Beaver Valley Glassworks
Beaver Valley Glassworks showcases the original work of Canadian glass artists Mark Lewis and Tanya Zaryski. Their studio is located in Ontario's beautiful Beaver Valley where they have converted their century barn to a hot glass blowing studio and gallery. You are invited to see the many kinds of glass objects created - from functional vases and bowls, tumblers and goblets to awards and one-of-a-kind glass sculptures. A well known painter, Tanya also shows her small and large landscapes in the gallery. Tanya ... "I consider myself to be an image-maker. Many of my pictorial narratives re-invent scenes I remember from my childhood. Growing up on a farm in rural Ontario, I have become again interested in that familiar landscape as a constant backdrop for the events (past and present) which are acted out. Certain rooms - familiar fragments of furniture, of architecture - or fields and houses reappear. Some images read as allegories - I have created myths out of my own history. There is a collapsing of the ordinary and the sublime into a single moment, where every event is laden with symbolism and significance." Mark ... "When I began to work with hot glass, I found that the struggle to control the material could relegate decoration to an afterthought. As a result I have been determined throughout my career to bring my sense of design and style to the glass that I make. Newly developed materials now allow me to paint on glass ‘blanks’ which are then picked up and covered with hot glass. I now have the freedom to treat each piece as a canvas. Multiple layers of painting and gathering create pieces with a feeling of depth and mystery." Tanya and Mark will be your guides into the fascinating world of blown glass and the torch method of bead making. With their combined experience, Mark and Tanya will be able to answer all your questions and help you with your first molten glass projects. Avalon Clearview Studio
At the Avalon Clearview Studio, Steve Collier will guide you in making your first small stained glass projects. You will have a choice of projects and, although we will discuss leaded glass, we will be concentrating on the copper foil method. Suncatchers and small panels will be your projects on the stained glass portion of the Taste of Glass program.
Steve’s attitude is that his work “fits and enriches” – it must “fit” the theme, and décor, and attitudes of the space and its owner. The stained glass should “enrich” the feeling and experience of the space. His motto is “we make beautiful homes more beautiful”.
The Avalon Clearview Studio is also a bed & breakfast run by his wife Elaine. Avalon feeds Steve’s passion for stained glass in a couple of ways. The building is a showcase for Steve’s work – demonstrating how his stained glass “fits”, and, showing Steve’s own personal tastes in the art. Additionally, Avalon has fields, forests, pond and streams and is situated at Devils Glen, overlooking the Niagara Escarpment and the Mad River valley. Like many other artists of the area, Steve’s artistic imagination is spurred by the nature that surrounds him. Steve ... "I like the pretty colours." Turtle Creek Art Glass
Eleanor Brownridge runs the Turtle Creek Art Glass studio and will be your master of the arts of fused, draped and slumped glass. You will learn about how glass behaves in a kiln, and you will learn about relief fusing, combing and bending hot glass.
Eleanor creates custom-designed stained glass panels and windows, as well as fusion glass architectural pieces and functional serving dishes at her studio in the Pretty River Valley just a few miles south of Collingwood. Studio tours are by chance or by appointment.
Eleanor ... "I've chosen glass as my medium because it is so dynamic. The finished art is always changing. Daylight through a window transforms translucent red into gold; intensifies blues and reveals the complexity of browns. Clear bevels fracture a sunbeam into a rainbow. At night, room light bounces off an opaque sculpture; the patterns on transparent bowls are mirrored on the table. This interplay of light and medium is also what mesmerizes me as I look at nature's patterns particularly the trees in the Pretty River Valley. Therefore in my designs, by choosing glass of varying intensity, colour and texture; and by manipulating the glass at molten temperatures, I try to replicate the movement and chameleon nature of the world around me." |
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The Studios |
