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One of the great thrills of hunting for glass on internet auction website TradeMe is when you buy something you don't know what it is, but you have a hunch, and it turns out to be something quite special. Of course, there are also those occasions when the hunch proves to be wrong, and the piece turns out to be nothing, or something of no interest that I can't identify. Which is why I have a box of motley pieces ready to be donated to the Opp Shop... But here's one of the success stories. A chunky art glass goblet, the trader said, with GBC 1979 engraved on the base. No other clues as to its origin or the identity of the maker. The auction was set for bidding to start at $20, with no reserve price. I racked my brains to think who GBC might be, but to no avail.  There was a photo, which had hints of NZ glass - Keith Mahy seemed a possibility, but he clearly wasn't 'GBC'. The photo wasn't as clear as this one, which I took once the piece arrived, but it was g...

  In 1994, Australian glass visionary Maureen Cahill and coal industry executive Andy Plummer teamed up to establish the (then) Resource Finance Corporation or RFC Glass Prize. It involved an annual monetary prize for a work of glass made by an artist in Australia or New Zealand, with the winning piece being acquired for the Ranamok (formerly RFC) Collection. RFC morphed into Whitehaven Coal, Eureka Corporation and Excel Corporation, and the prize morphed in the Ranamok Prize. The first exhibition was held at the Earth Exchange Museum in Sydney in 1995 and now, in 2014, the 20th Exhibition, being held at the Canberra Glassworks before travelling to Sydney and Brisbane, has been announced to be the last. The Ranamok collection of works by the winners will be donated to the Australian National Gallery in Canberra, which will make it accessible on an ongoing basis. Photo: Kathryn Wightman The Ranamok Prize has provided an opportunity for a veritable Who's Who of Australian and New Zea...

In my last post about Sue Treanor, I mentioned Elizabeth McClure as Lecturer in Glass at Carrington Polytechnic, UNITEC in the 1990s. Elizabeth is someone whose role in New Zealand glass is perhaps less well known. To my shame I recall giving a talk about glass in the 1980s in New Zealand without mentioning her, when she was in the audience! She was very gracious about it, and we subsequently had a good interview, in the course of which I learned a lot. I first saw Elizabeth's work in March 1994, at an exhibition Little Jewels organised in the James Cook Hotel in Wellington by the regrettably short-lived Arts Marketing Board of Aotearoa (AMBA). I purchased this exquisite scent bottle there. It's small and delicate, only 5.2 cm in diameter, and decorated in enamels.  It was made in September 1993 - Elizabeth is meticulous in marking her work detail. The bottle had originally been shown in Making Marks the first solo exhibition of her work after her return to New Zealand, held at...

I recently bought this piece of pâte de verre glass on TradeMe. It was made by Sue Treanor, probably towards the end of the 1990s. Sue exhibited at an exhibition I remember seeing in Parliament in Wellington in 1999, organised by the NZ Society of Artists in Glass as a promotional vehicle, and she also had a show at Avid in Wellington in August 1999. Sue Treanor enrolled for a diploma in glass at UNITEC in 1994, amongst a group of students who became quite  distinguished glass artists. In August 1996 there was an exhibition entitled ‘Maiden glass: UNITEC girlz come out’ at the Glass Arts Gallery in Ponsonby, a regrettably short lived gallery with quite close links to the UNITEC campus at Carrington. As well as Sue Treanor, those exhibiting were Lou Pendergrast, Nicole Lucas, Megan Tidmarsh, Kellee Cook, and Layla Walter. In 1999, Sue Treanor had a piece selected for exhibition at 'International Expo 2' held in Tampa, Florida by the prestigious Glass Art Society of USA. (Former ...

There have been a lot of students of glass in New Zealand since the first tertiary course was established in Whanganui in 1989. While some have gone on to make sustainable careers as professional glass artists, many others stop their glass-making once they finish their studies, or after a few years in the 'real world'.   A collector of glass like me is always delighted to buy a piece by an 'emerging artist' since that person may go on to a significant career. I have a number of pieces in my collection which are early examples by some of today's 'names' in glass - perhaps that might be the subject for a future blog. But equally, I also have pieces that are one of only a few made by a particular person, who did not carry on in glass. I treasure those as well. I first came across the name Nic (for Nicola) Robb in June 2006 when I bought a piece on TradeMe signed 'Nic Robb Feb 89'. Just over 8cm high, it's hardly the greatest piece of glass ever mad...

Recently I had a chance to combine a non-glass related visit to Auckland with seeing several glass exhibitions and activities. Nothing particularly links these things except my participation, but they did provide some acquisitions for my collection. I have divided them up so they don't make too big a blog - this is the third of the series of three.   On my way back north, I called in (as I frequently do) at Burning Issues in Whāngārei . I was keen to see the new gaffer, Keith Grinter, who has taken over following the death of Keith Mahy (see my blog of 17 June 2013).  On his website http://www.keithgrinter.com/ , Keith describes his excitement over his venture:   'On 16th September 2013 I started work in my own glass blowing studio in Whangarei. I had been discussing moving to Whangarei and working with Keith Mahy when he died unexpectedly. A few weeks later I was offered the opportunity of purchasing the studio by Shona Firman. With the help of Garry Nash I st...