1 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:07,507 Lakeland PBS presents Common Ground, brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund 2 00:00:07,507 --> 00:00:13,747 and the citizens of Minnesota. Production funding of Common Ground is made possible, in part, by First 3 00:00:13,747 --> 00:00:29,696 National Bank Bemidji, continuing their 2nd century of service to the community. Member FDIC. 4 00:00:43,376 --> 00:00:43,710 instrumental music.... 5 00:00:49,549 --> 00:00:54,888 Welcome to Common Ground. I'm Producer/Director Scott Knudson. In this episode, Steven Weagel, 6 00:00:54,888 --> 00:00:59,826 of the Pequot Lakes area, displays his artwork at the Crossing Arts Alliance in Brainerd, Minnesota, 7 00:00:59,826 --> 00:01:11,738 and demonstrates his glass blowing at Vandalia Glassworks in South St. Paul. 8 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:19,512 Hello, my name is steven Weagel. I'm from Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, 9 00:01:19,512 --> 00:01:24,451 and I'm a glass and metal artist. We're here at the Crossing Arts Alliance 10 00:01:24,451 --> 00:01:39,766 in Brainerd, Minnesota at an exhibition called "Light, Color, and Minnesota Landscape. 11 00:01:45,972 --> 00:01:52,145 I've created the shades down at Vandalia Glassworks in South St. Paul, and I've done 12 00:01:52,145 --> 00:02:07,794 all of my metal work. I'll start this at my studio outside of Pequot Lakes. 13 00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:38,758 Before I start adding color to a piece, I want to create a form. Harvey Littleton wrote a book 14 00:02:38,758 --> 00:02:48,501 way back and the name of his book was "A Search for Form" and for most of us glassblowers , as we 15 00:02:48,501 --> 00:02:53,573 learn to create glass and we learn to control the glass and we learn to create new shapes, 16 00:02:56,676 --> 00:03:06,186 then, the main concern for me is that it's got a good form, and form, it's called "form sense" by 17 00:03:06,186 --> 00:03:10,757 other artists, and form sense only comes from a lot of trial and error and a lot of work. 18 00:03:13,927 --> 00:03:20,466 My first thought is, "what form do I want,", "is this going to be a good form," and "how do I get there." 19 00:03:25,205 --> 00:03:33,513 Once I have the forms worked out in my head and in the glass, then I can begin to add color 20 00:03:33,513 --> 00:03:39,786 to it and let the color enhance the form. I'm going to reheat it. For most of us, 21 00:03:39,786 --> 00:03:48,595 as glass blowers, we're always in a search for form. Of course, that's endless, that's infinite, the 22 00:03:48,595 --> 00:03:58,204 old medieval guild symbol for glass workers was a female symbol with infinity on top of it. That 23 00:03:58,204 --> 00:04:13,920 is what glass is, glass is infinite . Let's go to Vandalia Glassworks in South St. Paul, Minnesota. 24 00:04:23,196 --> 00:04:29,435 This is a unique situation. This is one of the finest studios in the country. Essentially, 25 00:04:31,938 --> 00:04:36,476 I will be going here, opening this door, and gathering. 26 00:04:41,114 --> 00:04:46,853 Then I will come out of there, and generally, I will go to the bench, 27 00:04:52,292 --> 00:04:56,796 and I will use this tool called a block, okay, and then I will be here. 28 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:08,474 I will be in and out of here constantly, and then back to the bench. So, that's where I get, there's 29 00:05:08,474 --> 00:05:12,712 about 300 pounds of molten glass in there, that's the melter, or the furnace. Back in the old days, 30 00:05:15,481 --> 00:05:21,621 we did everything with gas, and it was a kind of a standing joke that an "electric furnace", because 31 00:05:24,257 --> 00:05:30,830 it's cost prohibitive. Well , now the price of propane and natural gas has gone up to 32 00:05:30,830 --> 00:05:36,669 the point that electricity is a viable solution, and the nice thing about electricity is, you can 33 00:05:39,339 --> 00:05:46,446 seal that tight. With propane or gas, you've got to relieve the pressure. With electric, 34 00:05:46,446 --> 00:05:52,185 you can have it shut tight and hold all the heat in there. This is relatively new in 35 00:05:52,185 --> 00:05:59,392 the last 10-15 years. When I started blowing glass in 1968-1969, we had to build everything, 36 00:06:01,594 --> 00:06:06,933 and now there's a whole industry that build these commercial units. 