Tag: glassmaker

The Genius of Unusual Methods: Glass Art by Ishida Tami

Glass Ishida Tami

Glass Vessels by Ishida Tami in our shop ->

When I saw Japanese glassmaker Ishida Tami’s work, I immediately thought of eggshells in a dazzling array of colors laid by exotic birds hidden deep in a forest that had yet to be discovered. Her gorgeous work invites self-reflection and quiet contemplation, like watching the sky gradually change its color in the early morning before sunrise.

Glass vessels by Japanese glassmaker Ishida Tami

“They are glass, but I want them to appear like ceramics, lacquerware, and even pebbles,” Tami explains.  “I am very particular about the texture and colors of the surface.” Tami enjoys creating work that fits in the palm of a hand and pays special attention to how the surface feels when they are touched.

Glassmaker Ishida Tami likes to make objects that fit in the palm of a hand and pays special attention to their touch

Initially, I thought Tami’s work looked like pate de verre, a type of glasswork that is made by filling powdered glass pastes into a mold. But her vessels carry a lightness that is not typical to pate de verre because they are actually blown glass with layer upon layer of powdered glass coatings that are cut and intensely polished on the surface. Her work is a mind-bogglingly time-consuming process, and I was curious to find out why Tami decided to create her work in this elaborate manner.

Ishida Tami blowing a gray color base vessel coated with ivory colored powdered glass.
Photo courtesy of Ishida Tami

Tami was born in Okayama prefecture, home to the famous local Bizen pottery that are usually unglazed and fired with wood. She studied ceramics in high school, but the austere Bizen pottery seemed dark to her young eyes, and she became more interested in glazed pottery. Later when she discovered that a new university, the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, was opening in 1995, she thought glass “seemed even more beautiful than glazed pottery.” So she decided to study glasswork.

The blobs of glass are cut after cooling and the bottoms are then polished into vessels.
Photo courtesy of Ishida Tami

But it was only after Tami started researching and creating replicas of ancient glasswork after graduation that she became fascinated by glass. Her graduate thesis was a work based on a historic Persian cut glass vessel in the collection of Okayama Orient Museum. She later enrolled in the Masters of Glass program at the University for the Creative Arts at Farnham in England and proceeded to extensively study Sasanian and Islamic glasswork. In 2013, Tami received the honor of being invited to create a replica of a Sasanian Cut Bowl for the British Museum.  In 2015, Tami won first prize in the prestigious Stanislav Libensky Award given out by the Czech Republic that provided her the opportunity to spend three weeks at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state.

“Ancient glassmakers created work through mysterious methods and techniques,” Tami pointed out. “And this is because they were still working their way to discovering more efficient ways to make things, but with limited tools and fuels.” It was the ingenuity of these long-gone glassmakers that Tami felt a deep love and attraction for and has become the driving force of her creations.

Glassworker Ishida Tami’s self-adapted coldworking tool.  She changes the wheel to cut and polish the vessels into the final form.
Photos courtesy of Ishida Tami

After Tami lost her teacher in a tragic accident three years ago, she has not been able to get back into her research of ancient glass and creating cut glass vessels. But through the study of Sasanian glasswork, Tami has accumulated extensive knowledge in cutting and polishing glass (click here to watch a YouTube video of former curator of Corning Museum of Glass, David Whitehouse describe a Sasanian cup with high quality glass cutting).  Through experimentation, she discovered that a distinctly beautiful texture and effect of graduating colors can be achieved by coldworking pieces that are blown and coated with powdered glass.

Tami admits that, “it is like taking the very long way home to create glasswork with the presumption that it will be coldworked to finish the form.” But this unusual method is the very reason why her work is so unique.

Glass vessels by Ishida Tami that resemble eggshells in a dazzling array of colors.

In a world where efficiency is prized, we sometimes forget that the process still makes the biggest difference to the end result. Tami’s work reminds us that the key for making objects that goes straight to the heart is not just about employing state-of-the-art equipment but is also about taking the time and trouble to convey the fascination for the material.

