BOB HERNANDEZ, GOOD BYE, MY FRIEND
At 9:30AM, June 7, Sgt. Steve Harris, of the San Luis Opispo Sheriff's Department, called to inform me that Bob had been killed on his way home from my studio in a collision with a tractor-trailer. The news was beyond my comprehension, as was my grief. Bob was so very special to me, not only because of his immense talent, but our friendship as well.
These horses are a great example of creative surface etching. We took a basic horse image, made it different sizes, sprayed a light coat of spray mount on the backs, and then used scissors to cut fairly closely around each image. After allowing the spray mount to dry for awhile, Bob played around, arranging them, changing his mind and moving them around until he was happy with them. He then hand cut them, trying to change the designs, manes, and tails on each horse, to provide greater interest and improve his interpretive creativity. He succeeded.
The mermaid shower door was created in much the same way as the horses, spray mounting many images and arranging and rearranging them until he was happy. Creative surface etching is vital in the world of residential/commercial blasting, since most glass used in this arena is tempered, and true carving depths cannot be accomplished without destroying the tempered glass. Therefore I feel creative surface is a perfect alternative, offering many levels, solid frosts, and a multitude of light frost values. The kachina door was created by using a bare bones outline image from a childrenʼs coloring book, and hand cutting unlimited details to provide the opportunity to do justice to all of the levels and values available to the well-educated blaster. By virtually creating your own patterns from very little using, not only your cutting skills, but interpretative blasting as well. The results are stunning and professional.
Speedy Gonzales was done for a friend of Bobʼs who owned a martial arts studio. Notice how his blend of values brings the logo to life. There is simply no comparison between the unsophisticated regular surface etching, that shows up only as black and white, and the beauty that results from the mastery of the various techniques possessed by the well-schooled blaster.
Nothing much to say about Spidey, other than, heʼs dazzling. I hope youʼre starting to see how vital and visually stimulating the combination of values is.
The gorgeous lady was inspired by a work of Patrick Nagel, who did beautiful black and white work, perfect for light frost exercises. Only the earring and a few of the lines penetrate the surface of the glass, to realize a level. Everything else is a different value of light frost or clear. An exquisite job. The vase was done for Bob's wife, simple but effective.
I asked Bob's wife for this piece, since I never stopped ribbing Bob about it. If you look closely, you'll see that after all of the painstaking and delicate work he did on the dancer, he misspelled designs. I always told him that if I ever ran across anyone who needed a custom DESING, I'd send him or her his way. He was so embarrassed, and couldn't believe that he'd made that mistake. He had also cut it once and hadn't remembered to reverse it because we carve on the back of the glass, so I guess custom desings is better than sgnised motsuc. Anyway, this is one of my favorite memories of Bob.
I love this picture of us. He was always such a great sport, ready for anything.
Gold Class
This class learned the art of Gold Leafing. However, class is not limited to gold. We use white gold, silver, aluminum, various foil composites as well as exploring making various powders and using glass paint backed with various metals. Want to learn more... Check out the
DVDs page from the Sandwitch Shop for our gold leaf kit!
Student applies gold leaf to class project.
I think I hear the Jeopardy theme song...
With such intricate work, sometimes you just need to don the Optivisor!
Careful concentration as silver leafing is applied.
After a long day, I think everyone had a neck ache!
Lion Faces
Please check Glastar's website www.glastar.com for monthly results of their international glass art competition. Scope out the winners from December 2000 to present for my wonderful Hot Flash Students.
Mike Mudd
Mike and I enjoy goofing around. How we get any work done, who knows!
Patrice
Pattern Class
This class learned the art of taking individual images and working with them to create an attractive original design. Images are stacked on top of one another, often you cannot even see what's below until you've cut the top image and remove the paper, exposing the next layer, etc., etc. You'll never create the same finished product twice. So you are automatically a custom artist. To learn more about creating your own patterns
check out this dvd.
PJ Class
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