37 00:06:06,933 --> 00:06:13,740 This is totally state of the art. Craig, over here, has been blowing glass for 40 years also, 38 00:06:13,740 --> 00:06:16,642 and we both feel the same way, we walk in here and it's like we're kids in heaven. 39 00:06:21,314 --> 00:06:26,819 There's a lab here. "Hardest working glassblower in Minnesota right here, this guy right here. Okay. 40 00:06:33,693 --> 00:06:40,400 So, take a smaller gather, you can just see the glass; actually, it reflects like water so 41 00:06:42,802 --> 00:06:48,741 as I approach the glass with my blowpipe, I'm looking for the reflection, and as soon as I 42 00:06:48,741 --> 00:06:54,547 see the my blowpipe in the reflection, I know I'm close, because I don't want to have it too 43 00:06:54,547 --> 00:06:58,484 deep. I don't want to have glass way down on the blowpipe. We'll let that chill just a little bit. 44 00:07:01,187 --> 00:07:05,458 i don't like too much glass up on the pipe, it's a waste of glass, and it causes other problems, so 45 00:07:07,827 --> 00:07:10,630 I take two small gathers to start, instead of trying to do it all in one gather. 46 00:07:15,935 --> 00:07:20,773 I just set that up so there's enough glass on there to have a foundation for a shade. 47 00:07:23,109 --> 00:07:24,777 This time I'm going to start with white, 48 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:32,952 because I want a base behind the color, and because it's going to be lit from the inside. 49 00:07:36,956 --> 00:07:45,798 I want it to be somewhat opaque, I want the light to diffuse when I turn it on, and so what happens 50 00:07:45,798 --> 00:07:51,037 is, I get dichroic glass. I get glass that's one color when the light is reflected off of it, 51 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:58,144 and when the light is turned on, it's now transmitting light and it changes color. 52 00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:05,518 I'm going to put another layer of white 53 00:08:11,290 --> 00:08:19,432 and then I'm going to get that melted back in. Now, I'm just building up the color, so you can 54 00:08:19,432 --> 00:08:23,736 see it's kind of lumpy, I want that to get nice and smooth and I will build up layer upon layer. 55 00:08:26,839 --> 00:08:29,675 Okay, I'm coming out, and I'm going to begin to build up 56 00:08:31,844 --> 00:08:35,147 the blue, so that's called aquamarine, and this blue is fairly opaque. 57 00:08:38,918 --> 00:08:43,222 I'm going to stick with a fairly light blue, and then I'm going to put dark blue designs into it. 58 00:08:47,827 --> 00:08:54,901 Okay, you're good. Now I'm going to do one layer of a deep cobalt blue, and you can see this 59 00:08:54,901 --> 00:09:00,206 is really fine. Now you can see how much that changed. Now, what I'm going to do 60 00:09:03,042 --> 00:09:08,214 is heat in again, and I'm going to go back to that lighter blue, and that will give me variations, 61 00:09:10,917 --> 00:09:14,820 with the dark blue peeking out from behind the lighter blue. The aquamarine, this color is. 62 00:09:18,157 --> 00:09:22,061 This doesn't take as long to fuse in, because it's so fine. 63 00:09:22,061 --> 00:09:25,331 Okay, we'll do now, we'll go back one more in the aquamarine. 