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Head of the flameworking department at The Crucible in Oakland, CA. As is obvious in his expression, Ralph is quite a character, gregarious and talented.
This was a bit of a challenge. My wife volunteers here and asked me to take some portraits of the instructors during an open house. The room itself was a nightmare to light: white walls, fluorescent lights, ugly industrial furniture, etc. Initially I just lit the room to match the lights, which worked but was bland. I wanted something dramatic. So, I rotated the key umbrella away from the subject so the light feathered his face while preventing much spill into the background. The other light was gelled and pointed right at him for a rim. With a little extra work in post, I got a saturated, colorful shot that illustrated his personality and the work he does.
* Key: 2 speedlights, silver umbrella, camera left
* rim: speedlight, bare, gelled warm, camera right
* background accentuated in post
I met Katherine at the Sherwood Forest Faire that I attended with one of my photography Meetup Groups.
Katherine owns Majestic Glass. She is a Glass Flameworker who has some really beautiful pieces. I was taking some shots with my macro lens of those pieces when we met. She wanted to be sure I had good intentions. I assured her that this was a hobby and that I was impressed with her work. I introduced myself and asked her if she would mind participating in this project. She said that she did not mind, but that she did not really take good pictures. She doesn't smile much for pictures and tends to close her eyes.
Her husband, Steve, decided to get behind me and make her smile. He did, and I really like this picture with her work.
Katherine and Steve have a home in Indiana on two acres that they are looking forward to getting back to. When they travel to these fairs in a large trailer with their very big dog (thanks, Katherine for sharing that picture). After this fair, they have one more in Oklahoma, and they are headed back.
I asked her how it was living in the campgrounds for these fairs, and she said she could write a book. It was all about respect and tolerance. She seemed to enjoy camaraderie.
I enjoyed my conversation with Katherine and Steve. I am going to also include a picture that they joked I should title "Katherine the Great and Steve the Lesser"...
Thanks to both of them for participating in this project. Safe travels home to Indiana.
This picture is #28 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
About the Artist: Ginny Ruffner
Like a lot of people from the southern United States, Ginny Ruffner tells good stories. Her favorite as an artist is about a drawing she brought home from kindergarten. “It was a bunch of scribbles, and my mother said, ‘What is this?’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘Well, my teacher told us to draw something useful.’ And Mom looked at it and said, ‘Hmm, what is it?’ I said, ‘It’s a toilet paper factory.’”
Ruffner earned her master’s degree in painting and drawing from the University of Georgia in 1975. She wanted to learn glass but could not find anyone to teach her. So she convinced a flameworker at an Atlanta mall to hire her, setting up a makeshift apprenticeship for herself.
Ruffner became a part of the Studio Glass movement that developed around Seattle, Washington. She relocated there in the 1980s. About the same time, her art shifted from being abstract to more story based. “That’s when I knew my work needed an attitude adjustment,” she remembers. “I walked into the studio and slapped all their faces and began to make user-friendly sculptures that wear too much eye makeup but really know how to have a good time in a bar. They don’t stand on pedestals anymore; they dance on tabletops. They keep me up at night carousing. Now that I’ve dressed them up, they think they can go anywhere, especially if Marcel [Duchamp] drives.”
The Details
•Title: When Lightning Blooms (“Aesthetic Engineering series”)
•Maker(s): Ginny Ruffner
•Accession Number: 2011.4.71
•Place Made: United States, WA, Seattle
•Dimensions:
oOverall Dimensions:
Height: about 106.7 cm
Width: about 96.5 cm
Depth: about 61 cm
•Date: 2006
•Technique: Hot-worked, cut, welded, joined, bent
•Materials: Blown glass; bronze, stainless steel
Interpretive Text
What if lightning had a “gene” to bloom? Artists draw inspiration from a variety of sources, but for Ginny Ruffner, it’s always the question, What if? After learning about developments in genetic engineering, she became fascinated with the idea of hybridizing things that do and don’t have genes. When Lightning Blooms highlights the qualities of heat, light, and speed—the momentary aspects of lightning—and shapes them into a permanent flower. The sculpture depicts lightning as a creative, rather than destructive, force.
About the Artist: Ginny Ruffner
Like a lot of people from the southern United States, Ginny Ruffner tells good stories. Her favorite as an artist is about a drawing she brought home from kindergarten. “It was a bunch of scribbles, and my mother said, ‘What is this?’ ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘Well, my teacher told us to draw something useful.’ And Mom looked at it and said, ‘Hmm, what is it?’ I said, ‘It’s a toilet paper factory.’”
