Tag: teaching strategies/ideas

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Learning Without Boundaries

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant and may be lightly edited for clarity.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.

What does your personalized learning plan look like? How do you identify learning goals and structure your practice?
  • “I did a four-year degree mostly in hot shop glassblowing, and in my free time I tried to teach myself flameworking.”
  • I’ve been involved with glass for a year. I didn’t go to school for art. I went to school for business. Being an artist was never a possibility.
    • Now that I’m an adult and can choose what I want to do with my life, I’m really excited to pursue this. I found some glassblowers and just kept going to their shop until they would teach me something. That space was very uncomfortable — very misogynistic and racist — and I wanted to get out. Now I’m with someone who actually wants to teach, and that feels really different.
    • Previously, I would try stuff I see on Instagram or YouTube. I’m trying to combine in person with online resources.
    • I’ve been wanting to check out Elissa Newmeyer’s Patreon.
  • “I learned from books and literature online before YouTube had videos available at my very basic home set up. And then I also learned hollow work on the clock as a production-ist for a dichro company after moving across the US. I enjoy trial and error learning. And continue to learn through happy accidents.”
  • I got into flameworking through the Bead Project at UrbanGlass.
    • I’m more of an experiential learner. I need to touch it, ask questions, and experience it. More hands on, less YouTube.
    • Working a full time job, and financial obligations limit studio time
  • I’m an autodidact, I’ve never been to school for glassmaking and I learned from books and magazines and other people. 
  • I also was self-taught at the beginning, before there were a lot of videos on YouTube, so I photocopied Contemporary Lampworking and looked at the pictures, which was super helpful, as I’m a visual learner.
  • I got started because a friend of mine who was a little further along in their glassblowing journey helped me set up a studio and showed me the basics.
  • I’m in trade school now, to become an electrician, and I have a BFA in sculpture, but they did not have a glass facility. After that, I took a hot shop class, and then was in the Bead Project.
↳ Importance of Accountability Buddies
  • If you’re not careful, you end up operating in a silo and missing opportunities to connect.
  • Having an “accountability buddy” at the studio to help build community, and to share your experience with. 
  • Accountability buddy is also helpful in terms of safety, especially in the beginning. Helpful in answering simple questions like how do I clean up? An accountability buddy can be a teacher, as well as a peer or a mentor, and can help you stay motivated.
How do you balance technical skills with artistic exploration?
  • I like to learn by doing. I design an object that has the skills I want to learn, and then I make hundreds of them. If I can struggle through the prototype, I know 200 objects later I’ll have those skills nailed
  • I usually focus on the technical skills first, then think about how to employ those skills in my art practice.
    • I have an ongoing list of skills to acquire, and then I’ll design a project that uses those, and then the warmup exercise will reinforce those skills. 
    • Using repetition: timed warm up, usually 45–60 min, focused on repeating one specific skill (ex: side seal) a set number of times. Keep it simple, and what you learn, immediately apply to your next object. 
  • I‘ll take a class and then practice the skills from the class, and use video or photos from the class. Eventually it will make its way into a future project. 
  • Sometimes I realize that I’m too comfortable at the studio, and should try something new. Your comfort zone is where dreams go to die.
    • Someone at the studio threw a book with pictures of beads at me and said pick a page and try something new. That reminder — that you have to shake it up — that was really important for me.
  • I would reserve every Friday night for R&D for a solo date night in the studio. The goal is to try something you’ve never tried before. Eventually friends would join me. Many new designs came from that as well.
    • Building technical skill: almost like a workout regime, or something like a fitness coach, doing reps. Quantity over quality is how I learn new skills.
  • “I’ll do thirty okay ones instead of one perfect one, and I will learn way more.”
    • I struggle with brushing up on certain skills that you don’t use all the time, but feel like you should be able to – for example: goblet making. Practicing one part over and over again is humbling.
  • I do a lot of different styles of flameworking, and switching gears is a challenge, so I try to hone in on the skills I’m going to need for the project, and if possible, try to have a good flow between projects. It helps if the projects are kind of similar and not completely different ways of working. But deadlines don’t always allow for that.
↳ Community Involvement and Motivation
  • It sounds like you have a great community because your community members are holding you accountable for research and development.
  • I love this idea of having accountability through peers to call you out on staying in your comfort zone because sometimes you don’t even want to hear that.
  • It’s a beautiful thing when there’s someone who you trust and who trusts you that can give you clear feedback.
How do you manage your notes, knowledge, information?
  • I don’t have a torch at home, so I always have a sketchbook to capture ideas. When I finally get to a torch, my time is limited, and I don’t want to waste it.
  • I’ve been keeping sketchbooks my whole life. I was just looking at sketchbooks from 15 years ago and realizing those ideas are feeding my work now. My practice is not linear.
  • I have a shelf of sketchbooks, and whenever I take a class I have a dedicated sketchbook.
  • Whenever I’m in a class, there’s always somebody taking great notes and sketches, and I love doing a little notebook swap for a bit. Some people are better draftspeople than others, and I find that to be a hugely valuable resource.
    • One time I was teaching a class and a student who took amazing notes gave me permission to photocopy them. I think it’s a wonderful thing for visual learners.
  • “Those notes are your future work! I did that for years. And now I have a lot of work that I get to select from now that my skills have caught up to my ideas”
    • “Kit Paulson’s notes are spectacular. I was blown away when I saw them. It’s also a fully fledged manual”
    • “Those skills will transfer into so many things. And discipline is huge for working backward to learn new things.”
  • I use a note system called Markdown to organize my digital notes so that you can have them be self referential. I use Obsidian, and I can search my notes digitally and produce a mindmap to look at the info visually.
  • The problem now is: how do I find what I need in all these notes? There wasn’t any info when I started — now there’s too much.
    • Being able to recall the info is difficult. I have tons of notes, but I have no idea what skills you would need to make the thing.
    • For me, it’s been easier to just ask a person than to figure out what terms to search for on YouTube.
  • How do you combine what’s in the notebooks with the skills needed to physically do it? You have to break it down into smaller parts in order to practice. I can break down numbers in Excel all day, but I can’t do it with glass.
↳ Search Terms and Developing a Flame Vocabulary
  • If you don’t know what something is called, how do you even search for it?
    • Different people call the same thing with totally different names, and that really affects how you learn. Example: blind seal, jesus seal, dieter seal – depending on what style of flameworking you’re doing, it can be called at least three different things.
    • Learning the language is a part of it as well. Books are a great introduction to language, and then you can use those terms to search online.
    • “Take a look at the Rakow Library’s Guide for Flameworking to find good books & articles – and you can borrow from them long distance, too”
Digital Mentorship: How do you leverage online resources like video tutorials, online courses and virtual communities (like this one) to enhance your self learning experience?
  • On being a digital mentor: “Sometimes it feels like I just throw info into unknown orbit, but sometimes people will message me and let me know a little thing I said helped them tweak their work in a positive way, and that feels very rewarding.”
  • Cohorts.art: yearlong mentorship, virtual, structured throughout the year to develop a relationship with a professional in your field.
    • There is a cost, but this could appeal to autodidacts.
  • On regular livestreaming: “a good way to keep yourself accountable/consistent. I know I have seen people stream the same day every week”
  • Livestreaming (Twitch, Zoom, IG Live, YouTube, etc.)
    • People are streaming while they work, and you can ask questions in real time. You don’t have to be in the same physical place to learn from someone.
    • Do digital studio visits and get feedback from people all over the world.
    • Use Zoom a lot for feedback on my work
    • Twitch is a popular platform for gaming that could be used to stream live flameworking sessions. That could be an interesting place to turn to for info, or as a way to mediate digital mentorship; pretty open for exploration.
    • Catch live feeds and ask questions while people are working:
    • Live Streams are mostly accessible (free) when they are live, and you may need to pay to rewatch it. On YouTube most people stream for free. Some platforms have a mechanism for a paywall for VIPs.
    • “Glass Man Standing is a frequent competition out of the Glass Smith in Austin and they live stream the competitors working!”
How do you keep up the momentum when you are a self-directed learner? What strategies do you use to overcome challenges?
  • Strategies that you might use to practice an instrument or a sport could work for flameworking, although not everyone has the same access to a torch. 
  • Once you pay for studio time, there’s incentive to show up
  • Most of the glass I have made has been a gift for birthdays or holidays, so that is usually my inspiration/motivation/deadline
  • Working with a friend or group
    • “Having an accountability buddy makes sure I actually show up.”
    • Bringing a friend to the studio makes it more fun!
    • Sometimes you just need a witness — someone to say, “yeah, that worked.”
    • Schedule a playdate
  • Entertainment (books, media, etc.)
    • Finding a good book to listen to when I am working helps keep me motivated and excited to get to the grind
    • Binge watch a TV show only at the studio, not at home, so when you want to see what happens next you have to go to the studio to find out
  • Setting time limits, deadlines, etc.:
    • Sometimes all the little steps to setting up can demotivate me. Especially something tedious like setting up on the lathe, and gathering all the holders and special tools for that can be too much. I tell myself I’ll just do one hour — and once I’m there, it’s easier.
    • Physically block out the time to practice in my calendar.
    • Set an internal deadline just to keep the responsibility of working on something.
    • There’s a difference between saying ‘I’ll go to the studio’ and blocking 12 to 5 in your calendar.
  • Outreach and communication
    • If I’m stuck on something, I might text a friend for troubleshooting, or if it’s a win, I might post a photo online to get some feedback.
    • The Bead Project created a group chat, and we kept it alive after class was over. We now use it to connect with buddies for studio time, and to coordinate sharing kiln rentals. There’s something to be said about being in the studio when it’s popping with energy, and how can I encourage that.
  • Have fun and build a creative environment
    • I’m in a solo studio, so I have been inviting musicians and photographers to share the space so we can all make our art simultaneously and share the space and hang out. 
    • “Play is the higher form of research. And I love to play, so it helps me show up every day.”
↳ How do you stay motivated as an artist in an era of unchecked capitalism?
  • Capitalism will have you qualifying every studio hour. If I’m thinking about money while I’m making, nothing feels as good.
  • I’ve been trying to break out of thinking about cost for so long. It was actively contributing to the work, and at a certain point I just decided to throw all that stuff out. I realize this is a privileged position to make works that are not intended for sale.
  • The value I get out of working on creative works is not a monetary value. You can’t put a price tag on the satisfaction of finishing a piece you worked on for a month. There is value that doesn’t translate into a dollar sign.
  • Money is not the thing that can capture the value that you get from art. The value of art is mainly recognised through empathy. The value of the hand in an object, you can’t capture that in a price tag. 
  • I feel that the whole point of engaging in a creative act is feeling a connection to the world. 
  • The journey of the self-made artist is an internal journey, and you can connect with others who are on parallel journeys, but your journey is really your own, which is why everyone’s path looks so different. You’re searching for something money can’t buy. 
  • It really formats what your studio day is going to look like when the studio breaks down the fee for the studio by the hour. Because it’s too easy to correlate that to the value of the work. 
  • When I changed studios from paying for hourly access to paying for monthly access, it freed me from having to think about how much I have to pay to make art, so I can enjoy being in the moment and it totally changed my work. I recognize that everyone is bound to their own access situation and I am privileged in that I don’t have that tether in the way that I did before. 
  • During COVID we became really clear that art was food for the soul. That didn’t change — we had just forgotten. We were here for the art. 
  • Creatives have to find ways to remain clear as to why we’re making art. We do this because we’re putting soul into this. This speaks to people. It’s a communication that’s needed. It’s beyond words. 
  • Meetings like this are important because sometimes we don’t know where our blindspots are. WE need to make sure that we allow ourselves to continue to be vulnerable, because the best art comes from vulnerable spaces. 
  • Continue to share. We can’t be selfish with it. That’s how we grow as a collective.
  • As much learning as we do, there’s also unlearning that needs to happen. 
  • Community is an idea that we then articulate in whatever format we need it to be.
  • There’s always a way to keep going.
  • “Cost benefit analysis is work, not play 😭”
    • “Making to not sell is a total luxury! So real”
Building Community as a Solo Learner
  • I like to be a part of a lot of different communities because I get a different perspective with every group. It’s less of an echo chamber, and more like quality feedback that I’m challenged by. I do this online and also in person. 
  • Online is great because you can access people in other parts of the world, and keep in touch with people when travel is difficult. Online space has become a valuable meeting place for feedback and mentorship and really meaningful connections.
    • “I DM people when I get excited about what they’re making to encourage them. That’s about my community online. I am very excited to work at Pilchuck this summer to be around glass people again for the first time in two years.”
  • In person and virtual communities collide sometimes, I’ve met people online and later realized we didn’t know if we’d met in person before.
    When we finally meet, we’re already past introductions.
  • ASGS sectional meeting – great way to connect and get educated. It was ten dollars, an hour away, and I learned so much. You can make a lot of connections with smaller groups and get to know people.
  • You don’t need the big thing — sometimes the small local thing is where it happens.
  • Glass connects to everything — ceramic, metal, social practice.
  • Opportunities like Pilchuck are expensive, but it may be possible to connect with someone another way – like taking a smaller class in a local studio. You can do your research online. It’s really cool to get to meet someone that you look up to.
    • “Apply for full ride scholarships always! Just in case! That’s how I have been able to attend craft schools.”
  • I’m a teacher, and correspond with students online before class. When we get to work in person, we start at a more advanced level because we are not just meeting each other, we already have some sort of a relationship formed online that we are just extending into physical space. So it makes the in person time more valuable and more productive in general. 
  • I started an instagram account that is just for interacting with folx from education spaces. It helps me be able to maintain meaningful relationships with more people than I would interact with just in my local neighborhood.

BACK TO TOP

LINK TO RESOURCE: MEETING NOTES (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 4/6/26

2025–2026 Glass Graduate School Program Guide

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX is currently compiling a highly detailed survey of graduate glass programs in the US, providing applicants with useful, actionable information in one central resource. The following snapshot is a working draft that is subject to change, as the final edited guide will be featured in the GEEX Journal Volume II, coming in 2026.

