Bild-Werk II

I may have mentioned that for a while I've been struggling with a persistent creative block. I am used to have these blocks from time to time and also used to come out of them eventually. This one, however was starting to annoy me.

Fortunately I was invited to teach at Bild-Werk which was the perfect cure.

This is how my desk looked after the first week:

It's the perfect setting, these are just some of the points that I think why Bild-Werk works for me:

a) The place is inhabited by dozens of artists living, working, eating together day and night (last year I had difficulty telling the teachers from the students apart)

b) We have at least one lecture by a teacher or an assistant teacher every evening, (a very inspiring thing, especially for me as most of them are glass artists and my complete ignorance on the subject made me wonder in amazement).

c) While the courses are running, the place is not open for visitors, pets or children, which in my opinion is a decisive factor to keep us focused.

d) My students were so driven! and they dragged me along like a peloton.

e) The food and the beer over there are amazing. The mind and spirit don't work properly if you are not fed properly or slightly drunk.

f) etc.

We had to prepare our own wood blocks. The wood wasn't completely dry or perfectly sanded, like the precious blocks I get here in the U.K. but for that reason we used them so freely and so merrily. To me it was paradise! Some times when I order blocks I am scared to start engraving on them as they are so beautiful when Chris Daunt sends them to me, but with such bonanza I just went mad.

One of the assignments I gave to my guys was to make a piece or an installation or something that would include some other material than paper, glass preferably as we were at Bild-Werk. Or to try to raise the image from an engraving onto another material than paper.

These are some of the pieces I made:

I made this with the help of Stephen Paul-Day who gave me the wax to model the figurine and then casted it in glass for me. I absolutely adore that figurine. 

The ceramic one I made it with the help of Adam Salvi, the ceramic teacher.

This figurine was also made with the help of Adam.

And this is a triple layered piece. I made the print at the bottom.
Then the second layer with the help of Mark Angus and Jeff Zimmer, both stained glass artists. Or painters on glass? what is correct?
And the top layer was made for me by Katharine Coleman, great glass engraver. It was my intention to escape at some point to her studio and learn how to engrave on glass but I never had the time, so she kindly offered to engrave the rain on glass for me. Thanks a lot!