"Birds Nest Series" Hand Blown Glass Sculpture. 7" Diameter x 19" H.
Ian M. Schmidt - Ohio Native
"Bird's Nest" Series
This series is an extension of my love of architecture and takes influence from the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium Designed by Herzog and Demurion in collaboration with Ai Wei Wei. The stadium was built to look like a bird's nest with large gaps in-between an exterior structure that presents a building that looks like a bird's nest. I have always found influence from the built world for my vessels and the vessel is inherently architectural. This is the first time I am placing these works in a gallery for purchase, and they mark the culmination of 10 years of glass experience and 1 year of development.
These pieces are made with a specially designed cane technique that allows a large design to be picked up on a collar. How the pieces are made is similar to how a bird's nest is constructed. Small canes are cut and gathered onto the plate then arranged randomly to create the pattern. These pieces in total take 3 days to make: first the design is picked up into what I refer to as a seed, these are tubes that have the bird's nest design with just the cane and no glass gathered over it. Next, I place the seed into an oven where it comes up to a temperature of 1100 degrees Fahrenheit. Then making what is known as a collar (a layer of glass like a donut around the open head of the blow pipe) I pick the seed up and make the final form. Finally, the last day is cold working the bottom of form so that it sits flat and then signing the base. These are some of the most exciting new forms I have been working on and speak to my lifelong love of craft and my experience as a second-generation glass artist.
Education
2015-2017 Candidate for M.F.A. Glass and Ceramic Studies; Temple University, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA 2010 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Glass and Glass Sculpture; Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craftsmen, Rochester, NY Experience
2008-2014 Corning Museum of Glass; Corning, NY 2013-2013 College for Creative Studies; Detroit, MI Assistantships
Poleturners - 2014 Pilchuck Glass School Michael Rogers Robin Cass Alexander Rosenberg Jeff Mack and Laura Donafer John Hogan and Karen Donnellan
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