VIEW THE FULL GLASS GRADUATE SCHOOL PROGRAM GUIDE

GEEX firmly believes this resource should be free for schools to participate in and publicly accessible to prospective students. Considering the worrying realities of attrition in the field and the shuttering of various academic glass programs, our team believes this is essential work to support the overall future of glass education.

To add an additional glass graduate program to this guide, fill out this form.

LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE SHEETS)

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

An article by Hua Hsu of the New Yorker, examining the implications of A.I. on the purpose of higher education.

An abstracted image of graduation caps composed of 0s and 1s and AI, referring to binary code and machine learning.

Getting a degree has always involved students completing a set of requirements in exchange for credentials, however, A.I. has created a process for bypassing the challenges of completing a degree.

“But even for the most mercenary of students, the pursuit of a grade or a diploma has come with an ancillary benefit. You’re being taught how to do something difficult, and maybe, along the way, you come to appreciate the process of learning. But the arrival of A.I. means that you can now bypass the process, and the difficulty, altogether.”

For human-centered writing support, visit the GEEX Writing Center.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

Glass Madison Student Presentations

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

At the 2023 Glass Madison Educational Gathering, GEEX staff jury-selected six student speakers representing a broad range of techniques and narratives within and beyond glass, spanning wearables, lighting design, performance, temporality, ecological systems, and hybridity.

Lineup of 6 featured speakers for the Glass Madison Student Presentations: Hannah Bowlus, Hannah Buss, Abby Sunde, Carolyn Spears, Nancy Yu (NC Qin), and Kwun Lan Wong.

The Glass Madison symposium (October 6-7, 2023) brought intercollegiate and community glass programs together to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s glass program and the creative communities that grew from its founding.

Introduction

Introduction by Ben Orozco, GEEX Graphic Designer/Web Manager, and alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hannah Bowlus

BFA, Bowling Green State University
bgartscouncil.com/hannah-bowlus
instagram.com/hannah_bowlus

Hannah Buss

BFA, The Ohio State University
hannahbuss.my.canva.site/hannah-buss
instagram.com/hbussart

Abby Sunde

BFA, University of Wisconsin-Madison
abbysunde.com
instagram.com/abby_sunde

Carolyn Spears

MFA, University of Wisconsin-Madison
carolynspearsglass.com
instagram.com/carolynspears_here

Nancy Yu (NC Qin)

MFA, Southern Illinois University
ncqin.com
instagram.com/nc_qin

Kwun Lan Wong

MFA, Southern Illinois University
kwunglass.com
instagram.com/kwunnnnnnn

LINK TO RESOURCE (YOUTUBE PLAYLIST)

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

Creative Capital Artist Lab

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

Creative Capital Artist Lab is a suite of online courses and resources designed to help artists build thriving practices at any career stage and in any discipline.

Screenshot of the Creative Capital resources homepage, including a photo of Dyani White Hawk in her artist studio.

Creative Capital Artist Lab online courses are created by art professionals, industry experts, and fellow artists who share vital concepts, skills, and tools to help grow artists’ careers. Courses are delivered through online lectures and discussions, videos, and text-based learning formats—and include exercises, best practices, and case studies that can be explored at your own pace.

Creative Capital Foundation is a prominent 501(c)(3) organization supporting individual artists through grants, resources, and events.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Jean Fernandes

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Building Bridges

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith
Featuring special guest Ghislaine Sabiti: artist, educator, and director of the Bead Project at UrbanGlass in New York.

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant and may be lightly edited for clarity.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.

Learn more about Ghislaine Sabiti:

How have your experiences influenced your approach to bridging cultural gaps in the arts?

All responses in this section from Ghislaine Sabiti, featured guest.

  • Living on three different continents, I try to embrace the three different cultures in my art practice and also as an art educator.
  • Embracing the multicultural aspect of your background & hybrid identity
    • Each culture has something very special and important, as I have learned through my art practice and as an artist. So I need to use it as a tool and be proud of that. I can share with everybody.
  • Students have different levels of background and knowledge regarding glassmaking and business skills.
    • As an art educator and a mentor, I try to understand where they are coming from.
    • I always make sure that the curriculum matches the students’ level, and adapt the curriculum by understanding the needs of every student.
    • Being a good listener is very important.
    • Remembering what it is like to be a student and understanding the student’s perspective and what they want to learn. Sometimes it could be a bit overwhelming, so you need to know how to navigate layers of the knowledge and learning process. 
  • Life is a learning process: you never finish learning.
How can you help experienced makers embrace the courage to be a beginner again?

Responses from this point on are aggregated, quoted text originated in the chat.

