Pampas Glass - an improvisation.

 When I heard about this assignment I smiled to myself - improvisation, it's what I do all of the time.  I have an idea, I don't have the bits needed to carry it out, so I improvise and change this for that, and that for this, until I have managed to come up with something.

So, I wanted to force myself to work a little differently.  

Based on this quote, especially the last bit.....

"Something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation."

I decided I would 'just do it', go for it, roll with the flow.  

I wanted to create a piece of Pampas Grass just out of stuff I had laying about.

First I started with a piece of found driftwood. I thought it was a nice shape to represent the Pampas stalk, once I had chopped the end off to make it straight.

Next I drilled holes in it.  First I started drilling holes the size of the glass rods I was planning to use, but very quickly realised that if I had holes that large (8-10mm) I wouldn't be able to fit many rods in and I wanted it to be quite full.  So I swapped to a 3mm drill pieces and drilled about 80 holes with that.... at a downward slant.

Have you ever drilled found driftwood?  It really is quite nasty.  The smell of dead fish, salt and rotting seaweed is not the nicest aroma in the world!

Once the holes were drilled I needed to sort out some glass.

I found a pile of glass rods in a nice creamy ivory colour which I thought would work well.

And the next step was to go and melt them on the torch.  I had two things to do, one was to round of the end so it looked a bit more natural  (and also wouldn't be sharp to work with) and the other was to melt the other end and pull it into a point so it would fit into my smaller drill holes.

So, off to the torch I went, melted my ends and then melted the centre so I could pull the two ends apart to make a thin section.  I then snipped this section to create two pieces which would stick into my wood.

Then all I had left to do was to assemble it.

I found a couple of old plant pots, stuck my driftwood in them and packed them out with little pebbles from my garden so the wood wouldn't move.

Then I started to stick in my glass rods.

But it some became apparent that I had totally underestimated how much glass I would need, I had way more holes than glass - and none of that particular glass left, so I had to improvise and use a different colour to make some more.

I wasn't too happy about this at first, until I had put a couple of the new colour in place, which was like a transparent straw colour, and realised it worked rather well.

And that is my improvised, finished piece of Pampas Grass..... although it looks more like a cactus.

If I had of had more glass I might have worked further down the stem with it, sadly I have nothing left in that kind of shade.  I think it works quite well in a way though.

I am calling it my Pampas Glass!

Planning my IMPROVISATION assignment.

 I have had a couple of ideas floating around about how to present my Improvisation assignment,

My topic is 'Pampas' and I did a little research on the grass which led me to two ideas.

The first idea was to show both the prettiness and the destructiveness of the Pampas plant by depicting it in two very different ways within on piece.

I thought I would paint on glass, which would then be fused in the kiln.  There would be two pieces of glass, the first one showing the Pampas as we usually see it, and the second showing the Pampas on fire.

These pieces of glass would sit in a piece of driftwood,  one in front of the other with the fire piece at the back.

The second idea was to actually try and recreate a piece of Pampas grass, using a piece I had found on a dog walk....

I also found a piece of driftwood on the beach that I thought I could use a a stalk

So I scribbled a little sketch to plan out what I thought I might be able to do.

I think the idea that I am going to go with is the one to reproduce the piece of Pampas grass using other materials..... driftwood and glass.

Might call it Pampas Glass   :)

Improvisation

 Today we had a presentation  on improvisation..... the presentation certainly got me thinking about things, and although I feel I improvise quite a lot anyway within my work, it has given me the idea to push myself into using other mediums within glass work.  

I teamed up with Doreen to swap scopes, and the idea that she gave me to work with was "Pampas".

First of all I had to do some research on this grass as, although I have a rough idea of what it is, I haven't really come across it or used it or really taken any notice about it in the past.

So, from research I have found out that not everyone loves Pampas grass. It is considered a weed, a pest.  In South Africa it is considered a category one weed and must not be grown. It is banned from sale and propagation.

That puts a slightly different slant on how pretty this grass is.

It is a fire hazard too, with reports of it catching alight from the sunshine and burning out of control. 

Many gardeners use fire as a way of controlling the growth of the grass, which can also be a risky business, it obviously needs to be done in a very controlled and safety conscious way.

Now I have to come up with a plan of how I can use this information to translate into a piece of glass...

