IN THIS ISSUE:
  • Flame Off | February 8
  • Sonoran Glass Art Show | February 6-9
  • Tucson Bead Symposium | February 6
  • Student Artist of the Month: Randy Arand-McIIrath
  • New Visiting Artists
  • Be a Flame Off Volunteer
  • Bronwen Heilman in the Flow Magazine
FLAME OFF | February 8
Tucson's annual torchworking competition is right around the corner and this year's theme is the "(Un)Natural World."

Watch as glass artists compete to make the best torchworked piece based on the theme.

With timed heats and hosts commentating on the action, it's like Iron Chef for glass art!

Join us for Tucson's 18th annual torchworking event featuring beer, wine, food trucks, raffles, and, of course, a night of fiery competition!

All proceeds support the nonprofit Sonoran Glass School and its programs.
FLAME OFF
FRI. FEB 8, 2019
7-11PM

Sonoran Glass School’s 18th Annual Torchworking Competition
2019 Competition Theme: The (Un)Natural World
TICKETS $20
VIP TICKETS $50
633 W 18th Street
*Proceeds benefit the nonprofit educational programs of Sonoran Glass School

Buy tickets online, skip the line and get a free raffle ticket
Looking for even more torchworking action? Check out what's going on with Desert Fire from our friends at Mr. Heads that same week!


Sonoran Glass Art Show | February 6-9
Tucson's only all-glass art show features national and international glass artists during Tucson's Gem Show. The show features glass art beads, jewelry, sculptures, tools and supplies.

Free and open to the public

2019 Hours:

February 6th (Wednesday) 10 AM to 6 PM
February 7th (Thursday) 10 AM to 6 PM
February 8th (Friday) 10 AM to 9:45 PM
February 9th (Saturday) 10 AM to 5 PM

2019 Vendors:

Beads of Courage
Bronwen Heilman
Burton Art Studios
Dvora Silberman
FireChilde Glass Studio
Floor Kaspers
Jen Smith Glass
Joy Munshower
Lone Tree Studio
MZ Glass
Nesci Glass
Pumpkin Hill Beads
Riley Designs Dichroic Glass
Sharon Peters Silly Beads
Sonoran Glass School
Weelainy Glass
ATTENTION SGS MEMBERS & STUDENTS:

The Sonoran Glass Art Show is February 6-9! Sonoran Glass has a booth at the show, with the intention of highlighting the amazing skill and creativity of our students.  We are offering sales space to SGS students, and would love to include you and your work at the show. 

We are offering reduced pricing for the SGS student booth to make selling at the show more accessible to emerging artists.  Each 2 ft x 2.5 ft student sale space costs $50, and students displaying their work are expected to help staff the SGS booth for two 4-hour shifts during the show. 

Displaying artists will get 80% of the purchase price of their work. SGS will take a 20% commission to cover booth costs and card processing fees. All payments will be handled and processed by SGS, with checks cut to students shortly after the show closes. 

If you are interested in selling your work at the Sonoran Glass Art Show, please contact [email protected] to arrange payment and to sign up for shifts to help staff the SGS booth. 
Tucson Bead Symposium | Feb 6
February 6, 2019  |  Wednesday  |  7-9PM
$5 suggested donation
Open to the public
633 W. 18th Street

Ornament Magazine, the Ethnographic Group, and Sonoran Glass School present the 2019 Tucson Bead Symposium featuring presentations from speakers and experts on bead history and trends.

The evening is hosted by glass artist Floor Kaspers.

2019 Presentations:

PROTECTION BY DAY-PROTECTION BY NIGHT
Amulet Beads of Ancient Egypt

David Ebbinghouse is an art enthusiast and researcher and an artist/designer working in many mediums, from collecting and designing with ancient beads to contemporary performance art.

TRENDS IN BEADS INSPIRED BY NATURE
A Trip Through 40 Years of Ornament Magazine

Interview with Robert K. Liu, Co-editor of Ornament magazine, jeweler, photographer, bead researcher and author.

FAKING IT
A Short History of Plastic Imitations of Organic Materials

Rosanna Falabella, PhD Polymer Science and bead collector and researcher for 20 years

GLASS BEADS, BORROWED FROM NATURE

Margaret Zinser Hunt creates flameworked beads and pendants inspired by her love of the insect world.
Student Artist of the Month: Randy Arand-McIIrath
Q) How did you get started in glass?
I saw some pieces done by several people which intrigued my interest with glass. The freedom to explore the different approaches also intrigued me.

Q) Why did you become interested in kiln-fusing?
The transparent compared to the opacity interested me. It's putting pieces of one glass on another and creating a piece. Then you're able to take your craft to help it become a piece of art in the finishing area.

Q) What is your favorite part about working with glass?
Working with Virgil! Haha. I like the uncertainty that comes with glass. It is very addicting. It allows so many different avenues to express yourself.
New Visiting Artists
Visiting Artist Joy Munshower
This workshop is for intermediate and advanced students. Students will be sculpting bas-relief style horse beads, hedgehog beads and various sea-life beads. Students will learn to sculpt these animals from both photo reference and instructor-drawn examples. Students will learn how to break down the shapes of these animals and how to apply those shapes to sculpting in a bas-relief or low-relief style on a base bead.

Visiting Artist Lewis Wilson
This workshop will focus on sculpture in solid borosilicate glass. Lewis is a wiz at figuring out how to create dragons, people, eagles, dinosaurs and many other forms. He will be doing many demos using color glass, however, he wants to teach using just clear. In clear glass, you can focus more on your shape and connections.

Visiting Artist Lucie Kovarova
Construct a two-component flower and a stem design. Learn simple and fast murine techniques building a “dough-like” mass of glass, and then pulling it into a bar to be cut into segments that are applied to a bead or pendant.

Visiting Artist Beau Barrett
This course will begin with a focus on the key fundamentals of working with borosilicate glass tubing and how to apply them for creating nicely shaped blown boro beads. We will then move on to cover basic and more advanced pattern, color, and shaping techniques.
Be a Flame Off Volunteer!
When you volunteer for the Flame Off, you get free admission to the competition and only work half of the event. Plus, you hang out with great people and support glass art education in Tucson!

We are looking for volunteers in the areas of:

Front Door Ticket Sales
Age ID Check-bracelets
Will Call Coordination
Alcohol Ticket Sales
Artist Check-In
Door Monitors
Merchandise/T-Shirt Sales
Fire Watch
Auction Clipboard Carriers
VIP Seating Monitor
VIP Room Monitor
Roaming Volunteer
Post event clean up
Bronwen Heilman in The Flow Magazine
Sonoran Glass School Flame Shop Director is this month's contributing editor for the Flow Magazine's 14th Annual Gallery of Women in Glass issue. Congratulations!

From theflowmagazine.com:
Letter from the Contributing Editor
by Bronwen Heilman
Contributing editor Bronwen Heilman shares the answers from her Facebook and Instagram followers on why they flamework glass. Reasons includes the help they get to focus during the difficult times of life, doing it because flameworking provides a fun way to make a living, and just because they love fire.
Glass Art Education Transforms Lives
Thank you to everyone who supported Sonoran Glass School in our end of the year campaign!