Inspired by Narcissus Quagliata

Bonnie Faulkner Kiln formed glass

I recently attended a kiln glass class at Bullseye Glass Center in Mamaroneck, NY that was taught by someone that I've always wanted to meet, glass artist Narcissus Quagliata.  The fact that I got to study with him was phenomenal, and I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity.  I am a good student and tend to ask a zillion questions and push the envelope of instruction a little.  The 5 days flew by, I wanted 50 more!

Someone gave me an old soft cover book that Narcissus wrote in the 70's relating to his stained glass.  There was something about his sense of design and subject matter that interested me.  Was it the simplicity? Or was it that he this painterly quality to the pieces he made.  He began his art career as a watercolor artist, and has transformed glass in ways that are breathtaking, all due to his watercolor background.

He had us 'moving' glass using gravity and the heat from the kiln.  We learned not to be afraid of trial and error, do it again if it doesn't work. 

Narcissus calls these "sliders" and this is my first one.

We layered colorful glass in a way that would melt down into other colors and shapes of glass.  One they were fired, we admired, oohed and ahhed about each one and learned what different shapes and positions glass took after firing.

We then used Ferro Enamels to paint on the slider to get even more interesting effects.

The process was right up my alley as I love to discover new ways to make layers of glass work.  These "sliders" are beautiful all by themselves, but can be cut up and refired in a plethora of ways.

Narcissus critiquing our work after firing.  His suggestions were always helpful and insightful.

Boiano Baker was a frequent stop for me!  It was a treat to walk over and get some delicious Italian pastries.

It's Not All About Glass...

Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere, even text.  Letter forms have been an integral part of my life since I wrote my first name in lower case letters on all our wooden furniture.  Much to the dismay of my father, the detailed woodworker, his antiques apparently all belonged to me!  

Little did my father know that those scribblings would captivate me for a lifetime!  Calligraphy became an important part of my artistic voice and soon pen marks were reserved for paper, not grandmother's jam cupboard door.

As part of this month's Portland, Maine First Friday Art Walk, 2 friends and I put our crazy art heads together and came up with a show that incorporates layers of text.  Texting is a new modern voice that has one specific meaning.  Our #textmessage show incorporates my love of calligraphic letterforms transformed into mandalas; Berri Kramer's layered encaustic wax paintings, and Susan Wilder's acrylic paintings of Kanji. (An Asian form of calligraphy).

The show is up through the month of July.  Come check it out, it's pretty interesting.  Heron Point Gallery is open Thursday-Saturday from 11am-5pm or by appointment.  The next art walk is Friday, July 3rd from 5-8pm.  Maybe we'll see you there?

Gallery Exhibitions 2015 

Spring, new website & gallery shows!

Spring.  It is here?  It certainly has been dragging it's feet in this part of the world.  No complaints because it'll be an ocean full of mosquitos or black flies soon enough.  Maine is always generous with season changes.

Amidst the changing of seasons, it seemed like a good time to revamp my website.  It's just the beginning.  As a self employed artist, you end up doing everything to run a business and I finally found a web design company that had an easy interface for me to keep my site updated.  It's not perfect, and there's much more to do, but for now I'm happy.  Please check it out!  I welcome constructive criticism and feedback, so thanks.

Faulkner Glass

Heron Point Gallery has a fresh coat of paint on the upstairs gallery walls and a new oriental carpet on the floor in preparation for the upcoming shows.  I'm really excited about what we're offering this summer and fall.

June 5th kicks off the season with #textmessage, paintings by Bonnie Faulkner, Berri Kramer and Susan Wilder: Embedded Text in Layers and Patterns.  August 6th I'm honored to be showing a retrospective show of Elena Jahn's work.  As some of you know, Elena passed away last fall and I'm working with her children, Lisa and Erik, to put this show together.
October 2nd starts the show of my new mandala pieces called Emerging.  It's a show of new glass techniques and ideas that are just breaking ground.  December finds us sharing arts and crafts by various local artists for the holidays. 

Memorial Day Weekend is just around the corner.  The official beginning of summer in Maine.
Let's hope it's a good one!

Life After The Masters!

Fused Glass Star, B.Faulkner 2014

I'm giving myself a glass star for successfully completing my Masters Degree in Fine Arts.  It was five years in the making, and wow, does it feel ever so good to have completion.

So, what's next?  More glass of course!  It never ends, this learning process, and really I wouldn't have it any other way.  The glass work I did for my masters focused on the mandala and the heroine's journey.  I see myself continuing on with those two elements and expanding the technique and process.  There is so much I want to create and so many ideas spinning around in my head.  The ideas come faster than my hands can work though, so, much sketching in the journal and sketchbooks to keep them near.  I am working on some painting with glass and experimenting with that technique and firing processes.  It's unending the directions I could go.