I might try to show the prettiness of the plant, but also try to depict some destruction as well, maybe within separate pieces that work together but also work on their own.

Watch this space....

My finished Cosmos / Universe piece

 I have finally finished my Cosmos / Universe piece.  I am calling this piece 'My Universe'.  It is made from glass, both cold and hot worked.

I think it worked out how I originally planned it.  My idea was to take a 'core' sample of the universe, how I depict it, and create a glass mobile to represent this small sample .

My rough sketch looked like this.  

And this photo was always in my mind as a guide to what I wanted to show.  A sample digging down into the earth from deep space.

I made five different layers, each representing something that I felt was there, but perhaps we could not always see.

Deep Space

My first layer was to represent Deep Space.  I would have liked to have used black glass, but unfortunately didn't have immediate access to any, so dark amber it had to be.  I deliberately designed it to have the open weave kind of effect rather than being a solid slab, because I wanted to show that there was more to consider even outside of what we know about the Universe and Space.  This layer was created cold in the kiln, then the kiln is turned on allowing the rods to fuse together within a large metal ring that measures 40cm in diameter.  

Nebula

The next layer I wanted to depict was Nebula.  The colours of Nebulas fascinate me and are actually quite easy to translate into glass beads, due to all the beautiful coloured frits (broken glass) and enamels you can buy.   

Using a hot torch and some glass rods I made a lot of coloured beads, mainly in blues and pinks and purples because I felt these colours worked well between the (supposedly black) top layer and the next layer which wasn't going to have any colour at all. I didn't plan any particular effect of finished bead, I just picked up whichever glass I fancied working with, and poked it, swirled it, allowing the colours to implode which in turn allowed the bead to design itself.  Almost like I didn't want any control over the final outcome, I wanted it to be as chaotic and self-forming as it could be... with only a little help from me.

Memories

The next layer I have called 'memories'. It depicts the fact that if you have lived in this universe then you never actually leave.  I have used the cremation ashes of a friends dog encased within clear glass. I would have liked to have used the ashes of a loved one, but I don't have any, plus I thought that some people might cope better viewing the piece knowing it didn't contain an actual person.

These 'memory' beads are made in quite a uniformed manner. It has to be a controlled make to ensure that all of the ash is well encased within the glass, otherwise the beads can have sharp little pieces sticking out.  When a loved one died we are taught to look up to the sky and assign them a star, so I wanted this layer to be hovering above the earth in plain sight.  These beads, like the Nebula beads, are made on a hot torch using rods of glass.

Earth

I felt that if I was doing a core section of the universe then I needed to include a planet, and the planet that I thought that would be recognisable by colours would, of course, be Earth.

So I started this off the same way by doing a 40cm mish mash of glass rods in a steel ring in the kiln.  Once fused down after one firing of the kiln, the piece then had to go back in to be slumped into the shape I wanted.   I re-fired the piece on a slumping schedule to allow it to drape over an upside down ceramic bowl.  I would have preferred a shallower bowl if I could have, but having limited supplies at home I was quite pleased with the shape I actually got.

Lava

The final layer I chose to do was to depict lava droplets within the Earth.  So I made small orange beads for this and hung them under the Earth's 'crust'.

I am pleased with the final outcome, there are a few things I would have done differently, as I have mentioned, had I have had the materials or tools, but on the whole I am pretty pleased with it.

I expect that a small explanation of the final piece might help people understand what I am trying to say, although it could be perceived in whatever way that people imagine their own universe to be perhaps.

The piece measures about 40cm across by 60 cm long.  All the layers are held together with nylon fishing wire, and it is currently now hanging from my shed roof.   :)

A slice of earth.

 The next layer for my Cosmos / Universe piece was to be a slice of the earth crust.

So, I started off in the same way that I made the top layer,  by snapping up glass rods in blues and greens, and forming them in a mish-mash style to create a woven effect slab of glass.

Once melted flat I was pretty happy with the colours but I needed a better shape. So back it went into the kiln, draped over a ceramic bowl so I could get the domed shape I wanted.

I think that has worked pretty much how I wanted it to.  I would have preferred a slightly softer dome shape, but I don't have a lot of choice of ceramic moulds so I had to go with what I had.

Now it is time to put all of the elements together and hopefully create my original plan  :)

We never really leave....