  • If the student is experienced in another medium and tries glass for the first time, that can be humbling if you’re used to being a master in another discipline.
  • It takes so much courage to become a beginner again. I like to create space for that by inviting students to show images of their work in another medium or discipline if they’d like. Sometimes it’s surprising what I find.
  • Being humble is key to starting something new and being a beginner. Handle yourself. 
  • Fun and experimentation. When you have this mindset of experimenting, you give room for failure, it’s good for you because you are not being a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist doesn’t allow you to excel and be more open to exploring new techniques, new skills, new sizes, and failure. So experimentation is a key for me, and having fun. Don’t stress, because if you’re overthinking and stressed, you cannot achieve anything.
  • Write words on the board in different languages that correspond to the forms you are making. You learn a little bit about different languages.
  • Making room for the students to teach you something. Making space for an exchange to happen, ex: learning new words from another language, sharing food, beads, makes everyone feel comfortable. Then we can teach each other — in addition to the teacher teaching the students.
  • Applying what you know from another field or working with other media than flameworking helps you remember that you aren’t starting from nothing. Even life experience helps because you have to be tough and stubborn to work the glass. You gotta stick with it. 
  • No one taught me, I saw glassblowing when I was a little kid and started playing around with it for fifty years. So the connection of the mind, the eyes, the hands, and the material and being willing to be led by the material. Chase your curiosity through the glass… that connection that you finally discover, that you’ve successfully communicated through the material. 
  • Glass is very abstract, so using metaphors and other things to explain what is happening is helpful. For example, moving from flameworking to the hot shop helped me understand the annealing flame — even though the glory hole and annealing flame were different, there are enough similarities that things started to click. 
  • Explaining the viscosity of glass in terms of sugar for a student who was a candy maker. Finding a common bridge.
  • It’s always about building a bridge between communities, and even in my classroom I will build a bridge by always bringing in mentors and speakers to help the student learn and understand differently. Building bridges through partnership, mentorship, volunteers, and bringing in speakers to share another perspective and help students understand in another way. These connections outside the classroom are long-term and could be a collaboration in the future for an opportunity, an exhibition, or a job, you never know.
  • You can bring glass to anything. I have a guest coming to the glass shop to talk about ancient glass, and how glass traveled throughout the world in ancient times. So you can really connect everything to everything. Not just glass materials, but ceramic, metal: it’s all connected. So you could connect it to other subjects. 
  • Challenge students to pay attention to how many things in your life are made of glass and make a list. It can change your perspective. It’s surprising how much we interact with glass daily, and how those are shared experiences. 
  • Glass can make people more accessible and diffuse racial tensions by focusing attention on the glass and having a shared experience. Having material to talk about in between cultural differences is helpful.  
  • “applying what you know from working with other media/in other fields to flameworking helps you remember you are not completely starting from nothing!”
  • “Being willing to be led by the material”
  • “Use of metaphor to explain/understand glass”
What role has mentorship played in your artistic development?
  • Being an artist, you need an advisor. You need someone who can guide you and tell you the truth, and not just say everything’s fine.
  • A mentor will guide you and align you where you are supposed to be, without giving you all the answers. Being a mentor is not giving all the answers because you have to learn, but it’s to guide you and help you find the way and the tools and knowledge, the skills and the connection.
  • I used to be a mentee, and am now a mentor. Doing both helped me to recognize the needs of what an artist is looking for and also the response. Follow your intuition and your instinct and being a good listener is the key for a mentee, and also as a mentor because you have to listen to the needs of the person in front of you and ask for help and guidance. 
  • For me, building a connection started within a community. Community is key for me as an artist. So my work is focused on community and it is also my everyday life philosophy.  So I was looking for a different community. It wasn’t just in the glass community, it was in fine art, painting, ceramic, and also social justice. I feel that I’m connected, and I use this community to build a network, to build a presence. When you are a part of the community, it’s not just taking, you have to give back. 
  • Being in community could be volunteering, working, or just giving back and knowing that you are somebody and you come from somewhere. So don’t erase your past. Don’t erase your culture. Try to embrace the new culture with your roots. It’s a hybrid, like these two cultures.
  • Mentorship is a way to transfer knowledge between someone with a lot of experience to someone who is just starting. 
  • As a consultant and a mentor, I always think about myself as an immigrant artist living on three different continents and also embracing my cultures. Using your experience and knowledge is key, but 100% understanding and listening to the needs of the person in front of you is important. I always remember what I went through, so I’m trying to have them not make the same mistakes I did in the past. 
  • Offering bilingual mentor sessions in French and English open to a big range of communities. It’s very helpful to be able to touch people all over the world. Some artists can be anywhere in the world and speak French or English in the session. That is amazing, it is global, international, and local. 
  • My mentor and I still get together. He’s old, he’s got a little dementia now, but he’s still a mentor to me. I’m still learning from him, and it’s not just glass that I’m learning. 
  • The best mentors that I’ve had are never just teaching you about glass, they are also teaching you about life and they show up right when you need them. 
  • Building a bridge between students and professionals
  • I’m excited that it’s mostly women here. I’m living in Reno, and there are no formal education centers, so I’ve just started working with a couple of artists in their spaces. It’s informal mentorship. There is another male student who received more attention from the older male mentor, including free materials. They have very similar styles, whereas I’m coming in wanting to make cute pink things, I’m just looking at a different side of glass. Regardless of the discomfort, it is cool that we can share our passion for glass. Mentors teach you about life, and maybe about what you don’t want in life.  Maybe this is not what I want for the glass scene going forward – I want people to feel more welcome. 
  • Having discussions like this where I get to meet people from places I would have never even gotten to know. It’s cool to be able to join y’all and maybe have mentorship from even just this discussion. This level of interaction is just as important as being in a classroom setting. 
  • Although glass is so unifying, it is very isolating in that it’s not accessible and a lot of people, especially with flameworking, will work out of their garage or some random warehouse, unless you’re in an urban center where there are a bunch of cool places that have huge shops. 
  • When I was first starting, I was intimidated by all the people who were my heroes. I see that still with my students. The very seasoned people are happy most of the time to have interactions with the new people. I think that both have a lot to learn from one another, in every sense of the word. How can we bridge the gap between different generations, and do these challenges exist outside of traditional learning spaces?
  • I’ve experienced some of the community, but I’m gonna be a little bit cynical here and say that I’ve run into forces that weren’t so great. I started in flameworking, and was getting interested in color chemistry, and remember just completely getting shut down. Nobody I was able to talk to would give me any information. That’s part of why I got into ceramics, in addition to glass, to try and reverse engineer color chemistry. And there’s still a lot of weird secret-keeping. There’s a lot of cliques.
  • I’ve found that a lot of what interests me doesn’t fit well with a lot of the established systems and hierarchies. I started in a craft center, and I took craft classes, eventually got into an MFA program. I got an MFA and a lot of my experience has been people kind of looking at me weirdly and saying, you’re not doing it “right.” And that cuts me off from a lot of things.
  • I do believe in mentorship. I think that works well if you can find a mentor that works well with you. But there’s also this sense of looking to something that’s already established, that at least for me, shuts off some potential doors to other avenues. When I do something that I find compelling and talk to someone who is established, they look at it and say “What are you doing?” I don’t agree with it, and in odd cases, people can find it threatening. 
  • I’ve been in some places where I felt afraid to stand out or go against the grain. And then there are other places where it feels much more open. 
  • It’s difficult to be a trailblazer. 
  • Every voice is valuable, even if it’s brand new. 
  • “I feel like once you have a mentor, they are always a mentor (in the best case!)”
  • There are lots of different paths of mentorship. I was, or still am, a pipemaker, and how I came into the industry was more garages in the forest and less big box kind of access. Looking back, I had a multi-mentor type of system, instead of having full investment in one because it wasn’t an institution I went to.
  • I had to be careful not to step on the toes of my mentors because it was a small town, and there were not a lot of places to sell, so I had to take what I learned and make something new out of it to keep it from becoming a bitter relationship. 
  • I broadened my search for mentorship and diversified my research to reach out beyond my local community. I learned so much through collaboration and the mentorship that developed as a result.
  • One of my mentors was burnt out on glass, but became reinvigorated with my presence, we shared the love of glass. I feel that as a student, there’s a role to play. Some mentors have been in it for a long time. There’s a lot of nuance, a burden that comes along with that elongated process. A newcomer can bring that new energy to it. I think that mentorship, as much as it helps the student, can help the mentor and that relationship evolves and can make both find new facets of the material that they may not have found before. 
  • Glass has been a unifying thing, because I’ve learned from people who barely spoke the same language. We collaborated, and communicated through the glass, using drawings as a reference and making something together.
  • Don’t be afraid to be shamelessly interested in glass and ask people you admire to have a conversation. 
  • Intergenerational collaboration and diversity are key. Sharing the same space as different people is a learning process, and you need each other to grow, so by being open to diversity and also having intergenerational conversations, you can learn from each other’s wisdom, knowledge, and creativity. This is key to building a community and also good for your art practice on an everyday basis. 
  • “If you’re a researcher, you are your teacher in a way”
  • “It’s important to set the ego aside when you enter the classroom”
What role do young teachers, specifically, play in addressing these types of challenges? (i.e. Going against the grain, being a trailblazer, not having the bridge fully built.)
  • I started teaching at 15, and I was teaching adults. The generation gap was challenging, I even had one guy say “I’m not listening to you, you’re just a kid.” You have to kind of roll with it. Now, I’m the same age as those adults, and the people I’m teaching are like my grandkids. You change how you are depending on your age I think, between your students. 
  • Sometimes it’s hard to bridge the gap with very new students, so I like to team teach with another teacher who has a different perspective, age, skill set, and background to give the students another perspective. Seeing us (the teachers) bridge the gap can then be scaled to us teaching the students and the students teaching us. 
  • From a student’s POV: sometimes the teachers or people in the community can be gatekeepers about certain things. They may withhold teaching certain things (like their signature techniques). At the end of the day, the teachers who are the most open in their teaching, and also open to let you mess up and experiment, play a huge role. 
  • No matter how much experience you have, if you can’t connect with a student and inspire them to feel excited, or not get discouraged, there is going to be a bridge created. 
  • I think it’s really important to learn from people who have different strengths.
  • Sometimes having a young teacher can help connect with the younger students of a similar age. 
  • Being present, understanding the student’s needs, fostering diversity of perspectives and community, and having multiple teachers with different backgrounds are all keys for a successful class and improvement from the student. If a teacher can combine the background and the knowledge it becomes more powerful for the classroom and yields a better result at the end of the semester.
  • As a teacher I never want to hold back information because you never know what people are capable of. If you are withholding info, you’re putting limits on the student capabilities, and judging them before even getting to know them. That’s not fair.  I always think it’s the right move to share info and encourage students to come back again and again because maybe they’re not ready for the difficult moves yet, but with repetition, they’ll build that knowledge and eventually try it. Some are great glassblowers out of the gate, and the teacher has to also accept that as a possibility. 
  • I teach with another teacher who is so different from me. She gives a history lecture on glass that adds a complementary perspective when working with a group. 
  • There is some grey area in the spectrum between the student and the teacher. I’m to the point in a lot of areas I find interesting that I can’t find teachers or students to connect with, even though I am open to sharing all of my information. I rarely have anybody that listens. 
  • I think some of that is structural because there seems to be some kind of hierarchical authority about who gets to be a teacher. I’ve had some personal issues with having my qualified application to be a teacher tested. It’s hard for me to not think about the student-teacher kind of relationship and structure as not also being part of this established hierarchy that is designed to perpetuate itself.
  • I agree with everything that’s being said about best teaching practices, but I’ve had teachers who went against all of those things, and those are the same teachers that I think want to dictate.
  • For a student, it’s hard to find teachers who aren’t promoted (by an institution). If you want to teach, there’s little way that somebody who might be interested is going to find you. 
  • Unfortunately, not all teachers are good teachers.
  • If the institution is set up for that hierarchy, it’s really hard to break through. Maybe look at some of the additional relationships for learning, like skill sharing, and collaboration. 
  • Passing the torch as an art instructor and a teacher, you have to recognize the skill of each student no matter the level of the skills. 
  • You always want success for your students, you want them to be better than you. This is why you teach.
  • If you love what you are doing, you can pass that love onto the students. 
  • Having the feeling like somebody’s going to copy me or somebody is going to take over I think is the wrong mindset of an artist and a teacher. 
  • What are your goals as a teacher? Are you looking for a paycheck or do you want a successful student to be able to make a living with their art? Everybody has an agenda and it’s sad to say that not everybody is a good teacher, but how you can make a difference is very important.
  • Making a bridge like empowering the next generation to do better than you I think is one of the keys.
  • As the community is growing, we don’t want the younger generation to feel cut off. We want knowledge to travel in both directions because all voices are valuable. Sometimes you have a top down approach to teaching, and sometimes it’s more omnidirectional. How do we address building bridges between levels of experience?
↳ Learning from imitation: copying vs. reference
  • Often students as an exercise will copy the master and then go on to make it their own thing. Trust that they will make it their own, and that they’re not going to copy you. 
  • Setting aside your ego as a teacher is important.
  • Teachers need to be ok with students surpassing them.
  • There are people who don’t want to teach certain techniques, and they’re doing it so they can avoid having competition.
  • You’re going to get old, you’re not going to be able to make glass anymore. And if you didn’t teach someone else how to do it, then that died with you. That’s way worse than not passing it on.
  • Some of the things I do are directly copied from my mentor, and we are both proud of that. He trained me to do that, and now I’m training other people to do that, so I don’t think copying is a totally bad thing. The stories flow along with the technique throughout the community. 
  • I did a lot of printmaking in undergrad, and copying is part of the learning process in printmaking. You copied the person that was the lead of the company’s images, and when that person died, then you are the keeper of the knowledge. You could evolve a little bit, but you were charged with continuing the tradition.
  • The evolution of learning a technique and then doing something different with it, making it your own.
  • Copying that can infringe on intellectual property.
  • As an artist, I strive to be original, but I live in a world of reference, and my work will be referential. So then where is that line of copy vs. reference? Where does a copy turn into an evolution and as a teacher, how do we point these avenues out?
  • Accepting copying as a building block, and understanding it as a base to build on and grow out of.
  • Some students get turned off by the idea of making something because they have seen someone else do it before. As a student, do not let that deter you. Don’t copy them, do your own research, and make it your own. 
  • You can reference another artist as a reference and credit them in the piece, or in the statement to give homage, that way it’s not derivative. You’re giving credit where credit is due.
  • I am very afraid, as someone who has not had formal education, that when I’m referencing something I might be copying it. It’s hard to make a distinction sometimes. For me, copying things to learn is acceptable, but copying things for marketing is crossing the line. 
  • “You can also can teach you student about being respectful about intellectual property and how to develop their own designs”
↳ The new classroom: YouTube and Social Media
  • With social media, you have to be mindful about what you see online. The classroom can be anywhere — Instagram, YouTube — so just be open to these new tools and how you can use it for your own good.
  • YouTube is a new classroom. And most of the time it’s free. Established artists can go through and learn a new skill.
  • Social media has exploded our resources for education and even just reference, which is amazing
What are some strategies for fostering meaningful relationships and building these bridges, such as icebreakers, structured conversations, community building, etc.?
  • Tracing bodies of the students and using this space in between us as a template for making neon. It’s not about glass, it’s not about teaching, it’s just this space between us and the trust between us and that’s pretty beautiful. 
  • Encouraging folx to work in pairs or small groups, in class and out of class. Having a torch buddy is helpful for safety, and can also turn into a long term support system that includes peer support, intergeneration and intercultural wisdom, and skill sharing.
  • Communication building is one of the keys. Skill sharing and exchange is one of the keys. Organizing exchanges for artwork, skills, and tools with your friends and coworkers helps build bridges and relationships and improves your classroom.
  • I try to adopt the attitude: “There’s no wrong answers, just variable results.” Especially for beginners. Treat every hurdle with curiosity to make a safe space for landing when they’re in the air. Helping students navigate the unknown. Amplifying that safely makes the relationship with the student feel stronger.
  • It can be intimidating as a student to meet the teacher where they are at (in an institution, maybe with a prescribed technique). Teachers could try leaving the classroom and meeting the students elsewhere where they are at. Both could benefit by sharing what they have to offer. Insider vs outsider
  • There is a big insider faction in glass that can be intimidating and limited in what’s explored. I want to encourage people to go out and play. Don’t focus on inviting people in. Go out and forge the connections for yourself outside and see what else is out there. 
  • Instead of saying come to me at the institution, you can show up and say here’s what I am offering, let’s figure it out. Change the paradigm and remove yourself from the oppressive system.
  • Get out of your comfort zone and into the community. 
  • Regarding glass, there are limited facilities and safety that are needed to make glass. The internet opened up those spaces for teaching and learning in the virtual space. How can we bridge these spaces to bring the freedom of free knowledge exchanges on you tube and social media with the physical spaces (mostly institutions) in order to access students in a physical space for hands-on material experiences?
  • In the 70s, we would set up the torches anywhere, and people would just come. One time we set up in front of a slaughterhouse, the library, and craft shows. Racial tensions could be eased by sharing glassblowing with the public and bringing humor to the situation. 
  • Reinvent the way you connect with the community. Be bold, and think of new ideas to connect with your community. You are always going to find some help, so look for those people. 
  • Local arts councils may have grants for these kinds of things. To bring teaching into the schools and give you the opportunity to get out there. 
  • “cross pollinate with other mediums! Glass can be combined with any other material”
  • “Seeing hot glass blown outside at the renaissance faire as a child is what lit my fire!”
  • You have an establishment that is struggling with inclusion and diversity and wanting to get more people inside. Personally, I’m not looking to go inside, I think it’s a little stuffy. If people want to find some new techniques, new ideas, people doing different things, you gotta come out from where the establishment is. 
  • I have the credential that says I should be able to teach (MFA), but I’m not very interested in teaching in the established venues, because I really don’t get to teach, and some of the ideas are not very popular (incorporating 3D printing into craft material). This is how you get to teach and have a reputation, but it’s still within that kind of structure, and I’m still not interested in that structure. 
  • I resonate with that feeling of being an outsider and looking in at these big institutions. I’ve been a pipemaker my whole career, and going for my MFA was a big decision to enter into the institutions. I thought that by doing this I could try and be a bridge between the inside and outside. When I say something that was missing, I thought maybe I can be the missing thing that can fill that gap.
  • Seeking out where you can be bold. As an instructor it’s important to be bold and to stay true to your guts. 
  • When you’re not ready to teach because you don’t trust the institution, try to find a safe place. How can you make a safe place, even inside an institution where you are working, how can you make it better and safer for everybody? It could be more diverse. Inclusion is always a component to making it welcoming. You can create it inside the institution, and you can do with that also outside the institution. So you cannot do it by yourself. Sometimes you need the community.
  • Building a bridge, having the connection, having the partnership is one of the keys, because sometimes your voice is not enough. You need many voices to make a difference. And one key as an instructor is to teach in a safe place for you and for your student. If you don’t feel like it’s safe enough for you, address the issue.
  • One of the keys for building a bridge, building a community is removing the fear, and don’t sabotage yourself. Always feel like your voice is important and somebody will hear your voice no matter what is going to be here, and you cannot walk by yourself. You need a community. So don’t be afraid to ask for help, any collaboration is the only way you can grow as a human being.

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LINK TO RESOURCE: MEETING NOTES (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 3/19/25

BIPOC Community Table Resource: Mental Health

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
BIPOC Community Table Meeting 12_15_24 Resources_ Mental Health

Facilitated by artist and therapist Kiani Simms and teaching artist Bre’Annah Stampley, the 12/16/24 BIPOC Community Table meeting on Mental Health contained exercises and resources for BIPOC folx. The resources included books, exercises, and places to find BIPOC-centered mental health support.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Flame Business Practices Toolkit

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Flame Business Practices Toolkit
February 19, 2024 7:00PM EST
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith, with Special Guest Wes Heart

Business Practices Toolkit (GOOGLE DOC)

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant. 
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.

What is the best advice you have received?
  • Learn to do the task before you delegate it to someone else.
  • Always keep learning, never be afraid to ask for help, and never take no as an answer. 
  • As much as you can, get paid to practice.
↳ What advice would you give to someone first starting out (in business, and/or in flameworking)?
  • Be patient with yourself, because it is very difficult to learn flameworking. It takes many years, and being patient with yourself is important.
  • Hours give you powers. Stick with it. 
  • If you want to be good at what you do, you have to spend the time to do it. Lots and lots of time.  
  • In terms of starting a business, product making is only one of the many skills that you will need to hone. So make sure that you leave time to improve at all of the other skills you’re going to need. 
  • It’s all about your community for strength and support – Approach the studio and life with a sense of generosity – who can you help, what can you give? And then that will come right back to you. 
  • Try to branch out and do things alone, like talking to people at conferences, going to studio visits alone to make strong connections and get out of your comfort zone. 
  • The glass community is small. If there’s someone that you want to get to know, reach out to them. When you reach out, do it professionally and show that you are serious about what you do.
  • When you ask someone for advice, follow through. Be polite, and understanding. 
Fair compensation in the flameworking industry

What’s the going rate for skilled and unskilled labor in the flameworking industry? Does it range regionally? What are the rates in the midwest? West coast? Rural vs. urban? 

  • NYC and regional – Unskilled labor (meaning I will have to do a little teaching) $25, skilled (already know how to do the task) starts at $35+
  • Philadelphia – same 
  • Philadelphia – $20/hr cash just out of undergrad (9 yrs ago), special rate for a friend
  • Rural VA – some studios in urban areas, and a few private studios, and solo artists. It’s a really small community.
  • Cities are pretty expensive.

