Pâte de Verre by Sue Treanor and Sue Hawker

I recently bought this piece of pâte de verre glass on TradeMe. It was made by Sue Treanor, probably towards the end of the 1990s. Sue exhibited at an exhibition I remember seeing in Parliament in Wellington in 1999, organised by the NZ Society of Artists in Glass as a promotional vehicle, and she also had a show at Avid in Wellington in August 1999.

Sue Treanor enrolled for a diploma in glass at UNITEC in 1994, amongst a group of students who became quite  distinguished glass artists. In August 1996 there was an exhibition entitled ‘Maiden glass: UNITEC girlz come out’ at the Glass Arts Gallery in Ponsonby, a regrettably short lived gallery with quite close links to the UNITEC campus at Carrington. As well as Sue Treanor, those exhibiting were Lou Pendergrast, Nicole Lucas, Megan Tidmarsh, Kellee Cook, and Layla Walter.

In 1999, Sue Treanor had a piece selected for exhibition at 'International Expo 2' held in Tampa, Florida by the prestigious Glass Art Society of USA. (Former Aussie,  now Whanganui artist, Claudia Borella was also included in that exhibition). I have only a poor image of that piece, from an online catalogue, but I want to include it here because it was entitled 'For Marea', a tribute to Maori glass artist Marea Timoko, who has been a significant influence on several New Zealand artists in pâte de verre (and other glass forms). Marea was  brought in to give some specialist workshops by Elizabeth McClure, then was Lecturer in Glass at UNITEC.

It's probably time to explain, to the best of my ability as a non-practitioner, what pâte de verre is. Literally 'glass paste' in French, pâte de verre involves making a paste of glass that is applied to the surface of a mold, then fired at a relatively low temperature - 'warm' glass. The advantage is that this allows precise placement of particular glass colors in the mold, unlike other methods of filling the mold, where some shifting of glass from where it has been placed prior to firing can take place.  Pâte de verre dates back to the ancient Egyptians, but it was revived by a group of French artists in the late nineteenth century who provided the modern name for this technique. (For the curious, la pâte is paste, while le pâté is what you make from chicken liver and other things).

Sadly Sue Treanor died in March 2012, so I have not been able to talk with her about her work. However, there is another Sue who makes pâte de verre who is very much alive, and living quite close to me in Northland.

(photo: Ron Hawker)

Born in Christchurch, Sue Hawker had an international career in journalism and business, but has now settled in Kerikeri (who can blame her for that?) and follows her passion for glass and ceramics. Beginning in 2004, she took applied arts papers at Northland Polytech, and like Sue Treanor was one of a group  of students who have become established artists. She also had as a tutor the same Marea Timoko who influenced Sue Treanor.

Sue Hawker has won a number of awards for her glass, most notably being the winner of the prestigious trans-Tasman Ranamok Glass Prize in 2010 - she was also a Ranamok Finalist in 2009, 2011 and 2012. This remarkable
Ranamok winning piece of pâte de verre 'Too Much is Never Enough' is half a metre high, compared with the rather more modest size of Sue Treanor's piece, which is 13cm high.

Fortunately for me, Sue Hawker makes smaller works, too, and I am delighted to have a piece of her pâte de verre in my collection, which she made in 2012. It is 11 cm high.

Inglewood Cards Provide Great Provenance

I mentioned in my last post the great provenance provided for a recent acquisition by a catalogue from the first Philips Studio Glass Award exhibition in 1984. Here's a piece of Chuck Simpson's glass I purchased recently, which also has a great confirmation of its provenance.

This is clearly signed  'Chuck Simpson', so there can be no doubt who made it. But Chuck Simpson made glass at Byron Bay in Australia before he came to Inglewood with Lesley Justin in 1987, and he made glass at Eumundi in Queensland after he and Lesley, by then his wife, returned to Australia in 1990. It is typical of glass he made at Inglewood, but it is great to have its New Zealand origin confirmed by the marketing card that came with it.

