Thursday, October 1, 2015

2016 Festival offers "Glass Inspirations"


The 2016 Festival of Glass will feature internationally renowned glass artists Peter Minson and Mark Eliott in a series of activities under the title “Glass Inspirations”.

1. "Endangered in Glass" – a Masterclass (19 February 2016)
Minson and Eliott will each make glass sculptures of the locally endangered Hooded Plover and
Weedy Sea Dragon. Mark Eliott
Orange-bellied Parrot, while talking about their techniques and their involvement with glass. Large video screens will give ‘close-ups’ of their work. To complement their commentaries, Wathaurong elder Uncle David Tournier will give an Indigenous perspective on the birds and their habitat - the area known originally as Bella Wein.

The Masterclass is a collaboration between the Festival, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op and several local environmental groups; and the glass replicas will be auctioned to assist the birds’ survival. Subsequently, they will tour the region, raising awareness of the birds' plight and of the beauty of glass art.

2. "Inside and Outside the House of Lamp-Work" (22 – 25 February 2016)
Minson and Eliott will run two fee-paying workshops exploring interplays between structure and
Untitled. Peter Minson
improvisation in the creation of glass art. The workshops are for beginning and established local glass artists, who will be encouraged to exhibit at a Festival of Glass and/or to enter its Glass Art Awards; and a mentorship programme will assist them to do so.

3. "It’s Your Turn" – free workshops (20, 21, 26 February 2016)

These free workshops will offer local people who may be newcomers to glass art an insight into its creation. In each workshop, Minson and Eliott will demonstrate basic glass-working techniques, then invite participants to create simple pieces of glass art and to create a collective glass sculpture for the venue. One workshop will be for the general community and will be part of the 2016 Festival of Glass Expo on 21 February 2016. The other two workshops will be for the elderly and for young people and  will be held in circumstances familiar to each group.
 
Peter Minson
Mark Eliott
In “Glass Inspirations”, the Festival of Glass collaborates with Peter Minson and Mark Eliott to inspire local people to create glass art, to exhibit at a Festival of Glass and/or to enter its Glass Art Awards. The aim is to grow the Bellarine Peninsula’s reputation for glass-related activities by attracting creative and economic investment in the region's glass artists.