Links:

↳ Assistant Labor
  • For me, the decision to work with assistants depends on how quickly something can be made, difficulty, and cost of materials. 
  • I hire assistants to do things that I don’t like to do, are not good at, or that I don’t have the equipment for. 
  • Hiring assistants to make prep. Examples: coil potting color, make tubing, pulling points, make some basic shapes, color match a color. 
  • When I am working with an assistant, I can be doing something else at the same time, and then that shortens the turnaround time for the project.
↳ Independent Contractor vs. Employee
  • Pay assistants per piece, or per project (1099, independent contractor) or by the hour (W2, employee)
  • Independent contractor you hire to do a job and then they bring it back to you when it’s finished. Pay per job. 
  • Employees are paid per hour, employer sets the hours. If working in their own studio, artists need insurance to cover employees. 
  • Consider how to build your business in a way that you are able to support the ethical treatment of your employees. 
  • A group studio can be a convenient place to work, because you are both coming to the studio independently, as an autonomous renters and can hire each other’s labor as independent contractors. 
  • When hiring someone, it’s important to remember that you are becoming a boss, and you pay yourself last. You ALWAYS pay your people first. 
  • If you take care of your people, they will take care of you.
  • Wage calculator helpful to know about and use as a benchmark to shoot for if you’re not already there. 
  • Ultimately, what we’re trying to do when we talk about labor is to arrive at a point where labor is appreciated and valued, and also our employees and ourselves can make a living wage that’s fair. As the economy shifts, that point shifts also.
How do you build a successful online platform to sell your products?
  • Good photos are everything when selling!!
  • Find the right platform for you. Consider complexity/simplicity of site and interface, consider updating your website yourself if you want to change it often.(ex: Shopify, Big Cartel – $25/month for up to 500 items) 
  • Find a site that is the least expensive to run and is functional for your business specifically. Learn to take photos of your work as best you can with the time you have. 
  • Take your time. Start with a few items and change it as you need to. It takes a lot of energy and time to learn to use the software, and you have to tweak it to suit your brand and your goals. Is there an appropriate price range for products selling on an ecommerce platform versus some other platform like a gallery or in person like a brick and mortar type of store? Is there a threshold?
  • My site started as a place to play, and little by little it became more of a business. I wanted to make pieces that were more affordable and accessible for a broader audience to have that experience of something that they loved. 
  • $100 and below is an accessible price point for online. 
  • Markup for wholesale products went up recently from 2x to 2.8x markup, which affects the production of lower price point products, like earrings.  
  • There is a minimum threshold for products that make it sustainable to produce. 
  • Choosing the right platform is important because you can make more of a profit if you can do many of the jobs yourself – marketing, photos, updating the website.
  • Little steps will get you there, you have to start somewhere. If you can get paid where you are to make work, and you are supported, start. 
  • Be careful not to over-edit any photo. (If your piece is flawed, then your piece is flawed.)
  • Typically you will need multiple photos of the same piece, so that a buyer could get a virtual experience of the piece before they purchase it. 
  • Your clients know that your work is handmade, be honest with your buyers, ex: disclose irregularities, etc). 
  • I have used Etsy since 2009, and had pretty good sales. The tags and SEO are important. Fees are high, around 8%, which adds up especially on the low end items. It really made sense for repeatable items. I stopped using it because I was tired of some online platform being a middleman. 
  • My favorite place to sell is at farmers’ markets, table sales, in person art events and demos. 
  • With online platforms, if lots of people want custom designs, it can add up to hours and hours of emails and communication. 
  • Big Cartel will collect sales tax and send it in for you.
  • Third party shipping apps (Stamps.com, Pirate Ship) have deep discounts for USPS and UPS. 
  • Charge for shipping. The box, cardboard, cards, and packing material is expensive!
What’s a fair commission for a gallery owner to take?
  • 50/50%. Some nice galleries take 60/40 artist/gallery. 
How essential do you think social media presence is? Is it essential for every business?
  • I think social media is becoming professionalized. It’s a production. I think it’s likely that it will become increasingly professional, especially with video production.
  • I used to have a great handle on the algorithm, now I never know
  • When I do a good reel and get to ride the algorithm, I sell a ton of stuff. 
  • Hiring someone who is fresh with social media as a professional may become necessary. 
  • When a post gets tons of views, you can end up getting a lot of feedback that you don’t want. 
  • The algorithm (response of lack of) can affect your self confidence as an artist in terms of what goes viral and what does not do well. 
↳ Is your product the glass or the process?
  • Artists and makers are feeling more pressure to make content or process content as a piece is being made for marketing purposes. Social media can be a fantastic way to reach more audiences and be a good way to share the process, but can also be labor and time intensive and makes the process of art making a lot longer. 
  • The Sham-wow did not sell itself – that’s where marketing comes in. 
  • QVC and infomercials use video for marketing and are also content themselves. They are also famous for the remixes and parodies of the video. 
  • “You are also educating your audience with your content.”, “Yes. Edu-tainment.”
  • Reminder that we are living in an age of novelty almost more than ever because it is swipe by swipe. Every swipe has to be something new.
How can technology be leveraged in new ways? Do you use any AI tools?

Is anyone using Artificial Intelligence to streamline functions?

  • I use it for my stories on Instagram to add narrative to my pieces by putting them into settings. 
  • I use narrative to make a framework for a new world. I made an imaginative space where I could just make whatever I want. I kind of made my own playspace that turned into my business. 
  • Using ChatGPT to make images for visual research. 
  • Using ChatGPT as an editing tool during the writing process to run spell and grammar checks and enhance the tone of my writing to apply for art grants, and I landed a bunch. Takes the emotion out of having a friend proofread.
  • “Using AI to stylize your writing style”
  • “As entrepreneurs, we wear so many hats. I like the idea of having a digital assistant to help do tasks faster. Then, I can spend more time in the studio.”
  • “Its a back and forth convo”
  • “I think of AI as a brainstorming tool to speed up making many iterations.”
↳ At what point do you have to disclose your collaboration with AI?
  • Videos for TikTok needs to be labeled if AI is used. 
  • AI-generated images or videos are not copyrightable right now in this moment because the only things you can copyright are things made by a human. 
  • I’ve tried AI out in a bunch of different scenarios just to see what works for me. My general rule of thumb is: change it. Don’t use it straight out of the test box, change it so that it’s more of a collaborative action, or more like a brainstorming tool.
  • AI is a conversation, not an end result. 
  • Using closed AI systems, there is a limit to what they are trained on/can access, so try some different ones to get different results. 
  • AI is never the end result. It can be a good place to jump off, kind of like a writing prompt
  • Using AI in an imaginary space to converse about your ideas and maybe become inspired to do something
↳ Do you feel like AI takes away from originality?
  • Only if you let it. I’m not going to listen to a computer. If you just take the information from it without putting your own work into it, yeah.
  • I don’t have any interest in copying anything, I want to make it my own. I think that’s part of being an artist. 
  • Replication is one thing, but creating something new is another. 
  • Kim Harty’s recent work using images of her own work run through AI to generate images that inspire her sculptures. https://www.kimharty.com/artwork/birthinganatomies
  • AI is remixing your creativity, but you’re not putting your own spin on it.
“Does anyone have any advice for us students that are just learning the flame to start selling decent pieces, best places to post work, etc.?”
  • “Start with your local community. They will want to support you!”
  • “Friends and family are always a good support team.”
  • In-person
  • I started selling small flameworked pendants and paperweights when I was first starting out, 17 years ago. I think things are different now though because we didn’t have online sales of instagram or all that. 
  • “If you are selling online, engage with the platform regularly to boost your visibility. (Etsy, IG)”
  • The best thing you could possibly do for yourself is to find your confidence in your own work, regardless of whether it’s perfect or not. You will draw people to your work if you are confident in your work or yourself. If you’re putting out an aura of, “it could be better,”or “please buy it so I can pay my bills,” that’s not what people want. Instead try, “It may not be what I want, but I love it.” Try to be as confident as you can. It is hard for people to engage with you and your work if you are not confident, even if you are hurting. 
  • Confidence is a skill you have to grow and you do that when you’re figuring out how to be confident on the torch itself. Flameworking can be scary at first.
  • You set the example for how you want to be treated. So if you come in and you take your work seriously and you are not apologetic for how weird or unconventional or not to the tastes of others you might be perceived as, you’re true to yourself. And people who get you will find you and love you. 
  • You will find your audience when you are fully yourself. 
  • It is not the easiest path, necessarily, but you’ll be saving time in the long run from not needing to spend time figuring out who you are after you’ve been lying to yourself trying to please others. 
  • When you’re trying to figure out how to price your work, what do you want to get paid per hour? What are your costs? Not just for your materials, but the overhead of your rent, utilities, and if  you have insurance, if you need to take transportation to get there- there are all these little considerations that add up for a cost. So you should expect that you deserve to get paid $50 or $60 an hour and practice your craft so that you can make it more efficiently. Then figure out: who is your audience, where are your markets? Are you going to be selling only retail or also wholesale, so that you have to cut all your prices in half again? Are you selling through a gallery and you can’t undercut them? These are all considerations you have to figure out for yourself. 
  • Think about what kind of life you would like to have? If you want to live a starving artist life, you will. You are your own best supporter. It is not selfish, it is self-interested. You are interested in taking care of  yourself, you are interested in taking care of your family, and your loved ones.
  • We are doing this because we have something to offer, and we are here to support our families with it.
“How soon did you begin to sell your work in the beginning of your career? Did you wait until you were satisfied or did you take the leap when you had the inventory?”
  • I’m a couple decades in, but when I started flameworking, I started selling at the local bead store, and local art events with my friends, any place where I could get a table to vend. You just learn. You learn what shows are good, which venues are good.
  • As soon as I could sell it, I would sell it. 
  • Sell what you’re comfortable selling. 
  • “As long as they have hot seals!”
  • “(Imperfection is) evidence of the hand!”
  • “There is a market for everyone”
    Sell things that are not dangerous, like cracks, but are whole and nice and don’t be so hard on yourself. Even things that have a small flaw, not a dangerous one like a sharp part, but something that has like a wrong color here or a time little scuff mark – people will often see that as more special because it is handmade. 
  • There’s a market for everyone, and I do sell seconds on occasion, so maybe they can afford those. 
  • Sell what you can, when you can, but be honest and confident with your client. 
  • People aren’t necessarily shopping for something with perfection, if so, they would be getting something that wasn’t handmade. 
  • We have such a high standard for ourselves in the business world and the art world. Nothing large starts large. It has to start small. You put in the effort day by day, little by little. 
  • The thing that really shows success is when you can fail over and over again and still get back up. That is success. It is not a constant uphill climb. 
  • Little successes lead to big successes. 
Sales and Marketing
  • Sometimes it costs you $400 to get into a show and you only sell $100 worth of stuff.
  • Even if you don’t sell anything and it’s a terrible vending session, you can always learn something. At the beginning of the career, that’s the most important, right?
  • Pay attention to the feedback you’re getting from your customers and get used to being ok with your customers not being able to buy your work for whatever reason.
  • There was a time in my early career where I was selling at the bead store, selling individual beads, and then I eventually outgrew that market, and I knew that because my clients would give me feedback. So pay attention to what people are saying whether they’re buying or not. 
  • That feedback is going to tell you if you’re in the right place. You might be in the wrong market. So just keep trying until something sticks. 
  • Try not to take things personally. Even though it’s your artwork, it’s not that the client is insulting your work, it’s that you’re trying to sell in the wrong venue. 
  • I’ve noticed that people starting out are trying to make work that is fast and sellable, making fast art quickly that sometimes replicates other peoples’ work or becomes a generic production item. This can be very damaging to make only work that is not from your soul because you’ll burn out. 
  • There is a point where (generic design production work) will ruin your ability to make your own artwork. You have to learn to start to shift towards making things that come from your own brain. I make a range of production items at different price points so there will be something there for everyone. I try to find a balance. 
↳ Responses when a client says “I wish I could afford your work”
  • “I’m not sure how to respond to that, because I wish you could too.”
  • I try to bring a varied price range so that people can afford my work. Some of the work will take me a week to make, and I cannot afford to personally make it at a lower price. 
  • Another way to respond is to say “I wish you could too, but there are some other ways that you can support me. You can share my website, you can tell your friends.”
  • There are a lot of ways to interact that don’t involve spending money that are still supportive to the artist. 
↳ “What success have you all seen with farmers’ markets?”
  • I have had a lot of success bartering at farmers’ markets.
  • The farmers’ markets in my area also have a handmade craft section, and seem to always be pretty busy! I’m in Brooklyn, NY. Product prices range from $50 – $200
↳ “Wes Heart, how long have you been on IG, and how much time passed before you received a lot of attention?”
  • “Over about 5 years I built my IG to 34K and then this past year it jumped to 82K because of a few viral posts.”
  • “So altogether about 6 years of @blobblob posts.”
  • “It has taken so much time and work.”
↳ “Do you think this way of playing the game is sustainable and really scalable? Like paying a solid mortgage, saving, longevity?”
  • Yes, but riding the wave of novelty is not – you have to ride the wave while at the same time find something stable. For example, stability can come from lower end products that are constantly promoted.
  • Maybe as a component in a more diversified financial plan
  • Glass as a “passion business” meaning you’ll just barely break even when it’s all said and done. 
  • Legitimacy within the glass world and in the world of business comes from setting yourself up as a legitimate company. It’s difficult to do that without a business education. 
  • What is needed in order to do that sort of business that is transferable, that can grow beyond one person? We make money by using our hands. That’s not scalable. 
  • Can a glassblowing business and life as an artist be scaled enough to support a family, have kids, a mortgage, transfer the business, get investors, etc.?
  • The whole idea of being an entrepreneur is finding a spot in the market that you think needs to be populated and populating that space. So it has to do with your vision. And if you have vision and ability and a kind of a unique perspective, I do believe that you can design a company, or a situation for yourself that is scalable as long as you can pivot. Pivoting is an important skill.
  • Geographic location matters –  I worked for many artists in NYC as assistants and learned how studios were run. Those opportunities may be more scarce in rural areas. 
  • If you have a successful body of work or product line, the lifespan of it in the market is probably around 5 years. After that, plan for R&D and the cycle can start over again with new work. 
Advice and Insights
  • You need to stay flexible and weird, and let yourself make things that are strange and new to you. 
  • Nobody becomes famous or popular or infamous by doing the normal thing, right? So when you’re making artwork, if you’re not making things strange, shocking, new, intense, then you aren’t going to get the views, the fame, the money, or whatever you are looking for. You have to be weird. 
  • Fully embrace those oddities within yourself to make the leaps that you need to make to get out of your comfort zone. 
  • Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. 
  • Look for inspiration outside of other glass artists. 
  • It’s important for you to figure out what you are passionate about in life. 
  • The sum of your personal interests is your artistic voice. 
  • Have the confidence to go to another venue and be the only glass person in the room because then you are the novelty. 
  • You’ll see people selling crappy work who may have a million followers. They have built a following, and it’s marketing, right? It’s not the most beautiful work, but they’ve built some kind of platform to sell their work. 
  • Glass shops get requests for things they don’t want to make, and you can ask them to send the clients to you as a referral. If you’re just starting out you can contact shops and ask for their referrals to be sent to you. 
  • Being a part of a designer community, you sell your designs. Put some time aside for research and development and come up with something that is uniquely yours. 
  • All journeys are really fascinating and interesting to hear about. 
  • If you are not moving at a pace that outpaces people trying to copy your work, then you are not moving fast enough. 
  • Competition can make you stay fresh
  • Making new stuff constantly will keep people confused and intrigued.