 

But that is not the first Inglewood piece to have come with its own marketing card.  The piece to the left is signed 'Glass Art NZ', a name which seems to have been used both by Chuck and Lesley Simpson and by Andrew Williams, though that is not currently totally clear. All three of them were doing quite similar work, as individually signed pieces by each of them demonstrate.

When I purchased it on TradeMe, it came with a small laminated card, printed on both sides.

The card is delightful for the stylised sketch of the Inglewood church and studio where Tony Kuepfer first set up the studio that he called Glass Plant, subsequently used by Chuck and Lesley and by Andrew. 

This photo, taken in Inglewood in October 2012, shows that the church, with the concrete block studio that Tony Kuepfer built, has reverted to its original religious purpose.

 


The small vase at the right is also signed 'Glass Art NZ', but the card that came with it leaves no doubt that this was indeed made by Andrew Williams. The metallic sheen on the card and its slightly crumpled state makes it a little hard to photograph. I wonder who is represented in the drawing?

  

It is also interesting to see Andrew playing on the history of the Inglewood studio in his marketing. I'm not sure if he was aware of Reg Kempton's studio at Havelock, but Reg had died by this time, so the claim would seem to me to be correct.

Tamarillos and Esther James - who was she?

In spite of the severe drought we are experiencing in Northland presently, a tree in my garden has sprouted two very fine tamarillos (aka tree tomatoes). Which is a bit surprising, since it isn't a tamarillo tree.

In fact, these tamarillos are cast glass, with stainless steel foliage and twigs. They are a collaboration between Auckland glass caster Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson and stainless steel fabricator Phillip Moodie.  I saw a 'crop' of these in another non-tamarillo tree in the exhibition Re:Fraction 2012: the Outdoor Glass Exhibition at the Sculpture Park, Waitakaruru last spring. I was struck by their simple beauty, and knew at once I could find a host tree in my own garden.

What I was less clear about (indeed, really puzzled about) was the title that Lou had given these: 'A Tribute to Esther James'. Who was Esther James? 1950s Hollywood star? 1920s Paris dancer? Both seemed vaguely possible, though why tamarillos would be a tribute was quite mysterious.

Researching Lou's glass work on the Internet told me that she and Phillip had exhibited a whole tree of fruit at the Auckland 'Sculpture on the Shore' exhibition in 2010, and had shown similar fruit at other exhibitions. Lou has since told me that they made about 42 fruit all told, tamarillos, pears, apples, plums and peaches, and they have been 'a massive hit'.  

In much of her cast glass, we are told, Lou has a passion for the Art Deco era, and her work is influenced by the glass of the 1920s and 1930s, with soft finishes and engraved surface details. The decoration often makes reference to the gardens of the time.  Lou has a continuing interest in the decorative embellishment of objects combined with a love of the New Zealand landscape.  In her work she uses New Zealand native plant specimens and nostalgic flowers from the garden as decorative elements. 

(Alexander Turnbull Library photo)

Lou's interest in things New Zealand, in art deco and in the idea of a 'Buy NZ Made' campaign led her to discover a remarkable New Zealander Esther James, who was a campaigner for 'Buy New Zealand Made'  in the 1930s. In 1932, James walked from Spirits' Bay in the Far North to Stewart Island to draw attention to the issue.

Lou says that when she read Esther James's 1965 book Jobbing Along in 2010 it made quite an impact on her and she felt compelled to celebrate the remarkable exploit and the wonderful NZ pioneer woman that Esther James was, but also to comment on the same issue some 80 years later.

Thanks to Lou, I now know who Esther James was - inventor, entrepreneur, model, author, crocodile hunter, opal miner - what a life!  I would encourage you to read about this remarkable New Zealander - her biography is on Te Ara at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4j2/james-esther-marion-pretoria and her book is in your local library.

So now when I wander in my garden, I can admire Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson's glass, and also be reminded of the remarkable Esther James, to whom this work is a tribute. 

