'UNDERSTANDING CREATIVITY' COURSE, DUBLIN

Artist Carol Kavanagh is currently enrolling for places on the following 'Understanding Creativity' course that will take place at North Merrion Community Centre, North Avenue, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9pm from early January 2010. The course aims to guide participants through the different stages of creativity from inspiration to expression in a relaxed environment that will nurture playful instinct, facilitate the emergence of ideas, develop self confidence and foster unique individuality. Media will incorporate drawing, mixed media, painting, three dimensional and self expressive forms. No previous art experience necessary. Course fee: E160.

For more information on course content and bookings please contact Carol Kavanagh at:
T: 01 2889798 or 087 6407561
E: carolkavanaghequ@gmail.com

CERAMICS CLASSES, DUBLIN 2

Ceramics Classes will start on 5 January 2010 on Baggot Street, Dublin 2. All levels of experience welcome. Classes will meet once a week for 8 weeks at one of the following times: Tues 7 to 9pm, Wed 7 to 9pm, Thurs 2 to 4pm, Thurs 7 to 9pm. Up to 2 missed classes can be made up at a later date. Students will learn handbuilding skills including pinching, coiling, molding, modelling, throwing on the wheel, as well as slip and glaze decoration. Course fee: E165, incl. all materials.

Christmas gift voucher special: E95 for 4-week Intro to Clay evening course, flexible start date, must be booked during the month of December 2009.

For more information on courses and bookings please contact:
E: rhymeswithgray@gmail.com
W: www.rhymeswithgray.blogspot.com

PILCHUCK SUMMER COURSE CATALOGUE NOW ONLINE

Visit Pilchuck's website to view the Summer 2010 course catalogue. Also note the deadline for priority placement and scholarships is 12th February 2010.

W: www.pilchuck.com

CRAFT AND DESIGN SELECTED AWARDS 2010

he craft&design Selected Awards 2010 are launched on 1st January 2010 by craft&design magazine. Winners are chosen from featured designer makers at Selected, the craft&design online gallery www.craftmaker.co.uk. Any professional designer makers and artisans currently working in the UK or Ireland not featured can feature their work on Selected for free (standard entry), subject to acceptance by the craft&design panel.

Applications for consideration need to be submitted either by email to selected@craftanddesign.net or in writing to:

Selected Applications

craft&design Magazine

PO Box 5

Driffield

YO25 8JD

There are six categories:

o Glass
o Wood & Metal
o Jewellery & Precious Metals
o Pottery
o Textiles
o Specialist Media

The awards also give designer makers a reason to keep in touch with their clientele – asking for their support by voting online – so is a great marketing tool for them.

Voting closes on 30 April 2010 and the winners announced shortly afterwards.

NORTHLANDS CREATIVE GLASS KILN RESIDENCY 2010

North Lands Creative Glass is offering an eight-week residency for four talented glass artists. The North Lands Alastair Pilkington Studio enables the artists-in-residence to benefit from a wide range of facilities from the 5th April until the 28th May 2010. The residency allows free access to all facilities bar the hot workshop at Northlands. As an artist-in-residency, you will receive a small stipend for materials as well as for living and travel expences, and accomodation is provided. For more information on the residency, and to download an application form, visit:

W: http://www.northlandsglass.com/

CGS WINTER SHOW

Visit the CGS website to view work from their current Winter Show 2009

W: http://www.cgs.org.uk/GALLERY2moduleASP/GALLERYMOD_item.asp?sectionid=39&imagename=a-e.jpg

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE ARTS: POST BUDGET UPDATE

Following the Government's budget of 7th December, the National Campaign for the Arts have issued a press statement which you can read at the website below. Overall ,arts cuts were not as severe as had been feared, and both Culture Ireland and the Irish Film Board have been retained. For more information, visit:

W: http://www.ncfa.ie

URGENT: HELP SAVE THE SECONDARY SCHOOL OF GLASSMAKING, SENOV

It has recently been announced that the Senov Secondary School of Glassmaking in Bohemia is to be closed. A remarkable institution that those of you present at Itzell Tazzyman's recent GSoI lecture would have seen images of, and talked of the excellent teaching programme there with the incredible standard of work by 14 to 16 year olds. It has been running since 1856 and now faces closure due to financial reasons. To see some of the work that is produced at the school, visit this website: http://www.supss.clnet.cz It is at the heart of a wonderful glassmaking tradition that we in Ireland owe an awful lot to (it is from this region that our own traditions of cutting and engraving originate). Below is the letter sent by Frantisek Janak, principal of the school, has sent to the glass community:

Dear friends,

I want to inform you, that our provider wants definitely to close up our school
on April the 1st 2010. it was said today on the press conference in Liberec,
where I was not invited to. They have the plan to connect our school with the
school in Novy Bor. But it means actually physical liquidation of our school.
Their plan is to bring students from our school to N. Bor. The deadline is 1st
of April. But this is a proposal only, which must be agreed with the Liberec
County assembly in January. Till then we must do everything to inform these
stupid politicians about world wide importance of our school! They have no clue,
how important it is. You have free hands to do anything! The guy, who is in
charge of it, the deputy Mr. Cikl, is a former ski jumper and a director of the
glass school in N. Bor is Czech language teacher! And these people are making
fatal decission about the oldest glass school in the world!