Ruffner earned her master’s degree in painting and drawing from the University of Georgia in 1975. She wanted to learn glass but could not find anyone to teach her. So she convinced a flameworker at an Atlanta mall to hire her, setting up a makeshift apprenticeship for herself.
Ruffner became a part of the Studio Glass movement that developed around Seattle, Washington. She relocated there in the 1980s. About the same time, her art shifted from being abstract to more story based. “That’s when I knew my work needed an attitude adjustment,” she remembers. “I walked into the studio and slapped all their faces and began to make user-friendly sculptures that wear too much eye makeup but really know how to have a good time in a bar. They don’t stand on pedestals anymore; they dance on tabletops. They keep me up at night carousing. Now that I’ve dressed them up, they think they can go anywhere, especially if Marcel [Duchamp] drives.”
The Details
•Title: When Lightning Blooms (“Aesthetic Engineering series”)
•Maker(s): Ginny Ruffner
•Accession Number: 2011.4.71
•Place Made: United States, WA, Seattle
•Dimensions:
oOverall Dimensions:
Height: about 106.7 cm
Width: about 96.5 cm
Depth: about 61 cm
•Date: 2006
•Technique: Hot-worked, cut, welded, joined, bent
•Materials: Blown glass; bronze, stainless steel
Interpretive Text
What if lightning had a “gene” to bloom? Artists draw inspiration from a variety of sources, but for Ginny Ruffner, it’s always the question, What if? After learning about developments in genetic engineering, she became fascinated with the idea of hybridizing things that do and don’t have genes. When Lightning Blooms highlights the qualities of heat, light, and speed—the momentary aspects of lightning—and shapes them into a permanent flower. The sculpture depicts lightning as a creative, rather than destructive, force.
Alas, this was a neat studio while it lasted.
The peeps shown were my old studio mates.
Amy Johnson, and Nadia Tasci
Look at that wall! :)
For two years prior I had been in this space when it was known as the Fishbowl- Catherine Allen and Patricia Spenga were my studio mates. The Fishbowl was bright green wall to wall.
I always thought that if I had the space to myself, etc., that I would rename it Tank- and make it larger by bringing in some flameworkers. From Fishbowl to Tank- it happened.
The Corning Museum of Glass was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) as a gift to the nation for the company's 100th anniversary. The not-for-profit museum is dedicated to the art, history and science of single material--glass--and currently has a collection of more than 50,000 glass objects, some more than 3,500 years old. The original museum was housed in a low, glass-walled building designed by Harrison & Abramovitz in 1951. Gunnar Bikerts' biomorphic, modernist addition expanded the museum's exhibition space when the now 68,000-square-foot museum opened to the public in 1980.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
Eric Goldschmidt, Corning Museum of Glass flameworker demonstrates and narrates on Centerway Square stage.
My nephew is a flameworker who works with glass. Recently he invited me over to watch him make his glass pieces and it was awesome. I thought I'd photograph a small sampling to share with others out there. One of his most popular pieces is a glass wine stopper which is shown in the middle of the photo above.
Paul Stankard a flameworker extraordinaire - International Flameworker's Conference - NJ - 3/17/07. The title is what this paperweight sells for!!!
What are you passionate about? #love #life #passion #neversettle #glassfabricator #flameworker #glassblower #grateful #formyopportunities #destiny #fate #truecalling #chosenprofession #career #work #mentor #successquotes #wordsofwisdom #wisewords #710 #420 #glassfamily #cannabiscommunity #glasscommunity #bayareaglass - em_creations
Extraordinary botanical paperweights by glass master and flameworker, Paul Stankard, who left his ten-year scientific glassblowing career in 1972 to pursue his dream of creating art glass full time. His work is represented in more than 70 museums around the world. From Flame to Flower: The Art of Paul J. Stankard is on view at the Morris Museum in Morristown New Jersey until February 4, 2024.
Extraordinary botanical paperweights by glass master and flameworker, Paul Stankard, who left his ten-year scientific glassblowing career in 1972 to pursue his dream of creating art glass full time. His work is represented in more than 70 museums around the world. From Flame to Flower: The Art of Paul J. Stankard is on view at the Morris Museum in Morristown New Jersey until February 4, 2024.