Cast Glass Leaves and the Serenbe Project

I have not posted for a while because I have not remembered to post until right before I go to sleep at night. There has been so much to do. Just wanted to post a short one tonight. On Friday, the Southern Roots Exhibition closes so I will be getting that work back. Decisions have to be made about applying to some future exhibitions. Hope to have some new pictures for the next post. I'm still working hard on the Serenbe Project and have new models ready to invest. It seems as if every minute has been filled.

Cast Glass Leaves

Back to the Serenbe Project: I have been working on the white oak leaf designs, thinking about the sizes and shapes. During this process I collected some white oak leaves and I'm drawing small studies of the leaves. I don't quiet remember who said that " it is in drawing that one sees". Also show in the picture is a sculpted white oak acorn. I continue to study and refine these forms.

Alabama Studio Weekend...Y'all Come!!

This image is the property of Alabama Studio Weekend Website.

Robert Rausch, a designer with whom I'm working on the Serenbe Project, wrote last night and gave me the information about Alabama Studio Weekend. Alabama Studio Weekend is the celebration, advancement, and preservation of Southern culture. This type of celebration is part of the Slow Movement which I talk about sometimes. The three major partners of Alabama Studio Weekend are Alabama Chanin, Billy Reid, and Gas Studio. This is gong to be a great weekend, so be sure and check out all of the links.

I've been re-calculating the number of leaves of each size to be installed on the iron "white oak" tree which is the Serenbe Project. I think I will be increasing the number of different leaves that we will be making so that the tree will look more realistic.

Casting Glass

Today I met with the Bessemer Development Board and they officially gave the "proceed" with the studio building. I hope that this will enable me to have another outlet for teaching. It was a productive meeting and now I have been asked to find other artists who may want to move into the building. They are offering spaces for $50.00 per month....and no that is not a typo.

Cast Glass: More about the Process

Earlier in my blog I had posted about studio work in casting glass. In case you did not visit, it is in my earlier post on March 13, 2008. The next step in the casting is to "dam" the inside and outside walls of the mould box wherever there is a "join". In the earlier posts I had rolled "sausages" of plasticene clay and then took the clay and lined this portion of the box so that the investment (plaster) material would not leak out. It leaks out sometimes because, the wood does not perfectly join. This step is kind of like re-caulking your bathtub. I lay the roll of clay on the crevice and thentake my index finger and run it along the line to make sure that the clay is embedded in the cracks. You can review earlier blogs to find out about the Serenbe Community or go to I will post a couple more process pictures for the casting process on the blog with captions.

I am going to meet the Bessemer Development Board and a contractor at a historic building in Bessemer, Alabama tomorrow afternoon to discuss the rennovation of the building for artist studios. The next step in this process will be to recruit artists who need affordable space. The space will cost approximately $50.00 for 200-250 sf at this point. That is very reasonable and the project is exciting. I hope to do most of the mold pouring and pattern making in this building. So far, I do not have that many interns. Hopefully, I will get more responses to my ad. If everything works out, I plan to move my studio to this building later in the summer.


I had the pleasure of visiting with my friend Debra Riffe today. I enjoy our "Salon" sessions and encouragement as well as constructive criticisms of different things that are happening with our careers. It is great to have her as a friend . Her web site can be found in my "Salon" section on the right hand side of the blog. Because studio work is so often done alone, it is great to get feedback from others and hear what they are doing. Debra is teaching a session this Saturday on linoleum block printing and I plan to attend the session (because I missed the one last fall) with my friend Julian Hazlett, who is another very talented artist.


Other than The Serenbe Project, I talked with the Alabama Folk School director, Megan Huston today about the classes I will teach this summer. These classes are listed on the right side of the blog and I hope I will have enough students to register. The classes will be fun and Megan and I discussed blogging from the class and posting some pictures of the classes. I look forward to teaching and enjoy it very much.

