Glassblowing

B. JANE COWIE | Beginners to Intermediate

"Getting picked-up in a hot Turkish studio…"
Most have heard about the Italian cane and murrini techniques, but few have heard about the Çeşm-i Bülbül (the eye of the nightingale) the equivalent Turkish glass making technique. The two week intensive hot glassmaking course is designed for beginners and those with some blowing experience. It will be a fun and furious learning period that is challenging and exciting. Getting hot in the hot glass studio will be the aim of the workshop with as much hands on experience as possible. The course will start with basic exercises where students will learn the traditional cane, murrini and Ceşm-i Bülbül making techniques as well as the movement and flow of the hot glass material. Students will have the chance to get familiar with the equipment and each other as they pull glass rods, sculpt the glass, melt in colour, blow bubbles and begin to creatively explore their ideas in glass. Predominately the focus will be on cane making. Lots of canes and murrini will be pulled, big, small, thin and thick. There will be lots of after hours work as students cut cane and slice murrini - ready for the next days production roll ups, pick ups for vessel making and glass sculpting. Students will be encouraged to experiment with the canes, murrini and Çeşm-i Bülbül created into precious, extraordinary, weird and even crazy objects. Gravity, heat and centrifugal force will be the main tools students will use. Learning will occur through repetition and the fundamentals of teamworking will be explored. Emphasis will be on posture, a philosophical understanding of the glassy material and how it moves.

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B. Jane Cowie

B. Jane Cowie has been working with glass for over 20 years. She studied at Sydney College of the Arts, Australia, and was awarded a degree in the Visual Arts in 1983. Her commitment and desire to learn has inspired her to travel extensively. She has worked in glass studios and factories in England, Europe, USA and Japan to develop technical skill and an intimate understanding of glass. Now based in Singapore, to learn more about the South East Asian region, she continues her practice as an independent artist while working on major art glass commissions. Her move to Singapore was predominately inspired by the opportunity to work on bigger projects- private, public and commercial, opportunities not necessarily available in Australia. A glass artist with impressive international experience, Cowie recently graduated from University of South Australia with a Master in Visual Arts that examined the history and practice of glassmaking in South Australia from the glassmaker's perspective. Cowie has the credibility for that specialist research as she has worked for 10 years at SA's premier glass art centre, the JamFactory, has owned and operated her own studio, the Spinifex Glass Studio, SA, and founded the Blue Pony glass makers' cooperative studio in Adelaide. A great advocate for artists' rights, Cowie's approach to her thesis was ethnographic, looking at glass making from the perspective of the artists and their community engagement. Cowie has exhibited in Australia, Europe and Asia and is included in a number of public and private collections. And in keeping with her ideas about place and community and its role in influencing and shaping art, she has worked around the world to learn more about the different glass making communities, their techniques, skills and particular tacit knowledge, such as the Turkish Çeşm-i Bülbül. She has taught at Bild-Werk Glass School, Germany and was President of Ausglass: the Australia Association of Glass Artists, organizing the Isolation: Collaboration Conference, 2003 and assisting in securing the G.A.S. conference in Adelaide, 2005. She has been a Board Member of the JamFactory and Craftsouth and continues her commitment to supporting the burgeoning glass making community in Singapore as a teacher in weekend workshops and weekly private lessons. www.bjanecowie.on.net

* An additional US$20 registration fee is charged during application

** The amount of deposit to be paid is US$320