BACK TO TOP

LINK TO RESOURCE: MEETING NOTES (GOOGLE DOC)
LINK TO RESOURCE: TOOLKIT (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 4/16/24

54 Perspectives: Advice to Young Artists from Working Artists

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
A preview of Stephanie Syjuco's 54 Perspectives booklet, featuring a bright pink cover, and a preview of the interior

Stephanie Syjuco, Artist and Educator at UC-Berkeley, made a small advice booklet for her undergraduate art students to prepare them for the world beyond school. The free, downloadable booklet contains 54 pieces of advice from various artists, curators, and creatives who responded to her prompt for advice and words of wisdom.

LINK TO RESOURCE (.PDF)

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

The 3D Additivist Cookbook

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

Cited in Britt Ransom’s GEEX Talks lecture, the 3D Addtivist Cookbook provides an open-source resource for thinking through the potentials of 3D fabrication techniques and larger topics in technology and society.

Preview of the 3D Additivist Cookbook, featuring the cover with a mass of 3D printed objects joined together, and a bright yellow page from within the cookbook.

The 3D Additivist Cookbook, devised and edited by Morehshin Allahyari & Daniel Rourke, is a free compendium of imaginative, provocative works from over 100 world-leading artists, activists and theorists. The 3D Additivist Cookbook contains 3D .obj and .stl files, critical and fictional texts, templates, recipes, (im)practical designs and methodologies for living in this most contradictory of times.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

GEEX Educator Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Glass Education in the Past, Present and Future

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
Small breakout groups of educators discussing different topics in glass education
A whiteboard listing discussion topics regarding the past, present, and future of glass education
Past: Go back and see what histories might have been overlooked
Group selfie of the GEEX Educator meetup

GEEX Educator Affinity Group
Glass Education in the Past, Present and Future
October 6, 2023 4PM CDT

Planning by Emily Leach and Ben Orozco
Facilitated by Helen Lee and Ben Orozco
Notes compiled by Ben Orozco

During the Glass Madison Educational Gathering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (10/6-10/7/2023), GEEX hosted an in-person gathering with educators representing schools attending Glass Madison, as well as GEEX Subscribers and Facilitators. 

This meeting provided an opportunity to take a pulse check of the field of Glass Education, from the past, present, and future. Below are some notes and soundbites representing the three breakout groups and their discussion points.

What is on your mind as an educator looking to the past?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Past.PDF

What histories have we been teaching in our classes? How do we expand, update, or change the curriculum?

  • Reflecting on American Studio Glass (ASG)… how relevant is it to teach now?
    • ASG provides perspective and departure points in teaching glass history
    • Reflecting on ASG, students are more timid now, glass is in a much different era than what it was then
    • Feeling torn in about ASG and if the history is relevant or not
      • The history feels isolated in regards to who has/had access. Who was excluded from these narratives?
      • Men “ran the women off” and left visible gaps in the history
      • Reflecting on the historical context of the GI bill and who did/didn’t receive support to have a funding mechanism to move into academia.
      • Comparing historical craft/art/design figures like Ani and Josef Albers, who was allowed to teach?
    • There was a pioneering aspect to early studio glass: What can you make up on your own?
  • Global and Holistic Histories
    • Including perspectives outside of the European glass 
    • Mark Hursty’s UNC Asheville Arts 310, New Media Department: History of Glass Elective Class taught in 16 weeks
    • Exploitation of labor: Addressing this issue both past and present.
    • Living histories: Inviting practicing artists to speak to their lived experience in the field; collecting oral narratives.
  • Institutional Structure: the way glass is positioned in an institution can change/affect the way is glass is taught
    • New frameworks to explore:
      • Glass: Art & Technology
        • Glass used in people’s bodies to heal them
        • 3D Printing, and glass as the first 3D printer
        • How is it delivered/developed?
      • The Vitreous Age: Glass in the context of digital culture
Takeaways
  • We need to teach history in glass curriculum, especially global and holistic histories.
    • Focus on what histories of glass have been overlooked
  • Glass can be taught as an extension of digital technology or in a context of digital culture
  • American Studio Glass history can function as a departure point for the conversation, leading to broader or underlooked narratives
What is on your mind as an educator looking to the present?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Present.PDF

What challenges are you facing in your classes? How are you finding solutions to those challenges? What’s working for you as an educator?

  • Challenges:
    • Too little structure in a nonprofit glass learning spaces
      • Some students respond to less structure better or worse
    • Teaching glass techniques you may not specialize in as an adjunct or graduate student
    • Teaching glass as a person speaking English as a second language, or with a material/technical vocabulary you may not be comfortable/familiar with
  • What’s working well:
    • A shifting philosophy away from a “sole genius” educator, towards more collaborative learning in the classroom
      • Embracing a culture of difference and the educator and students having different skills to bring to the table, ie being co-learners
    • Doing the best with what you have
      • Being honest and real with yourself and your students on your limitations/where you need help as an educator
    • Trusting students to do more than they can do
      • Students often coming into glass from a place of fear, prioritizing building a sense of trust can help in the classroom and studio
What is on your mind as an educator looking to the future?
GlassMadison_EducatorsMeetup_Future.PDF

What trends are you noticing? What challenges or opportunities do you see on the horizon?

  • It’s hard to talk about glass as a monolith, as each academic/educational program can be different
  • The economy of academia feels broken
    • There is very little space for students to focus, especially in teaching spaces that are not art schools
    • A sense of declining program enrollment
    • Schools are putting out more students than there are teaching positions for
  • Could goals as instructors be better served in a different type of structure from what is being done now? Or is it important to preserve these programs as they are?
  • Educators in the group are witnessing shifting ecosystems with generational turnover and declining program enrollment
  • What are the expectations of students moving forward?
    • Schools are putting out more students than there are teaching positions for
    • How can students see themselves continuing to engage with glass after school?
  • What is the educator’s primary teaching responsibility moving forward?
    • To be resourceful?
    • To have a career?
    • To making artwork?
    • To being practical/utilitarian?
    • To service?
    • To skill/technique/craft?
    • To helping people move through ideas?
    • To teaching how to ask questions + be curious?

LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 11/10/23

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Teacher Roll Call

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Teacher Roll Call
October 16, 2023 7PM EDT
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant. 
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.

Where and what are you teaching?
  • I’m teaching at University of Massachusetts, and also Penland, Pilchuck, Pittsburgh Glass Center and UrbanGlass. I started teaching before I could get paid, and they saved my paycheck until I turned 15. So I’ve seen a lot of changes happen in the glass world, and that’s been really exciting.
  • I teach Plasma Design at Salem Community College. I also teach around the country, various flameworking related workshops. I’ve been teaching for about 20 years. 
  • I teach at Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pilchuck, and UrbanGlass. I also teach on the internet. The focus is primarily plasma. 
  • I teach at Salem Community College.
  • I teach at RIT, flameworking and kilncasting.
  • I am not currently teaching, currently in grad school at RISD, but I’ve taught lampworking at UrbanGlass and Snow Farm.
  • I’m a technician, not necessarily a flameworking educator, but I’ve been working with the University of Washington Glass program. 
  • I started teaching earlier this year, out of Bay Area Glass Institute, they have a really cool program that is kind of developing. I’ve taught there twice, beginner classes. 
  • I’m not currently teaching anywhere, but just got out of grad school at VCU so I was recently teaching. 
  • I teach at Sheridan College, it’s my seventh year. I started teaching in 1999. 
Crowdsourcing as a means to determine class content
  • Crowdsourcing is great way to get in contact with your students before the class even starts so they can have a say in what you’re teaching. 
  • Using the results of online polling, we ended up deciding on a kiln class (for plasma, instead of a hot shop based class). Seeing everyone else lean in that direction helped solidify that I wanted to build that class out. 
  • Balancing meeting the expectations of your students, but also trying to bring your resources to the table too. 
  • Instagram poll for crowdsourcing, and also put a poll on facebook, where it can stand a bit longer. You can also put a longer standing poll in your posts. I find it easier to grab people’s attention on facebook or Instagram than through email sometimes.  
  • New model, where you’re in direct communication with your audience.
Do you have a video policy when you teach?
  • I tell people they can video anything at any time. It’s an open book, and just go for it. If they want to share it, they can, I’m okay with that. 
  • Video is helpful because when I teach at the university, I have them for such a short time, and they can practice forever, right? But if  I’m doing something else while they’re practicing, then they can refer to their video. 
  • I feel comfortable with small snippets of video for the internet. I don’t want anyone to put the entire workshop online. I think short videos are more in line with people’s attention span for the internet. 
  • For my college courses, we record all the demos and we have an archive that students can access for the semester asynchronously. 
  • The one thing I make sure is that whoever is videotaping is focusing on me, and I’m the main focus, and anyone else that’s in the frame is ok with being filmed. 
  • We have people pool their videos and images, so that everyone has access to it – because some people have a better angle than others.
  • If the workshop or an entire demo was entirely online, I personally don’t feel worried about that. Part of the reason people come to those workshops is to be able to have easier access to that conversation.
  • I teach at Salem Community College, and we have a camera for the instructor bench mounted in a bird’s eye view over the torch, which is an incredible angle that no one but you ever gets to see. 
  • I always tell students to come around and stand over my shoulder, it’s ok. But they are really afraid to. It’s hard to get people to come closer. Maybe it’s a post-COVID thing.
    The camera is hooked up to the “Jumbotron”, a big TV screen, and people can watch that. Demos are recorded and uploaded to our institutional Canvas platform.  I also film on my phone with a DidyClip (neodymium filter), making videos that I put on YouTube as well. 
  • Any student who missed anything can review the video.personally,  I’m an avid notetaker, but I can’t always watch and take notes at the same time. 
  • If you put anything online, make sure I look good!
  • The video aspect just adds another dimension to teaching. It’s another hat that we now wear as teachers. 
  • The whole online thing  has changed the way classes have evolved. Now my students can just take video of my demos and have that. It’s really nice. 
How do you encourage students – beyond video – to get them to take notes?
  • I require my students to take notes, but I find that I don’t know if it’s this generation of students, they just stare at you blankly and they don’t take notes. 
  • I started breaking down making each step of a demo that I’m doing  and putting it on a little board so they have each step to follow and that seemed to help. 
  • I have a larger group with different skill levels. I’ve been bringing in related objects that are in process, and I’ll pass them around while I’m demoing during the slow parts when we’re just watching the glass melt, to keep the students engaged.
  • I love doing a little show and tell during demos. Whether or not I feel like they need to  see it up close, it also  gets them involved in some way. 
  • (Note Taking) is a hit or miss for different groups. Some students are just amazing notetakers, and I don’t even have to ask them to. And then with some, I feel like I’m pulling teeth to get them to even bring a sketchbook. 
  • Sometimes I will draw diagrams on the board if they’re simple to replicate. I think that’s very generous and a wonderful thing for a teacher to do. But it takes a lot of time before class to prepare for that.
  • Before a demo I might ask, How would you do this? And we go around the class and speculate on what steps you would take to make it, just to get them talking and interacting with each other. 
  • Tell jokes throughout the whole demo. Sometimes people miss the whole demo because they’re listening to the jokes. But you know, just lighten it up and get interaction between people. Somehow get vocabulary going. 
  • Not everybody takes notes, and I don’t make them take notes if they don’t want to. They don’t want to sketch, they don’t sketch. People learn in different ways.
  • Sometimes I provide handouts if there’s something I really want them to have a reference for.
  • I like leading with an example and then finding ways to shift a mindset. There’s people with different learning methods. 
  • I had a diverse group of people with different languages. I made sure everyone can access my lectures and slideshows before I actually do the lecture and the slideshow. And then I will work with them to see where they’re at, because maybe some people may need to have a text translator. Or they have to hear it again, they can’t just look at their writing. 
  • The major note-taking that happens in the Plasma class was often during the super exciting part, when you’re filling with gasses and lighting it up. Harry (Schwarzrock) had this great sense of how to get students to take notes there, and that’s what allows you to repeat what steps are happening in the process. 
  • I’m working with a few people to find out “What would a notebook look like? How would you organize your notes if you’re going to do that same process again?” It can be challenging to figure that out. 
  • I think most of the drawing happens when you ask a student what they want to make and they draw it so I can help them break it down. And I’ll have them draw each step of the way. Then they can work through it. 
  • Sometimes you just can’t force them to take notes and that’s on them at some point. 
  • “Last summer I taught a workshop at PGC and one of my students took such neat and comprehensive notes, I asked her if I could scan her sketchbook and share it with future students! She said yes! Now I don’t have to make them myself”
Tour of University of Washington Flameworking studio
  • We have an active flameworking class right now, and a visitor here, Patricia Davidson, who just did a demo for KCJ Szwedinski who is currently teaching. 
  • We have 14 stations, each outfitted with either a little torch or a national torch.
  • We have a screen right next to the instructor’s station. 
  • The gas is plumbed down the center. Each table has its own set of regulators and shut-off valves. 
  • We’ve got a couple different annealers and a sandblaster in here. 
Those of you that teach in institutions, how much responsibility do you give to the students to work on their own in the studio?

What do different structures for studio accessibility look like? How much access do you give outside of class? What do you feel is necessary for people to accomplish the goals of your curriculum in order to work outside of class?

