The Serenbe Project: Installed

Photograph: Copyright Robert Rausch GAS Design Center 2008, All Rights Reserved

The Serenbe Project, which was the building of a 12-foot white oak tree, graced with 175 cast glass leaves was installed on October 31, 2008. Robert Rausch of Gas Design Center, Tuscumbia, Alabama, designed the project, Jason Smith, a blacksmith from Decatur Georgia, created the iron tree blacksmith and I created the cast glass leaves. The project resulted in a beautiful installation and it is so gratifying to collaborate with two other very gifted artists! The project is permanently installed next door to The Hil Restaurant on Selbourne Lane and graces the entranceway leading to the Serenbe property offices.

Serenbe, is a nationally acclaimed sustainable community located 32 miles southwest of Atlanta in Palmetto Georgia. The New York Times featured Serenbe in its' Travel section on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Thank you to my good friend, Julian Hazlett, calling this to my attention. Cottage Living named Serenbe on of its' 2008 Top Ten Neighborhoods.

The beautiful glass leaves in the picture were made from Bullseye Glass of Portland, Oregon. Many thanks to them, especially Geraldine Gladden, for providing such a fine glass to cast, and great customer service. Thanks also to Olympic Color, who provided valuable information about the mold material. The process of making the leaves is shown here.

A funny thing happened during the installation. We had arrived in Serenbe the afternoon before the installation in order to preview the site and make sure we had all of the tools we needed. Since we were not familiar with the area, we thought we might stay at the Farmhouse at Serenbe, however, the F-350 (which was packed to the gills) would not make the turning radius between the split rail fences. This called to mind a quote from Henry Halem, one of the founders of the Glass Art Society, who says something to the effect that "you can always tell the glass artists, because they are the ones with trucks". Maybe, another time at the Farmhouse, because it is such a beautiful setting definitely worth returning to enjoy.

Copyright Robert Rausch Gas Design Center 2008, All Rights Reserved

Interview/Podcast Tonight with Local NPR Station, WBHM 90.3FM

I announced on Tuesday that I would have an interview aired tonight, at 6:30pm CST on the local NPR Station, WBHM 90.3FM.

The interview did mention that there were 33 or 35 leaves. There are 175 leaves!!

Before I'm off to sign more leaves....a total of 175!.....I wanted to post the link for the podcast. Enjoy. https://www.wbhm.org/Tapestry/

Interview on "Tapestry" on NPR/WBHM 90.3, October 23

An interview on "Tapestry" on the local NPR station WBHM 90.3 will be aired on October 23, 2008, at 6:30 pm. The interview about The Serenbe Project was taped at the studio, so there is a good bit of "raw" sound and I think it will be entertaining.

There should be a picture on the WBHM website that shows a real limb that I found on which I installed some of the Serenbe leaves.

Hope you enjoy.

35 Days: Serenbe Installation

35 Days Until Serenbe Installation: This weekend I started to clean the cast leaves by smoothing them on the lathe and diamond wheel. When I get them the way I like them, I will sign and date each leaf.

Hopefully I will be able to get some shots of the lathe work as well as the application of the signature and the finished leaves.

The majority of the leaves (about 120 of them) are between 7-8 inches and the remaining 30 leaves are various sizes from 3 -10 inches. There will only be a couple of 10 inch leaves.
The portion of the project that entails producing the leaves nears completion. As I discussed earlier, the installation will take place on October 30-31. We will begin early the morning of October 30 and work until the installation is complete.

53 days: More on the Glass Studio

This is the latest post on the studio processes regarding The Serenbe Project. I talked with Robert Rausch this morning and we have decided that we will be installing on October 30-31. I can't wait to see the leaves in the natural light. It will be beautiful!

Go here for my lastest post about the studio

http://donnabranchglassstudio.blogspot.com/2008/08/cast-glass-serenbe-project-installation.html

Ten Basic Steps for Making Cast Glass Leaves: Serenbe Installation: 59 days

I loaded ovens this evening. It took a while to get the glass loaded into the moulds. So, here is the process. I will post more pictures of the process in a future post, probably tomorrow.

1. Make an original model or pattern
2. Invest (pour) plaster into the mould (creates negative space in which to put glass)
3. Remove the pattern material
4. Dry the mould
5. Apply kiln wash to the mould & cure
6. Wash and dry the glass that will be used
7. Determine how much glass it will take to fill the mould (on a future post)
8. Weigh the glass
9. Fill the mould
10. Fire the kiln

60 days: The Serenbe Project

After the Bullseye glass cullet is washed and dryed, I store it like this next to the kiln and the scale so that when I get ready to weigh the glass, I can load the scales, weigh the glass and load the mould from the same place. Also, I don't have to move the moulds as they are very heavy.



















