Dan Fenton  1950-2012

Dan Fenton has been described as a “walking-talking encyclopedia” for art glass techniques. A pioneer in the field, he established his own stained glass studio in 1969 in the East Bay. Dan combined slumping, fusing, cutting and reassembling, and painting to come up with unique designs and color compositions in a non-traditional style.

Dan taught classes and workshops worldwide, and wrote many articles and books. He went through his many years worth of his notes, and combined the best into these collections. In Dan’s own words, “You will have at your fingertips the wealth of technical knowledge that can only come from years of experimentation and experience.”  Dan was a generous innovative spirit and will be greatly missed.

Here is a list of the books he authored or co-authored:

Pâte de Verre and Kiln Casting of Glass, 1997 Dan Fenton and Jim Kervin

Glass Under Heat  1982-2004
Over 20 years of Dan’s notes on kiln working, including slumping, fusing, firing and annealing, paints, lusters, Pate de Verre, casting, and sources.

Sandblasting on Glass,  Dan Fenton and Kathy Bradford. Over 8 years worth of Dan’s notes on sandblasting, including resists, shading, carving, and equipment.

Kiln Work Problem Solving 
Over 10 years of Dan’s notes on kiln work problem solving, including fusing, firing, annealing, and sources.

Started working in glass in 1978 at Studio One Art Center in Oakland, CA.
www.JanetHiebert.com

Janet Hiebert’s formative years were spent in the mid-western United States. Born in Illinois, living briefly in Iowa and spending fourteen years in Kansas shaped her artistic vision and spiritual values. She studied drawing, painting and ceramics in college at CCA (formerly CCAC) and received a BA in Studio Art from California State University East Bay (formerly Cal State Hayward).

Among her early artistic endeavors are: freelance greeting card writer, designer for the advertising industry, graphic artist, and book illustrator. The last thirty-four years have been devoted to exploring glass starting with stained glass and then evolving into kiln fired glass.

She has studied with noted glass artists, Dan Fenton, Albinas Elskus, Catharine Newell and Richard La Londe. These artists have helped to form and influence her glass art creations.

The past twenty-eight years have been devoted to teaching Stained Glass and Glass Fusing and Slumping in Bay Area art centers. These include: Piedmont Adult School, Walnut Creek Civic Arts, Richmond Art Center, and currently, Studio One Art Center and The Crucible.

Additionally, she has completed numerous stained glass commissions for private residences. She coordinated the Studio One Art Center Gallery for six years and was a partner in Hot Flash Glass Studio in Berkeley, California for seven years.

She is married to Billy Hiebert and they have two sons, Ian and Arlan, and one granddaughter, Meghan. She presently works in her studio to create her personal glass visions and exhibits and sells her work in local galleries.

“Magnolia Parasol”
Janet Hiebert
2010
Kiln Fused and slumped glass imagery with copper embellishments
11” x 11” x 12”

“A Rose Is…”
Janet Hiebert
2007
Fused imagery in multiple layers of kiln fired glass
5” x .5” x 14”

Started working in glass in 1972 at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.
gjercichstudio.blogspot.com

George Jercich graduated from San Jose State University in 1984 with his MFA in Sculpture/Plastic Arts. He currently lives and works on a small farm in rural San Luis Obispo County. Before retiring in 2012, he instructed glassblowing/glassforming/3D design/sculpture courses at Cal Poly SLO for over 35 years. He has travelled the USA/Europe/and Asia seeking experiences in glass including; attended Pilchuck School in 1972, the Interglas Symposium in Novy Bor, Czhecoslovakia in 1988, participated in American/Thai Cultural Exchange Programs in 2002/’05/ and ’08, and has co-instructed glassblowing at Ox-Bow Summer School of the Arts (SAIC) since 1995. George is also the co-founder of the California Glass Exchange.

