diplomacy: translations in glass. Some details on the screen shot below.

I loved the detail of many of the works; and so I thought i would share a few of my photos below.

The old iPhone 5 stills produces some good images.

The beauty of glass

Fiona and I have been on the road for work-work. Travel took us to Canberra where we had a bit of spare time to take in some of the sights on Sunday. When in Canberra we try to drop into the Canberra Glassworks to check out the current exhibition.

Transition - A Captured Moment by Masahiro Asaka is just stunning. As you can see from the photos below he has produced such delicate but large pieces by controlling the melt and flow of the glass. So fine, so ice and crystal like, so beautiful. The pieces are cast and cold worked glass.

Barry Smith © Detail of Surge by Asaka 

Barry Smith © Detail of Surge by Asaka

Barry Smith © Detail of Surge by Asaka

Barry Smith © Surge 15 by Asaka

We also went to the National Library to check out the Handwritten exhibition - a great reminder of the fact that the written hand not only creates content but also imparts something of the author - some character, some uniqueness, some energy. But the visit also gave me the opportunity to re-visit the massive thick stain glass windows. The glass would be up to 25mm thick and the pieces appear to be bound together in a web of grey-black resin. Such colourful filtered light.

Barry Smith © Fragment 1 SG window

Barry Smith © Fragment 2 SG window 

Barry Smith © Fragment 3 SG window

And when one sees such beauty as the crystal glass it just encourages me to alter one or two photos. But it doesn't match the beauty of the original.

Barry Smith © Fragment of Surge by Asaka - altered

Barry Smith © Fragment of Surge by Asaka - altered

All photos taken with the trusty iPhone.

More about the glass

I've had a request to tell what I did with the glass I reported I was fusing in an earlier post. It was all to be used in the base of the Bower for the Sculpture on the Edge exhibition.

As you can see from the photos I made about 18 pendant sized pieces from blue, clear and dichroic glass. Some were super fused (over heated) and the others were more tacked (under heated). I hear you say that maybe I could buy pyrometer?? I glued wire to the back of the glass so they could be tied to the Bower.

The photo above shows the glass tied to the Bower. Not sure if it will convince any Satin Bowerbirds to come and play.

Bits of blue for the bower sculpture

I have created a rusted bower that mimics the bowers created by the Satin Bowerbirds in our neighbourhood. But of course I needed to make the blue bits that would be part of the final sculpture.

Well yesterday I dragged the small kiln out and started cutting up glass to make about 18 blue and clear glass pieces that can be tied to the bower.

The photos above show the process. Glass being cut; the stacks of glass on the firing tile, the tile in the kiln; the heat of the kiln; and the fused glass at the end.

Couldn't post earlier as I had to watch the Aust vs Fiji rugby match.