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C2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday, M arch 29, 2000 Hazards of the trade don' t faze glass blower By Carol Baldw in ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR (he arms of Carolyn Prowse-Fainmel are pro tected by old socks with the feet cut out, and her eyes sport dark glasses, but her hair can still get singed a bit around the edges as she works in front of the hot furnaces in Sheri dan College's glass studio. However, the hazards of the trade don't faze the 40-year-old. Working with glass is her passion, she says. And talking about glass consumes 90% of the conversa tions she has with her husband. But it isn't the satisfaction she gets from the finished products that keep her in front of those hot furnaces, it's the blowing and shaping. "I like the physical process. That's what I really love doing," she says. "And right now I'm interested in getting surface texture on top, making things that aren't so smooth. You can add powder or wire, or you can engrave when it's cold or cut it with a saw. There are unlimited Photo by Barrie Erskine things you can do with it cold." Carolyn Prowse-Fainmel shapes a piece o f hot glass by Prowse-Fainmel initially dis blowing through a long pipe. covered the beauty of blown glass around the globe. But once her proposal had at a restaurant that she and her husband fre been accepted, she had to find a way to develop quented. The restaurateur, who had taken class her idea into a glass award. es at Sheridan, displayed her glassware around `T h e globe represents the artistic community, the eatery, and Prowse-Fainmel was fascinated supported by the business community - the by it. "The owner suggested that I go to Harleaves. The globe could sit by itself, but it is bourfront and see it being made," she explains. stronger if it's supported," she says, explaining "Then, I took three weekend workshops (at the concept of the piece, and adding, "It was a Harbourfront). Then I went to summer school at challenge. But I worked in lead glass, which I Sheridan." had never done before. I was making two - one After four years of summer school, Prowseas a backup. The backup went in the garbage." Fainmel decided to jum p into the full-time pro Prowse-Fainmel says she has always enjoyed gram at Sheridan, where she is currently finish working with her hands, first with needlework ing up her second year. And she is the only sec and sewing and later with ceramics and photog ond-year student who was selected to create one raphy. Now, she says, her home kiln serves as a of this year's M ayor's Awards. furnace for her glass as well as an oven for her However, her award, Globular Bowl with ceramics. "And the clay comes in handy for Stylized Leaves, was not as easy to create as making moulds," she quips. "Ceramics is my she had planned. Originally hoping to blow the hobby. Glass is my passion." bowl into the shape she wanted, the glass blow er soon discovered that it would lose its strength Ultimately, Prowse-Fainmel would like to open her own studio, but hopes to join the crew that way. Then she discovered that each of the at Harbourfront for awhile after she graduates four parts of the leaf that enclose the globe had from Sheridan. to be identical in size and had to fit perfectly · S U e · (jA a ir s * S /ite r ta in s n & tt '//s u te · . f/ix x /o n * <£ ifte s '/ l/ii/v /s .i/t/s u / Photo by Barrie Erskine Above, Stopher Christensen perfects one of his glass vases on the grinding wheel in Sheridan's glass studio. Left, he forms a piece of hot glass in his hand, protecting that hand with sheets of newspaper that have been folded over many times and soaked in water. Sometimes actual flames will shoot from the newspaper. How ever, in this picture he has only man aged to create smoke. Award of glass reflects land mass By Carol B aldw in ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Despite the bad rap that television watch ing often receives, Stopher Christensen is glad he was in front o f the tube when Dale Chuliy featured glass blowing on his show. Now, Christensen is in his third year at Sheri dan College's School of Crafts and Design and has designed one of this year's M ayor's Awards in glass. His aw ard, titled O ptical O belisk, was inspired, he says, by Oakville's 960 acres, a fig ure he came across while doing some research on the origins o f our town by the lake. "Optical Obelisk has 96 layers of plate glass, each representing 10 acres of land," he explains. "There are some mirrors laminated in between to reflect and refract the light. It's neat, the optical quality prisms o f light that come out of it, and the mirrors allow you to look into it and contemplate £ / } your relationship with Oakville." Although Christensen is currently focusing his artistic talent on glass work, the 22-year-old majored in the arts at high school and is also skilled at painting and ceramics. And despite sales of his glass creations in Montreal, Toronto and Florida, the talented artist is looking at investing another three years in his education, studying industrial design at the Ontario College of Arts and Design. His goal, he explains, is to create objects with an eye on ergonomics. For example, he says, he might consider designing a more functional chair that is also good for the back. "I will do my art full-time and if it goes, it goes, but if it doesn't, I'll have something to fall back on," he explains. Christensen's glass creations can be seen in a group show, along with the works of a ceramic artist and a visual artist, in Tobermory for two weeks, beginning May 20th. f y t ooy n · J te A iw # · ~ (//- (Jt&s/ofi iAe(/m or// Sfiurniture 20% Off Queen Size Mission Spindle Bed · Reg. $1425 · Sale$1 1 4 0 12 Drawer Dressing Chest · Reg. $1715* Sales 1375 Dressing Mirror Sale *250 Q )e//.re i£ in e fffa ro t& t c7~a/s/e Deluxe-size legs and top. All sizes available in solid pine or oak. 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