I have reopened my Portland, Maine gallery, Heron Point Gallery, where I am exhibiting my fused glass work.  Fused glass Mandalas are on display and for sale, as well as my jewelry and glass bowls.  Heron Point Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday to give me time in the studio for design and creation the rest of the week.  There is a special element to the gallery this year where I'll be featuring the work an artist friend of mine who recently passed away.  More information on this to follow.

I'll share some of the photos that speak to what I've been doing since graduation in December.  To celebrate, my husband took me on a trip through the Panama Canal on a cruise ship.  Yes, I'm a lucky girl :)

This is a collection of some of the calligraphed mandalas I created during our winter vacation to the Panama Canal.  Pencil, colored pencil and watercolours.  These incorporate words or letters that are first drawn and then enhanced with color and design.  I still draw a mandala every day.

Going through the locks of the Panama Canal.  Wow.  I can't say enough about how fascinating this was for me.  Our ship took about 2 hours to get through the locks.  There was no room to spare on the port or starboard side!

Back home after the warmth of Panama to find more snow, and more snow.  I took this shot one day as I was driving around the coast enjoying the scenery.  This is in Freeport, Maine at Winslow Park.  The color of the water reminded me of the islands we visited en route to Panama, but that's about all the connection.

A glorious day spent at the Boston Design Center on a tour with my niece, Amy, to the various inspirational design shops.  This is a display board in a rug shop that I was drawn to.  My friends Berri and Susan came with me and our brains were on inspiration overload so we had to go to the North End and eat some delicious Italian food to get our strength back.

One of my latest dichroic glass pendants.  In this piece I have created some of my own dichroic design right in the glass and then layered more on top.  This piece has been fired 3 times in the kiln.  I don't know if I can bear to part with it.  I've been in production mode with jewelry pieces getting ready for the summer tourists.  Let's hope they all need some dichroic bling!

As I type this, James Taylor's "The secret of life" is playing on Pandora...it's all about enjoying the passing of time, and that's what this photo speaks to.  A delightful afternoon coffee in our sunny window with my husband.  I think there were some Italian anise cookies on the plate at one point.

That's enough for now.  Time to catch up on some gallery dusting!

MFA Graduation!!!!

It's hard to believe that 5 years have passed since I started the Master of Fine Arts degree program at Heartwood College of Art in Biddeford, Maine. 

Our graduation ceremony is on January 30th where each of us five that are graduating will give a brief presentation of our thesis project.  The title of the show is, "Masters In The Studio", which is where we've all spent countless hours each week for the last five years working towards this final goal.  My final project is a series of glass mandala books, keeping with the theme of the Heroine's Journey.

...the important meetings at the seaside...

Here are some fond memories from this experience with some amazing artists!

...being surrounded by much talent...

...adventures at the museum...

...the seriousness of the work...

...the need for sustenance and cooperation...

...that old school charm...

...the endless round table meetings...

...the need to test menus...

....and our fearless leaders!  Thank you.

This experience and these pod mates and leaders have enriched my life in ways that I don't even realize yet.  It's been an experience of a lifetime on a journey with people whom I now call friends.  The president of Heartwood College, Berri Kramer, says it best...

"Heartwood College of Art is committed to the concept of art as a conversation. This conversation is a form of self-expression that blooms much more surely and joyfully with the support and feedback of fellow artists. Within a community of artists--both teachers and students--an exhilarating sustainable energy generates new ideas, new dialogues, new horizons". 

We have had amazing conversations throughout our five years as pod mates, some conversations were life-changing, others pushed us to places we hadn't been before.

So what's next?  Where do I go from here?  Make art.  Make art. Make art.  That's about it...oh, and run a gallery, teach, help operate a restaurant, travel, and keep my husband out of trouble!

Thanks, Heartwood!  :)

Wilder Nightingale Fine Art, Taos, New Mexico

It's been an exciting few weeks as realization sets in that I am going to Taos, New Mexico!  My fused glass mandalas have been juried in to the Taos Insitute of Glass Art Biennial Show in October.  As I've never been to Taos or Sante Fe, I'm looking forward to everything...including visits to anything Georgia O'Keefe.

This show comes at the end of my MFA journey as well.  We graduate in December...a mere 5 years after that first alphabet project was assigned.  In many ways it feels I have come full circle with the creation of the new thesis work.  No pun intended, but the circular mandalas are once again going to make an appearance, this time in book form. I don't want to give too much away but I'm pretty excited about what's happening in my studio.

Thanks for watching the video.  I'm honored to be in such good company and I look forward to meeting all the amazing glass artists there are in the show.

Help! I'm being held captive in a print studio and I can't get out!

So.  Where did those 5 hours go?  I was supposed to be outside weeding the garden.  But the weeds looked so pretty, and the gel was calling...these are all 

12 x 18".  

Oh the layers...it's good practice for glass.  

Layers.  I love them.