64 00:09:35,975 --> 00:09:39,211 i'm just going to block this, just to get it off the pipe a little bit. 65 00:09:46,953 --> 00:09:50,990 Now what I'm going to do is, I'm going to get it into that optic mold. Nice and hot, 66 00:09:53,459 --> 00:09:53,693 okay, 67 00:09:58,297 --> 00:10:05,204 see the ridges? I'm going to give this a quick heat and I'm going to go over there to the color, see 68 00:10:05,204 --> 00:10:13,212 how I'm twisting that, now look at the color, how it's gone into those low spots. I'm gonna do that 69 00:10:13,212 --> 00:10:18,284 one more time, I'm just gonna heat this enough to fuse it, and I'm gonna pick up just a little more. 70 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:26,092 Now, I'm going to get it really hot again and then I'm going back to that optic mold. 71 00:10:32,465 --> 00:10:36,302 Now, as I go in here, I'm going to have lines go across the lines that are there. 72 00:10:39,839 --> 00:10:47,913 Quick reheat, and then I'm going back to that fine powder again, only this time I'm going 73 00:10:47,913 --> 00:10:56,222 to turn it in the opposite direction, so I will twist it across the lines that were there. I've 74 00:10:56,222 --> 00:11:03,229 got the color set up, we'll fuse everything, I'll get it really really hot, I'll block it, and I'll 75 00:11:03,229 --> 00:11:10,870 blow a bubble into it. So, occasionally, I'll just come out ..and like now, can you see the pattern that 76 00:11:10,870 --> 00:11:16,142 formed in there? It's very subtle right now, but as I blow it out, it will become much more apparent. 77 00:11:22,081 --> 00:11:28,354 I've got to get this really hot so I've got to be a little patient here. 78 00:11:32,425 --> 00:11:33,192 I take my block again. 79 00:11:43,903 --> 00:11:46,172 I'm gonna go reheat once more, it's not doing quite what I would like it to. 80 00:11:49,341 --> 00:11:49,875 Okay, that's better, 81 00:11:53,512 --> 00:11:56,382 now I'll block it again, 82 00:11:59,118 --> 00:11:59,885 okay, then I'm gonna blow. 83 00:12:09,628 --> 00:12:10,396 I've gotta add a little heat. 84 00:12:18,404 --> 00:12:24,410 All right, we'll let that settle back a little bit. 85 00:12:37,089 --> 00:12:41,260 All right, it just started to blow, I stop immediately, and I will block that. 86 00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:51,103 Now we're starting to get some really nice interesting things happening with that color. 87 00:12:53,806 --> 00:12:57,409 I don't want to blow that out too much, so I just barely puffed that one. 88 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:07,953 Okay, we've got the bubble set up, I've got the white peeking through, I've got the light 89 00:13:07,953 --> 00:13:14,059 blue peeking through, and the dark blue is on the outside. I'm going to let this 90 00:13:14,059 --> 00:13:21,600 cool. Now, these tools we use are made out of fruitwood; in this case, these happen to be 91 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:27,506 applewood that I've saved. Cherrywood works, and the reason we use fruitwood is it's really hard 92 00:13:27,506 --> 00:13:33,312 on an end cut, and it doesn't have any resins that mark the glass, but most importantly, we use 93 00:13:35,981 --> 00:13:38,951 we use cherrywood or applewood, the fruitwoods, because they don't rot in water. 94 00:13:41,353 --> 00:13:46,325 So, most of these tools have been in water for 3 - 4 95 00:13:46,325 --> 00:13:51,530 years before I ever carved the wood. I store the wood in big tubs, and as I need it, I take it out 96 00:13:54,767 --> 00:14:00,139 and carve it, form it, whatever it is I need to make. Most people think it's because 97 00:14:00,139 --> 00:14:05,144 it doesn't mark, but one of the main reasons is - it'll last forever in water. It'll last 98 00:14:05,144 --> 00:14:16,522 longer in water than drought, than being out in the air. Okay, we're ready for a big gathering 99 00:14:29,101 --> 00:14:30,536 You can make a nice big shade with that amount. 