Llys Glas Exhibition 18th Nov 2011

Here are some photos of my work at the exhibition we held by Llys Glas Artists at our private studio gallery space. It was a very well attended even, the Proseco flowed and the welsh cheese was well nibbled.

Permanent Installation at the Cove

This is a site specific designed piece of glass art that has a permanent home at The Cove in Castle Street, Swansea, so is not for sale. The fused glass mimics the stone rublbe wall but is completed in biright colours to provide that eternal summer feel

Current work

I recently noticed than some glass I had previously made passed a resemblance to the BMW works by Richter.

So … I have been developing this work (with Ricther in mind) for an exhibition

Current work

I recently noticed than some glass I had previously made passed a resemblance to the BMW works by Richter.

So … I have been developing this work (with Ricther in mind) for an exhibition

Llys Glas Exhibition and Open Studios 18th Nov 2011 – 6pm onwards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick Holly Winter Exhibition 12th November 2011

Runs from 12 noon Sat 12th November 2011. Features some great art and sculptures and some glass artists too.

A special mention for painter Tim Kelly – a rare talent !

Enjoy !

Nick Holly Gallery, Exchange Building, Cambrian Place, Maritime Quarter, Swansea SA1 1SE

Llys Glas on S4C

This is a video of the Wedi 3 programme that was broadcast on Monday 3rd Oct 2011 and features the Llys Glas building complex. In this building complex is my (and others) studios and the attached gallery that we exhibit in as a group. The art that appears in the video is some of mine, Sian Sandford and Tim Kelly.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=222792114448296

It is on my facebook page !

Enjoy

Sushi Set

A sushi set (for two) I just made for some one

 

My Window Cill

just a quick update of things sitting on and near my window cill in the studio gallery

 

The Wine is Flat Again

Another deflated art effort.

Sketch books

This is a design study based upon the roof lines of the coastal area of Swansea. I will be extending this study further as a basis for designing some glass work.

Below are some of the sketches I took, developing in to line and colour, many versions that have been manipulated in Photoshop and Illuistrator and some worked up design possibilities.

Also a cast glass sample of the way I was thinking of going with this.

This is really just to show all the background sketching work produced by an artist (just a few posted here, many more produced) that is never seen

This was a project for my MA Glass and I never even submitted most of the development work – should have really  – and got in to a bit of trouble at the presentation stage !

Nick Holly Gallery Exhibition

Again a fantastic exhibition of art, this time involving just four artist with the exhibition running from 2nd September 2011 until 24th September 2011.

As is sometimes the case a few general and permanent displays of installation art remains and I believe my glass shelf and a glass wave (displayed on a plinth) remains.

Get down and see the exhibition if you can, it is really worth it

 

 

 

 

Waving at Glass Light and Space – Combo

I have been having a bit of fun over lapping the glass in natural sunlight

 

 

Waving at Glass Light and Space

Working with bending and faceted (sort of) glass to see the fantastic effects of transmitted and distorted light

 

New Art Work

I have some glass art on display and for sale at The Cove in Castle Street, Swansea – a new bar/cafe/gallery – very chilled out space with home made food, shelves with art books and even a drawing table for people to chance their arm at some art. Here are a few photos of my work and the bar

 

Strata Fossils – The set

This is the complete set of four – although I may make some more in different designs and colours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strata Fossil for the Blue Cove

… and here is the blue one …

Strata Fossil for the Cove

I am developing a new body of work which is following on from some mould casting and relief work I experimented with as part of my MA Glass.

There is a ‘strata’ type feel to these and my design mimics stone walling found in the Welsh country side; I have also added kiln relief fused texture to the back in the form of plaster cast fossil shells.

 

 

Nick Holly Summer Exhibition – from 2nd July 2011

This is the summer exhibitiion at the gallery of Swansea artist Nick Holly. It is a fantastic space and well worth a visit

Nick will be exhibiting lots of new work himself, plus there are many other artists also exhibiting as well.

