Melbourne

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Craft

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Glassblowing and Mosaic

Glass Gaffer Workshop

Have you always wanted to have your idea made out of glass by professional glassblowers?

Nick Doran Adams

5.0 (1)

Ruth Allen - Glass Art

5.0 (375)

4k followers

ClassBento donates with every booking to

2 hours

1 to 2 guests

$990

Melbourne

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Craft

•

Glassblowing and Mosaic

Overview

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Reviews

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Teacher

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What you'll do

It is a professional part of the hot glass practise that designers commission skilled glassblowers to create their ideas in glass. This Gaffer workshop has been created for you, the enthusiast who has a fancy idea to adorn your home, enrich your environment, and experiment with an exotic material.

Our Gaffer on the floor working to facilitate your ideas is the incredible Nick Adams. Nick has over a decade of experience and can navigate the countless methodologies of practise to arrive at a spectacular result.

Like anything, the act of glassblowing has limitations, the most obvious being weight and size, fortunately 'skies the limit' with creative prowess.

There will be a short consultation period prior to your workshop. To start the conversation and for us to try and dive into your creative brain, we require a detailed sketch of your idea before the class. We would like to know the proposed dimensions, colour, purpose, and anything else that you think may be relevant.

In this session, you will be on the hot shop floor and work intimately with two skilled glassblowers to actualise your idea. This way, you can be in touch with the making process, document the moment, and be involved in every step of the way.

Please note that as talented as our team is, we will guide your ambitions to what is achievable within the time and material limitations. Glassblowing is an organic and fluid process; therefore, the final result may vary slightly from your original concept. The more specific and detailed you can be on what you are hoping for, the clearer we may understand the goals of your project and work to actualise it.

Add-on available for this class

Spectator ($20)

You can add these when you book (optional).

Knowledge required

An idea and drawings of what you would like us to make

What you'll get

Guidance from an expert to create your idea. All materials provided. Your own glass pieces to take home!

What to bring

Closed-toe shoes must be worn. A loose cotton shirt and long pants are advised. A water bottle and snacks, if desired, will be provided.

Location

Ruth Allen Glass - 10 Hossack Avenue, Coburg North VIC

Free on-street (2-hour) parking is available. The nearest train station is Batman, a short 10 min walk away.

Verified reviews

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Your teacher

Nick Doran Adams

5.0 (1)

Born and raised in Ballarat, Victoria, Nick Adams was surrounded by history and grew up visiting one of the best collections of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Coming from a family of artists; Adams was encouraged from a young age to practice a wide range of artistic mediums and go to galleries and exhibitions of amazing collections.

While attending Ballarat Grammar School, Adams began to experiment with many different mediums; only after being introduced to glass by his ceramics teacher did he truly begin to play and experiment with the material. While still in school, he attended several short courses offered by Monash University; this being his first experiences with molten glass.

Adams then went to Australian Nation University where he studied in the Glass Workshop. After being shown many techniques; including how to make murrini, Adams saw the pixelated qualities they offered and the wide range of images that he could create using the process. His first murrini was a “Pokéball” as part of the class and then he continued to make murrini with varying levels of success, all revolving around the theme of pixilation and video games.

Working at the Canberra Glassworks as an assistant and technician, Adams continued his obsession with murrini and blown glass.

Recently relocating back to Victoria, Adams has started working at the number of small studios around Melbourne.

Your host

Ruth Allen - Glass Art

5.0 (375)

4k followers

Ruth has three strands to her professional practice, her Artwork, Community Cultural Development projects and a design range created from transforming manufactured bottles, all of which nurture her creative spirit.

Ruth Allen’s history stems from the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University where she studied under Klaus Moje, Elizabeth McClure and the late Stephen Procter. Ruth graduated in 1993 and embarked upon world travels including Japan, United States, Europe and New Zealand. Ruth attended and conducted workshops, exhibited, undertook residencies and worked consistently with ideas.

Between 1996 and 2000 Ruth co-directed a hot glass studio and glass art business in Auckland, New Zealand. The business, Gloria, produced a wide range of high quality and unique blown glass forms for private commissions and galleries. The business exhibited regularly and developed extensive contacts within the Australian, New Zealand and the international art community.

Alongside the pursuit of her own practice Ruth has nourished a passion for Community Cultural Development (CCD). During the management of her own business in New Zealand, Ruth realized the necessity to educate colleagues, gallery curators and the general public, about context, concepts and methodology of the Contemporary Glass Movement. Ruth realised that if your community and audience do not understand the work the power to effect and change a viewer’s perception of things is minimized. This realization prompted her to accept the nomination for President of the New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass (NZSAG) and develop the educational programme of workshops/conference/exhibitions titled Pacific Light (PL). PL was orchestrated in 1998 and involved seven workshops focusing on various disciplines of glass practice, a ten-day residency, three-day conference and a series of exhibitions showcasing the work of national and international glass artists.

Gloria dissolved in early 2000 enabling Ruth to return to Australia and resume a more artistic practice. Ruth moved to Melbourne to complete a Master of Fine Arts (research) degree, majoring in Glass and Sculpture at Monash University. Her graduating exhibition was extensive with more than 200 individual glass forms illuminated by projected light and accompanied by audio compositions. Ruth continues to work on a large scale and within a sculptural installation context, often collaborating with multi-media artists to develop and actualize her ideas.

In August 2010 Ruth and partner Josh purchased a 430m square warehouse in Coburg Nth, the relatively new studio has been renovated and is now catering for most creative endeavours. The pair worked toward the vision of creating a functional space where one can make almost anything. The studio is organised into working stations such as; metal, wood, ceramics, glass, welding, cutting, grinding and includes a lush front garden complete with pizza oven for entertaining the locals and guests. This environment has allowed both Ruth and Josh to develop their practices with the confidence of knowing a new direction of works will and can be supported by the space.

Meet Ruth Allen

Discover the mesmerising craft of glassblowing with passionate glass artist Ruth Allen in Melbourne and transform molten glass into colourful works of art!