100 00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:45,985 Could have taken a little less, but I can make this work. 101 00:14:50,823 --> 00:14:56,695 You can see how easily that could have gotten away from me. Once it laps up on that block like that, 102 00:14:56,695 --> 00:15:04,470 if a person isn't paying attention, it can lap up onto an arm or a hand, but that's not going 103 00:15:04,470 --> 00:15:08,908 to happen, we've got it under control. I'm going to put a neckline in it while it's still good and hot. 104 00:15:11,010 --> 00:15:14,146 There are other ways to do this, but I'm kind of "old school" 105 00:15:17,349 --> 00:15:21,487 and this is the way I like to work the glass. Some people use wet paper to do this part. 106 00:15:26,625 --> 00:15:31,263 All right, I've got that nice and centered, I'll block it one more time. I'm going to go reheat 107 00:15:34,733 --> 00:15:39,104 and then I'm going to neck it again and probably reheat one 108 00:15:39,104 --> 00:15:40,606 more time. Then, I'm going back over to there, over there to those optic molds. 109 00:16:08,367 --> 00:16:22,648 I still need to keep that bottom, heavy. 110 00:16:27,453 --> 00:16:30,089 Okay, back to reheat. Now, we'll start forming 111 00:16:33,826 --> 00:16:36,662 the shape, 112 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,676 make sure I've got a good neckline, 113 00:16:53,145 --> 00:16:55,214 till the bottom, blow it out, 114 00:17:01,754 --> 00:17:04,690 till the bottom, 115 00:17:06,258 --> 00:17:06,492 blow it out, 116 00:17:09,461 --> 00:17:09,461 and again, 117 00:17:14,466 --> 00:17:18,704 I have to make certain I keep that bottom tilled or it'll get paper thin. 118 00:17:32,484 --> 00:17:33,318 Okay, I'm going to reheat again. 119 00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:46,732 Okay. 120 00:18:20,532 --> 00:18:21,600 All right, that's as tall as I want it. 121 00:18:24,636 --> 00:18:28,774 I'll till this line again and I'm going to remove it from the blowpipe, I'll hang it up, 122 00:19:13,886 --> 00:19:24,830 a little water, 123 00:19:31,803 --> 00:19:39,745 and let's go reheat. Now I'm going to get the top third of that really hot, and I'm going 124 00:19:39,745 --> 00:19:49,688 to blow it out. I'm going to expand it with a steam stick. I will get it hot as far back as I want it 125 00:19:49,688 --> 00:19:57,529 to blow out and I'll use my steam stick in it to create pressure so I can blow it without blowing, 126 00:19:57,529 --> 00:20:08,307 and the reason I want to do that is I want to expand that, it's going to be the lip end, okay. 127 00:20:08,307 --> 00:20:12,444 So, now here's my steam stick and 128 00:20:15,948 --> 00:20:20,886 see it blow up, 129 00:20:22,921 --> 00:20:25,924 so that expanded that. I need to start that out a little, 130 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:34,900 so now I've got a nice swell to it. Now we'll begin to open it 131 00:20:41,373 --> 00:20:42,641 and I like to use a wooden stick if I can, 132 00:20:47,846 --> 00:20:55,621 because it doesn't show glass so much. Okay, we've got a flare, here we go now, this is going to get 133 00:20:55,621 --> 00:21:02,928 real sudden. So, I'm going to go back, I'm going to reheat, I'm going to spin it and I'm going to (not understandable word). 134 00:21:22,514 --> 00:21:30,956 One quick flash, 135 00:21:37,796 --> 00:21:39,031 and I'm going over to crack off now. You ready? 136 00:21:43,869 --> 00:21:45,737 Now I will 137 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:49,441 smooth that out, 138 00:21:52,644 --> 00:21:58,984 put a little extra heat down here, 139 00:22:00,752 --> 00:22:01,586 and we'll go into the annealing oven. 140 00:22:09,561 --> 00:22:12,998 That went in nice. 141 00:22:17,302 --> 00:22:23,275 Harvey Littleton was a ceramics instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and they 142 00:22:23,275 --> 00:22:30,315 wanted to see if they could come up with a way for one or two people to work with hot glass and to 143 00:22:30,315 --> 00:22:34,886 create art with it, and to take it out of the realm of utilitarian, and get it into the realm of art. 144 00:22:38,123 --> 00:22:47,733 I believe, about 1965, may have been earlier, the first class was offered at Madison, Wisconsin. It was 145 00:22:47,733 --> 00:22:54,339 in the Masters of Fine Arts Program. The furnace that they came up with to melt glass was called 146 00:22:54,339 --> 00:23:00,612 a Day Tank. Those of us that started early used that design of furnace for years and years and 147 00:23:00,612 --> 00:23:06,485 then in the factories, in order to cool the glass and take all of the stress out of it they had a 148 00:23:06,485 --> 00:23:12,758 unit called a Lehr. Essentially, it was a metal conveyor belt moving through a heat zone, 149 00:23:15,627 --> 00:23:21,266 and it would go from approximately a thousand degrees fahrenheit, and by the time it reached the 150 00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:27,973 end it would be down to room temperature. Of course, that wouldn't work in a small studio, so they came 151 00:23:27,973 --> 00:23:37,048 up with an Annealing oven. Hot glass, once it's melted and formed, must be cooled, slowly, but 152 00:23:37,048 --> 00:23:41,686 before it can be slowly cooled, it must be to held at a temperature that's 50 degrees below slumping. 153 00:23:44,756 --> 00:23:51,830 Most glass slumps at around 1050 degrees, but it varies, and there are ways to find out that 154 00:23:51,830 --> 00:23:57,602 slumping temperature, but what that Annealing point does, if you hold it at that temperature 155 00:23:57,602 --> 00:24:01,573 for up to an hour for thinner pieces, weeks for other pieces - heavy pieces, 156 00:24:03,775 --> 00:24:06,611 then it relieves all the strains that are going on inside of that glass, 157 00:24:09,381 --> 00:24:19,124 and it allows it then to be cooled slowly and be stress-free so that it doesn't just explode. 158 00:24:24,996 --> 00:24:31,670 Here is one of my finished pieces, you'll notice the metal has all been darkened 159 00:24:31,670 --> 00:24:35,474 with heat, the shade is attached, and it's ready to be in somebody's home. 160 00:24:43,014 --> 00:24:49,187 We are at the Crossing Arts Alliance Gallery and Shop in Brainerd, Minnesota, at 711 161 00:24:49,187 --> 00:24:54,392 Laurel Street. As an artist, I've been making art for a very long time. 162 00:24:54,392 --> 00:25:00,966 I do art fairs and festivals, and I sell my work there, but to have a show set up 163 00:25:00,966 --> 00:25:07,806 in a gallery where people can come and visit and talk with me and find out about my art, 164 00:25:07,806 --> 00:25:13,111 where my art comes from, where I came from, where my thought process is, understanding the inspiration 165 00:25:16,348 --> 00:25:24,589 that drives me; well , without Crossing Arts Alliance in Brainerd, we would have no resource, really, 166 00:25:24,589 --> 00:25:29,594 to exhibit our work. One of the things that the Crossing Arts Alliance does, that Lisa Jordan 167 00:25:29,594 --> 00:25:36,167 is so good at, is getting us out in the public eye. The gallery situation in Brainerd, and 168 00:25:36,167 --> 00:25:40,906 the artists, didn't used to be as visible as they are now. Lisa Jordan has really done a great job 169 00:25:43,275 --> 00:25:46,778 of bringing this art, our art, all of the artist's art, out to the community. 170 00:25:58,023 --> 00:26:03,228 Thank you so much for watching. Join us again on Common Ground. If you have an idea for Common 171 00:26:03,228 --> 00:26:11,236 Ground in north central Minnesota, email us at legacy@lptv.org or call 218-333-3014. 172 00:26:14,372 --> 00:26:25,250 To watch Common Ground online, visit lptv.org and click Local Shows. 173 00:26:34,292 --> 00:26:35,927 To order episodes or segments of Common Ground, call 174 00:26:39,397 --> 00:26:39,297 218-333-3020. 175 00:26:43,802 --> 00:26:48,206 Production funding of Common Ground was made possible, in part, by First National Bank Bemidji, 176 00:26:48,206 --> 00:26:51,843 continuing their 2nd century of service to the community. Member FDIC. 177 00:26:51,843 --> 00:26:58,984 Common Ground is brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund 178 00:26:58,984 --> 00:27:01,086 with money by the vote of the people. November 4th, 2008. 179 00:27:06,958 --> 00:27:14,933 If you watch Common Ground online, consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org.