[PA-NJ Glassblowers] Glass Artist Paul Stankard's alchemistic glass works are inspired by botany (Video)

Tony Patti gaffer at glassblower.info
Sun Aug 17 23:16:48 EDT 2014


The article below was published a few days ago, and I received a Google
Alert about awesome New Jersey paperweight artist Paul Stankard.

 

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/incredible-nature-inspired-glass-paperweig
hts-paul-stankard.html

 

Perhaps the best part of the article is this 11-minute video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJK_rQO0Zk 

 

 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJK_rQO0Zk> 

 

 


Artist's alchemistic glass works are inspired by botany (Video)

 <http://www.treehugger.com/author/kimberley-mok/> 
by Kimberley Mok ( <https://twitter.com/kimberleymok> @kimberleymok)
 <http://www.treehugger.com/living/> Living /
<http://www.treehugger.com/culture/> Culture
August 13, 2014

There is no doubt that
<http://www.treehugger.com/culture/how-ecologically-literate-are-you.html>
nature is a great teacher, and for many, it provides a primal salvation. For
American glass artist  <http://www.paulstankard.com/> Paul Stankard,
nature's forms and patterns offer a mystical universe of inspiration, where
flowers, seeds, roots and insects are translated into glass, becoming
messengers of an unfathomable beauty.



His amazingly realistic works spring from his deep awe for nature, resulting
in glass pieces that look like there are real flowers embedded inside. His
precise glassblowing technique has a decidedly spiritual bent, as he
explains:

I am interested in integrating mysticism with botanical realism giving the
glass organic credibility. Through the work, I reference the continuum of
nature, by portraying and exploring the mysteries of seeds, fertility and
decay.

Stankard, who is  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Joseph_Stankard>
considered the father of modern glass paperweights and a master of his art
for more than 50 years, began his remarkable career after years of struggle
in school with undiagnosed dyslexia. These early, discouraging pressures
resulted in him wanting to find creative work, so after obtaining a degree
in scientific glassblowing, he then worked for ten years in industrial
glassblowing, making scientific instruments for laboratories.

His artistic break came when he began to sell glassworks that he created in
his garage in 1969, to financially support his growing family. His
botanically correct works -- painstakingly made, influenced by his
industrial training and unique for that time -- caught the eye of a
well-known art dealer, who sponsored his transition to full-time art-making.



Like an alchemist of glass, Stankard "interprets" blossoms with a spiritual
and creative vision that has been  <http://www.paulstankard.com/poetry.php>
influenced by American poet  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman>
Walt Whitman, who was also a self-taught carpenter. In the video above, in
reference to how these glass orbs are phenomenologically activated, he
recites a lovely line from his own poem, written in his book "No Green
Berries or Leaves":

Receive this glass
it holds my memories
crafted blossoms
suspended
in stillness
to be pollinated
by your sight
anticipating your touch
through time.

It is remarkable that as an individual who overcame all the odds in a quest
for personal creative expression, Stankard's story points to the universal
human spirit that resides in all of us, waiting to be transmuted in the
fires of divine insight. More over at Paul tankard's
<http://www.paulstankard.com/> website www.paulstankard.com 



 

 


Tony Patti
  
www.glassblower.info
  
gaffer at glassblower.info

 <http://www.glassblower.info/qr-code.html> QR Code for Tony Patti -
www.glassblower.info

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 36545 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment.jpe 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 18749 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment-0001.jpe 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 519384 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment.png 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 425608 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment-0001.png 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 334187 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://glassblower.info/pipermail/pa-nj/attachments/20140817/dd4b57c1/attachment-0002.png 


More information about the PA-NJ mailing list