I have a few pieces on display too so pop down and have a look.

Here is the website www.nickholly.com and this is one of the pieces I have there http://glassartbyraycollins.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/sea-coloured-sail-glass-trial-2.jpg

The wine has gone flat – part 2

Past its shelf life, same theme as this one http://glassartbyraycollins.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/sdc13578.jpg and here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688131041&sk=photos#!/media/set/?set=a.10150242107196042.363933.688131041

The Grand Theatre Glass Exhibition

Here are some more photos of my work and the others also exhibiting

The Grand Theatre Glass Exhibition

Well we managed to hang all our work today and will put some final touches on things tomorrow, I have replaced the previous photos with some new ones that relate to my work only.

 

Exhibition

Some more details of the exhibition that starts on Tuesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wine has gone a bit flat !

a fully functioning shelf turned on its head

Another of my sea views series of opaque wall mounted glass pieces

Quite a jaunty feel to this one, simplistic in the extreme

A few abstract colour panels

 

Having been playing around with Illustrator I have now completed a few panels based upon the designs

 

Abstract on Glass

My first prototype using prmarily cut glass.

Abstract or what !

    Big shapes and colours !!

Some abstract seascapes

I may try to translate these in to glass !!

                                                                                                          

Glass Exhibition – Grand Theatre, Swansea from Tuesday 21st June – Sat 9th July 2011

A glass and mixed media exhibition will be held in the White Room at the Grand Theatre, Swansea from Tuesday 21st June – Sat 9th July 2011. Those exhibiting are Joan Edwards, Shirley lewis, Denise Hayes and Ray Collins.

Some more Illustrator efforts

Some more designing with Illustrator, which I am quite enjoying. I will developing some abstract work utilising strong shapes and colours, based perhaps upon a sail of a yacht or a flower from Clyne (in Bloom) Park … well that sort of idea !

The first two images were devloped as a design for the Stevens glass competition, with the sample panel that I made indicated in the center of the design

Some more Illustrator

Playing around with Illustrator again and developed a design from a sketch through to loads of different versions, a couple below

 

   

New Display at Llys Glas

One of the other artists in my studio complex has left so a few spaces to exhibit within out gallery has opened up so I put a collection of my glass on canvas up on one board. The work provides a nice symmetry and rhythm imv !

Playing with Illustrator

I am trying to get to grips with Illustrator for its ‘vector’ qualities and application for certain mechanical manipulation of glass, and am finding it quite tricky with out any lessons or direction, but I have managed to draw and fill some shapes which is providing a bit of inspiration for a competition I may enter. I quite like the random shapes that I am developing which is quite lucky because even if I did not want ‘random’  I do not have much of a choice in it at the moment – well maybe controlled random !!!

another one just out of the kiln

this is about 12 mm thick and quite an interesting rock form style piece of work and something I might experiment with. About 40cm x 33 cm in size

a few things that I have been working on

Swansea Waterfront Museum

Happy Christmas and New year

Seasonal Greetings !!!

Slumped Wave (Wall light) to go with Platter Dish

Here is one of a set of four wave formed wall light covers to go with the platter dish

New Platter/Dish

Here is a large round platter that I have just taken out of the kiln, it is about 43 cm diameter and quite flat with a small curvature along its length in one direction. The bowl is part a a series of pieces I am working on at the moment

Nick Holly Studio Gallery

I have had a couple of gallery pieces of glass accepted by the Nick Holly Studio Gallery in Swansea http://www.nickholly.com/ . The exhibition opens Sat 13th November 2010 and I will pop down to take a few photos of the pieces and post them up on here.

 

Patterns

I have recently signed up to do an MA Glass at the Welsh School of Architectural Glass (SMU) and the core of my design work will be based upon patterns that are found on/in/around every day buildings. Such patterns have subconciously influenced a lot of my work in the past so now I will try to harness these patterns and use them in a more deliberate manner in my art

Here are a few photos I took at Malaga airport which was simply ‘patterns everywhere’ …

Some more sushi

These bowls are 15cm x 12cm and will come with a larger serving (flat) platter.

