Report From the Road: Corning Museum of Glass

Maybe you've heard that Lesley Watt is here in the United States on a Great Bead Adventure. There are four phases to her adventure, and she is currently in Phase III. I have custody of her during this phase and we headed to the NY Finger Lakes region the morning after Bead Fest was over. 

Yesterday we headed to Corning Museum of Glass. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite museum ever. Including the Louvre (which is pretty freaking awesome). 

I'm going to share a few of the photos I took and maybe make a few comments about each one. Keep in mind the photos come nowhere close to doing these pieces justice. 

Innerland by Eric Hilton: This sculpture is based on the landscapes of Hilton's native Scotland. I couldn't get enough of this piece. I had to look at it from every possible angle. 

Lino Tagliapietra: Inspired by a nautilus shell. 

Jay Musler: A city skyline at sunset. 

William Morris: Petroglyphic Urn that is absolutely stunning. 

 Cargo Seed by Bertil Vallien: Inspired by Viking boat burials. these large boats address the theme of journey, memory and time. 

Mary Shaffer: I personally adore these pieces because it shows the properties of glass. When heated to molten, it can move, droop, sag, conform to a rigid object. My personal tools of the trade are heat and gravity. I am a tool minimalist. These hooks, which are found objects, have glass hanging from them like pieces of cloth. 

Damaged bone series by Michael Aschenbrenner: Having just broken my elbow a couple months ago,  and Lesley breaking her ankle late last year, we felt a strange affinity with these set bones. 

Grand Double Helix Diatreta by Seth Randal: We just liked this one. Lesley thinks I should make her a bead like this. It isn't happening anytime soon.  

Ancient Glass Formulas: If you can read this, you can find out the secret of ancient glass formulas. 

Glass from Ancient Egypt: Dragging spot heated glass lines to create a marbling effect is one of the first skills a new lampworker learns. And it's been used for thousands of years. Which is awesome. 

This next one is for our seed beading readers. This is crazypants amazing and made out of glass seed beads. 

Offhand wares: I thought this was interesting. The lily-pad pattern they refer to reminds me a bit of my Nightmare Insomnia ends. I included a photo of one of my beads after the vase for quick reference. 

Megaplanet by Josh Simpson: 100 pounds of AWESOME. I've seen his paperweights before, but never one of these giant orbs of amazing. Wow. 

Tiffany: Of course I had to show this amazing Tiffany window. So much of the detail is lost in this photo. See this in person! 

Ghost Walk under Infinite Darkness by Andrew K Erdos: This is one that has to be seen in person. 

While I took 100's of photos, I want to save some surprises for you to discover yourself. This trip has done more to rev up my creativity than anything else could. I almost wish I could be back in my studio today trying some new ideas. 

Have a great week! 

-Jen Cameron

Glass Addictions