Lampworking & Beadmaking

FREDERICK BIRKHILL

This course is designed for imaginative artists and students of all levels. Preliminary exercises will emphasize basic beadmaking using mandrels. Extensive decorative technique utilizing historic reference will acquaint the student with beadmaking throughout history. Small solid figurative sculpture will also be taught. Basic blowing technique such as ornament and vessel forms will acquaint the student with more advanced use of flameworking. All varieties of glass will be used including glass drawn from the furnace at the school. Final projects will include glass incorporated into mixed media. This course will emphasize a highly creative artistic approach to the material in addition to increasing one's skill.

Please click to enlarge

Frederick Birkhill

Frederick Birkhill was born in Detroit Michigan in 1951. As a child, he became enamored with glass and the technique of flameworked glass. He holds both a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from The University of Michigan. He has always taken a highly eclectic path in learning about glass. He became an accomplished photographer at the age of 22 with the inclusion of one of his daguerreotypes in the collection at The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. At the age of 24, he was immersed in international studies at The Burleighfield School outside of London, England with internationally renown artists in stained glass Patrick Reyntiens and Ludwig Schaffrath. Further studies throughout his lifetime thus far with artists, in The United States and abroad have included: Livio Seguso, Frederica Marangoni, the late Kurt Wallstab, Herb Babcock, Henry Halem, Richard Marquis, Dale Chihuly, William Gudenrath and most recently Benjamin Moore. For over thirty years, Frederick Birkhill has been an independent studio artist, whose work is one of a kind, never production. His studio activities focus on photography of glass, flameworking, furnace glassblowing, experimentation resulting in invention and professional writing. He has been a Seminole figure in the research and publication of the early history of flameworked glass. Critical mention has included a wide variety of media citing for this artist. His professional activities include teaching workshops, lecturing, and active membership in numerous organizations and museums: The Glass Art Society, AIHV (Association Internationale pour l'Historie de Verre) and The Corning Museum of Glass among others. One can find his glass art in select galleries in The United States and Venice, Italy; numerous permanent collections of museums as well as private collections throughout the world. His passion for glass is beyond description!

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

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