 For the next layer of my 'universe' core, I wanted to explore the fact that nothing ever leaves the universe... or does it and we just don't have that information?

We, as humans, will always stay in close proximity to the earth, apart from the small amount of people that have travelled to other planets, but in the grand scheme of things, we are never far from home.  Even when we die.   Where do we go?   What is left?  Where does that stay?

People believe many different things about death, beliefs formed by religion, culture or experience, but the reality is we leave a shell, a bunch of bones, a pile of ash, but we also leave a load of memories and influences.

I wanted to take the thought that we never leave the universe and depict it within the glass sculpture, making a statement that although our bodies are gone, we will always remain in some form, somewhere.   As a child we are taught to assign a star to our loved ones and imagine them in the dark night sky, so I tried to use that theory.

A friend, very kindly, gave me some of her dog's cremation ashes to make this piece with.  I would have liked to have used something a little more personal, but also understand that it could make it quite a challenging piece for some people to view... so I thought an animal might be a 'softer' introduction to the idea of working with cremation ashes for some viewers.

I shot a little video to show how the beads are formed.

Once the beads had been in the kiln overnight (this brings them slowly back to room temperature so they don't crack) it was time to take them off the mandrels and give them a clean.

Once all the clay was removed from the cores of the beads they are given a quick wash, it is then that you can appreciate how lovely the ash looks encased in the glass.

So, now it was time to put these beads with my other ones in my hanging mobile type sculpture.

I wanted two definite layers, the Nebula layer with the .... let's call it a 'Memory' layer, underneath.  I would like to think that our memories of our loved ones are always near by, just twinkling above our heads.

So, I am happy with the way that is going now, time to work on the next layer.  

Research into 'Cosmos' artists.

I have been doing a little research into artists that use the Cosmos / Universe as a source of inspiration.   The first one that comes to mind is of course the very famous Pablo Picasso.

Picasso created a series of Constellation Drawings inspired by his gazing up at the night sky.  These images were drawn in a 16 page sketchbook in 1924.  (Fabrizi, 2021)

These paintings are created in pen and ink, and are a mixture of both controlled and chaotic mark making.  Joining lines in-between the dots to create many different images. I find them quite thought provoking.

(1924), 2021)

Whilst Googling 'Cosmos Inspired Artists', I came across a page that talked about Wassily Kandinsky. Wassily was an abstract artist who often took inspiration from what was around him, whether it was sound, or sights, or the atmosphere.   Some of his work has suggestions that they may be inspired by the universe / cosmos. This piece could be one of those.  A black space like background full of colourful planet type orbs,  I really love it.  

(Editors, 2021)

I plan to do lots more research into Kandinsky as I find his theory of painting sound totally fascinating.

I also need to talk a little about Satoshi Tomizu.   He is a fabulous glass artist from Japan who makes the most unique pieces of glass that look like they have a little galaxy within them.  Satoshi works with coloured glass and flecks of real gold to create a wonderful backpiece, then he adds an opal for a planet. Quite exquisite. 

I have had a go myself at this kind of technique and its not easy to do, so I am in awe of these beautiful pieces.

(Space Glass: Extraordinary Solar Systems and Flowers Encased in Glass by Satoshi Tomizu, 2021)

• (1924), 2021. Constellations Drawings | Pablo Picasso (1924). [online] Cocosse-journal.org. Available at: <http://www.cocosse-journal.org/2019/10/constellations-drawings-pablo-picasso.html> [Accessed 17 March
• Colossal. 2021. Space Glass: Extraordinary Solar Systems and Flowers Encased in Glass by Satoshi Tomizu. [online] Available at: <https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/11/space-glass-satoshi-tomizu/> [Accessed 19 March 2021]. 2021].
• Editors, A., 2021. Ten Modern Masters Who Elevated 'Space Art' to Astronomical Heights. [online] Artspace. Available at: <https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/ten-depictions-of-the-cosmos-by-modern-masters-55022> [Accessed 18 March 2021].
• Fabrizi, M., 2021. Constructing Abstraction. Pablo Picasso’s Constellation Drawings.... [online] SOCKS. Available at: <http://socks-studio.com/2017/02/13/constructing-abstraction-pablo-picassos-constellation-drawings-1924/> [Accessed 17 March 2021].