Interview for Glass Week feature August 2010, Deviant Art

with Christian Arnold

 

 

Hello! Could you please introduce yourself? How old are you? Where are you from? When did you discover glassblowing and decide to create your own? Have you learned glassblowing professionally, taught yourself, had lessons? Is it a hobby or your professional career?

Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Chris Arnold and I'm what's known as a lampworker or flameworker. This means I manipulate molten glass at a torch to create my pieces. I'm 41, which means I've been making glass for 21 years full time. It's strange, for years I kept saying I've been doing it for 12 years, when suddenly I realised I've been getting older, but now I own that time ... it's a lot of experience. I've been around glass all my life, my first foray at the lamp (or torch) was when I was about 10 years old. My father was a scientific glassblower and took me on as his apprentice. He told me once that I was a much faster learner than he was, but after almost 3 years of scientific glass training I realised that I wasn't suited to it ... much to his chagrin. I have this creative streak (I simultaneously blame and thank my mother) that must have an out no matter what, even if that entailed many lunches and dinners of eating 2 minute noodles over the years. Once I was away from the fetters of scientific work, I was on my own. Not many lampworkers in Australia were doing the creative thing, and the internet was an infant with not much information to be had. I ended up back at University in '97 and got experience in other forms of working with glass, such as furnace, kiln and coldworking techniques and somehow I ended up with a fine arts master degree in 2002. During that time I continued to develop my lampworking techniques, exploring what it could do, assimilating the different ways of working with glass and pushing boundaries. Working at the furnace almost lead me away from flameworking, but I ended up back in the fold, because flameworking is so much more accessible, and you can do it in your garden shed or kitchen if you have to ... and I have done. Making glass for me is not really a hobby and it's not really a professional career for me, it's a way of life, it's incredibly seductive.

 

 

What types of glass work do you create and which do you prefer? Vases and vessels? Artistic pieces? Different materials, colors, processes? Do you work from patterns or create your own? Where do you get inspiration?

Oh, that's a good question, I love all aspects of what I do. I do some production work to keep me afloat, it's not really so interesting, but it pays the bills. Then I also get commissions for work. Often the clients have a very set image in their minds of what they want and I really enjoy the challenge of trying to see through other people's eyes, but I really love it when a client says:"You're the artist, here's a rough idea, I trust in your judgement, go for it!". Most of all, of course, I love doing my own stuff. Inspiration I get from anywhere/everywhere and it might be a very small thing that first sets it off, some concept, a technique, something I see, an experience. I follow a lead, go into a frenzy of research, I look at a lot of images, read a lot, refine things down, expand on them and eventually I'm full to the brim with information and ideas and explode into a body of work, have an exhibition and afterwards fall into a heap. During this process, I consciously don't look at contemporary glass work, because I know that everything I see will have some effect on me and the way my work manifests. My Tattoo series for example originated from a little old pocket book, depicting fin de siècle (19th/20th) flash art and travel tales, which I found buried in the back of a thrift store.

 

 

How dangerous is it to work with molten glass? Did you get seriously injured before? How common are injuries? What should glassblowers keep in mind when working with molten glass? How do you best prevent injuries?

Working with glass can be very dangerous for someone inexperienced and the first lesson should be about safety, sounds boring but it's essential, you don't want to end up blowing ourself up. Glass burns and bites, there are sharp edges to watch out for and the torch gets up to about 2200C ... I still sometimes burn myself or cut myself, but not very often and not badly. You learn quickly, because it hurts when you screw up. I've had 3 quite bad injuries, a 3rd degree burn, I've severed the tendon in my thumb completely from a cut (thanks to micro surgery my thumb is as good as it ever was) and I've slashed my scalp open 5 inches. A momentary lapse of attention is usually the cause, but obviously not everyone gets injured badly like that, I just wasn't paying attention. Even minor cuts and burns become less common with experience. The best way to prevent such things from happening is to be well rested, pay attention and practice good safety in your environment. One of my favourite questions is:"What happens when you suck instead of blow?" ... the answer is disappointing for those looking for a macabre tale, the glass cools too quickly to ever run into the danger of ending up with a molten gobbet in your mouth ... inhaling through a hot open tube however is a different story ... never do that!

