My first few days as a glass artist have gone well.  Last thursday  Walter Gordinier, the artist who I am shadowing, sent me an email and told me that there would not be any work for me to come help with until Monday, so I had a three day weekend. 

When I came in Monday, Walter was sitting at his desk and when I said "good morning" he said "hi", and without adding anything else took me to garage and told me to pick up several large broken pieces of glass, put them on a rolley cart and take them outside.  After loading these heavy pieces of glass onto the cart I rolled it outside and transfered them one at a time to small countertop.  I was handed a towel, eye protectors, gloves and a large metal mallet so I could break the glass.  I spent the next hour or two smashing worthless pieces of glass and stacking them.  Each piece I smashed was a piece of art he had worked on and didnt like, or he messed up somewhere in the process.  They were all amazing.  When finished I returned inside and ate lunch.  I learned that he has been working as a glass artist for thirty six years, and has not done much glass blowing at all.  All he has spent time doing is working on Cast Glass pieces.  He went to Pacific University in Forest Grove, where he studied art.  He bought the building he now works in during the mid-eighties, and has been very happy with it.  After lunch we went to Colombia Art and grabbed some poster board we would need when we went and saw the client.  The day ended at 3:00. 

Day two was very similar to day one.  We spent the day cleaning up his studio to get ready for the upcoming project.  I moved plywood into his shed, whosed off several of his floors, made tables and shelves, and rearanged much of his equipment.  The hardest thing I did was vacuum the top of one of his huge glass kilns, Bonnie.

Today, day three, I arrived an hour early because we had to go to the clients house and make measurements for our new piece.  Our client owned a condo and was having a new glass countertop put in.  She was begining the process of remodeling her kitchen, so Walter and I got to meet the man who would be installing her cabinets.  It was interesting to see how much of what Walter does is dependant on the architecture of the house/space.  Unlike painting and several other art styles, Walter has to make sure he knows how to install his pieces so that they work.  He has made stairs, bridges, counters and windows.  He works in direct contact with the architect and contractor to make sure everyone is on the same page.  After making our measurements and meeting the client we drove back to the studio and dropped off our equipment.  We set out again to pick up the glass we would be using on this piece.  Of the two big name glass manufacturers in town, Uroboros Glass and Bullseye Glass, Walter always buys glass from Uroboros.  We picked up the four hundred pound full of glass sheets and headed back for lunch.  After lunch we spent the rest of the day unloading the crate and cleaning the glass.  I cut my hand fourteen times handling the glass.  Walter said I couldn't cry in the studio so I took it outside.  When we had cleaned and moved all the glass we called it a day, and tomorrow we will start cutting the glass and assembling the piece before sticking it in the kiln for ten days. 

Links

Walter's Website:  http://www.waltergordinier.com/

Uroboros Glass:  http://www.uroboros.com/index.html