EMBRACING THE WRONG WAY?

When I was staring to be a scientific glassblower, that’s a person making scientific glassware for scientists to use in experiments in their laboratories, then I was always told to “stick to the drawing”. Tolerances were typically plus or minus 1 mm! I was trained to make things that were functional and strong enough to withstand any overtly robust handling. The appearance of a piece of scientific glass was seemingly secondary to other factors. After a couple of years, I was asked to make a glass animal which of course requires the opposite mind set to a technical approach. My experience up until then led me to think a glass leg need to be well made with a good strong join between two surfaces of glass. Of course, what I neglected was the fact that by following this approach my legs never looked like legs! But boy oh boy were they strong. You would never be able to break them.

Today I see the value is neglecting my training at certain times. For sure all my glass sculptures and art need to last longer than it takes a customer to exit my workshop cherishing their commission in the bosom of their mind. Of late I have “parked” my scientific glass experience and just gone for it. A recent commission involved a more organic appearance of a rib cage and instead of taking time to make sure all the joins were well secured I just rushed it all through. I ignore dirt in joins. I ignore unevenness and bubbles in the glass wall. All these so-called short comings would have rejected this style in my scientific glass days, but it seems today in the art world anything goes.

I have lost count how many people have said to me they wish they could draw but they can’t draw a straight line. There is something wrong here that we judge a level of creativity by the quality of craftsmanship. In my capacity as a Beaver Scout Leader who conjure up activities for 6 to 8 years olds then I am not bothered about the result of crafts. The important thing is participation and development. Amazingly some children don’t have crayons or felt tip pens at home so how on earth are they going to express themselves in a visual manner? Who cares if kids colour over the lines when colouring in and what’s so important about using the right colours in the right order?

For me I would rather make something. Anything of any quality rather than nothing at all. I am lucky in that I know how to make a glass item that ticks all the boxes in appearance and construction and sometimes as a bonus it might even look like what it is meant to be. A misguided visitor to an art exhibition said to me that all abstract artists only meddle in the genre because they can’t paint landscapes or portraits. Seems we as artist have a long long long long way to go to educate our audience!!