A Lifetime’s Yearning: The Fine Blown Glasswork of Nitta Yoshiko

Glass Nitta Yoshiko

Glass by Nitta Yoshiko in our shop ->

There is no place to hide for an artist that works on handmade glass.  The delicateness and transparency of the medium means that a maker’s lack of expertise, eye for detail, or even passion and dedication, are very obvious.

A blown and etched glass carafe and cups by Japanese glassmaker Nitta Yoshiko
A blown and etched glass carafe and cups by Japanese glassmaker Nitta Yoshiko

Fortunately, Japanese glassmaker Nitta Yoshiko has these attributes in abundance. She is a master creator of mouth-blown glassware etched with delightful, intricate patterns. Her work possesses a unique contemporary flare that features a compelling contrast between its frosted and transparent elements. Yoshiko points out that “transparency is a special aspect of glass that other medium do not possess. So I want to create work that lets that characteristic shine”.

Cups by Nitta Yoshiko. The beautiful contrast of etched and clear elements emphasize the transparency of glass
Cups by Nitta Yoshiko. The beautiful contrast of etched and clear elements emphasize the transparency of glass

I met Yoshiko at a craft fair in Osaka in the autumn of 2012. She made such eye-catching work that I wanted to find out more about this unassuming but immensely talented artist, and bring her work to the attention of a larger audience in the U.S.

From a very early age, Yoshiko had yearned to make a living as a craftsman. She wanted to follow in the creative footsteps of her father, who was an umbrella maker in Osaka.

When Yoshiko was in high school, she visited a glass art show in Osaka and instantly fell in love with the glasswork of the internationally famous glass artist Iezumi Toshio. After discovering that Iezumi taught glass at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, she enrolled in the university to study under him and thus, he became her mentor. At the university, Yoshiko also had the opportunity to take classes with Kodani Shinzo, a well-known Mingei glassmaker from Kurashiki.

Nitta Yoshiko rolls a gather of glass on a marver in her Tokyo hot shop
Nitta Yoshiko rolls a gather of glass on a marver in her Tokyo hot shop

This intensive training profoundly shaped Yoshiko’s views about what she wanted to do and how she would go about doing it. “After four years of studying glass in university, I developed a strong desire to create utilitarian wares out of glass.” Yoshiko has been doing exactly that by making glass objects for everyday use since her graduation in 2000.

empontilling

“I want my work to be used daily, so I pay special attention to the thickness, weight, and size of my work”, Yoshiko explains. Her glass cups have thin rims that feel good on the mouth. They are also lightweight and the etching on the glasses allows for a solid grip that makes them very comfortable to hold. Yoshiko puts considerable thought into the design and engineering of her work, always striving to meet her exacting requirements.

The etching on the glass provides a solid grip that makes it very comfortable to use
The etching on the glass provides a solid grip that makes it very comfortable to use

Yoshiko creates her vessels through the ancient technique of free-blowing, a time-consuming process that adds to the charm of her work. Free-blowing does not use molds and so requires skill and experience to manipulate the shape of the glass using centrifugal force and gravity. The slightly distorted transparency of blown glass and its gentle waviness has an allure that can be found in an old farmhouse window or in quiet ocean ripples. The effect gives a warm appeal that cannot be replicated in mass-produced work.

The charm of a glass bottle made the old fashioned way is its gentle waviness and slightly distorted transparency
The charm of a glass bottle made the old fashioned way is its gentle waviness and slightly distorted transparency

A hallmark that denotes the high quality of Yoshiko’s work is the detailed etching of her glass. She achieves this by drawing fine patterns directly onto the glass surface with a special glue resist, which is then sandblasted. The patterns are time consuming to draw but the results are outstanding.

There is an often-heard argument that the nature of handmade craft requires sacrifices in engineering and usability. Yoshiko’s high-quality work and craftsmanship is an elegant counter-argument proving that this is simply not the case.