Best regards,

Frantisek Janak M.A.
(the last one?) principal

The Secondary School of Glassmaking
Havlickova 57
47114 Kamenicky Senov
The Czech Republic

Recently, Broadfield House Museum was saved from a similar fate, thanks to the great support shown by the international glass community. Now we must do the same for the Senov school, in the hopes that we can save it too. Please please follow this link to sign a petition to keep the school open: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SenovPreservation Also, please spread the world! Put this link on your Facebook page, tweet about it, and email anyone you think would like to support this very worthy cause.

ARTIST PROFILE: SEAN CAMPBELL

Sean Campbell grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the 1970s followed by the personal freedom of living, working and travelling abroad. The direct experience of travel combined with the perspective that comes from returning home has developed an empirical interest in anthropology and abstraction. Sean Campbell trained in visual art in Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and the United States. He was artist in residence at Northlands Creative Glass in 2009. Recent exhibitions include a solo show “Beginnings Without Boundaries” in the Alley Arts Gallery, Strabane, N.Ireland, “Skulturudstilling” in Denmark, “Vernissage” in Sweden, “Sculpture in Context”, Dublin, Ireland and as Invited Artist with Michael Brolly at The Goggleworks, Reading, USA. Sean holds a M.A. from the University of Ulster and a B.A. Honours from the University of Liverpool. His work is held in public and private collections in New Zealand, USA, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark and the U.K. Major public artworks include “Between the known and the Unknown”, N 15 By Pass Joint Public art Commission with Elizabeth Caffrey, “Arc” Integrated Public Art, Bayview Resource Centre, Bangor and “Passage of Time”, Ballymena Museum and Civic Centre.

Sean Campbell gives a lecture in NCAD's Noel Sheridan Room on Thursday 10th December at 7.45pm.

ARTIST PROFILE: MARY B. WHITE

Mary B. White is an American San Francisco Bay Area sculptor/arts educator is a Fulbright Scholar at the National College of Art and Design/ Dublin Sept 09-June 2010, She is facilitating a pilot collaborative seminar for NCAD MA students and Craft Council of Ireland participants on topics of the "Landscape of Aesthetics and Design". The seminar will culminate in an exhibition of participant work at Mason Hayes & Curran in Dublin and a symposium for makers at NCAD in April 2010.

Mary teaches at the Crucible Fire Arts Center Glass Department in Oakland, CA and much of her work links art making with social and environmental issues. She has a MFA in Glass and Painting from California College of the Arts. From 1985-2005 when she retired, Mary was head of the San Jose State University Glass Program and taught in the School of Art and Design and the Creative Arts Department at San Jose State University. She served as a board member and Oakland, CA site coordinator for the Glass Art Society, organized the San Jose California Glass Exchange and currently serves on the board of the Women Environmental Art Directory. She has taught workshops at over fifteen institutions and her work is in many collections, including the Corning Glass Museum. She is currently working on a flood level marker public art project on Boulder Creek in Boulder, Colorado.

On Thursday 10th December at 7pm Mary B. White gives a lecture entitled "Living on Fault Lines and Pacific Currents" in the Noel Sheridan Room in NCAD, Thomas Street, Dublin.

GLASS SOCIETY OF IRELAND LECTURE, 10TH DECEMBER

As mentioned in the last e-bulletin, the Glass Society of Ireland, in association with NCAD Glass Dept, is holding another evening lecture on Thursday 10th December (that's tomorrow) at 7pm in the Noel Sheridan Room in NCAD. The two speakers are Mary B. White and Sean Campbell. Mary is an American artist currently studying in NCAD Glass Dept as a Fulbright scholar, while Sean is an Northern Ireland-born artist based in Leitrim. See their artist profiles for more information on their work.

E-MERGE 2010: REMINDER

Deadline for e-merge 2010 fast approaches: read up on it here:

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS AT WARM GLASS UK

For the first 12 days of December, Warm Glass UK have a new offer each day. Visit the website to see what bargains you can find on glass and glass equipment.

W: www.warm-glass.co.uk

SPACES STILL AVAILABLE FOR PENLAND, SPRING 2010

There are still spaces available for eight-week courses in glass and other crafts at Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina. The courses run from 14th March to 7th May, and more information can be found at:

W: http://penland.org/classes/spring/spring_main.html

WARM GLASS MASTERCLASSES 2010, UK

Bristol based ‘Warm Glass UK’ will be the venue for some exciting new Masterclasses in 2010. Class size is limited to 8 students, 10% CGS discounts are available - first come first served.