A bit of Sushi ??

I will be attending the craft section of a few food festivals soon so am working on a line of food related products, the first one being a sushi set. Classical red and black with a hint of white (reminiscent of bamboo shapes). The set comprises two 20cm x 15cm bowls, one 10cm x 10cm soy sauce dish, two chopstick rests and two 10cm x 10cm coasters.

Glass on Canvas

Just a bit of fused glass on canvas – nice mixture of blues stand out well on the red canvas !!

Iced Tea – well bowls for cakes anyweay

Heart Panel – Dichroic Glass

Just thought I would put up two photos of the same panel to compare dichroic glass under reflected and transmitted light !

Glass Exhibition at Aberdulais Waterfalls – National Trust Site

Glass Exhibition at Aberdulais Waterfalls – National Trust Site.

Following a visit to Aberdulais Falls (National Trust site) and a discussion with the guys working there about the possibility of holding a glass exhibition in their ‘resource’ room, five ex graduates from the Welsh School of Architectural Glass at Swansea Metropolitan University will be doing just that, holding an exhibition of glass art from Saturday 14th August to Sunday 29th August 2010. In additional to the exhibited work, some of which will be available for sale, we will also be including smaller items for sale that would be ideal for christmas presents etc. Hope you can all pop in for a visit because the Aberdulais Falls is a great site (£4 entry) and our exhibition (located in side the grounds of the Falls) should prove interesting in its own right !!

Some More Glass

Why waste it ?

I like to pop to the odd carboot sale and look out for interesting glass to flatten or fuse in my kiln. Here are a few examples of a gin bottle, some Ikea hand blown vases and some sherry glasses that have all had the heat treatment.

The sherry glasses came out well and I set the temperature just right so that the glass part flattened but the base did not, so when I fused them together I could flip them over to stand on the base edges to raise the glass off the table !! Even the colour did not burn out !

Christenings

A friend asked me to make a simple fused glass cross for a christening and here a two more that I made at the same time, nice presents even if I say so myself.

The glass is Bullseye and I thought a simple blue/pink … boy/girl design would be appropriate, the glass has been fused so that its edges are still prominent and catch the light and I have included three waves horizontally across the design (holy trinity) that suggest the ebb and flow of the challenges we face in life !!

More Messing About

Some more items fresh out of the kiln, and a bit more arty than the functional recent work !

Messing about

Just a few bits and pieces I have been messing around with – some commercial bowls. I have been trying to get stripes out of my mind but ended up substituting them for squares ! and some random lattice work with large grade cleat frit. You have to love those deep Bullseye glass colours though !!

Time to do some proper glass art soon !!

Bullseye Glass at Collect 2010

I was lucky enough to be invited by Bullseye to view the opening night of the Collect 2010, International Art Fait for Contemporary Objects at Saatchi Gallery in Londons, so special thanks to Bullseye (US and UK)

There were some amazing work on display at the Bullseye stand and here are a few publicity photographs (hope I have not missed any one !) of the artists on display

Dichroic Glass at Innsbruck Airport

Following a cheeky snowboarding trip to Kuhtai, I was checking my snowboard in and noticed sone sheets of coloured transparent glass hanging from the ceiling and upon close inspection it was obvious the glass was dichroic in nature. It is the first time I have seen such a collection of large sheets of dichroic glass (or glass with dichroic film addded).

Anyway here are a few photos I snapped off on my mobile phome camera

Bullseye Glass

I mainly use Bullseye as my glass of choice for fusing, and after some discussion with Karen at Bullseye UK I have been accepted as a small distributor in UK for Bullseye. Basically I became a bit fed up having to buy on line so I now have a bulk order sitting in my studio that I will use my self and sell to any local glass artists that want to buy some; it is so much more convenient being able to see the glass products before buying them !! My studio is at Llys Glas building (next the the Welsh School of Architecural glass), Studio 3, Llys Glas, Alexandra Road, Swansea.

