Glass and metal artwork featured in 'Molten'

Submitted by Fine Line Creative Arts Center

Intricate glass pieces, a range of wearable metal creations and innovative metal sculptures created by artists from around the country will be on display and available for purchase at “Molten,” a nationally juried exhibit at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles.

Open Jan. 11 through Feb. 15, in the Kavanagh Gallery on the Fine Line campus, “Molten” will feature wearable, decorative and functional creations formed of glass and/or metals.

Among the list of national artists are Sara Sally LaGrand and Anne Havel.

Sara Sally LaGrand, a glass artist from Lenexa, Kan., will have her one-of-a-kind decorative class creations on display. Two of her pieces, “Zygote” and “Safety Nest,” are prime examples of this artist's ability to captivate and hold the viewer's eye.

“Both ‘Zygote' and ‘Safety Nest' investigate the idea of incubation. They are elaborate and showy and both protect an entity pre-birth,” LaGrand explained.

The Zygote piece was patterned after scientific slides I have seen of a fertilized human egg. In the case of “Safety Nest,” the giant beehives from trees was the foundation for the design.

“It's a spectacular structure to house a couple of incubating feathery eggs. They are both bright, showy, elaborate, labor intensive pieces designed to create and support new life,” LaGrand said.

All her works of art are lampworked and wired into a larger structure. The process for each piece can take LaGrand up to a year to complete. The sum of the parts is what finally makes these spectacular creations.

LaGrand has studied in Italy and the U.S., and has also taught workshops all over the U.S. and Europe. She has been melting glass since 1996 and has studied with Italian glass masters Lucio Bubbaco and Vitorrio Costantini.

In 2008, she developed a method utilizing many little pieces and repetitive forms, drawing from her own experimentation in glass, and her mother's inspiration as a professional florist.

“I have this tendency to gravitate to the colorway as design. I also prefer that the pieces have tiny detail that invites a viewer to come closer for a better look. If you can find/create color that causes vibration by its intensity, it resonates nicely in your brain. As humans, we like pattern, detail and vibrant color,” LaGrand said.

Another of the “Molten” artists is Anne Havel, a metalsmith, lampworker and enamellist from Wells, Vt. Her piece, “Nuclear Series: Lunarcy (Dark Side of the Moon),” presents a world of possibilities in the ways an artist can manipulate media to create something new, beautiful, and wholly unexpected.

“I consider myself an artist that expresses my work in the jewelry medium. ‘Lunarcy' is from my nuclear series, which deals with my dislike of nuclear power and the industry itself,” Havel emailed. “The piece itself is intended to get the viewer to think of the moon and outer space and possible the only place we will be able to live if we continue with the nuclear power industry.”

Abstract painters, space objects and more inspire Havel, who began training in lampwork beadmaking many years ago. Her process involves torch-firing enamel (glass) onto copper. She applies liquid white enamel to most of her pieces, which is hardened, then scratched with dental tools and then torch-fired.

The “Molten” opening reception, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, will provide the opportunity to meet with several of the participating artists. They will include: Jackie Truty of Oak Law;, TR Biddle of St. Charles; Ellen and Don Ljung of Geneva; Amanda Schleede of Glen Ellyn; Sher Berman of Deerfield; Barry Stevens of Naperville; Michelle Rial of Serena, Ill.; Nikki Thomas of Athens, Ga.; and Kathryn Bowman of St. Charles, Mo. The Best of Show award will be granted that afternoon.

Fine Line Creative Arts Center, 37W570 Bolcum Road in St. Charles, is a nonprofit art school offering classes for adults in a range of fine arts. Two galleries are included on the Fine Line campus, featuring local to international artists.

For information, visit www.fineline.org or call (630) 584-9443.

If you go

What: “Molten,” a nationally juried glass and metals show

When: Saturday, Jan. 11 through Feb. 15; opening reception 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Where: Fine Line Creative Arts Center Kavanaugh Gallery, 37W570 Bolcum Road, St. Charles

Admission: free

Details: (630) 584-9443 or <a href="http://www.fineline.org">www.fineline.org</a>