Today we have a treat for our readers. We are introducing Lisa Horkin, a very talented glass blower! You can find Lisa's work on Facebook, Horkover Glass; on Etsy, Horkover Glass; and online at Horkover Glass.
A little glass blowing history
Some of the oldest glass on record dates back to the pre-Roman times. Solid beads and amulets have been found which were made in the year 2500 BC. Even though glass has been in existence for thousands of years, it wasn’t always considered an art as it is today. Its uses, for the most part, have been in functional pieces – things that hold things. During the pre-Roman times, glass makers were making vessels, but glass blowing had not yet been invented. The vessel was made by wrapping hot glass around a core made of clay and dung. Sometimes the glass maker would add color after the first clear layer was in place. After the glass cooled the core could be picked out, leaving what glassblowers nowadays call a vessel. Some of the earliest vessels date back to 1500 BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During that time glass was not yet a common household object. Few people knew how to make glass, and only the pharaohs, high priests and nobles owned it. Both Middle Easterners and Egyptians were making mosaics out of glass. They would fuse rods of colored glass together to make a pattern. The resulting larger rod would then be heated and pulled out, causing the design to become smaller. Afterwards it was sliced and arranged into a mosaic. Knowledge of glass spread outward from Egypt and Mesopotamia mostly through the means of trade and conquer. Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass that dates back to the pre-Roman times have been found in the Mediterranean, Russia and France.
Lisa's biography:
I am an Ohio artist and have a BFA,in college I majored in
painting and took ceramics as well as some glass.
For years I worked in painted textiles exhibiting, lecturing,
and teaching. Since 2002 I have been using glass as
means of creative expression. I blow glass primarily in a
local public glass studio where I rent space I also have a
small studio in my home.
I am inspired by the color and the properties of glass itself,
and by my past experience of working with oil painting and
textile mixed media. My motivation is an inner drive that
I have always felt. As a 3 yr old it was the smelling and
feeling the squishing paint thru my fingers as I smeared it
around on wet paper. At five it was the feel of pounding
a nail and it sinking into a piece of scrap wood to build
a “ship” and the job of painting my ship to boldly stand out.
Now I experience peace, calm, happiness, and
excitement manipulating molten glass. Blowing glass has
become a huge lesson in how to “go with the flow” Some
days the glass is moving with me and other days I have to
give in and move with the glass.
Lisa's "Red and Black Vase"
Lisa's "Calla lily"
Lisa's "Green Fall"
Lisa's "Curry and Strawberry bowl"
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