  • If I’m present, which is whenever the Glass Lab is open, students can come in and work. After their first lesson, they feel pretty confident turning on and off the torch, they each have their own regulators, so nothing’s going to flash back to the other stations, it feels pretty safe. So I just let them work.
  • At the University, I had the science librarians come in, and do a little workshop. Different groups on campus are coming in and renting out the glass shop and I teach them a little bit about glass. You can relate your glass to history, to science, to archaeology, to just so many things. So you can bring those people in.
  • Get as many people into the flame shop as possible, teach as many as you can about safety procedures, and spread the knowledge around.
  • “I like to offer as much studio access outside of class as possible.
  • For beginner students, I usually wait until the first few weeks are over when they have confidence. The buddy system is key!”
  • “We normally require 10 hours per week outside of class. Still trying to figure out the best way to make that possible for our flameworking students.”
  • “A studio monitor is a great standard for an education environment. whether its an academic or public teaching environment it keeps an eye on students of various experiences. This is slightly different compared to a renter of a public studio where someone checks in.
  • The safety may not be the equipment itself, but human error or accidents. Create faster response time with some whose primary is to monitor.”
  • “I would take into consideration any feedback where students would need more time than what is currently being offered.”
  • “I encourage students to always ask each other questions and help one another outside of class (even beginners) because it makes them think critically about the info given in class!”
  • “I have my kids have a group chat together and so they can always find a Buddy.”
  • “Safety posters with basic set up/shut down procedures and leave books in the studio if you can so students can find their own answers”
What have you learned about teaching from being a student?
  • I’m a graduate student and a TA, and I’m twice the age of most of my peers and so I inevitably function as a TA in every class that I’m in, because the visiting artists are my friends and the people in the slideshows.
  • If (students) need to be connected with resources, I can help you build a bridge to all of these artists that you’re learning about or that you should know about. It’s making me realize that I’m so much more qualified to be teaching at this (higher ed) level than I had realized. Because I’ve been in isolation in my studio by myself for 25 years. And to be mirrored by all of the young people around me or not to be mirrored is very fortifying for my sense of self, or helping me understand myself more.
  • I love teaching and I really want to be here. I could teach in the glass department, I could teach in the jewelry department, I could teach in illustration. I don’t know what will happen, but I feel more driven to definitely teach here because my kid just said, “ Oh, I want to go to RISD.” If I’m faculty, they’d get a full ride.
  • My favorite moments (of teaching) is when I can say, “I don’t know.” Because then we can all look at the same thing. It’s important to find a way to have students be able to navigate a problem or navigate learning something. 
  • Some students want a lot of info, and some students just go for it. The students who just go for it and are not afraid to mess it up tend to improve exponentially faster. 
  • I crack jokes, in the beginning of class I always try to have everyone introduce themselves. Just getting comfortable with people in the beginning seems to work.
  • I don’t think I’ve ever not been a student. I learn a lot while I’m teaching. Learning and teaching are always happening simultaneously. They’re exchanging with each other constantly. 
  • “I don’t know if it is about teaching or learning, but about the energy between”
  • “When I teach, I feel like I learn just as much as the students! Teaching is an exchange, and it’s important to make space for the students to teach you too – reciprocation.”
How do you handle frustration and failure in the classroom?
  • Finding ways in the teaching process where failure is going to exist, and to highlight those failures so that they can learn from it.
  • Feedback from my students: when I have failure in a demo, it’s even more valuable to them because they can see how I overcome the failure. You don’t always see that in a master glassblower demo.
  • I used to be scared to mess up on my demos when I was teaching. But now, it’s great that (the students) can see that I mess up and also can see how I fix it.
  • Learning how to fix something is just as important if not more important than learning how to make something. 
  • I teach a lot of classes and can make something quickly, because I’ve done it a thousand times. Students get so frustrated because it’s harder when they do it. 
  • Students: Your goal should be to play around, and not make anything perfect for a few weeks. You have to learn to persevere. 
  • Students suggested bringing in some of my earliest pieces from when I was starting vs. “Don’t show bad early work”.
  • “It’s all about not freaking out.”
  • I’ll blow a beautiful bubble, then mash it up. Then gather the glass and blow another beautiful bubble. Don’t worry, glass is forgiving. You just melt it in, blow it again. Don’t waste the glass, just keep going. 
  • For frustrated students, I have a huge library on glass. So they go into the other room and look through the books for a while and just settle down.
  • I assign technical assignments, making 10 or 20 of something, I found that when there’s multiples it is much harder to focus on the nitty gritty details of one thing. 
  • I think things can get too “precious” with beginning students.
  • With beginners, when they go to the studio in their free time, they might not know what to make, so I assign them multiples. 
  • Make a new one, it’ll be better the second time. 
  • “Quality through quantity!” 
  • These days I’m more focused on 3D modeling with the CNC machining than flameworking, but I think it would be interesting to merge those things together to create some fusions out of it. 
  •  When I teach workshops, I don’t finish my demos. I’ll leave it unfinished because it puts less pressure on the student to try something new. I noticed more people trying the technique when I left the demo unfinished, or messed it up. 
  •  “In class we review all the failures and try to identify what was missed and why it happened and now I find them correcting/reminding each other to say oh remember when we did that and it failed, don’t forget to do”
  • “I love intentionally messing up. Sometimes you have to model intentional failure for students!”
How can collaboration be employed to address frustration and failure?
  • At RISD, we did a “factory day” in the hotshop. Each person did one step on the factory line, so one person is continuously doing one part of the process. The final result, if it’s weird, it’s not your fault, it’s everybody’s fault. 
  • Group project exercise as a diffusion of responsibility. So if the end result isn’t perfect,  the responsibility is shared. It’s not about the end result, it’s about the journey, right?
  • Punti ball – you practice a cold seal, then practice puntying the same piece like 10 times, transferring the punti. 
  • I think collaboration can be a great way to mitigate failure, and play to people’s strengths. 
  • The author can be more than one person. Collaboration and fabrication are also worth exploring. 
  • Make a musical instrument that can be played by many people at once.
  • I collaborated with an art therapist. We gave out materials that I knew were difficult to work with – that were beyond the students skill levels. Difficult color. We all had our experiences, then we regrouped after to reflect and express our frustration. That turned into a much deeper conversation about where the frustration around failure was coming from. The art therapist was able to help maintain the teacher-student boundaries as emotion was coming up. 
  • I try to get students to collaborate with somebody else in another class. How can we bring weaving to glass?
  • Through collaboration, hopefully the students will feel more connected as a community throughout the class. 
  • Collaborative projects can be an icebreaker, so students can feel comfortable interacting. They tend to feel more comfortable asking each other for help, making for a safer environment after hours. 
  • In neon, I’ve heard some classes will do group end to end seals of tubing with teams to see who can make the longest sealed tubing. In neon, you’re always shifting leverage points as you work on the glass, so no one feels the same.
What is your favorite thing to teach?

What do your students want you to teach?

  • I love teaching beginner and intermediate students. I like to teach the fundamental building blocks of techniques.
  • I love teaching networking because once they understand hot and cold seals, they can make anything, or start to go big, work sculpturally. 
  • I’m really into improvising and pushing the envelope: What can be a blow mold? Can we blow into food? I try to introduce this way of working.
  • Right now my class is into hollow sculpture. All the demo requests have been for animals, figures, sculpting from life. 
  • As a student, I’ve found conflicting views. There are many “right” ways of doing things, take all the info and see what you can do with it. I try to remove a hierarchy of technique so that students don’t think there is just one way of doing things.
  • Hollow networking
  • Sculpting and networking
  • From a drawing, break a sculpture down into various blobs and then teach them to hot seal those blobs together. 
  • Teaching beadmaking, I get requests to demo other people’s beads and Italian technique, which I am able to do, but don’t feel a connection to. I would rather make up some new design. Now, I start with a generative design exercise that we can draw ideas from, in order to limit cultural appropriation and give artists agency over their own designs. Re-evaluating what success could be.
  • When I teach ring seals, everybody makes the same little bubbler. Then I tell them, “OK now take those techniques and make something I’ve never seen before.”
  • I began by asking “what is beautiful to you and why? For me that’s often gradients of color, smooth transitions, but there’s so many different answers. Challenge people to think about what they like and why. 
  • “My students always want me to teach them implosions or heady pendant techniques lol. I always save that demo for the end of the semester as a “reward”; because I know some people would only make pendants all semester if I demo’ed it earlier!”
  • “I also encourage healthy competition, we have a marble rolling contest :)”
What is the first thing you teach in a class?
  • Scribble with a glass rod, dripping the glass to make a teardrop.
  • Flame chemistry
  • Gathering with one hand
  • I like to walk around and observe every student. When I see them hanging up, I’ll let them do it, then I’ll ask them if they want help. Then sometimes, I’ll take the rod from them and execute that part they were hanging up on and then give it back to them. 
  • I always try to show encouragement. 
  • For advanced techniques, you might need some more information beyond just having fun and playing around. 
  • Get students comfortable with lighting the torch. 
  • Get students comfortable with messing up in front of one another. 
  • “Anatomy of the flame, then compression and expansions, then making something functional with those compression and expansion”
  • “A stir rod with a round sphere on the end..”
  • “Rings – they can be as creative at you want, and lots of skills involved- hot seal, cold seal, bridging, sculpting, color application, sizing, revising…” 
  • “The first thing I focus on is studio ice-breakers with a simple assignment, this helps me understand where people are mentally and technically, and give me insight on how to teach the course.”
Are there any thoughts about the role of the teacher that we have not considered?

If you’re self taught, are you your own teacher in some way?

  • I think being an autodidact, or being self taught, you are your own teacher. I feel like it requires the same type of focus or structure of seeking out information.
  • I’ve been trying to find a balance between having students teach themselves a little bit and giving tons of information. I want them to be able to think critically for themselves, and find that sweet balance where they can get the info they need, but also empower themselves to ask questions, so I’m not creating the questions and answers for them. 
  • We’re all teaching ourselves, even students. We’re gonna be learning from somebody, but also teaching ourselves that that person is teaching us. 
  • “I suppose the interesting position that I find myself in is that I’m looking at the stuff that hasn’t really been explored before, so I end up doing my own R&D and kind of pushing what I learn without there really being an established knowledge base.”
Insights and Advice
  • I’ve found just being able to keep it short and simple on the demos, but letting them play is what my approach is. It’s a beginner class, so you’re not looking for advanced techniques. I just want them to get comfortable with the glass. 
  • Even though I took traditional flameworking, (when I’m teaching) I’m like, here’s the basics, but also, you might discover something completely new. A lot of my classes are designed around play. 
  • I’m in the process of working on some STEAM proposals, grants for kids of color to do science art camp, with glass and experiments, things like that. 
  • I’m starting to dive more into that world of being able to pass the knowledge on. I feel like there’s a lack in the glass world, OG’s are still holding on to things and still wanting to support them and take their classes, they’re not like, “Hey, let me come through and help support you.”
  • I will be consulting with my first tech company in San Francisco to teach the new employees some simple things about glass. 
  • “I’m really grateful for this conversation and this opportunity because it’s kind of like new horizons for me to explore outside of, making stuff and selling it.”
  • For me, it’s not about teaching glass. It’s just this zone that you get into if you’re a student, or if you’re a teacher, you’re working together in this energy zone that you have. So it could be anything. 
  • I like showing one part of what I want them to learn, but I also don’t want to influence the students creatively to navigate strongly towards what I would personally do. 
  • Sometimes students fly a little too close to the sun, or try something beyond their skill level. Teaching is about keeping the pace and managing expectations. 

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Last updated: 11/10/23

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Equity and Access in Public and Private Spaces

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Equity and Access in Public and Private Spaces
February 23, 2023 7PM EDT
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant.  

How do you access the studio?

Do you rent a studio? Rent a space? Work in an institution? What is your workspace like?

  • Multiple workspaces:
    • I maintain two workspaces: one is private, and one is community oriented
    • Make monotonous work in the institutional space so it’s easy to interact with others while working, and when I don’t want to be interrupted I work in my private studio.
    • Private flameshop at home, and working out of the places I teach
    • My private studio is limited in firepower, so when I need larger equipment and assistance, I move the project to the school I teach at (Salem Community College)
    • Work at several universities, in group studio spaces, where there are constant interruptions, so it’s nice to also have a home studio when I need quiet time
    • Home garage studio, rent time in a friend’s shop for lathe and cold shop access
  • Private studios:
    • Private, rented, flameworking studio in a building full of flameworkers and I also work as a tech at an institution (Tyler), where there are a lot of interruptions in the workflow
    • Historic studio space — there are limitations of alteration to convert to a flame shop
      • Shipping container — running a kiln off a generator and solar power
      • Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI)
      • Portable flameworking setup on wheels used for on-site public demos
    • Early on I had a studio in parent’s basement, and now I have a nice studio in my home
    • Turned an old greenhouse into a hotshop
    • Built a flameworking studio in a school bus 
    • Moved to a rural location and set up a flameshop in the basement, which was not ideal, so moved to a better space with a studio in a separate studio
    • We do production work in the mornings, which is team oriented, and in the evenings everyone has a chance to work independently and do their own thing
    • There are no schools or institutions nearby to work at so we built our own shop
    • In a rural location, closest rentable studio is 3 hours away, built a home studio in the garage over a couple of years
    • Home studio with 4 torches, rents out studio space and teaches
    • Background is in neon, and also does a little flameworking
      • Have some neon torches set up in a tractor garage on a rural farm, while pursuing other types of making beyond glass
  • Institutional studio:
    • Works at Pittsburgh Glass Center
      • A public studio can be challenging to access some times of the year because it is very busy with multi-week classes, production glassworking
      • Some limitations with ventilation and the way the studio was designed
      • Have done neon demonstrations outside, with some wind covering, and plan to do more of that at home
    • Glassblower, and longtime “institutional leech” — has always had institutional relationships of different types to gain studio access, but it is a hustle working at many institutions at once; have a university position and access to an amazing facility
  • “I like the idea of occasionally renting out time in a private studio as a form of passive income.”
As a student/co-learner, do you prefer a particular format or type of location? Where do you go to learn and why?