 

 

When you create a glass item, how do you go about it? Do you use molds or do you free-blow? If you use molds, do you use one-piece or multi-piece molds? Do you create the molds yourself? Do you dip or coat the glass to create patterns or color effects? Do you have special techniques or tricks?

Creating glass starts like anything else, an idea. Once I've refined the idea down enough to my liking I bring some glass to it. I've dropped the practice of sketching and drawing on paper, which was so important back at Uni, because I'm finally at a stage where I can translate ideas in my head directly into glass, although after saying that, sketching is still important to communication during collaborations. I'm a very visual person and I've also been told I'm very literal in my approach and in a way that's true. When an idea forms in my head, I generally start looking at images. I stay away from looking at anything made from glass when I'm researching, because I know it will find its way into my work subconsciously even when I'm consciously working against that and I'd rather not start making someone else's work. So, I spend hours just browsing images, text, following leads, until I've refined it down to something very specific. I look at it from as many angles as I can and it gets to the point when I'm so full with this particular "thing" that it has to come out.

My general practice doesn't involve making or blowing into molds, but I have that option when I want it. My schooling gave me a good understanding and practical experience of mold making for glass, but I find that to blow and shape without molds allows for more freedom.

My colour comes in rod form, about 5mm to 7mm is standard diameter. These colour rods are then applied to the inside or outside of clear tubing or around clear rod and melted in at the torch. Colour is expensive and getting it shipped to Australia makes it even more expensive, so there are ways of applying it to clear which will look like the whole piece is solid or transparent colour.

Glass is one of those mediums which is intensively technique based and there are a lot of techniques out there to play with and build on; the manufacture of glass by humans is after all over 5000 years old. It's an interesting notion to be standing on the shoulders of so many generations who went before. Sometimes I've spent a lot of time developing a technique only to find out it's already been done, but on occasion I develop something quite unique rather than just divergent. Mastering technique is the needle and imagination is the thread, if there's an absence of either one of those it's impossible to make stitches.

 

Where do you work and where do you get your materials? Do you have a workshop at home or in an artist collaboration or a community center? What tools are available for you? Do you buy your own materials? Are there shops you can recommend? Special materials that you prefer over others?

I have a studio with my partner and life mate, Laurie. She is also a glass artist and specialises in casting, fusing and other kiln techniques. I'm also teaching her flameworking. We're in the basement of an old Victorian building from the 1870s called the Old Melbourne Meat Market, there are arts administration offices upstairs and a great main hall used for perfomance based disciplines. I'm currently rebuilding our website and I'll have some images of our studio up soon at www.flameworker.com. There are also two other visual art studios comprising of a woodworker's association and printmakers. Our studio is fantastic, it's quite large and it's able to house 5 kilns, all our cutting and grinding machines, sandblasting equipment, a gallery space as well as our flameworking benches, not to mention a small kitchen and lounge area. On a very basic level, the only tool essential for lampworking is a hot flame, but other tools really help make the process faster and easier. There are a variety of shears, tweezers, paddles, jacks, as well as graphite tools, such as molds and shapers at our disposal. My most commonly used tools, however, come from the glass material itself and are created as part of the process.

The raw material glass comes in tubular and solid rod form in various shapes, sizes and thicknesses. I use a German made laboratory type glass as my basis for everything I make. The glass itself is called borosilicate, after the flux which is used in its composition and most people are familiar with the american made commercial glass named Pyrex. My colours I import from the States and my favourite colour maker is Momka Peeva (http://www.momkasglass.com/). Momka is in her 70s, has been a glass chemist all her life and she's obsessed with producing absolutely magnificent colours. There are other American colour manufacturers such as Northstar (http://www.northstarglass.com/) and Glass Alchemy (http://glassalchemy.com/), which produce several beautiful specialty glasses which I also use to extend my pallette. The other option is colour from China, and while I have used Chinese glass, I'm not particularly fond of it due to issues in quality and compatbility. I've also made my own colours using the came oxides which ceramic artists use to colour their glazes, but it is time consuming to do and I'd rather spend my time making work.

 

 

 

Do you have any tips for beginners? How to start? Any books or resources you can recommend? What materials do you think a beginner will need? What challenges to look out for, any great tips you have learned through your experience? Important things to keep in mind? Where to take lessons?