The Slow Life

I haven't written since March 13. My husband and I left town to visit our farm in Tennessee for some much needed rest and relaxation. It was wonderful to be in slow motion and now I have to get back into the "groove" of things. Although we did have work to do, it was a very different pace. When I need to "fill my well" and recharge my creativity this is where I go when I am at the farm: http://www.donnabranch.com/sanctuary.html When I cannot go there in reality, I can visit that special place virtually. I call this place my secret sanctuary. My secret sanctuary is always featured on my web site, so if you want to visit often just go to http://www.donnabranch.com/sanctuary.html

Cast Glass and "The Serenbe Project"/Inside the Studio

Today I wanted to show more of the process of "The Serenbe Project"http://www.serenbe.com/. I have posted an ad for interns. Last week I was contacted by the Redevelopment Authority of a small town located near where I live and they wanted to offer me space in a building that they will use as studios. The Auburn Rural Architectural Studio http://jcsm.auburn.edu/whatsHappen/RuralStudio.html has completed a plan for the arts district in Bessemer, Alabama. This was good news for me, because I knew if my intern project was successful, I would soon be out of space. I am meeting with the director of the project tomorrow and hopefully will be able to use the space if interns want to work at their leisure. This space will be invaluable to me.


The first thing that I will do is to work out a prototype in order to define the process. The mold material that I had originally intended to use is not refirable, so I have ordered a material that is refirable. In a large project like this, the expense of using a material that is non-refirable would be prohibitive.


In the photo above, I am rolling out "sausages" in order to "dam" the mold box. This ensures that the investment material will not "leak" between crevices in the mold box. After the mold box was made, it was shellacked. The mold box is a minimum of 2 inches larger than my pattern. The pattern is made of No. 1 Plasticene and after you get the material warm, it is fairly easy to work with. Plasticene is an oil-based clay which does not dry. That means that it is reuseable as long as it does not have mold material embedded in it.

Cast Glass Leaves and Internships for the Serenbe Project

Internships are available for the Serenbe Project http://www.serenbe.com/. The following is the ad that will be distributed beginning tomorrow.

Internships available

Award winning glass artist, Donna Branch, Tara GlassArt Studio, is taking applications from individuals who wish to serve as interns on a project known as “The Serenbe Project”. Serenbe is a planned, sustainable, green community located 32 miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia (http://www.serenbe.com/).

The Serenbe Project will entail the casting of glass leaveshttp://www.donnabranch.com/ and the installation of the leaves on an iron “white oak tree”. The project is to be installed in late October 2008.

An Applicant can be any age or level in their artistic experience and does not have to be a professional artist; interns only need to possess a good work ethic and a passion for learning. An internship could be accomplished with only a few hours per week and can be done at the interns own home/studio in the first phase. Interns may work on any phase of the project or the entire Project.

Experience gained by this internship will be knowledge of project organization, pattern making, mold making, making glass frit (crushed glass pieces), firing & cooling schedules, installation, experience in a public art project, and general studio practices.

If interested, please contact Donna Branch at donnabranch@taraglassart.com or 205.477.6661

You may visit The Artist web site at http://www.donnabranch.com/

You may read about The Serenbe Project at http://www.donnabranchglassstudio.blogspot.com/

This ad will also be posted on the first page, right hand side, of the blog throughout the project

Slow Movement....So, What is it?

According to Wikipedia, the Slow Movement first began when a protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome inspired the creation of the Slow Food organization.

The Slow Food Movement is part of the larger Slow Movement which has existed in some form since the industrial revolution. According to http://theworldinstituteofslowness.com/aboutus.html the slow movement is the perfect antidote for the poison of our current hurried, fast world and a great way to get in touch with oneself.

If you are unsure where to start, start slowly, and be sure to check here, http://theworldinstituteofslowness.com/aboutus.html. The slow lifestyle is whatever you make of it. So, take some pieces of it and integrate into your lifestyle and discard others that do not work well for you.

For instance, the slow food movement heralds the enjoyment of regional flavors, regional produce and celebrates traditional regional foods, which are often grown organically. An interesting organization in the slow food movement is Southern Foodways Alliance, http://www.southernfoodways.com/ and of course, they celebrate "The Cornbread Nation", as every Southerner does.