What environment do you prefer to learn in? (For example, traveling to an institution group studio to take an in person class, participating in  a webinar virtually in your home studio and accessing instruction virtually through Twitch/Discord/Zoom)

  • Take classes in the spaces I teach in, and seek out new skills to learn though instructional classes
  • Early on, I attended immersive classes at institutions, and was exposed to many master craftspeople who I got to know in the studio, and also outside the studio. 
  • Started off as an apprentice, traveling and sleeping on friends couches, and living on a budget to have access to the masters. Now, I appreciate peace and space in the studio on a set schedule, and I appreciate the organization of having my own space.
  • Teaching or assisting with teaching allows me to absorb intimate knowledge and gives access to many different perspectives. 
  • I have a meandering path with learning, started with a BFA in ceramics, and then started flameworking, when there were not a lot of classes available at the time, so collaborating and learning from other artists has been a big part of the educational process and to be able to travel and work that way is still my preference. 
  • I think if you take a class with someone you are more likely to emulate what you saw, while if you collaborate with another artist you learn but are able to internalize the lesson and put your own spin on it right away and make a piece that survives. 
  • “My favorite way to learn is applying for scholarships at craft schools each summer with varying success.”
  • “I was initially drawn to flameworking for its individuality and being able to gain a style independently — over time I have come to realize how important it is to have community and external influences on my work”
  • “I like learning something new. Working on another degree. I like learning from older people with 20 more years in their field”
  • “You can learn more about the larger history and culture of flameworking by traveling to other studios and meeting new people”
  • “I learn from the students while I have the opportunity to experiment with new techniques. (while teaching or assisting)”
  • Traveling, learning in new environments and cultures:
    • Like to combine travel and learning; prefer to travel to a studio to take a class
    • I like to travel around the world and take a class in a different culture
    • I love meeting new people in a group setting, and then going back to my private studio to practice what I have learned
    • Taking workshops wherever I could get a scholarship (at institutions like PGC, Corning, Pilchuck) many years in a row, consistently. Scholarships make classes accessible, especially to students on a budget.
    • I like going to a new shop to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people. 
    • Traveling to be with a group of people to learn helps me quite a lot, and I also value one on one mentorship. 
    • I like to take classes at Penland, because the studio space and food are amazing
    • “I travel to take classes based on a subject matter and teacher I want to learn from. I’m not choosy about the facility. Even if it is crappy I’m only there briefly anyway.”
What do you look for in a shared space that makes you want to work there?

How do you assess the safety of a space, and what does a safe space look like to you, socially, emotionally, and physically?

  • Set-up, architecture, and design for safety:
    • Feeling physically safe in a shared space is important – bench setup, ventilation, proper flooring
    • Good ventilation
    • Important for institutions to model best safety practices (i.e. ventilation), especially since institutions are often the first experience students have with a flameworking studio
    • Modeling best practices at public events, like Glass Vegas and Flame-Offs, that often don’t have any ventilation and are also often the first exposure folx have to flameworking
    • In an institution, attention to details, like having basic first aid supplies available, such as bandaids
  • Awareness, attentiveness and caution:
    • “A sense of organization and care is important for the space to feel safe and welcoming. In public spaces, I feel cared for when technicians or staff check in on renters.”
    • “I saw a CGI video demonstrating how a propane tank can explode or become a rocket and shoot through the ceiling while starting flameworking! A good visual to remember to keep the propane tanks outside at the end of the day.”
    • “Fear in the right doses sharpens your vigilance.”
    • “If I can find it there’s a good video of a stringer removal from someone’s eye…”
  • Communication, attitude and codes of conduct:
    • I prefer not to be around people drinking alcohol in the studio, or cigarette smoke in the workspace, and excessive fuming (heavy metals on glass) without proper ventilation
    • Attitude in a group space, and keeping emotions in check in a public setting, especially when glass breaks
    • Being respectful of personal boundary issues in a group space: being respectful of my time, and of my work (not ripping off my designs)
    • Maintaining good communication in a group space, and if there is dispute, handling it professionally, and promptly so the situation does not escalate
    • My studio is very queer, and I’m hoping to keep it that way. Many studios nearby are female dominated. The institutions keep respect for gender identity and misogyny in check, but in personal studios the situation can vary.
    • Some studios in the 1970s were really unsafe. Having clear rules and a union are helpful when working in the universities to keep things in check.
    • Respect for different cultural traditions in a group space
    • Being around microaggression and aggression in a white dominated space is challenging. Being tokenized and forced to adapt culturally in a white dominated studio space
    • Being considerate of how people are actually feeling in a space instead of making them adapt to what’s going on
  • Concerns in private flameworking studios:
    • In a private flameworking studio, safety can be unchecked. Ex: piles of broken glass around the lathe and hoses, neighbors setting off the sprinklers/fire alarm, people having guns in a nearby studio space
    • In private shops, it can be harder to push back against unsafe situations  
    • In private shops, whose responsibility is it to be the safety police?
    • Limiting how long I let people come and work in our home studio is helpful in keeping a safe atmosphere, physically and emotionally
  • Additional comments:
    • “Great point to reconsider the ‘this was grandfathered in…’ mentality”
    • “I feel like I’ve had to figure out how to deal with the things that go on in the studios I’ve worked in because for me, it’s kind of the price of access.I end up having to figure out what I can and cannot deal with and just manage that on my own. This sometimes ends up being that I don’t work in that studio or that equipment.”
    • “I guess what makes me feel unsafe is when you can tell safety is not other peoples’ priority.”
Micro studio tours
  • Salem Community College (public/institutional studio) 
    • Large open space, two 20-seat benches for torches and shared bank of lathes. Easy to move from studio to studio (i.e. can easily roll a lathe) 
  • Madeline’s home studio (private studio)
    • In her backyard, climate controlled, large windows, small footprint, but high ceilings, custom flame shop buildout
Accessibility in studios
  • Building in a little bit of flexibility in studios: incredibly helpful
  • Prioritize sweeping glass off the floor so it doesn’t pop wheelchair tires 
  • Accessibility for different types of abilities in glass: creating an accessible, inclusive environment for all artists to feel comfortable in
  • Raising awareness for different physical abilities in the studio (i.e. accommodating a person using crutches or allowing a person to bring a stool to sit on during long demos) 
  • Ergonomics in glassworking: paying attention to working conditions so you’re not in pain, like using the lathe for larger pieces, or not hunching over which causes back pain 
  • “I have had to go to shade five (filters) because my eyes are too sensitive for lighter shades (of safety glasses).”
University of Washington: opening a new flameworking studio space
  • Hoping it will be a good example of a well built, forward thinking institutional studio
  • Accessible height bench, great ventilation, ongoing opportunities for visiting artists to teach, ongoing search for full time faculty in glass
  • Auto shutoff manifolds for oxygen, propane tanks on scales
  • Studio is ADA compliant, and two of the benches have adjustable height to accommodate wheelchairs and different body types
  • “Great way to create a space for making where being able-bodied is not immediately assumed or expected.”
  • “UW’s shop will have 15 total stations including an instructor bench and 2 ADA accessible workstations each with 4′ spacing.”
Compensating for limited depth perception, different visual abilities, and other tips for accessibility
  • Add contrast: put something dark (graphite pad) between the flame and the bench
  • Penland offers a movement class, and the movement instructor will come into your class and give advice
  • Using a set of rollers to create a point of reference in the flame can help with depth perception issues, especially when flame is pointed at an angle
    • In a group studio, using rollers can be a way to address depth perception issues or hand shakiness without calling attention to the student
  • Hands/movement:
    • Shaky hands: make a brace for your hands right next to the torch and use a yoke to stabilize the hand
    • What kind of hoses are on your torch? Thick hoses wear out your wrists when working on the lathe
  • Grateful for environments like Flame Affinity Group that prepare me for different abilities that come up when teaching
  • Approaching health topics in a sensitive way tends to make students feel more comfortable and open to disclosing their situation
  • Worked with a person who was deaf in the class who had a sign language interpreter
List of residencies and scholarships available for studios with flameworking access

Pittsburgh Glass Center

Wheaton Arts CGCA Fellowship

Urban Glass

Corning Museum of Glass

Snow Farm

Pilchuck Glass School

Pratt Fine Art Center

Penland School of Craft

Insights

“Studio practice tends to be kind of fluid for all of us over time.”

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Last updated: 4/4/23

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: The Economics of Flameworking

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
The Economics of Flameworking
November 3, 2022 7PM EDT
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat.
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant.  

