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Kerry showing Jo Felstead - Hill
one of her individual glass pieces,
with a texture not unlike the salt crusted
shapes that inspired her as a
little girl in the Malllee.
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For our first meeting for the year we were treated to an inspiring and enthusiastic talk by glass artist Kerry Strauss. Kerry came to art late in life and completed a fine arts degree at RMIT in 2003. " I wanted to have something in my life that would inspire and challenge me " She said " and more importantly where ones age is an advantage rather than be a handicap. I can remember going to one of the art shows at the Exhibition building and there was an older woman in a vivid red pantsuit waltzing around kissing the air and going darling darling darling and all the other artists and gallery owners going darling darling darling in return. I have always been inspired by women artists who arranged their lives to practice art, than what was normal for their time such as Vanessa Bell in the early 1900’s and Vali Myers in the 1950’s onwards".
"The first day at RMIT we were given a talk from the head of the department, and he told us "that from now on we were artists first and any job that we took to support us was secondary".
I took the part time course which was every Saturday and an intensive summer school each year. Of the many students that started only one or two remained at the end, one had to be very motivated to finish as we were mostly on our own except for the people left in the other years. I remember spending a lot of time at the Stork Hotel opposite the Vic Market.
For me the best part about being an artist is having an idea for a piece of work, finding the materials, maybe learning a new skill, then the trial and error of the making of it. The finished piece is the reward, but it’s the process that is the most fun and interesting. I find that I never get bored as I am always thinking of how to make a piece of work.
With glass there are multitudes of techniques and different types of glass to work with.
I have a sculpture practice and I make bowls and platters and mobiles to sell and I play with different techniques all the time.
Kerry gave us a run down on other glass techniques such as Casting, Pate de verre, kiln forming
"I have used crushed glass leftover from my bowls and wine bottles to make sculpture incorporating wire as well. I scored a couple of buckets of tram stop smashed glass and love this material
I don’t consider myself a craftsperson, which is how glass working is taught in institutions. My practice centres around the exploration of the medium, and an exploration of transformation. My favourite sculptures are both fragile and ephemeral. For me they capture the transition between liquid to solid and back again.
Where I grew up in the Mallee there was a small salt lake that filled and emptied due to rain and atmospheric pressure. So the combination of the salt encrusting the vegetation and detritus on the foreshore, then drying in the heat and wind of the barren landscape turned everything into white skeletal fantastical shapes over time.
I use recycled glass and wire. You cannot mix different coloured found glass together, as they would crack when combined. This makes every piece unique, and means when you make a lovely piece you cannot replicate it exactly.
I take found glass objects formed for a specific purpose such as a plate or sugar bowl, place them over a wire frame suspended in the kiln, and heat them to 800°C, Once the glass starts flowing I stop the process by opening the kiln door and cooling the temperature. Then I close the kiln and let it to cool slowly overnight.
As I use recycled glass I have no idea at what temperature it will start moving and slowing and needs to be annealed at,
After art school, we did the usual private practice elective which wasn’t that helpful. This is why I am involved in running the artist run space at the Napier Hotel and the Yarra Sculpture Gallery. This is where I have constant contact with other artists, where we support each other and see different artistic practices. Also you have to learn new skills when running an ARS and as you are always on a budget you have to do it yourself. Learning to make a website, curating a show, marketing (yuck)
Kerry can be contacted by email at : kerrystrauss@hotmail.com or by phone 0417 035 197
Article and picture submitted by Gordon Robertson
"The first day at RMIT we were given a talk from the head of the department, and he told us "that from now on we were artists first and any job that we took to support us was secondary".
I took the part time course which was every Saturday and an intensive summer school each year. Of the many students that started only one or two remained at the end, one had to be very motivated to finish as we were mostly on our own except for the people left in the other years. I remember spending a lot of time at the Stork Hotel opposite the Vic Market.
For me the best part about being an artist is having an idea for a piece of work, finding the materials, maybe learning a new skill, then the trial and error of the making of it. The finished piece is the reward, but it’s the process that is the most fun and interesting. I find that I never get bored as I am always thinking of how to make a piece of work.
With glass there are multitudes of techniques and different types of glass to work with.
I have a sculpture practice and I make bowls and platters and mobiles to sell and I play with different techniques all the time.
I make my bowls and platters from window glass, with pottery onglazes fused between two sheets of glass, and then slumped into a bowl. Kiln formed glass can be draped over a mould or slumped into one. I make mobiles by cutting up wine bottles, and fired in the kiln to soften the edges and strengthen the glass."
Kerry gave us a run down on other glass techniques such as Casting, Pate de verre, kiln forming
"I have used crushed glass leftover from my bowls and wine bottles to make sculpture incorporating wire as well. I scored a couple of buckets of tram stop smashed glass and love this material
I don’t consider myself a craftsperson, which is how glass working is taught in institutions. My practice centres around the exploration of the medium, and an exploration of transformation. My favourite sculptures are both fragile and ephemeral. For me they capture the transition between liquid to solid and back again.
Where I grew up in the Mallee there was a small salt lake that filled and emptied due to rain and atmospheric pressure. So the combination of the salt encrusting the vegetation and detritus on the foreshore, then drying in the heat and wind of the barren landscape turned everything into white skeletal fantastical shapes over time.
I use recycled glass and wire. You cannot mix different coloured found glass together, as they would crack when combined. This makes every piece unique, and means when you make a lovely piece you cannot replicate it exactly.
I take found glass objects formed for a specific purpose such as a plate or sugar bowl, place them over a wire frame suspended in the kiln, and heat them to 800°C, Once the glass starts flowing I stop the process by opening the kiln door and cooling the temperature. Then I close the kiln and let it to cool slowly overnight.
As I use recycled glass I have no idea at what temperature it will start moving and slowing and needs to be annealed at,
After art school, we did the usual private practice elective which wasn’t that helpful. This is why I am involved in running the artist run space at the Napier Hotel and the Yarra Sculpture Gallery. This is where I have constant contact with other artists, where we support each other and see different artistic practices. Also you have to learn new skills when running an ARS and as you are always on a budget you have to do it yourself. Learning to make a website, curating a show, marketing (yuck)
Kerry can be contacted by email at : kerrystrauss@hotmail.com or by phone 0417 035 197
Article and picture submitted by Gordon Robertson
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