AMILTON D E S I G N G L A S S The artwork of Jeffrey Hamilton

HIGHLIGHTS at Glass Artists Gallery

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The Ranamok Glass Prize was an annual, acquisitive touring exhibition of contemporary studio glass from Australia and New Zealand. Constituted in 1994 this will be its final year: the collection of winning entries is to be donated to the National Gallery. In support of the 2014 Ranamok exhibition the Glass Artists Gallery of Glebe is showing a selection of work by those artists who have been selected as finalists in Ranamok over the past two decades.

I've recently been creating a new body of work: painted and fired blown glass vessels. The first two sets of three vessels went over to Perth for the Ausglass exhibition Flair. With my third series of three I was selected as a finalist in the 2014 Ranamok. This is a prestigious exhibition and I was certainly pleased to have been selected. As a consequence I have a triptych of painted and fired stained glass panels on display as part of Highlights at the Glass Artists Gallery this month.

VIBE: Jeffrey Hamilton & Bek Rice @ Gauge Glass Artists Gallery

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Just opened last weekend: an exhibition of 5x of my works alongside a collection of pastel drawings and prints by Bek Rice featuring the local Glebe and Leichhardt areas. The link is the vibrancy and colour of the works, echoing the vibe of the area.

The Director of Glass Artists Gallery, Maureen Cahill recently moved the glass exhibition area up one level while maintaining the street level as an exhibition space available for hire. She will also curate occasional shows there herself (such as this one).

Sunday 6th July saw a good number of people arrive at the gallery to join in conversation with myself and Bek Rice. The Director Maureen Cahill firstly introduced us both and explained some historical associations and the rationale for the show. This was Bek's first time speaking to a group about her work but she handled it with aplomb, clearly demonstrating the passion that she has for her practice.

After some questions I took the floor with a brief background to my life as an artist, followed by some detailed analysis of the works on display and the making processes involved. There was some lively discusion, with some interesting questions and comments form the audience- many of whom were of course themselves arts practitioners.

Vale Mark Galton

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I learned this week from my friend and colleague Maureen Cahill, Director of the Glass Artists Gallery in Glebe, of Mark Galton's tragic death on Wednesday 25th May at a coal mining site in Boggabri (near Narrabri) NSW.

He was crushed by the collapse of an overhead metal structure while working from a cherry picker 15 metres above ground, about 8.50am. He was kept alive by work mates until paramedics arrived, but went into cardiac arrest.

Mark Galton was a very active member of his local Surf Life Saving Club at Ulladulla, becoming president from 2004. Ulladulla Boardriders Club president Kurt Nyholm speaks glowingly of Mark in a news item in the local press

A highly skilled glassblower, Mark was instrumental in developing the career of his partner Tina Cooper many years ago.

Mark recently closed down his glass studio in Burrill Lake that he ran with his wife Dominica on the South Coast of NSW.

I remember Mark as real character, always in good humour, full of energy and enthusiasm and passionate about glass-making. He was one of those laconic Australians they call "the salt of the earth".

Leadlighting Course @ Rozelle

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I've been teaching stained glass and leadlight at Sydney Community College's Rozelle Campus for a year now; some very happy students have just completed the first term of 2014. It was a large class of 16x students but each one of them very enthusiastic and keen to learn the ins and outs of the craft.

Taking a break now for a short while; next Term starts at Rozelle campus 15th July, each Tuesday night from 6.30pm till 9pm. Cost is $349incl. GST For enrolments go to the SCC website

Australian Designers On Show

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Over the weekend of 28th, 29th, 30th March I took part in the Designers On Show exhibition held each year in the Turramurra Masonic Centre on the Pacific Highway at Turramurra. The centre has two exhibition halls accessed via a common entry foyer. It was my task to design and hang the entry foyer exhibition and then play host over the weekend, meeting and greeting visitors as they arrived.

The entry foyer was my exhibition space; I didn't have a display stall in the show as did the other exhibitors. In this way I was able to integrate my work into the building and take advantage of discreet spaces not otherwise utilized. It made for a strong impression when entering and also when leaving the Show.