To someone intending to start out in flameworking I'd probably say:"Be careful, you will love it, you will get obsessed, you will dream about it, be prepared for that!". I don't know anyone who, once started, has ever not loved doing it. It's one of those things that's with you all your life, it's a job, it's a passion, it's a hobby, it's a love affair ... after 21 years I'm still in love with glass! If you're serious about starting out in flameworking/lampworking then there are several companies offering a beginner's kit (google lampworking kit). Doing a beginner's class is a good way to start and beadmaking is often a very unintimidating way to get a good introduction into working with glass without having to invest in equipment straight off the bat (but be careful, you will love it and you will want to get your own equipment ... did I already mention that?). If you google for a lampworker in your area, I'm sure you'll find that there are classes offered not far from you. Starting out is not extremely expensive, about US$500 will buy you a small torch (I recommend GTT torches(www.glasstorchtech.com)), special eye protective didymium glasses, some tools and glass. You will also need to find a source for LPG and Oxygen.

Those starting out now are lucky, there are so many resources available to budding flameworkers. Back when I was starting out in glass, there was precious little around compared to now. Bandhu Scott Dunham's books on Contemporary Lampworking (http://www.salusaglassworks.com/books/book_contemporary_lampworking.html) are excellent and very informative and will spell out many of the basics as well as some more advanced techniques. It's quite comprehensive and deals with health and safety issues, suppliers, some chemistry and physics of glass etc etc etc. There are several forums (http://www.lampworketc.com and http://www.talkglass.com/forum/index.php to name just two) catering to lampworkers in particular and they're a great source of information and some are downright entertaining to watch. There has been an increase of youtube videos showing how to make glass at the lamp as well, which can be very informative, but beware of hacks showing you bad techniques (on youtube as well as the forums) ... nothing replaces the teachings of a competent master glassblower. And remember, you will need patience and practice, perseverence and dedication if you want to pursue glass in a serious way. It helps to be disciplined enough to master one technique before moving on to the next, this will build up a rock solid foundation for you, it's time well spent and you will never regret having gone about it this way.

 

Which glass work are you most proud of and why? Select a deviation from your gallery and explain why this one is really close to your heart. Were there any big challenges? Does it have a special meaning for you? Did you learn a lot in the process? Did you have a special experience while making it? Was it made for a special purpose?

I think "proud" is probably the wrong word. Usually if I make something which is labour intensive, mind intensive and time intensive and it comes out well, I feel a sense of achievement ... I suffer from that affliction which many artists suffer from ... I see the flaws in my work. Speaking of labour intensive, both my partner and I are keen scuba divers (I'm sure you can tell from the amount of aquatic based work) and when we collaborate it's usually something based on sealife. "Ode to the Sun King" was one of those, Laurie made the bottom part with the shells and urchins on it; collaborations like that are always great, like a mini relationship within a bigger relationship, there's argument, compromise, agreement and the joy of creating something together. I had to approach my part in stages. I made the center first and once done I had to hide it away. It scared the living daylights out of me ... how to proceed from there? It took me a couple of months to go back to it. Just think, the whole sculpture is just over 80cm tall and there are a few kilos of glass there. I don't work with jigs, braces or yokes, so when I was working on it, I was holding and supporting the whole thing in either one hand and sometimes both, something as complex as this, you can't just put down, either. I also wrapped myself in towels and worked inside our large kiln, adding bits with a hand torch, hoping I wouldn't catch on fire. Added to all that is the stress of knowing that at any stage in the glass making process you can screw up and completely destroy the piece you're working on. That was a big job and I got a lot of satisfaction (as well as pain in muscles I didn't even know existed) out of it. Glass is a great teacher if you push your boundaries and comfort zones with it, the greatest return you can get out of a piece like that is the greater confidence with which you emerge after making it. It's really something to build on for the next piece. The companion piece to this one is called "Venus Rising" and was made afterwards. Although it's more complex in different ways, after having gone through making "Ode to the Sun King" it didn't scare me at all. Both those pieces were made for entry into the 2007 Ranamok Prize for Contemporary Glass (www.ranamok.com), which is open to Australian and New Zealand glass artists, and they were both accepted into the finalist short list.

 

Thank you for your questions, I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this interview!