Artist Project

 

Artist Series 

 

Joseph Wyman- Glass Blower based in Columbus, OH

 

The art of glass blowing is so intriguing and captivating to watch.  The process is almost like a dance since one has to keep moving and time everything just right to keep the temperature of the glass just right.  I’ve watched glass bowers, creating orbs that are the size of a beach ball and it kept me on the edge of my seat hoping it wouldn’t break the larger it became. It’s a beautiful process to witness.

 

When I met Joseph at the studio he works at in Columbus, OH, he was going to make a piece that would be the handle of a beer mug of some kind. The process starts with molten glass that is a little over 2,000 F, once the temperature is reached then the shaping and blowing begins. The glass is on a long rod and has a hole on the ends to blow into and that air expands the glass. From there more glass can be added and the glass must be heated over again so it doesn’t cool down before the shape is finished. When glass is being shaped it looks like gel form and it’s interesting to see how it can be twisted and moved into different forms.

 

One he was finished with the piece, it was the cooled down in water and cut from the pipe. He lastly set it to cool in an annealer, which is like an oven, except it cools glass at a controlled rate and temperature.

 

The talent and skill involved with glass blowing is so amazing and if you ever get the opportunity to view it being made, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Maddie Miller, Printmaker based in Fort Wayne, IN

 

 

Maddie Miller is an artist and printmaker living in

Fort Wayne, IN. Her work explores the relationship of the self to

domestic spaces, considering the overlooked architectural elements

of these spaces over time.  

 

Maddie landed in art school in 2012 and wasn’t really

sure what she wanted to do. She had a knack for drawing, but  didn’t really

know what to do with that. During her third semester, she signed up for an intaglio

and relief course and really fell in love with the medium of printmaking.

 

Printmaking is extremely process oriented and she really became addicted to

the repetitive nature of inking up a plate or block and pulling prints, not to

mention the incredible variation one can get from the variety of processes

that are under the umbrella of printmaking.

 

Maddie graduated with her Bachelor

of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Printmedia a year ago. Since then, she has

been working really hard to set up a functioning studio space and I finally

have a great workspace for screenprinting.

 

The inspiration for most of her recent has work is about built spaces that she has inhabited. Maddie has always been inspired by architecture and she really enjoys exploring those spaces in both her prints and installation work. She recently made a

series of prints featuring leopard print carpet. The hallway leading up to her first apartment where there was the worst red leopard carpet inspired it. Things like that are very influential to Maddie’s work.