What do you make and who is your audience?
  • Jewelry:
    • Jewelry for the contemporary jewelry collector market and people who like large jewelry 
    • Make jewelry, trying to make things I haven’t really seen before, like unusual glass beads and chains
    • Production jewelry, which has a specific audience (ex. production implosion pendants) and contemporary jewelry
    • Make marbles and implosion pendants. Popular as far as jewelry goes, and a great way to get your stuff out there in the world
    • I’ve done beads and bead shows, did jewelry for many years
  • Fabrication/consultation:
    • Consulting for shipping and crating of glass (particularly delicate and flameworked items)
    • Fabrication for other artists (contemporary art world) 
    • Spent a year making chains for Calvin Klein’s runway shows
    • Make prep for other artists who use glass parts in mixed media sculpture 
    • Fabrication for artists. The audience is the contemporary artist, or whoever their audience is, and that’s a bigger part of my income stream
  • Gig work:
    • Pretty common to diversify your income stream
    • Glass adjacent gigs: public speaking, lecturing and teaching as an advocate for flameworking. All paid work. Audience largely institutional. 
    • I’ve been a gig worker for 25 years; lots of different income streams that are all flameworking related or adjacent
  • Pipes:
    • Making pipes to bring in side-money, because renting time in the hot shop was expensive and I didn’t have access.
    • First Fridays in downtown LA, setting up a table and selling pipes.
    • I would do some consignment at pipe shops, and then also I was just hitting people up on the streets and asking hey are you interested in some glass
    • “Making pipes for a side hustle.”
  • I am doing a lot of stuff around flameworking that I guess a lot of people don’t get involved with.
    • Would say my audience is myself, at this point, because I am really just interested in exploring the medium.
    • I do a lot of research and development, material science, trying to figure out and understand glass. I write up some of the stuff that I come up with so that other people can tread and hopefully use as a jumping off point.
    • Flameworking ceramics and glass 
  • Teach glass and other things
  • In grad school for illustration and making dioramas of handmade glass and laser cut textiles that I’m photographing to illustrate children’s books I’ve written 
  • Sculptures and performance art with flameworking. Try to make my work accessible — the audience is the general public. Wanted to foster a wider entry point to glass.
  • Including bits and pieces that are sculpted on the torch to use in my larger sculptures made in the hotshop
  • Reusing glass from the hotshop to then repurpose and potentially making a product line
  • Make work resembling plants, succulents, coral, etc.
  • I worked at REI, and used to make snails with little pins on them and would sell these to my fellow employees at work. 
  • Scientific glassworking:
    • I work in Research and development in Silicon Valley and that really set me up for where I am now- I have a corporate scientific job with Bruce Suba as my mentor doing glass to metal seals. That set me up to now be in a position to just make my own work for fun, to just be an artist. 
    • Scientific glassworking = flameworking for a living. Getting paid to practice your skills that you can then use for your side hustles. 
    • I still have my own (flameworking) business since the 70s, but I also do scientific apparatus and that gives me the ability to do whatever I want. 
  • My husband and I run a glass art studio in British Columbia. It’s about building a community and learning what the community needs from you as a flameworker. Just find your niche within that.
    • My husband did a lot of goblets. We started teaching and building a community who appreciated art. 
    • We moved to a town of about 5000 people, going from doing big art shows to communicating directly with our customers, with walk-in traffic to our shop. Now we are dealing with distributors (pipes) 
    • Many revenue streams: we do scientific repair for local University, we do upcycled glass work from recycled bottles into reusable goods, pipes, that are sold mostly through distributors and the big trade shows.
  • Podcasting:
    • I do a podcast (Taming Lightning) where I talk about neon and plasma. Skill sets are in the hotshop, but I also use flameworking principles to get a better overall seal in the hotshop and find ways I can use that in the flame shop as well.
    • Podcasting and lecturing as a glass adjacent income stream
    • Provide content for a YouTube producer to make a glassblowing YouTube show (Gather Glass with Wildfire) to educate the audience and community. Doesn’t really make money, but increases exposure. Started with a podcast, then a live show, now it’s monthly. Doing an interview with Marble Slinger who has a new movie coming out. Crosspollinate with other artists and producers. 
  • Recently working on a commission for plasma chops, cups were fabricated, and I filled them with gasses. People reach out to me from IG, Facebook, etc.
  • Portable glassblowing studio that we take into the community to demonstrate and share about glassblowing and flameworking and what we do.
  • “Recycled glass production line.” 
  • “Servicing other studios”
  • Started with selling stuff out of my trunk, but I realized that I didn’t want to live this way.
How have things changed for those of you who have been working through the last few years? Has there been a shift from in person to online? Has anybody had to find new audiences for their work and pivot in the last few years?
  • Impact of COVID-19:
    • When COVID hit there was a huge drop and supply chain issues, getting flameworking supplies and glass was difficult because color comes from the US so it is hard to be competitive with pricing. 
    • During COVID, we lost the ability to connect with our customers, people were not hanging out and sharing glass, that’s what the cannabis community is all about. 
    • When teaching went online it was an opportunity for students to learn about the history of glass. It really opened my mind up. I had everyone look at the history of painting, and look at the glass in paintings, and tell me how the glass was made.
    • During COVID we had to build out communities, both in person and online. Online we can connect with a global audience.
  • YouTube, TikTok, Livestreaming:
    • More and more folks are monetizing their YouTube channel, or live streaming, doing more income generating activities with social media and connecting with their audiences to sell their work through the internet. 
    • I started making TikTok videos – TikTok reached out to me to make educational videos during the pandemic. So I started making glass-related content for the general public as an audience. It has become a significant source of income for me. 
    • For a while it seemed like IG reels were paying a lot of money (“quit your day job’ money) TikTok tried to compete by paying creators. As a creator, I’m trying to take advantage of the giant companies competing with each other. 
    • Making content generates a significant amount of income, and also keeps your audience engaged, and potentially opportunities to sell your work. 
    • For the long run, I think YouTube has more potential for monetization
    • Live streams can be a good source of income, and people will send you gifts and flowers, products, etc.
  • I’ve been talking about shifting towards online, but I was going in that direction anyways. 
  • I did the UrbanGlass hotline where I talked about plasma, and combined a lecture and demonstration. I find that because of how spread out people are in neon and plasma, I have almost no choice but to reach people through online references. 
  • @surfratglass at a previous meeting shared how he pivoted during the pandemic to find a new audience and ended up monetizing his IG account and creating content that way by live streaming and making videos. 
  • The possibility of making objects to sell, but then also being able to monetize that time you are making by having a live stream. 
  • Most of my work is going through a gallery or through a couple of art fairs that I do locally, but by galleries recently retired. I’m looking to get more things on. My online shop. 
Financing Your Art Practice
  • Having a day job, like teaching or fabrication, takes the economic pressure off my art
  • You really need to do what you love and finance it somehow
  • Saving and planning ahead:
    • Spent over a decade in tech, managed to save up enough to not have to rely on making working in the glass sustainable
    • Interesting stuff not going to be sustainable in the beginning — so maybe finding some way to make the money beforehand
  • Last year, saved up and took on a bunch of work so that this year I could take more creative risks and build a new audience with my own sculpture. I would put that in the research and development category.
How do you price your work, content or services? Do you have a formula that you use? Do you just feel it out depending on what the market is doing?
  • For production: think of an hourly minimum rate you want to make, then build in the cost of materials.
    • Develop a calculator: consider how much to pay yourself hourly, whether to hire an assistant, think through the steps to complete the project and estimate the time needed to complete the project.
    • If you work at an institution, factor in studio rental.
    • When selling art, look at what other people are doing for pricing info.
    • For fabrication and consulting: Add 20% for overhead, labor, materials (include shipping)
  • For commissions, customs, fabrication, or services:
    • There’s a lot of R&D involved, there’s email communication, documenting and sending pictures of the progress. 
    • Sometimes clients have a fixed budget, like funding or grants from a museum
    • Find someone doing something similar, consider developing a mentorship
    • When fabricating or doing commissions, I am not doing the selling or marketing. When making my own work, I have to accommodate marketing. So I use a higher overhead because I’m wearing more hats as an artist than as a fabricator.
    • Repairs on a piece can be difficult to estimate (time and cost) if there are too many unknown variables, or if I’m asked to do something that is out of my wheelhouse. In those cases, start with a bigger number because project management is involved. 
    • Add in travel and build it into your contract. Include lodging.
    • Also set down some boundaries. I.E. Make sure they have all the parts first before you travel for install so you’re not wasting your time.
  • Value of mentorship:
    • For a service I call “Technical Consultation” where I go service a manifold and organize an institution’s setup. Rusty Russo helped me first establish an hourly rate ($45/hr).
  • Pricing artwork/jewelry and research:
    • For sculpture in the fine art market, there are some price breaks to know about. Small sculptures (under $3000) start here first. Once you’ve sold in that range, try $3000 to $5000, then $5000 to $10,000. Different collectors in each range. Galleries and art fairs use this pricing structure. 
    • Research who your peers/competitors are, and consider what the market will bear. Look at whose work is selling and for what in different venues like galleries and art fairs. A little bit of market research will take you a long way.
    • With contemporary jewelry, knowing your client and their price ranges so that you can make sure you’re marketing to the right client with your price point. 
    • What does the landscape of the market look like that you are trying to enter? Helps to be realistic about your price point (and confident about it, too.) If you’re not getting a good response to the work, it will be easier to troubleshoot because either your prices are out of whack, or it’s the wrong market for you.
    • Donating your work to auctions can be a good research tool to see what people will be willing to pay for a specific piece (can be incredibly valuable info)
    • I saw on an IG story an implosion pendant similar to mine going for double the price that I was selling at and decided to up my prices in my Etsy store. Learning what the market will bear is a valuable insight.
  • Give yourself a buffer (of a few hundred $) if you need to reschedule or redo something
  • I don’t make pieces as a commodity, and don’t want to put that pressure on this specific work. Tricky to price my performance art/sculpture because there are hundreds of hours on a piece. Ex: an object that is used on the body in a performance, that will be exhibited with the video performance — the price becomes a kind of token of the burden. 
  • To survive: I teach, do production and fabrication. These income streams support my personal art practice which takes up an equal amount of time. 
  • Not everybody is your client, and it’s really important to be able to separate yourself from your work, because it can get emotional when for example, with jewelry a client says “I love your work, but it’s way too expensive for me.” Consider the possibility that your prices may be fine, but this may not be your client/audience for the work. 
  • When work sells at auction, contact the buyer because that adds to your audience.
  • The 10% rule: If you have a business, you should always have sales goals. If you meet your yearly goal, then you raise your prices by 10%. When you raise your prices, you can expect to lose 10% of your clients, who are not able to grow with you. But you will still make the same amount of money. This is one way to build your business by elevating the value of your products incrementally based on sales performance. 
  • “This might be from my esoteric position, but if I focus on economics, I find that it constrains what I can do too much. In order to take into account the economics means that I have to focus on a larger/popular audience… and I am not really interested in either consuming or producing things for that. My interests are very niche, and in order to be in that area, I cannot maximize economics. Those things seem to be mutually exclusive”
How do you handle extras/seconds that are nice but aren’t selling?
  • Should we try to employ the bartering system more?
    • Barter the seconds, buy the firsts.
    • “The barter system is alive and well! I supplement my $ income with bartering.”
  • Seconds sales online:
    • Saw another glass artist live on TikTok doing a studio cleanout sale, everything was around $5. Use the chat to buy, artist will ship it to you. 
    • Doing a clean out sale on social media – you don’t know who is watching.
    • Tempted to do online sales and would love to sell to my friends for cheap, but worried about degrading my prices.
  • Ideas and concerns about selling/promotion:
    • Open house in our studio once a year — that’s the only time we put out the seconds. Connecting with people face to face shows dedication if client’s are willing to show up for the seconds sale.
    • Hide and Seek:
      • Hide your seconds in a park and take a picture to post online so someone can find it – stash and dash, geotagging.
      • Doing Hide and Seek and connecting with people online are about building community, and in turn, hopefully those people will buy your work. Also it helps value your product by boosting your visibility in the algorithm and linking and sharing your account with other people. All of these are marketing tools that we now have at our fingertips.
    • Hosting a dinner party and charging an entry fee and everyone can take an object home with them. 
  • I’ll sell it to a friend for cheap, or give it away if it’s the difference between keeping it or throwing it away. 
  • I destroy the seconds because after I’m gone they might become mixed up with the firsts. We don’t have control over what our legacy is. 
  • I’ll cannibalize pieces and reconfigure them into new pieces of jewelry
  • Being a glassworker, and having to deal with storage of first quality work, in addition to seconds. 
  • Electrician working on my house bought a piece from me. I was excited because it was not my regular audience. I also bartered with the HVAC guy and made him a set of elephants.
  • Recycling glass in a vitreograph kiln – making cane for bead makers, vitreograph paintings. All glass is recyclable, people!
  • “Glass collage”
  • “Brooklyn Glass! Hot Glass Cold Beer!”
Digital Income Streams
  • Cameo App:
    • Pay celebrities/personalities for short custom messages.
    • Could it be an educational tool? On-demand educational videos, or tech support. An information sharing opportunity for custom glass videos. 
  • Rights to content:
    • Consider if you are giving exclusive rights to your content or video.
    • Are you letting a big platform repost your videos for free? That allows others to profit from your content if their account is monetized.
    • Consider a Sole Licensing agreement, where you license rights to your content, but still retain rights to use it yourself as well.
    • I can change the content slightly and license it, or just recreate the content. 
  • “Would this be the time to bring up the issue of how the net is pretty much dominated by a handful of companies, and have enormous amounts of influence on what gets seen and not seen? I feel like depending on these platforms to stay sustainable is a risky bet”
What professional practices topics are important right now?
  • In college, I learned how to make a business card and a resume. The niches of how to make a living never came up.
    • How do you keep up your social media? If you’re not into that, how do you develop a relationship with galleries?
    • How do you enter into a market?
    • What are the different types of markets?
    • How do you balance the right level of professional persona and also personal persona for the internet? How do you seem like a real person but also cultivate your own brand?
    • Teaching people how to be fluid with technology.
    • How to write a cover letter 
    • “I’m constantly surprised when artists don’t understand some tech standards… file formats, jpg tiff png, along with formatted text documents as MS word docs instead of standards like PDF”
  • Documentation:
    • “I finally started to hire people to document exhibitions and it makes such a huge difference. I attribute those images to getting me additional opportunities. So definitely worth the money in the end.
    • Can you use the barter system to have a friend take pictures for you? Documentation is everything.
  • I think it’s important to think about how we are using energy.
    • There is just so much waste and we need to get a hold of that. Glass is an incredibly recyclable material. Are we using it to its fullest potential?
    • What is the right COE for what you are trying to do? Where are we setting our torches? What torch?
    • What is the lowest temperature you can go to create what you want to make? Ex: murrini could be COE 96 or 104 instead of 33.
  • Personal energy and the economics of personal time.
    • How are you spending your time? Do we have to do everything ourselves, or can we delegate? Recognizing when there is a huge learning curve that could be overcome by bringing in a collaborator, jobbing out a task. (tech, photography, etc.) When to spend the money.
    • You don’t have to do everything yourself, especially as your business grows 
    • Don’t waste your time reinventing the wheel — pay a professional to get it done.
    • Ex: Paying for a good photo of your work can then allow you to access more opportunities, and you are also supporting another artist (photographer)
    • Making things with intent (building things that are useful and thoughtful) as a way of talking about energy management.
Media Training
  • Media training used to be done by PR firms in preparation for publicly representing an art center in the media, especially on live television, and in interviews where you are representing an institution. An extension of public speaking.
    • Handy for podcasting and lecturing
    • Also helpful for more spontaneous events, like receiving an award, where you set the tone and language with your audience.
  • Social media, live streaming, “dos and don’ts” 
  • When asked a question, repeat the question in your answer to provide context
How does the impact of economics affect your studio practice?
  • Material costs, cost of gas, inflation
  • Flameworking is one of the most economic forms of hot glass working with much less overhead than other forms of hot glass working. 
  • My middle range of sales haven’t been great, but the lesser priced items do well and the higher priced items do well. So, I’m better off spending my time cutting out the mid range and focusing on the top and bottom of the markets. 
  • Starting a flameworking studio at home to offset costs and increase access to hot glass so I can make things in the $45-75 range, and I can sell a lot of those and they don’t take much time to make. Also, I can prep flameworked parts ahead of time to be used on bigger work in the hotshop. 
NFTs and energy usage
  • NFTs as an alternative to print
    • Make glass lenses that I use on my camera to make digital images. Rather than making them into a physical print, I opted to make them into NFTs so they can stay in the digital realm.
    • Making a tool to generate art: I can blow one lens and use that to make an infinite amount of images.
  • Carbon footprint:
    • Rarible platform allows you to list an NTF for sale, but with no blockchain activity until a sales transaction takes place. This way I can minimize the energy usage up front and be more intentional about how energy is used.
    • Joe Lee did some research and calculated that the gas usage for minting one NFT is about equal to firing two ceramic kilns. Translating into glassmaker and ceramic terminology.
  • Projecting NFTs:
    • I like the idea that it doesn’t have a physical format but can exist into the physical world through projection. I’ve been projecting them onto sculptures. 
  • NFTs have not been fruitful for me monetarily, but have been useful in community building. Value in opportunities to generate conversation.
  • Proof of stake and proof of work on the blockchain
    • “tezos is proof of stake, and very low energy”
Is there an investment (i.e. a piece of stock/tool) you’ve made that you regret?
  • Tools:
    • I’ve bought more pairs of grabbers than I will ever need. 
    • At what point are you just collecting tools?
    • A butter knife is gonna give you the same result (as a fancy tool). My favorite tool is my housemate’s butter knife. 
    • Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
  • Conferences:
    • At conferences, I always buy the same colors and then never use them. Specifically, it’s a black glass that turns rainbow when you melt it. Apparently I am seduced by this color when shopping in person.
    • India green, it was super cheap at a conference. It is super ugly though. Now that it is out of production is it worth $$
  • I hoard color and tools I’ll never use, just to collect.
  • I think mine would be more like patternmaking. There’s this old type of pattern that neon people use that has fiberglass elements to it. It is noxious, and smells when you use it. Paper and a wire screen is all I need.
  • “I have some lead paint powder”
Relevant Links
Additional Points
  • If you are just starting out selling your work, reaching out to your community is a great way to start. People want to support you. Start small and local, branch out from there. 
  • Hustle is like your building community, it’s you connecting with people, and that’s eventually going to be the people who carry you to where you want to be with glass. 
  • “Support your contemporaries too by sharing their work, there are no competitors. When it comes back, they will think of you.”

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LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 1/4/23

Sonic Level for Glassblowing (Punty Level)

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

Want a tool for beginners struggling to keep pipes/punties level? Ken Flanagan developed the punty level as a glassblowing teaching aid for Professor Helen Lee at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A student is holding a glassblowing punty with a pink level sensor attached near the back of the pipe.

This tool emits a tone based on the degree of deviation from the level plane. It is loud enough to hear over the ambient noise in the hot shop. It attaches to a pipe/punty with a 3D-printed clamp that can accept a large range of different pipe/punty diameters. The hinges are printed in place, meaning that there is no assembly once the print is complete (other than the electronics).

To minimize awkwardness for the gaffer, the punty level is quite small and can easily be mounted on the far end of the pipe/punty. It is secured with a rubber band.

For ease of replication, there is a GitHub page for the project (including instructions in the wiki) and a Thingiverse part for the 3D-printed clamp.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Ken Flanagan