I will soon be setting up a web site and have already listed some items in an ebay shop http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Glass-Art-by-Ray-Collins__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Exhibition at Swansea National Waterfront Museum

Just a quick update with a photo of a panel I have at an exhibition called ‘Love Swansea Glass’, located within the city’s National Waterfront Museum  is the first of many exhibitions throughout 2010 in celebration of the School’s seventy-fifth anniversary.

Official 0pening of Llys Glas

I have my glass workshop/studio in a buiding complex called Llys Glas, which includes 7 studios, student accommodation, community art/craft shop, conference & office facilities and a soon to be opened cafe. The buiding is owned by Gwalia (Housing Association) and on Friday 9th October 2009 they had the official opening of the building. It was a great evening with lots of guests, speaches, choir and harpist.

As part of the opening arrangements, we (studio users) were requested to display some of our work and the following photos relate to some of the items I displayed. The other guys also had work on display but I have not yet taken any photos of it.

The guests had a tour of the building and seemed to like what they saw  !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibition at Aberdulais Falls

Following a visit  to Aberdulais Falls (National Trust site) I had a discussion with the guys working there about the possibility of holding an exhibition in their ‘resource’ room, and after sorting out some details on the practicalities of setting up an exhibit, myself and three other ex Swansea Metropolitan University graduates will be exhibiting glass art from Monday 19th October to Saturday 31st October 2009. 

In additional to the exhibited work, some of which will be available for sale, we will also be including smaller items for sale that would be ideal for christmas presents etc.

This is a draft poster for the event. Hope you can all pop in for a visit because the Aberdulais Falls is a great site (£4 entry) and our exhibition (located in side the grounds of the Falls) should prove interesting in its own right !!

Win A Camper Van

click on this link http://winacamper.fatface.com/rcollins8 to try to win a £35,000n camper van !!

a bit of bending !!

I fused together some float glass with dry enamel sprinkled between the sheets in to a nice slab and then tried bending it over a profiled mould, the result was ok except for it cracking (and re-fusing) during the bend cycle !!! Not too sure why but these things happen. It also devitirifed but I should not really be bending float glass at its devit temp I suppose  !

Anyway here it is

Tate Modern and Southwark Cathedral

I had a weekend (well a Sunday and Monday really) in London and popped in to Sothwark Cathedral, which is well worth a visit.

Here are a few photos of windows that caught my eye that I snapped with my phone and I particularly like the modern commemorative window !

Glass Exhibition in Swansea

Contemporary glass from Ireland and South West England, at the National Waterfront Museum, Qystermouth Road Swansea SA1 3Rd. tel: 01792 638950. 10am-5pm daily. 

It isn’t often we get international glass stars showing in Wales and is well worth seeing

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

Busy busy busy and my new studio

As it suggests, I have been really busy over the last month, still renovating my house  (it feels like I am building the Pyramids !!) and I am also moving in to a small studio in a complex that has been developed by ‘Gwalia’ (housing associarion) in the old Swansea central police station on Alexandra Road. the building is ‘multi-use’ and has offices, student accommodation, a cafe and the 7 artists studios of varying sizes. At the moment a few of the smaller units seem to be occupied and the nice thing about it is that there are fantastic communal spaces that I am told will be available for the artists to use to display work etc.

I will post some photos when I get the chance.

New Project From Recycled Materials

I am in the middle of refurbishing a house I own and it is really hard work – roof, walls, plumbing, electrics, floors, bathroom, kitchen – basically everything – so it has kept me away from glass for a while !

But …… as I am doing the work I am keeping all sorts of bits and bobs which I will use for a series of ‘recycled’ glass panels.

