bodner051

The Whanganui Glass Festival was a great experience last weekend.  The whole town was buzzing, and there were glass artists, glass enthusiasts and glass events everywhere. Nick Mount blows glass at Chronicle Glass with assistance from Katie Brown Things kicked off with a 'Raise Your Glass' celebration at Chronicle Glass for the sponsors, the retailers who had provided display space, invited guests and members of the Whanganui Glass Group.  Once again glass blowing as performance art was to the fore, with veteran Australian glass master Nick Mount showing his skills, to the accompaniment of a local band, with a very enthusiastic audience.  The pieces Nick made were included in the auction the following night. Karen Ellett holds one of the pieces from her Mainstreet display On Saturday I did a tour of the Mainstreet shop window displays.  This was made all the more enjoyable by the knowledgeable guide we had, glass artist Karen Ellett.  Karen's commentary on the p...

http://www.wanganuiglass.co.nz/ For the last six years the glass enthusiasts of Whanganui, one of the main centres for studio glass in New Zealand, have organised a week long festival to showcase the art of studio glass in New Zealand (and Whanganui especially).  I'm intending to join the fun this year, at least for part of the time. All week from 16th to 25th September the town hosts the Main Street Glass Exhibition, with shop windows along the main street featuring displays of contemporary glass. The official opening of the festival 'A Fragile World' with a charity auction of glass pieces is on Saturday 17th at the Sarjeant Gallery.  Tickets for this gala event are available on the Festival website http://www.wanganuiglass.co.nz/fragileworld/ . The Hub at 56 Victoria Avenue is the information centre for the duration of the festival from 10 to 4 daily, and also features an exhibition of works by students of the Wanganui Glass School. On Monday night 19 September master A...