I encourage everyone to learn about this movement and ways that we can improve our relationships, our families and our planet. It is very important that we all realize that by becoming a slow energy saver, we can focus on what we need to do relative to evergy saving to reduce energy use and pollution.

It's easy, remember, just start the slow movement with yourself....by downshifting.

http://www.slowmovement.com/

The Slow Movement...So What's NEW In the South?

The Slow Movement web site identifies the slow movement as a "movement which aims to address the issue of "time poverty" through making a connection." The South has finally arrived.

http://www.slowmovement.com/

A lot of people are wondering "why" the slow movement. What is going on with people? Why are we so stressed? Why is everyone so irritable?

Everybody needs connections. We need connections to family, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. We need connections to community, to neighbors. Not to long ago people were very connected. Where I grew up, the family backyard was a regular meeting place. Many families grew their own food. What happened? Our society has become so face paced that we are constantly rushing off to the next meeting, next task, next errand. What are we doing? The Slow Movement http://www.slowmovement.com/is a growing cultural shift toward slowing down...downshifting as it were.

Southerners, I think, have always experienced "the slow life" to a greater extent. Now, it is nice that the rest of the world is catching on. http://www.donnabranch.com/

The Serenbe Project & Cast Glass Leaves

In preparation for The Serenbe Project, today I ordered new relays for two of my ovens and investigated casting materials and decided to use Castelot from Olympic Color Rods, http://www.glasscolor.com/ Olympic Color & Supplies were great and very helpful on the phone. Castelot is an investment material for glass casting http://www.glasscolor.com/casting/castalot_sheet.aspx

Also I have written an ad for internships for this project. This will be an important part of the project and I hope that it will offer artists who have a passion for learning an opportunity to explore the anatomy of a project like The Serenbe Project. http://www.serenbe.com/ if anyone is interested in a Serenbe Internship, they can reach me at donnabranch@taraglassart.com

Turn Your Passion into Profits

On Saturday I attended a wonderful seminar entitled "Turn Your Passion into Profits". There was so much discussed it made my head spin. My friend Julian Hazlett and I rode together. Once there, my very good friend, Debra Riffe, met us. Debra is an extraordinarily talented individual who creates original linoleum block relief prints and needlepoint art which also contains her designs. Her images are fantastic and can be found at http://www.driffedesign.com/ Debra can also be found on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5005930 I thought that was very smart and like the idea of Etsy. Julian's work is at www.home.earthlink.net/~julianhazlett/maxie and he creates amazing tiles with women's faces. He is very talented and I enjoy his friendship so much. It is great to have good friends with whom you can discuss ideas and get other opinions. Julian, Debra and I have discussed starting a Salon. We talked about that may be one way that we could stay more focused and accomplish more. I like the idea. That is one of the things that was stressed in the seminar on Saturday....to make sure that you have a good support group...one that you know will be honest with you about your work, goals, decisions. We learned so much. As I had previously written, I have really been working hard toward honing my business skills as an artist. As my time at my day job winds down, it is time to learn everything I can about doing an excellent job as a businessperson. Sometimes this is mindboggling to me. There is always this juggling act and so many hats to wear. Below is part of what we learned at the seminar which was sponsored by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham Alabama. http://www.cultural-alliance.com/ The staff of the Cultural Alliance is very helpful and they are so intent on seeing the area artists succeed.

Michael Bell and Bradford Kachelhofer from The Modern Brand, LLC presented at the workshop and they were very knowledgeable. They can be found at http://www.themodernbrand.com/ They were very enthusiastic and had a lot to offer. We learned that you are your number one salesperson...that you represent your art...to inform people about your art at every opportunity; the importance of networking; determining your audience; printing resources and web resources press releases.

It is very difficult to take care of everything when you are the studio owner.....then there is working full time. It is very difficult, but you have to keep your eyes toward your goal, do one thing at a time, and full steam ahead....and no, there are not enough hours in the day. Debra Riffe and I discuss this often. She is a great friend because she thinks critically and doesn't mind being "the devil's advocate". We bounce ideas off of each other and talk about keeping each other focused.

