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Last Updated 05/22/2008 02:53:00 PM PST |
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If you like it... please |
The first week it was 3 days with Lucio Bubacco. The class was called Perfecting the Human Form...well, Lucio has perfected it... I haven't... I have more ugly "body parts" in glass than I know what to do with. Everything from misshapen feet to arthritic looking hands (I don't have pictures of those right now... I'll show you later.) Here is a quick look at Lucio's torch. It isn't his "Italian torch" but a custom torch made for him by Carlisle Machineworks. (The same folks who make the Mini CC.) He liked it OK, but still preferred his own torch at home. But it sure is a beauty, that fire dragon!!! I don't have a propensity for "torch-envy"...but this one almost got me there...
This is Lucio's first demonstration. From nothing but ivory glass this figurine is created on the torch in one sitting. It took him about 45 minutes.
And here is the "half finished" figure. You can see that her right foot isn't finished. She is about 5.5-6 inches high at this point. He would go back and make the foot, and attach a base and some "leaves" or other ambience around the legs to create a "theme" for the figre.
Here is another example of Lucio's work. This was the second demo he made. If you could see really close, the hand is actually grasping the bow.
This is a masculine figure...a red devil maybe 4 inches high. The detail is spectacular on the torso, unfortunately it didn't show too well in the picture. He also has a tail that curls at the end.
This is (albeit hard to see) a female figure holding the top of a candle holder. This was a demonstration during the artist reception on Sunday. Lucio made the sculpture and Vittorio assisted him with pre-heating glass an such. During the presentation they were bantering in Italian, and I'm sure if I would have understood the language, it could have been something like the "Lucio and Vittorio Show."
Vittorio (left) and Lucio (right) congratulating each other on a job well done.
Here they are for the official "photo-op" with Janice Peacock who is the VP of Public Programs at Public Glass. She and another woman named Julie wrangled the Italians to come and teach here (... and I'm ever so grateful!)
The next day started the class with Vittorio Costantini. There were four days of class, the first two dedicated to birds and insects, and the second two days were themed Sea Forms. The first thing he demonstrated (and then we were supposed to try) was a stag beetle.
Here is his finished stag beetle. It is approximately 3 or 3.5 inches long, so you can imagine how utterly fine the little "hairy antennae" are...the little things that look like feathers... Incredible...
Then he showed us a beetle. The shiny stuff is not dichroic, but aventurine covered in transparent green and orange. It really gives a beautiful iridescence. Below are 2 pictures of the finished beetle.
And here are my first failed attempts of a stag beetle, and then another beetle that he showed us later.
Here he's making a bird.(I think it is called a Curlew) He's adjusting the angle of the head.
And here is the finished Curlew...absolutely balanced...standing on its own feet.
He also made a chickadee...take a look at the lines on the writing pat for size comparison. And the angle of the head really gives it life.
And look at the shading on the back... Next...below this one... if you don't like spiders- close your eyes...
Check this guy out! All 8 feet touch the ground... it is perfectly balanced...and gives me the creeps!
Here is the underside, and you can see it's size compared to my hand. All glass...
And her is my pitiful attempt of the spider, as you can see only a few of the feet touch the ground...so it is a "spider on the go."
Check this out...Vittorio is adjusting the angle of the legs with a lighter as a "torch"...I thought that was pretty cool!
Then come the butterflies. They are also life size which means they are quite small. On a couple of them you can see the "curl" which is their mouth...I saw him made these...I still don't know how he does the mouth without melting the rest of the legs....
And here is the whole bug/bird collection on his worktable..
This scorpion is about 4 inches long and was the grand prize in the little "end of class lottery" and I won it! I normally never win anything! It really made my day...
Here is it's underside!
At the end of class we took the class picture. We're wearing silly fish hats... It was really really great, and very humbling, and although we didn't make beads learned a lot that I will be able to use. Some of the techniques in the steps of making the figurines will definitely come in handy. I really loved both classes (even though I took more pictures in Vittorio's class) and it definitely opened my eyes to some new possibilities in this medium. If you're a lampworker and ever get a chance to take a class or watch a demo with any two of these guys, TAKE IT!
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Classes
with the Italian Lampworking Masters; Lucio Bubacco and Vittorio
Costantini at 