RECENT EXHIBITIONS/Activities

• April/May ’12 – lessons to 4 glassblowing enthusiasts at my studio in Los Osos, CA
• Live Oak Music Festival exhibiting artist ’12 – Santa Ynez, CA.
• Paso Robles Festival of the Arts = May 2012, Central Coast Sculptors Pavilion
• Arts Encore 2012 – fundraiser for San Marino Art Association, Huntington Library
• Art after Dark – The Aquarium – May 2012 – Alegria Wine and Ware  SLO, CA
• 1^st Phantom Gallery 2012 – Juried – Quaglino Bldg. Downtown SLO, CA.
• Gone Fishin’ One man Installation in the McMeen Gallery at the San Luis Art Museum of SLO – November 2011
• Sculpture SLAM 2011 (Juried) – August – San Luis Obispo Sculptors Group – Art Museum of SLO, CA
• Connections with Nature II – Botanical Gardens of SLO – April – May 2011
• Arts in the Gardens I & II Sage Nursery and Botanical Gardens Exhibit – March  2011 & ‘12 – Los Osos, CA
• Finding Balance 2011 – Bay Area Glass Artists – Village Theatre – Danville, CA.
• Animal Narratives Exhibition (juried) – October 2010 – Art Museum of SLO
• Sculpture IS – May ‘10/’11 – PVAC/Sierra Azul Nursery – Watsonville, CA
• Connections with Nature – March 2010/’11/’12, Botanical Gardens of SLO, CA.
• Facilitated lecture by Dale Chihuly Nov. 30, 2009  at the Spanos Theatre, Cal Poly, SLO
• Elemental/Thai American Exchange Project April 2009 – UAG, Cal Poly, SLO
• 1^st Place cash award (juried) – Central Coast Sculptor’s Group (June 2009) Morro Bay Art Association Gallery, Morro Bay, CA
• 3^rd Place cash award –  Made in California Exhibition (March) 2009 (juried) City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA

“Until”
George Jercich
1994
Glass and mixed media
L = 26’ x w = 8” x h = 8”

“Dear John”
George Jercich
1992
Glass and mixed media
20” x 10” x 11”

Started working in glass in 1975 at California College of Arts and Crafts (now CCA) in Oakland, CA.
www.quepasaglass.com

Bruce Pizzichillo began his glasswork in 1975 at CCAC and finished in 1980 with a BFA in glass.  In 1984 he established Pizzichillo-Gordon Glass Studio with his wife and partner Dari Gordon in Oakland CA, making it the oldest running glassblowing studio in Oakland.

In 1988 he was the recipient of a fellowship to Creative Glass center of America, Wheaton Village, NJ.  Bruce served as President of the non-profit Jazz in Flight, an organization for jazz music production and free children’s music classes from 1999-2005.  His work has been featured in numerous publications and books such as Lark Books’ 500 Glass Objects, as well as being in several private, corporate and museum collections such as Pew Charitable Trust, Philadelphia PA; U.S. Embassy, Ottawa, Canada; Museum of American Glass, Millville, NJ; Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA.  Bruce was featured annually for 17 years in Glass Now, a traveling exhibit of American glass art sponsored by the Yamaha Corporation throughout Japan.

“Fishnet Group”
Bruce Pizzichillo

“Mosaic Incalmo Bowl” 24″
Bruce Pizzichillo

Started working in glass in 1977 at John Kebrle Studio in Dallas, TX and has worked in California for 23 years.
www.petermangan.com

For the last twenty-five years I have made my living as an artist.  My artwork has been shown and collected in the U.S.A., Europe, and Japan.  When I look back on pivotal experiences, certain events come to mind such as:  my apprenticeship at Bullseye Glass Company in Portland, OR, 1983; being a Visiting Artist at the New York Experimental Glass Center, 1988; and traveling around the world in 1996 (NYC, Italy, Egypt, India, Thailand, Bali, Hawaii).  Since 1998, I have had two studios, one in San Francisco, CA and the other in Blanco, TX in the heart of the Hill Country. Living and working in these diverse environments allows me to take on additional challenges and bring my artwork to a wider audience.