Other exhibitors in the Show included Mark Jones [leather], Carol Page [bespoke shoes], Alice Leda Pettirosso [merino woollen garments], Denise Smith [lampworked glass beads], Jane Stapleford [watercolours], Bob Taber [jewellery], John Hablitschek [jewellery], Jane Slicer-Smith [hand-knits], Lyn Hart [ceramics] and many other former exhibitors from the former Australian Craft Show run by Bibby and Shields from 1984 thru to 1999 at variou svenues but primarily the old Sydney Showgrounds at Moore Park. We were also supported by Craft Arts International who had a stand displaying their magazines in the foyer.

Adelaide Fringe

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As Treasurer of Ausglass, the Australian Association of Glass Artists, I was obliged to travel to Adelaide several weeks back to attend the AGM and annual Face-to-Face Board Meeting. Ausglass is a Not-for-Profit organisation and as such must be publicly accountable and follow all the rules set out by ASIC. Finance is not really my forte but I've managed to have been of some use over the past 18 months, helping to keep the organisation on track (with much assistance from Fiona Holmes our bookkeeper).

So Feb 15/16 was a heavy weekend of meetings but we did have the Saturday evening off and it was FRINGE! I made my way down to the Garden of Unearthly Delights just to see what sort of mischief I might get up to.. and managed to score tickets to 2x shows, Cabaret Coathanger and The Hot Dub Time Machine, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was my first Fringe Festival and I found the event truly delightful.

I never did discover what the roving troupe of psuedo-Scouts were actually doing, but like everyone else they seemed to be having fun. At The Imaginarium I took in 2x different stand-up comics, just $5 for 15 minutes and very hilarious. John Bennett was late in the evening and quite baudy but very funny in that self-deprecating, deadpan kind of way.

My Ausglass meetings were successful but I certainly enjoyed the comic relief of Fringe.

Hot off the Bench

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Measuring roughly 50cm square overall this Coat of Arms or Family Crest was achieved by two firings of Reusch Tracing Black Best with a stippled wash of Hancock's Grey Green on the back followed by seven different enamels laid down in four firings. The piece was then leaded together andd will have copper wire hooks soldered onto the sides for hanging.

Stained Glass & Leadlight @ Camp Creative

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Stained Glass by Anzolo Fuga @ Scallabrini Village, Austral

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Earlier last year I had the opportunity to visit the Scallabrini Village @ Austral in Sydney's south west. The village is a retirement centre catering in particular to the Italian community. The chapel appears to have been built in the 1960s or '70s and has some very fine stained glass by Anzolo Fuga, who it seems was a glass designer for Arte Vetraria Muranese, Italy. The windows are very distinctive and unlike anything I have seen in Australia- perhaps the closest would be the work of Jean Orval in Victoria. Like much of Orval's work, Anzolo's windows still have a freshness today

With Light in Mind

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Greville Wilton, of Golden Wattle Studios in Glen Innes, NSW, would be the first to declare he is no artist. He is an excellent leadlighter. But making that statement denies the brilliant design skills on display in this exhibition. Together with Tanja Robertson-Cunninghame they make an awesome team. This whole exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery is predicated on close collaboration. Tanja has produced an enormous body of exciting new canvases referencing the Australian modernist abstract canon and it is these which form the basis of the 16x stained glass panels on display.

Greville's design and engineering skills also came to the fore in setting up the show and making full use of the space available in the atrium of the gallery's main entrance. A welded steel frame is attached to the ceiling and from this the stained glass works are suspended on steel cable. Each panel is cleverly framed in a welded steel frame comprising a fin of metal into which the lead came is inserted: this provides an essential foil of darkness to separate the glass from its background and allow it to live in the ambient space.

I particularly enjoyed the placement of stained glass panels in the stairwell and installed over the glass of the back exit. And the surprise pieces in the balconies also delight the senses. All in all a great exhibition, one which should raise the profile of Golden Wattle immensely but also go a long way to furthering the somewhat marginalised artform of contemporary stained glass.