The photos below are my first firing trials with some scrap float glass, copper roofing pin and stainless steel expanded metal lath (EML – used as a base for rendering). I did not clean the inclusions and the copper roofing pins had some superficial blackening to it so I need to pre-fire it or burn it with a blow torch (I knew that I would need to do that any way!), the EML fired without any problems.

The panels I intend to make will take cognizance of the building work I am doing, so it will be based upon a bottom sheet with a second layer comprising a ‘random’ paving slab pattern with some of the EML in between, and a third layer in a ‘herringbone’ brick paviors pattern as a third layer with the copper roof pins at the joints. I intend to add some float glass frit and transparent yellow enamel (sprinkled dry between the sheets of glass) and maybe some copper wire maybe.

It will be very structured and patterned and reflect the patterns that we see every day as part of a building – all from waste materials from my house refurb !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ceri Richards at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea

These are a few photos I took with my phone today of some paintings by Ceri Richards because they had a very ‘painterly glass art’ feel to them. Google this artist and you may be pleasantly surprised !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stripes again – final small bowl is out of the kiln

Just some final pictures of the set of 3 bowls after the last slumped small bowl came out of the kiln. I am not sure whether the two small mixed colour (brown.green) bowls goes better with the brown bowl or green bowl?

Some more stripes

I have just finished a range of bowls based upon my random width stripe design; the bowl shape is from quite a sculptured mould and is quite sturdy and functional. I also made a few matching smaller bowls but one is still in the kiln at the moment. Some nice sets of 3 again though !!

Some more stripes !!

I really like working with geometrical shapes (must be my engineering background) and have become quite fond of my previous random width striped bowls, luckily actually because the ones I have made are all gone to good homes over christmas. Anyway here are a few more bowls and this time I have used a different shaped mould, and eventually I think I will end up with a series of four sets of blue, green, grey and maybe mauve comprising one bigger bowl 270 mm x 270 mm with two smaller matching bowls about 150mm x 150 mm.

A little experiment with some plaster coving

I had a sample piece of quite a nice bit of decorative plaster coving (intended for the ceiling of a house), so I thought I would pop it in the kiln to see what happened when I fired it, so I slapped on a bit of kiln wash  and cranked up the kiln but unfortunately at about 350 degrees centigrade it started giving off heavy fumes so i aborted the firing and when I took it out of the kiln it had started to break down, so I now know that there is no short cut in using coving as a mould for slumping and that I have to go through the process of making a mould from the coving – what a shame

 

Here is a photos of the charred coving !!

 

A bit of copper

This is some glass that I had experimented with by sandwiching a sheet of adhesive backed copper between two sheets of float glass, and because the copper had been stuck down with a few air bubbles still in it, the air expanded and developed in to bubbles and gives quite an interesting effect, I mounted the glass on canvas and backed it with silver leaf as a way of making it a useful piece of wall art !

Nothing to do with glass

managed a quick trip to LDA in France for my second love (after glass) – snowboarding – but I recently had surgery on my spine (October 08) so I was being a bit naughty, but here are a few photos of the resort !!

Stripes !!!

I have just had a stripe day and made a few attractive bowls with Bullseye glass that has a sort of lustre to it, two opaque black glass bowls with purple haze to it, and one larger transparent (blue when held to the light) blue glass bowl with a metallic blue haze to it

Here they are

my panels at the Koukan exhibition

I managed to snap a few photos of my panels just after put them up on the wall, the exhibition was half set-up so the photos are in isolation but are looking good !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KOUKAN Gallery Christmas Exhibition

After a few trips to London and a few visits to the fantastic Koukan gallery I have had a few panels selected for the Christmas Review 2008. I dashed to London to set up four ‘glass on canvas’ panels that really fitted in with te overall exhibition that opens tonight.

Here is the invite

just thought it was time to do some posting !!

I have been running this blog like a static web page so far, so now I will be posting here as an diary of what I am doing, of any exhibitions I am displaying at or craft fairs that I am attending, or if I put some bargains up for sale on ebay etc. ………………..