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Wednesday, May 2, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C1 Arts & Entertainment A&E Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Ext. 254); Fax: 337-5567; E-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com Art & Artisans by the Lake Oakville glass-blower one ofdozens ofartists and craftspeople at Saturday show and sale By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR eorganization can instill fear in the heart o f many an employee. But one signal engineer with the Toronto Transit Com m ission (TTC) embraced the process, using it as an opportu nity to develop his inner artist. Now, John Pirker sells beautiful pieces of hand-blown glass, seldom looking back on days that were once filled will signals in sub way tunnels. Reorganization served as a cata lyst for Pirker, nudging him to follow a dream that he had been harbouring since he took a weekend glass-blowing workshop at Harbourfront. "I gave it a try, and just loved it. It was something unique and different. And in contrast to what I was doing as an engineer, it was very much a hands-on career or activity," he says, explaining that as an engineer, often working on one section of a large project, it was difficult to "have ownership of a finished product...If you do your job right, no one notices. Whereas with glass-blowing, I like to think that the next day, you have the completed object." So, once he made the decision to abandon engineering to explore his creative side, he registered for the glass-blowing program at Sheridan College, moved to Oakville, and began an education that has changed his life. His only regret, he says, is that "it is not as easy to make a living as I thought it would be." However, he adds, "I enjoy what I'm doing more than when I was an engineer." While at Sheridan, Pirker also spent time in the furniture studio, but wood just didn't have the same allure as glass. "I did enjoy the furniture studio, also. The work that I did really gave me an appreciation for woodworking. You do get a feel for the materials," he says, adding, "But with glass, there are different ways you can work it - the transparency, the different textures..." As he talks, a beautifully crafted paper weight sits on the table in front of him, fash ioned in clear glass with its orange core reflected through a thin archway of two clear R air bubbles that are nestled inside two strips of deep blue. Some of that particular design was by design, some by the luck of the heat and the air that .helps form the glass. Can he duplicate it? He has tried and come close, but he claims it probably can be done if he continues to try. But why bother? One-of-a-kind objects are the nature of his business. "Even if I strive for the same look, the colours will be different or will vary somewhat in size or form," he admits. "The challenge is making the glass do what you want it to do." Since his graduation from Sheridan, P irk -" e r 's glass-blow ing experim entation and designing goes on at the glass studio in Mis sissauga's Living Arts Centre (LAC), where he is a resident artist in a program that is sim ilar to the one at Harbourfront, where artists work, demonstrate their craft, and sell the fin ished products in the gift shops. Along with the gift shop at LAC, Pirker also sells his glassware at Oakville Galleries' Gallery Shop, Toronto's Arts on King, the gift shop in the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas - all under his company name, Urth Glass, a name taken from a science-fiction novel he enjoyed. "When I was looking for a company name, I thought I wanted something simple and memorable that, at the same time, meant something to me," explains the 40-year-old. His next show and sale will be this weekend - May 5 - at the Art and Artisans in the Park at Appleby College from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. "The majority of what I make is functional - bowls, plates, vases - things that, although I do my best to make attractive, can be used as something functional.. .1 use a lot of colours in my work. I use a lot of greens and blues, reds and yellows - generally the strong, primary colours. I'm not one to use pastels," says the Oakville artist, noting that almost everything he creates, he puts up for sale. "W hen you start off, every piece is precious, but after awhile, you think `This is a business,' and you put a price on everything." Photo by Peter C. McCusker His one-of-a-kind glass-blown items, which Oakville glass-blower John Pirker will offer a wide variety o f decorative yet functional items for sale also include paperweights and "other little trin at the fourth annual Art and Artisans by the Lake at Appleby College on Saturday. kets," range in price from $80 to $140. How many reasons do you need to become a volunteer? We can give you 6 0 , 0 0 0 - The number of Canadian children reported m i s s i n g each year. Help bring them home. GROWl'N GATOR ________________ A m a jor Canadian distributo r has closed their doors________________ New BANKRUPTCY BUYS at the Cater! sw eat OHZJ ICANADIAN1 s u rrs CARGO PANTS r «O T H ONLY v g i* BLACK/IMAVY/GREY (Size M -X XL) 88 BLACK/NAVY/GREY (Size 8 -16 ) O N T A R I O c lu b m onaco Reg . Price $40.00 Helping to keep kids safer in our community for 16 years. 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