Avalon Glass Should Not Be Forgotten

One trap when you try to write a short history of something is that you leave somebody out. When I wrote my essay The beginnings of New Zealand glass in New Zealand Glass Art (Bateman 2010), I made just that mistake. I tried to describe all the glass studios that were in existence in the 1970s and 1980s, but sadly I left out a small but important example, Avalon Glass which was set up in 1985 near Fox River on the West Coast of the South Island. Although I didn’t know a great deal about it, I was aware of it and I should have included it - I simply overlooked it. I must apologise to all those involved, especially Greg Smith who had told me about it.

This small bowl, a recent TradeMe purchase, is signed G Smith 88

But I know a lot more about Avalon Glass now, because, through the kindness of Evelyn Dunstan, I have been able to read the remarkably frank and revealing paper that Greg Smith gave on the history of Avalon Glass at the 2003 conference of the Glass Art Society in Seattle, USA. Entitled “The Blood, the Drugs and the Fear: The Founding of Avalon Glass”, it has been helpful in providing background to the history of Avalon that follows.

Bowl above signed G.Smith 90, vase at right signed G.Smith Te Miko 1990

Avalon Glass was set up by a group of people with no experience of glassmaking in a place that had no electricity and had no fuel for making glass. In 1985 a group of hippies at the Fox River commune decided, for whatever reason, to set up a glass studio. In order to provide enough light to be able to see, a small creek in the hills behind the commune was dammed. A pipe from the dam brought water, and sometimes mud and all sorts of other things, down the hillside to drive a Pelton wheel connected to an inverter and a bank of truck batteries. Greg says there was sufficient power for two dim lights.

 

The closest source of gas was a supplier of bottled LPG 300 miles away. The distance and the cost suggested they make their own gas. They bought a wood gasifier from Auckland. Although the local timber mills could provide a ready supply of fuel, the wood had to be trucked 30 miles, it had to be cut into small enough pieces for the gasifier, and because of the climate it was often much too wet to burn. Eventually, after a lot of effort and going through a large number of chainsaws, they managed to produce a very variable supply of gas. Building a furnace was the next task, one which fell to Greg’s lot, and not one in

This paperweight is signed R.Reedy 1994 NZ

which he experienced immediate success. When it was finished they needed glass. They spent days at the local rubbish dump collecting bottles which they took back to Avalon to wash, break up and throw into the furnace. The avid drinking habits of much of the local population also provided a source of bottles, in exchange for supplies of coffee or cannabis.

 

Greg summarises all of this by saying “So there we were, a full-fledged alternative glassblowing studio perched on the side of an unstable cliff overlooking the sea, and we were the source of heat and light for a community of hippies, eccentrics, and burn-outs. There was always someone hanging out in the kitchen, coffee in the pot, pot on the table, and wild stories and reminiscences being recounted”.

In spite of what might seem an unpromising setting, good pieces were produced at Avalon, of which there are a few examples here. The quality of the glass is often very good, with no bubbles or inclusions.

There were a number of people involved in the Avalon co-operative over the years. The founders were Greg Smith, Ross Smith and Lawson Bracewell.  Robert Reedy joined after six months, and Roger Thompson after two years. I don't have examples to show of all of their work from the Avalon period.

 One of Greg Smith's 'anemone' series, this piece is signed 'G.Smith Te Miko 96'

I’ve not seen the name ‘Avalon’ on any glass, though I haven’t seen very much glass from there.  In 1990 Greg Smith set up Te Miko Glass with Carolyn Hewlett, Te Miko being the name of the locality.  At least some of that glass is marked Te Miko, like the anemone bottle shown here, marked Te Miko 96. Commenting on a photograph of it, Greg Smith confirmed he made it. “It was one of our anemone series and in fact one of the last of that period as from 95 on we no longer worked at Avalon and Ross Smith and Lynda Braid changed its name to Seal Island.”  After the first version of this blog appeared, Greg Smith offered me a few corrections (which I have made) and told me that "Ross Smith and Lynda Braid set up Seal island Studios after Ross called time on Avalon Glass, as he owned the building and was the only commune member - the rest of us were locals living elsewhere."

