glass blowing | ESU Bulletin

Travis Ison
“As a glass blower, I just want to strive for perfection. Each piece is more than just the last and best attempt at what I’m trying to make.”

Alumnus Travis Ison describes to President Michael Shonrock how he created this piece, “Vertebrae Study #2.” The exhibit is on display in the Gilson Memorial Gallery until tomorrow.
Jordan Storrer/The Bulletin

Students and glass aficionados gathered for the opening of alumnus Travis Ison’s Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, “Under Examination,” on Monday in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre lobby in King Hall. The exhibition is on display in the Gilson Memorial Gallery until tomorrow.

At first, Ison said he was nervous for the opening, but that it was “awesome” that he got to this point. He first started blowing glass seven years ago at Emporia High School.

“I caught onto it pretty early,” Ison said. “So it was an easy choice for me.”

Danny Shipley, senior glass major who helped Ison with one of his larger “jar” pieces, said he enjoyed seeing Ison’s work in the Gilson Gallery.

“I like the ‘Spine’ pieces,” Shipley said. “I find a lot of his work inspirational. It’s nice to see his final work in a gallery.”

Kaila Mock, senior glass major, said her favorite of Ison’s work on display is another spine piece titled “Speak Softly.”

“It looks even better in there than it does on the shelf in the shop,” Mock said. “I really like seeing his work on display.”

Ison said classical vessels, such as apothecary jars and old medical bottles, are the main influences on his work and that he likes to “put his own spin on those type of things.”

“I want each piece I make to have some meaning and story behind it,” Ison said.

Ison also said all the work featured in the exhibition was made during has last semester at ESU, except for the “Copper Spine” piece, which he made during his sophomore year.

“As a glass blower, I just want to strive for perfection,” Ison said. “Each piece is more than just the last and best attempt at what I’m trying to make. It has to match up exactly with what I’m wanting to do.”

After graduating in May, Ison spent the summer teaching glass workshops at the Jewel Gardens Glass Studio in Skagway, Ala.

“Seven days after graduation, I was on the plane to Alaska,” Ison said. “I got the chance to teach a lot of people to blow glass, (and) I got to work with a group of people with mental illnesses, homeless people and younger kids. It was really great to be able to share this art with them and teach them the process of glass blowing.”

Ison said his future in glass blowing will be spent in Seattle, Wash., continuing to make his medically-themed art and occasionally teaching workshops.

Mock said the Gilson Gallery and Norman Eppink Gallery are preparing for the next ESU art show, the Annual Faculty and Emeritus Faculty Exhibition, which will feature art made by ESU art and non-art faculty. The Annual Faculty and Emeritus Faculty Exhibition will be on display from Oct. 22 to Dec. 3.

For Patrick Martin, associate professor of art, glass art is a form of communication that he can use to express certain concepts and what he is interested in.

Martin said he “fell in love” with glass forming during his senior year at Centre College in Danville, Ky. He said he was attracted to the combination of skills and talent necessary to work with glass.

“It was the idea of making things with my hands for the first time with something I (have) never really done before, just be able to use my hands,” Martin said. “The excitement around glass, hot glass, working with the flame, the fire, (and) the pyro-techniques involved – I’m a pyro.”

Martin has won many awards for his glass work. Most recently, he won first place in the Biennial 600: Glass competition held at the Amarillo Museum of Art in Texas.

“Whenever I’m making my sculpture, it all starts with whatever the concept or theme is, then I translate it into visual forms,” Martin said. “The visual forms can be fabricated to a variety of processes, blowing, sculpting (and) casting. Most of my works would be considered mix-media.”

Martin said most of his ideas come from current events, politics and personal experiences – he likes to create objects that reflect political trends.

Martin said Emporia State is the only university in Kansas that offers a glass program, and he has been teaching glass art at ESU for 11 years.

“I like working on a variety of glass processes,” Martin said. “By teaching, I keep myself fresh and up to skill with all the new techniques. I learn from my students, too …I love the fact that students become more skilled than me (and) one of the greatest satisfactions about teaching is seeing students develop a career that they love,” Martin said.

Martin said his glass classes begin by teaching students basic skills, the rules, safety procedures and how to use different tools and operate equipment in order to get the students comfortable working with hot glass.

“I think he is a great professor,” said Kelsey Lutz, senior glass forming major. “He has done a lot for the program here. We learn a lot of different types of glasses.”

Martin said glass working involves a system of teamwork, collaboration and sharing that is not required for other mediums.

“I enjoy (glass) as a medium because it is more of a social aspect – you always work with people and you are always socializing,” said Addison Hanna, sophomore glass forming major.

Martin said this week students worked with Jasen Johnsen, a guest glass artist, for the Glass Guild Blowout on Saturday, which is an annual open-house event for the glass program.

“I think all the students here are really lucky to have a professor that cares as much and contributes as much as (Martin) does,” said Megan Stelljes, a 2009 ESU graduate and Johnsen’s assistant.

Huibing Lu

Give a dog a bone. (homemade treats)

Sunset December 1, 1991 HERE’S A GIFT FOR Fido that children can have the fun of making themselves. While you’re gearing up for preholiday baking, add a batch of bones to your list. The crunchy treats won high marks with our canine tasters and are chock-full of ingredients approved by a veterinary nutritionist. Even the eggshells are included to provide additional calcium. website homemade dog treats

Once the dough is made, children can roll it out and make bones with a boneshaped cooky cutter or a homemade template. Or simply pinch the dough into bone shapes by hand.

To reduce moisture content in the dense bones, we baked them a long time at a low temperature. Bones that aren’t thoroughly dried may develop harmless mold at room temperature, so it’s best to store them in the refrigerator or freezer.

Canine Bones for Christmas 1 pound beef liver 2 large eggs, shells washed 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 1 1/2 cups wheat germ About 3 1/4 cups wholewheat flour Rinse liver and cut into 1-inch chunks. Put in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil on high heat; cover, reduce heat, and simmer gently until liver is no longer pink in center of thickest piece (cut to test), about 5 minutes. Drain liquid into a 1-cup measure; if needed, add more water to make 1 cup.

Put liver in a blender or food processor; break in eggs, including shells. Whirl to puree, adding reserved liquid as needed to keep mixture moving; scrape sides of container often. Scrape mixture into a bowl; and remaining cooking liquid, cottage cheese, wheat germ, and 3 cups flour. Stir until evenly moistened.

Scrape dough onto a well-floured laminate counter or large plastic cutting board (wood is apt to pick up liver odor); knead until dough no longer feels sticky, adding more flour as required.

Shape dough into a ball and set aside. Scrape counter clean and coat lightly with more flour. Set dough on flour, dust ball with flour, then roll out until 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a floured bone-shaped cooky cutter (sold in cookware shops), or lay a floured bone-shaped template (made of firm cardboard and about 3 1/2 in. long) on dough and cut around it with a short-bladed knife. here homemade dog treats

(Or don’t roll out dough; instead, pinch 2-tablespoon lumps of it into bone shapes.) Set bones slightly apart on greased 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.

Bake in a 300[degrees] oven until bones are tinged darker brown and feel firm to touch, about 1 hour. Transfer to racks to cool. (Once cool, bones should be hard when pressed; if not, return to 300[degrees] oven and bake 10 minutes longer; cool.) To store, package airtight in refrigerator or freezer. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen 3 1/2-inch-long bones.

Per bone: 41 cal.; 3.2 g protein; 0.7 g fat (0.2 g sat.); 5.5 g carbo.; 19 mg sodium; 28 mg chol.