bodner051

I have posted a couple of blogs about Avalon Glass, the pioneering and quite individual glassworks at Fox River on the South Island West Coast. Several partnerships, both personal and artistic developed and changed there over time.  This small jug (10cm high) is signed Braid '99 NZ One outcome after Avalon Glass itself had closed, or was nearing its close, was the Seal Island studio established by Ross Smith and Lynda Braid. Ross Smith was one of the founders of the Avalon Studio in 1985 with Lawson Bracewell and Greg Smith, joined subsequently by Robert Reedy 6 months later and then Roger Thompson. Lynda joined Ross at Avalon in 1993, and in 1996 after Avalon closed they formed Seal Island Studio, named after a small island (uninhabited, at least by humans) just west of the mouth of the Fox River.   Signed Seal Island 1999 Aotearoa NZ (L) Seal Island NZ 2002 (R) Between 1993 and 1995 Ross was the owner of the Avalon works, which he leased to Greg Smith and Robert Reed...

In my last post I talked about the history of Avalon Glass, based largely on the account of it by one of the founders, Greg Smith.  Greg has provided a few corrections and clarifications of the roles of some of those involved, which is much appreciated. But he has also provided an update on what he is doing now.  Not currently making glass, he has been pursuing his career as an actor, and is about to be seen in New Zealand cinemas in the new release Mt Zion (in NZ cinemas from 6 February 2013). Greg may be seen in the trailer which features on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gHwasfR7g , and the screen captures shown here are drawn from there. Greg plays a promoter who auditions the wannabe Bob Marleys who are the centrepiece of the story - 'some sort of welcoming party for Captain Cook and his Endeavours' is a memorable line. I know little about the film other than I have seen in the trailer, but you may be sure I'll be going to see it, and not just to see this ...

One trap when you try to write a short history of something is that you leave somebody out. When I wrote my essay The beginnings of New Zealand glass in New Zealand Glass Art (Bateman 2010), I made just that mistake. I tried to describe all the glass studios that were in existence in the 1970s and 1980s, but sadly I left out a small but important example, Avalon Glass which was set up in 1985 near Fox River on the West Coast of the South Island. Although I didn’t know a great deal about it, I was aware of it and I should have included it - I simply overlooked it. I must apologise to all those involved, especially Greg Smith who had told me about it. This small bowl, a recent TradeMe purchase, is signed G Smith 88 But I know a lot more about Avalon Glass now, because, through the kindness of Evelyn Dunstan, I have been able to read the remarkably frank and revealing paper that Greg Smith gave on the history of Avalon Glass at the 2003 conference of the Glass Art Society in Seattle, ...