Today, on Monday, I had the pleasure to hear Truett Cathey, Founder of Chik-Fil-A. It was an amazing speech and was very uplifting. Birmingham Southern College, Samford University and University of Alabama in Birmingham Business Schools sponsored his visit. Mr. Cathey spoke of his convictions, both religious and moral. We were greeted at the doors with "the cows" and it was great. He spoke of living your convictions everyday, treat people like you want to be treated, and go the extra mile. It was a great lesson in business and in life. I came away from the luncheon, truly inspired to be a better person.

During this time that I have focused on business a little more, I have realized that I must develop other items so that I will have different price points. I think this is what the value of the Serenbe Commission will be because I will have the opportunity to discover. Now, I am designing smaller pieces. I am not finished with the designs, but am very excited about the prospect of this and it will be good for business.

Workshops I will Teach at the Alabama Folk School

If you will look to the right of this post, I have listed the workshops that I will be teaching this summer, as of this date. I'm really looking forward to teaching and love doing it. I'm also working on the news release for Serenbe http://www.serenbe.com/ and will post as soon as it is completed. I've been looking for someone to work with me on my web site and I have found a couple of people that I believe will do a good job. My friend Debra also has been looking for someone and we shared the name of the guy that will help me. We often share resources. It is great to have a good friend with whom you can talk. Sometimes just by talking with someone else the solution becomes crystal clear. The link to the Alabama Folk School is: http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/ Check it out!!

The Serenbe Project

I am very excited to announce that I will be collaborating with a designer and another artist on The Serenbe Project. Serenbe is a "green" sustainable community and you can learn more about it here: http://www.serenbe.com/ The community is located about 32 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia. Here is a map describing the location. We have been awarded this commission to build an entrance way to the Serenbe Property Development offices. Serenbe wanted something that was more like a landmark than a sign. The project will be located on the corner of Selborne Lane and Garny Way and will grace an open breezeway. The project is to build a "gateway" which will resemble a white oak tree. The white oak will be adorned with glass leaves.

I am very excited about this project and hope that it will help in building my springboard for leaving my day job in about 1 1/2 years. It is often frustrating when you want to be in the studio all day creating, but work a full time job. Basically what you end up doing is working two full time jobs. Anyway, I'm very excited about creating full time in a short while. My Mom always says "to every thing there is a season" and I do my best to remember that. I have worked extremely hard for the past five years to move my career forward. You can check out my work and my web site at http://www.donnabranch.com/

Since I have been devoting more of my attention this year to the business side of an art studio, today I drafted a news release for The Serenbe Project. I will be posting the news release here after the designer and the other artist "sign off" on it. Robert Rausch, an award winning designer, whose studio is in Tuscumbia, Alabama, contacted me to ask if I would be interested in the project. Naturally, I was thrilled that Robert wanted my involvement in the project. We are working with a blacksmith, Jason Smith, from Alabama. You can visit Robert Rausch's web site at: Stellar Idea http://www.stellaridea.com/ and GAS http://www.gasphoto.net/ Hopefully, I will have a web site in the next couple of days for the blacksmith and can post his link. Over the next few days and months, I will be posting often about the development of the Serenbe Project.

"The Laramie Project"

This writing ties into what I was writing about in my previous blog about the many talented people in Alabama. I wanted to write tonight about the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Theatre's presentation of "The Laramie Project" written by Moises Kaufman , members of the Tectonic Theater Project, and directed by UAB student Luke Harlan. The show will run February 20-23 at 7:30pm and at 2pm on February 24, in the Alys Stephens Center's Sirote Theatre.

You can find all of the details here: http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=116374 which is the site of the press release from the University. The Laramie Project was written in reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The play is based on hundreds of interviews with the town's citizens. Please use the link to read about the awards that this young director has won.