This is Bullseye casting cullet on the left and Bullseye casting billets on the right. Bullseye is some of the best glass made. The billets have been cut on the wet saw, then washed, then stored


















Ok, if the cullet is too large, it has to be made smaller and I do this with a sledge hammer and a garbage compactor bag (because they are thick bags). Safety glasses are a must.


















I'm crushing the glass a bit here to make it smaller. The very small frit I use to help secure the wire.

What I thought would be a good idea was to blog about the remainder of the time from now until installation at Serenbe. There is somewhere around 60 days left until installation and today is DAY 60.

Tonight I applied kiln wash to the new 21" diameter mould and the wash will cure at 500 deg. I left the lid of the kiln propped open until it reaches around 120 and then I will completely close it. Another oven is just about ready to be unloaded (leaves). I added some amber color to these leaves. I left the lid open a bit on this oven also so that it would cool about 10 more degrees. Then I will remove the leaves from the mould, reload the mould and fire again.

Glass Studio Processes and The Serenbe Project

These moulds pictured are still for The Serenbe Project. Take a minute and visit the Serenbe Community, it is a delightful place. After the clay model is removed from the glass mould, the moulds have to be checked to make sure there are no undercuts (places where the glass can become lodged). This pictures on the blog tonight show how I finish the moulds.

You can see the greenish gray area on the top edge of the mould. That is leftover clay that has to be removed. I finish removing the clay, and sand down the glass moulds

This is how I finish the edges and remove the remaining clay.

I then brush out the mould to make sure that it is clean before taking a warm damp rag to go over it one more time.

After the mould is cleaned like this, it is ready to be placed in the kiln to be force-dried.

I found these cool little paintbrushes at Harbor Freight Tools. They are good for a lot of things in the studio and they are so inexpensive, I just throw them away!

At this point, the mould is still very wet. The plaster material with which I invest the mould has a very short working time (under 10 minutes on a cooler day). This means that most days in the South, you better have your plan together when you begin to mix, because on a 95 degree day with high humidity, the working time is more like 5-6 minutes. I still like this material very much.

These glass leaves will be installed at Serenbe in late October.

Cast Glass and The Serenbe Project

A quick post tonight because I have to get back to work. Last post, I discussed the problem with the wires as the glass becomes molten. I came up with a solution, which was great! Here are a couple of pictures that I took right after these leaves came out of the kiln tonight. The important thing was that the wire extend from inside the glass in the middle not on the edge where the glass is thinner. It worked!

This mould is the round one to fit the kiln. It has been force-dried and is ready to be cured at 1475 degrees for this kiln.

Tara GlassArt Studio and "Reality Life" = Blogging

Although there have been no posts here, this does not mean that I have not been busy. Indeed, I have. For the past several days, I have been searching and reviewing other blogging platforms (I hope to share that info for others). There have been other features that I have been wanting to use on my blog that are not possible with blogger (at least the free version). So, I went on a search and read and read and read. I think I'm ready to make a change, but sometimes it is what the techies don't tell you that is most important. Anyway, I have to take the risky attitude of nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I hope you will take a leap over to the Tara GlassArt Studio blog. All things equal, I will start posting at the Tara GlassArt Studio blog tonight. This new blog also provides my own URL and more exposure for the blog. The blogger blogspot will be left up so that this link will be provided and hopefully we will have more people taking part in discussions.

Tara GlassArt Studio blog, I think will be more "real". After all, isn't blogging really "reality life" in writing. One thing that I hope will be enjoyed is that I have installed a blog casting feature and will be using that as often as I can. That freature will make it "real" and also provides us with more of what I call "texture" in our lives. If I can learn the technical part of the blogcast, I will provide a blogcast from the Alabama Folk School, the week of June 22, when I go there to teach and to learn from my students.

So, as they say down South, saunter on over to Tara GlassArt Studio blog and take a gander. It will be fun. And, please tell me what you think!

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I received an email today from Bob Straka that contained the following story and I wanted to share the story and give Bob credit for a super challenge : pass it on

'With graduation season in full swing, it’s an opportune time to sample some wisdom from Steve Jobs, who gave the commencement address at Stanford University in June 2005. Here’s a snippet from what he told the students that day.

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Thanks, Bob.

May 6, 2008 Cast Glass, Carved,

I am still going through exhibition applications and trying to make decisions. Had to pick up work today, as an exhibition closed on last Friday. Also have some correspondence to write then I will be done for the evening. It has been a long day.

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 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

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

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!!

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.