Greg also said he set up Te Miko in 1995 with his then wife Carolyn Hewlett. “As well as blown glass work we made glass jewellery. Carolyn worked as my hot glass assistant. We disbanded Te Miko in 1999.” However, the piece signed G.Smith Te Miko 1990, shows the name was being used before 1995. 

In about 1993 Ross Smith owned the studio and leased it to Greg Smith and Robert Reedy who were making glass there.

Lynda Braid joined Avalon in 1993, and then in 1996 with her partner Ross Smith set up Seal Island Studio, named for Seal Island off the coast a few kilometres north of Te Miko.  Ross Smith, with Greg Smith, had been one of the founders of Avalon.

There is no doubt a great deal more to be told about Avalon Glass, its creation and its operation. What I have tried to do here is correct its unfortunate omission from New Zealand Glass Art and perhaps stimulate those involved to tell their own stories.

Not Keith Mahy, but another Kharen Hope

I recently had a tussle on TradeMe with my Australian competitor 'Slumbum'.  Stephen is a keen bidder on New Zealand glass, while I do my best to keep pieces in New Zealand.  Opononi trader Tigerlillie advertised a piece as being by Keith Mahy, with an indistinct signature but probably dated 1990.  'Slumbum' and I both realised a signed and dated piece by Keith from 1990 was unusual, and so we went for it.  He pushed me a bit, but I succeeded in the end.  We more than doubled the reserve, which no doubt pleased Tigerlillie.  In the meantime I had emailed Keith to seek verification that the piece was his.  Alas, after I had won the auction the reply came that it was not a piece Keith recognised as his work.

So I waited curiously to see what it was.  To my delight, the signature was one I recognise readily - now, though I wouldn't have known it until recently.  In that curious way whereby once you see one piece, others turn up, it turned out to be signed Kharen Hope '90, another piece by the Whanganui artist I have blogged about a couple of times recently.  I would have liked a 1990 piece by Keith, but I am very pleased to add another piece of Kharen's to my collection, and a more substantial, more sculptural piece than the scent bottle I blogged in September.

If you've followed the link I gave to Kharen's pieces in the Charlotte Museum collection (http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3024/object/658/Blown_Glass_Vase) , you might have noticed that one piece was bought by the donor, Miriam Saphira, as she did not want a man to buy it.  I do hope Dr Saphira doesn't mind too much that this piece of Kharen's is in my collection!

Chuck Simpson was not Canadian

A mistake I made in my article on the history of glass in New Zealand came home to haunt me the other day.  In New Zealand Glass Art I described Inglewood glass artist Chuck Simpson as being Canadian.  A trader on TradeMe offering a stoppered bottle by Chuck (at right - TradeMe 428728782) apparently followed my mistake by saying Chuck was Canadian. 

I'm not sure where I got the idea from, but I was wrong. A fascinating article about Chuck Simpson's glass appeared in the Australian journal Craft Arts International (32, 1994-5 p79).  It included biographical information indicating that Chuck was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, in 1944. He got a Bachelor's degree in Education in Pennsylvania, and then taught secondary school for fifteen years, mostly in Victoria, Australia.  In 1985 he began working in the hot glass studio of Colin Heaney at Byron Bay in northeastern New South Wales, before moving to New Zealand and leasing Tony Kuepfer's studio at Inglewood. (Thanks to Trevor Breusch for drawing my attention to the CAI article).


The piece at left I bought in 1990 from Masterworks gallery in Parnell, Auckland - it would have been one of the last pieces Chuck made in New Zealand before returning to Australia and the Vesta Hot Glass studio he set up at Eumundi in Queensland with his wife Lesley (formerly Lesley Justin).

Sadly, Chuck Simpson died in April 2001.