One Gallery, Two Artists, Four Questions
Hearts of Glass
The Howell Gallery, now in its 20th year, was established with the sole intention of showcasing Oklahoma artists. The artists on its roster work in varied media and every style, including artistic daredevils who work in perhaps the most mesmerizing, delicate and dangerous medium: glass.
Bill Hawk and Suzanne Mears are staging a joint exhibition Nov. 4-20, with an opening reception slated for 5-7 p.m., Nov. 4.
Hawk’s focus is on cast glass, a process through which molten glass is given shape by pouring it into a mold. Molds can be made from a variety of materials, such as metal, graphite or even sand, depending on the artist’s vision for the piece.
Mears fires her glass in kilns, similar to what would be used for the production of ceramic pieces. Her kiln-formed glass is often combined with steel, wood or stone, in a bold, colorful, textural style.
We recently posed a series of four questions to Hawk and Mears, and we share that conversation with you here. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
How did you come to work with glass?
“BRASILIA”, kiln formed glass totem on steel base by Suzanne Wallace Mears
Hawk: I have been fascinated with glass for many years, especially cast glass. So I decided to try my hand at it nine years ago and started taking lessons at the Corning Museum of Glass’ studio in Corning, New York. Once I got started, I couldn’t stop! There are so many applications that allow creativity that the ideas wouldn’t stop popping into my head.
Mears: My exploration with glass started in 2002. Suddenly, one morning I decided to create art in glass. Fused, layered, colorful, textural glass. I knew absolutely nothing about glass, although I had shown in a gallery in Aspen, Colorado, with [Dale] Chihuly, Richard Royal, William Morris—I was so busy with my collage and clay work that I paid no attention.
The moment I started creating with glass, I was hooked. Those early days firing with ceramic kilns, using a pulley hooked on the roof to open and close the lid on a glowing hot kiln interior, burning my eyebrows off, gauging the temperature with a pyrometer and staying up all night to make sure the firing was going correctly ... I loved every minute of it. I stopped working with clay, sold my ceramic kilns and replaced them with glass kilns. I took a lot of workshops, including the Glass Furnace in Turkey, read manuals, watched videos. I still have five kilns and I fire almost every day. The fascination has not ended.
“LARGE DIAMOND TOTEM”
on steel base by Bill Hawk
Did you work in other media before glass?
Mears: Before 2002, I worked with paint and clay, mostly clay. Either creating pieces using a slab roller or using blanks to create what I called ‘paintings in the round.’ I began selling those in the early 1980s at Joanne Lyon Gallery in Aspen, Colorado. I ended up selling over 7,000 of these by the time I started glass in 2002. I still work with other media, not just glass. I find it inspirational. It forces me to switch gears. I’ve never changed this approach.
Hawk: Years ago I made many pieces of stained glass work, but got too busy to continue, but I never lost my attraction to colored glass.
What does glass allow you to do that is unique?
Hawk: I don’t think that there’s anything more attractive than light coming through cast glass. The thickness adds depth and a glow that is not available in many other media. Cast glass, as opposed to blown glass, allows me to work alone and to make my pieces in stages.
Mears: I love everything that goes into creating in glass: selecting the glass, receiving a big crate that has to be trucked in, unpacking it, choosing the project, creating it and firing it. The mystery while it’s firing, about what it will be and if it will come through with the expectation I have. The excitement waiting to open the kiln.
The learning curve is constant. It never ends. Every piece I completed led to new ideas, new forms, new combinations of color. I was firing every day. Every time I opened the kiln was like Christmas morning. I started very small and moved up quickly to large bowls, platters, wall hangings and free-standing sculpture. I love the intense focus that I have to apply while I create. The actual firings can take a day or a week.
“SMALL UNDERWATER VICTORIA WATER LILY, PURPLE/RED” by Bill Hawk
Who or what inspires you lately?
Mears: I don’t think there’s a “who” that inspires my art. I have favorite themes I love and nature has always played a big part. I travelled a lot earlier in my life and that provided me with an unlimited pool of ideas. Currently I’m interested in bas-relief and exploring how to take flat glass and turn it into free form sculpture.
Hawk: I’m very excited about my outdoor towers and totems. Few things are more beautiful than colored glass in the sun. I’ve been making several new designs that I think are very attractive, and I have more new designs and ideas than I have time!