I had planned to go with my friend Julian, who paints these wonderful tiles, see the tiles at www.home.earthlink.net/~julianhazlett/maxie to see "The Laramie Project" tonight, but have taken a cold and sore throat. I'm very disappointed that I will not be able to go because after the play, the cast will hold a discussion about the making of the production. Cliff Simon, who is also a friend of mine, is the set designer and hopefully he will be a guest blogger one evening. It would be great to hear about his process of creating the set for this play, what he was thinking, and how he arrived at his designs. His site can be found here http://www.cliffcakes.com/sets/ Cliff is very talented guy and we are very fortunate to have him teaching at the University. Visit the Sets Website at:http://home.earthlink.net/~set-designer/sets/

Perhaps this blog will be a place where there can be a dialog about the issues explored by the play. If anyone sees the blog, please feel welcome to post a comment. I hope there will be a post by someone who attended the play and the discussion afterwards.

Teaching at the Alabama Folk School

As I wrote the other night, I will be teaching at the Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, Alabama. Camp McDowell has been a camp and conference center for the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Alabama. Since 1948, people of all faiths and walks of life have used it as a place to rest, learn, grow, worship and play.

In 2007 The Alabama Folk School was added to the Camp McDowell offering and I am truly honored and excited to have the opportunity to go there to teach during Summer of 2008. It is an 1100 acre playground of forests, canyons, and waterfalls. Located in the northeastern quadrant of Alabama http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/Directions.htm the Alabama Folk School promises some wonderful scenary. Megan Huston, Director of the School, is great to work with and if that is any indication, we will have a great class. It has been a longtime puzzlement to me how Alabama can have so many talented natives and yet, for a long time had no folk school. I am very glad about this. I will write about Alabama natives on another post. sometime.

I will teach two classes. Each class is one week, and June 22 - 27, I will teach "Let's Kick Some Glass!!" and it will entail all of the basics of how to work in kilnformed glass. The class does not require prerequisites and will include basic design theory and basic studio practices. Glass selection, glass cutting and grinding, and firing schedules will be covered. I hope that we will have a good reception to the class and I think it will be fun.

The second class, August 24-29, will be Mosaics: Telling a Story or Painting a Picture with Stones, Twigs, glass and ceramic tiles, broken china, yarn and anything else we can find.

That is a long title, but I want anyone who reads this to be inspired and motivated to come and spend a week with us. This class is going to be a blast! At this point, I plan to lead the class on some walks around the campus to find unusual materials that they can use. I have not completely decided on each and every project and I may give a choice of projects. Hopefully, we will have time to conquer a class project that we can leave at the school as contribution. Each person will leave with at least one (large) project or a couple of smaller projects.

The last class that I taught was at the Birmingham Museum of Art. http://www.artsbma.org/ and, yes, when you go to the main page, that is a glass gallery. More on that at another time.

Where I will be Teaching this Summer

Just a quick post today. I am posting a photo of a piece of my work. The title of the piece is Relic of a Memory No. l and it is cast, kilnformed, carved with battuto, sandblasted and acid-etched.

Just got word that I will be teaching at the Alabama Folk School this summer. Please join me in a later post for announcement of the dates and titles of the classes. You can visit the Alabama Folk School here:http://www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool/ You can visit my web site at http://www.donnabranch.com/

February 14

This is my first blog post and I'm glad I finally started my own blog. Lately I've been working on my business plan. That means looking for demographics, market segments, defining customers and doing a lot of writing. Tomorrow the Birmingham Business Journal, http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/ is going to publish an article about me doing my business plan. At a workshop organized by the Cultural Alliance, http://www.cultural-alliance.com/ I was asked if I would mind being contacted by Birmingham Business Journal so that they could do a feature article on me. Of course, I was thrilled to talk with the editor of the paper. She was very nice and complimentary during the interview and made it a fun time. Anyone who works in the arts knows how important it is to obtain good publicity. It just happened by being in the right place at the right time and having a previous relationship! It is very encouraging when something like that happens. Sometimes, it is hard to remember that it is important to constantly work on this part of the studio when you would rather be in the other part studio. I'm looking forward to the article.