Showing posts with label glass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glass. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

July: Announcements, Glass Blowing for Art Day 13, and Summer!




We've jumped into July with a splash!

Last month we announced our big silver jubilee plans. In November, Creative Matters will be mounting The Art Day Project to celebrate and demystify the art of rug design and fair trade weaving, in partnership with the Textile Museum of Canada and Label StepShowcasing our process of custom handknotted rug design, the show will include Art Day workshops and an educational display of how our rugs are manufactured in Nepal.


Art Day 13

The Creative Matters team also learned to make glass last month! For Art Day 13 (the luckiest of Art Days) we ventured out to Gregor Herman's studio in the Junction for a couple lessons in glass production.




Art Day is a way for our whole team to enjoy the process of making and creating in mediums beyond the digital. The results of each Art Day inspire our design process and help generate new concepts for our floor and wall coverings.

How can the art of glass blowing inspire our designs? 
Let's follow the process with one of our Senior Designers, Tiffany Wu.



Here's Tiffany with her colours ready to be picked up by the molten glass that will become her final piece.

Tiffany blows through a special rod called a blowpipe that holds the ball of hot glass at the opposite end, while Gregor turns the rod to keep the shape of the glass even.
Once the hot glass has a bubble of air started, Gregor shapes it up a bit to prepare for design details.

Tiffany is using a tool to move the bits of colour into patterns for the final piece, as well as creating small bubbles inside the glass to add to the dynamic design.

Tiffany is being as precise as possible, but because the glass is so hot it's hard to tell colours apart. 
After adding details, the glass is ready to be heated again for the second stage of blowing!

The glass is blown into a sphere.

The glass sphere is cut off from the blow pipe via heat and stuck to another rod. This creates an opening for the sphere, which can then be made into a small vessel.

Tiffany opens the vessel using special tongs, while Gregor turns the rod to keep the design even. 

A happy maker with her finished piece!

Back in our studio, the glass is photographed and added to our Art Day files. 


A concept is then created from the original piece using Adobe Photoshop! Can you see the inspiration? 





Happy July! Stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, and enjoy some lemonade!



Friday, April 26, 2013

April: Gateway of Spring, Month of Excitement

April is an interesting month.

The thought that April showers bring May flowers might make you think that April's purpose is to open the door to the joys of May. But April has its own excitement, that this author feels might often go unnoticed.

First thing, April first. The month starts off with pranks. Perhaps this is a good indication of what April weather is like (at least in Toronto this year; it seems like each day has had a not-so-subtle dash of "just kidding!")

Secondly, according to my Wikipedia research, many organizations choose to elect April as their advocacy month. Not only is it Jazz Appreciation month, but also National Poetry Month in the States.

World Health Day and Earth Day both occur in April. Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia celebrate the New Year, and the much loved Record Store Day takes place in cities around the globe.

April is an exciting month, and we've had our own share of the fun that April holds.

Carol and Donna took a trip to Milan mid-month to visit the annual Milan Furniture Fair. As the largest event of its kind, the city becomes a swath of curated design.

Our #74 in Sepia from the Art Day Collection was a featured rug in Cover Magazine's Forza Tappeti: The Rug Revolution, amongst a selection of other esteemed international rug designs.

The Milan trip wasn't just for rugs, though. Carol and Donna had a chance to explore some of the other exhibits.

Here's a round-up of what they found inspiring at Milan 2013:


1. Glass

There was a variety of stunning glass works, but a stand-out for Carol and Donna were these lighting pieces from the Arbor Collection by Baroncelli.








2. Wallcoverings

Although Carnovsky first displayed these wallcoverings in 2010, they remain captivating and inspiring. Carol and Donna enjoyed the playfulness of the changing pattern.









3. Sculptural Chairs

Chairs are often a go-to for designer's who want to manifest their creative vision. Carol and Donna enjoyed these sculptural pieces by Umberto Dattola.








4. Innovative Booth Design

Probably the most talked about booth was Missoni's patterned environment (designed by Carnovsky), but Carol and Donna found another favourite with this interesting interactive space.







5. Geometry

Geometry was spotted throughout the exhibit, but what caught our leaders's eyes were the designs of Serbian origami artist, Uros Mihic.








Enjoy the rest of this lovely month, and see you amongst the flowers of May :)