Best in Glass: Blown Away
Jonathan Caps works his magic with glass on Blown Away in Season 4
Photo: David Leyes for marblemedia, a Blue Ant Media Company
AUTHOR: ARTSY CHOW ROAMER
BEST IN GLASS
BLOWN AWAY
Many of you might not know that in a former life, this artsy writer had a gallery in the Tula building in Buckhead which is the present home of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. I specialized at first opening in Czech glass having lived in Prague and become obsessed with the contemporary colorful medium that so many well-known artists are famous for.
I spent a lot of time traveling around the country visiting different factories and artist ateliers to learn as much as I could about the different types and techniques used to make the lovely items I saw displayed in galleries and stores and began exporting back home. Prague is one of the top five spots to visit in Europe with glass being just one of the many reasons why.
The delicate beauty in the blown instruments of the Czech artist Rene Roubicek, is what began my love affair with glass. I purchased a flute and a clarinet for our own collection while living abroad. The mix of the raw product is what gives Czech glass the brilliant contemporary colorations it’s known for that would later be copied by artists around the world. Petr Notvotny and apprentices would become collaborators on the instruments before the elderly Roubicek passed away in 2018.
Glass clarinets by Rene Roubicek & Petr Novotny Photo: Courtesy Neue Auctions
There are a series of 35 videos that are educational and inspiring from Corning Museum of Glass
A GLASS COMPETITION
So imagine my surprise when I sat down in the dentist’s chair and the TV was tuned into Netflix showing a group of artists standing in front of their own glory holes (yes, that is what it’s called) softening glass for individual pieces. I asked the tech what the show was and she said it was a wonderful glass competition called Blown Away. She said you have to watch it to believe it so I went home and binge-watched all four seasons.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
The show is Canadian reality TV where 10 artists compete for a prize package worth over $100,000 and the title of Best in Glass champion. It debuted in July of 2019 with 10 episodes and was such an instant hit that Season 2 quickly followed in 2021, while Season 3 and Season 4 dropped in 2022 and 2024.
Katherine Gray is a glass artist, associate professor and chief judge for the competition having been aided by Nick Uhas, a former Big Brother contestant and You Tuber geek in Seasons 1, 2 and 3 and by Hunter March in Season 4. Other exciting guest judges make appearances to help present each round with a specific artist’s brief telling them what they’ll be doing and how it will be judged.
The show is filmed in a converted warehouse in Ontario, a facility that was "custom-built to accommodate 10 glass blowers working simultaneously". Industry experts from the Craft and Design Glass Studio, Pilchuck Glass School, and the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) consulted with producers during the construction of the facility and “provide advice and evaluation to the contestants each round”.
Judges and contestants prepare for a mini-challenge on a CMOG stage
Photo: David Leyes for marblemedia, a Blue Ant Media Company.
CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS
CMOG has been a creative partner of the competition since its inception. From serving as thought partners to providing expert judges, Hot Glass Team members serve as assistants for each season’s finale. A key element of the show’s prize package is the offer of an Artist Residency at the Museum’s Hot Shop, a state-of-the-art facility that hosts daily demonstrations for the public.
The residency offers the chance to blow glass with the expert Hot Glass Team for a week in a life-changing opportunity to further their careers. In addition to the residency, the winner’s final installation is displayed for fans of the show to see in person at the Museum after every season is over. The combination has substantially helped all four winners in their quest to become better known in the world of glass while the competition has a lot to teach us about just how tough glassblowing really is.
THE PROCESS
As you watch the contestants work, you immediately see why it took a while for women to break into this type of art making. It is hot, smelly and physically challenging at best; a road paved with burns, LOTS of broken glass and heartache when your idea doesn’t pan out and drops to the floor. The medium teaches you quickly whose boss and you’ll have to work at making yourself a master of it. Glassblowers sweat so much they need to take in a liter of water an hour to make up for it so they don’t faint or puke.
Netflix is streaming this exciting new competition
In other words, glass ain’t playin’. If you decide it’s your jam, then you better have commitment. I know artists who have been in the thick of it for over 30 years and say they still haven’t learned everything they need to know. This competition shows you exactly what is required as it takes you through each episode and season where the contestants make everything from their own designed pieces, to vessels, glasses, fashion, jewelry and more. The finale is an installation that must hold down their piece of pristine white gallery space, completed with the help of two CMOG Hot Glass Team members.
MEET THE WINNERS
Meet Season 1 winner Deborah Czeresko. I was not surprised to find out this trash-talking contestant had been a fit volleyball player and psych major before getting into glass. Let’s just say she puts both of those things into her glass and is good at telling a story about the women’s issues behind her work; possibly the very reason she won.
Enter Elliot Walker from Season 2; a London-based artist with a cool dude vibe, tattoos and piercings that give him instant street art cred having studied under the famous Peter Layton. You’re going to do well in a competition if you have both sculpting and free-form skills which got Elliot four best in glass before taking it all.
John Moran told a very personal story with five bests across his journey in Season 3. His tremendous sculpting capabilities were shown off in the detailing of his hand pieces and the sheer size of the works he could physically handle on the blow tubes and in the glory hole. A gentle underdog that many didn’t see coming.
Finally, meet the sassy Morgan Peterson who seemed to know she had it sewn up from the beginning in Season 4. She hoped her quirky sense of humor and dark view of the world would shine through and be understood by the judges. It was, and she was rewarded with the win.
TELLING THE STORY
It is apparent that the artists who get chosen to compete come from a wide variety of countries, ages, backgrounds and experience. Both male, female and every letter in LGBTQ is represented as well as an artist who is non-binary. This creates much more interest because of the imaginations, creativity and individual design skills that different life experiences bring to the table.
As a former designer and gallerist, I’m a tough critic and I have been amazed to see the fabulous pieces that have come forward. It’s exciting to watch more well-known artists work elbow to elbow with virtual unknowns. People with over thirty years in glass showing newbies a thing or two while being impressed with the creativity and processes of the inexperienced. While the briefs are specific with what they want, it is clear that an artist’s vision can be very different from person to person and so are the impressions and understanding of those viewing the works and that’s a good thing.
A preview of the most recent Season 4 of this fabulous competition
Gathering of Molecules; a set of drink vessels by Nao Yamamoto from Season 2 Photo: Courtesy CMOG
CONCLUSION
I highly recommend you watch the show because it doesn’t matter if you know anything about glass or have an interest in art, I promise you will find the process interesting and educational. In fact, you just might decide, like Dale Chihuly, that glass is both magical and one of the best mediums to work in and collect.
Also, a special shout out to Kelci Sibley and her great team at Corning Museum of Glass for their extensive help in background, details and pictures for this blog and my shortened version of it in my newspaper column, The Curious Corner. Thanks so much for your help! It would have taken so much longer had I not had it!
If you enjoyed what you read, you might also like other posts under Artful Ideal. You can find other artists and galleries that I really love that you might want to visit or use to add to your own collection. Look for more upcoming posts on my recent adventures in art, food and travel from this quirky tourist. Until then…
Cheers,
ArtsyChowRoamer
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