“Eternal Couple”
Peter Mangan
2004
glass, copper, steel, brass
38″ x 21″ x 112″

“Rattle Tail”
Peter Mangan
2005
steel and glass
44″ x 44″ x 120″

Started working in glass in 1978 at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, CA.
www.markabildgaard.com

Mark Abilgaard received a B.A. degree in Art from San Francisco State University in 1979 and a M.F.A. degree in Art from the University of Hawaii in 1984.  Since 1986 he has worked in his Northern California studio creating kiln cast sculptures.

“Figure and Me”
Mark Abilgaard

“Ancestor Boat”
Mark Abilgaard
2001
kiln-cast glass
40″ x 34″ x 9″

Started working in glass in 1971.

What my glass tries to say cannot be separated from the forces that are used to create it. Glass becomes what it is made or born to be. I try not to get in the way. To flow with it while I dance along is enough for me.

Micheal Nourot, founding partner of Nourot Glass Studio has been making glass for over 40 years.  He was born January 1949 in Riverside, California. Micheal was one of the first 16 students at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington.  He attended the first  “Session” fall/winter of 1971–72. Working with founder’s Dale Chihuly and Jamie Carpenter, Mr. Nourot designed and helped build the first hot shop at Pilchuck.

Following the Pilchuck experience, Micheal left for Venice, Italy.  There he apprenticed to glass master Checo Ongaro at Venini.  Just a handful of Americans were allowed into the famed Italian glass houses in the 1970’s: Dale Chihuly, Richard Marquis, and Benjamin Moore, included. Formulas for the Nourot glass have their origins from this time.

Micheal’s Light Opera, founded in April 1973,  in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco, was his first studio.  Soon afterward, Micheal Nourot formed a partnership with Ann Corcoran, also a CCAC alumni (whom he married in November ’74).  On August 1, 1974 the Nourot Studio moved to Benicia, California where it is located today. The Nourots have three children, Lois, 31, Nick, 28 and Gabriel, 15.

“Rufled Bowl”
Michael Nourot

“Scarlet Nova Olana Platter”
Michael Nourot

Started working in glass in 1972 with John Zadori, a mercury refiner and laboratory glass instructor, in Los Angeles, CA.
www.aargon-neon.com

Bill Concannon has been working with neon since 1973.

In 1975 he established Aargon Neon making neon sculpture, commercial neon signs, and neon sign props and special effects neon for the motion picture industry, working on projects as diverse as Milk, Basic Instinct, the Star Wars series, and Howard the Duck.  A recent project was the neon signage for the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the de Young Museum.

Bill has worked as an instructor teaching neon sculpture at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco since 2004 and has taught at the Pilchuck Glass School just north of Seattle.

His sculpture has been shown nationally and internationally since 1977.  In 2010-2011 he had a solo show at the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles entitled, “Recycled, Reclaimed, and Reinvented: The Neon Art of Bill Concannon.”

In June of 2008, Bill was invited to present his lecture, “Glass Graphics: The Joy of Signs,” to the Glass Art Society Conference in Portland, OR.

“Blue Boy”
Bill Concannon
2010
Neon and mixed media
28″ x 15″ x 20″

“Cornucopia”
Bill Concannon
2002
Neon and Plastic Shopping Bags
60″ x 54″ x 48″

 Started working in glass in the 1970’s.

www.nourot.com

Ann Corcoran’s formal glassblowing education began under the guidance of Marvin Lipofsky at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Ann graduated with a BFA in 1974. It was in the glass class that Ann met her future husband Micheal Nourot and apprenticed with him at his first studio. In ’74 they formed a business partnership and later that year were married. She applied her many talents to the tasks of designing color patterns with enamels that would become part of their product line, though her knowledge and enjoyment of the glassblower’s art extends far beyond the production of actual glass.