News Izumi glass studio
～ Gifts of Color from Nature・Colors of Crepe Myrtle and Japanese Mustard Flowers ～
The mornings and evenings are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. It feels as if autumn is already here. Today's newsletter is about how I produce or create works of glass art. The first thing to decide when creating a work is the image. If there is a theme for the exhibition, I would like to express it concretely, for example: poison, box, or red. If there is no theme or order, I would like to use seasonal or abstract images. If there is no theme or order, I decide the shape and the color at the same time based on the season, an abstract image, or a musical image.
With the technique I use, it is quite difficult to make a piece of artwork that is taller.
I wanted to try my hand at making a piece that would have height, so I usually use the slumping technique, but this time I used the sagging technique.
The glass drips down from the heat in the absence of a mold, so it takes on a natural shape.
It is always a challenge because even if the height is achieved, the balance between diameter and height does not make a beautiful form, the thickness of the glass needs to be adjusted, and the way it stretches varies depending on the color. So far my best is 17 cm, but my goal is 25 cm.
The colors of vases look strongly colored, but sometimes I am surprised to see that some colors in nature are also strongly colored. The colors of the glass materials I use are named after colors from the natural world that are easy to imagine. For example, yellow is canary yellow, sunflower, or marigold. In this vase, the same kind of pink is used, but in pink, the color of the flowers of the salisbury, and in salmon pink, the color of the flowers of the yabugarashi (a type of Japanese pepper).
It was a new discovery that a vase with a spring-like image coincided with the color of flowers at this time when summer and autumn come and go.
I like natural flowers and enjoy the goodness of feeling the seasons throughout the year through the flowers in my garden that are only available at that certain times of the year. I think about what will bloom next, and the flowers that bloomed today make me feel the seasons, and end up being blooming into a conversation. The morning glories in our garden do not bloom in summer, but at the end of summer, which is technically autumn according to the calendar.
The other day I went to visit a gravesite during the Obon season. The flowers on the gravestones here are different from the flowers sold at flower stores, and they look simple and natural, nurtured at home. I was thoroughly impressed by the variety of hues adorning the gravestones, and the naturalness of the flowers was also a superb accent.
<Sarusuberi>
Crepe-myrtle (サルスベリ)
<Yabugarashi>
Japanese Mustard (ヤブガラシ)
＜What is Obon?＞
It is a Buddhist event held in summer to honor the spirits of Japanese ancestors. The timing and content of the events vary depending on the region, but they are held in July and August.