* ‘Skin’ with Silvia Levenson – The way we interact with objects through their surface.
* ‘Into the Light’ with Bruno Romanelli – Using lost wax casting to manipulate light.
* ‘Making your Mark’ with Heather Power – Screen printing onto Bullseye Glass. SOLD OUT
* ‘Drawing to Glowing’ with Deborah Horrell – An exploration into pate-de-verre.
* ‘Engraving’ with Nancy Sutcliffe - Engraving with small rotary tools

Warm Glass UK is the UK’s main online resource for glass artists. The classes are being supported by the Oregon based Bullseye Glass Co and the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS).

For more information:
W: www.warm-glass.co.uk
T: 0044 1934 863344

GLASS KILNFORMING SUMMER CLASS: ISTANBUL

Australian-based artist Gerry King will teach a two-week kilnforming class at The Glass Furnace in Istanbul from 1st - 14th August 2010. For more information on the course, click on the image to open in a new window and save.

PLACES STILL AVAILABLE: INTRO TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, THE JOINERY

Spaces still available for the Introduction to Digital Photography Workshop that will be taking place on 5 and 6 December 2009 at The Joinery on Arbour Hill in Dublin 7. The workshop will cover a number of areas with a view to fully understanding the SLR camera. Cost: €100.

For more info and bookings please contact Miranda at:
T: 086 9815370
E: mirandadriscoll@gmail.com or joineryworkshops@gmail.com

CRAFT WORKSHOPS, DESIGNER MART

Workshops with Designer Mart allows you to learn a skill and leave with a handmade Christmas gift. Choose from 4 workshops taking place on Saturday 5 December 2009 in Cow’s Lane, Old City, Temple Bar. Make sterling silver earrings with Ann Tyrrell, string pearls with Tammy Bradley, create your own leather bound notebook with Wendy Stephens or create hand-knit Christmas presents with Hazel Donnelly.

For further information and bookings contact Eimear Chaomhánach on:
T: 01 6772255
E: echaomhanach@templebar.ie

GAS CONFERENCE 2010, LOUISVILLE, USA

The 2010 GAS Conference will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, USA from 10th - 12th June, and its theme is Ingenious Possibility. You can now download the pre-conference brochure from the website, as well as register to attend. You can also find information on scholarships to the conference, as well as work exchanges, to keep the cost of the conference down.

W: http://www.glassart.org/2010_louisville.html

CGS "REMARKABLE GLASS" EXHIBITION: CALL

European Artists are invited to submit work for a show of outstanding glass at the prestigious venue of Contemporary Applied Arts, London. This collaboration between the Contemporary Glass Society and Contemporary Applied Arts offers a unique opportunity to be part of a new European initiative.

Remarkable Glass is aimed at established European artists. Submissions are preferred from artists who have been working professionally for at least seven years. Artists who have been working for less than seven years will not be excluded, but should be aware that the CGS/CAA are looking for a maturity of style and aesthetic and a demonstrated commitment to practice. There will be a separate category within the show for emerging, or early career, artists. These must be within three years of graduating from their BA degree or Diploma (not MA).

The deadline for Remarkable Glass is Friday 15th January 2010. Selection will take place during February 2010, when a panel will meet to view the entries.

For further information please contact Pam Reekie:
E: admin@cgs.org.uk


(Source: Alan J Poole

GLASSHAMMER STUDIOS OPEN EVENING, OFFALY

On Friday 11th December from 7pm you can visit Glasshammer Studios and Gallery in Rhode, Co Offaly. The evening will be officially opened by TV personality Anna Nolan, and there will be mulled wine and mince pies to start the Christmas season.

E: info@glasshammer.ie
W: www.glasshammer.ie

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE ARTS DELEGATION MEETS WITH MINISTER MARTIN CULLEN

A delegation from the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) met with Martin Cullen TD, Minister for the Arts, Sport and Tourism last week on Wednesday 25 November 2009 to discuss the impact that further cuts to arts funding would have on the sector in advance of the impending Budget 2010.

The delegation comprised of Tania Banotti of Theatre Forum, Sarah Glennie of the Irish Film Institute, Gerry Godley of the Improvised Music Company and Fiach Mac Conghail of the Abbey Theatre also called on Minister Cullen to bring the demands of the NCFA to the Cabinet. In support of the NCFA's campaign the delegation presented the Minister with a petition signed online by over 10,000 people in just two weeks. The National Campaign for the Arts is lobbying for the retention of Culture Ireland and the Irish Film Board, the maintenance of existing levels of arts funding for the Arts Council and continued full representation of the arts at senior cabinet level.

The National Campaign for the Arts is proudly supported by the Glass Society of Ireland, and the society will continue to show its support into the new year.

W: www.ncfa.ie