Former Contributor to the Huffington Post
Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • About
  • Contact

The Maestro of Glass

29/2/2020

 
Picture
Glass is an amazing material!  It is transparent, can be delicate and easy to shatter or it can be strong, it can be colored and be manipulated to become any shape an artist or craftsperson desires. It is mostly sand with some other chemicals mixed in, depending on what it will be used for.  In order to change its shape, it must become a liquid  and that requires extremely high, red-hot temperatures--2800°F (1500°C). Working with glass requires skills and respect.  Expect failure from shattering (never mind, it can be remelted) and always the danger of serious burns.   

Dale Chihuly is a visionary who has mastered the manipulation of glass to create art.  His life and work are captured in World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly by the award-winning team of iNK author Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. In this biography, a first for young people, Chihuly  comes alive as an extraordinarily bold person who was hooked on glass the first time he blew a bubble in a glob of molten glass at the end of a steel pipe.  If he twirled the molten bubble of glass it widened into a disk.  And he could add color to the molten glass by rolling it in shattered glass color sticks.  Chihuly has created distinctive glass sculptures that are sometimes massive, brilliantly colored and as eye-catching as they are light catching.  

His works begin with an imaginative sketch on paper.  He has a team of artisans to help him create his vision, which took a hit when he lost one eye by going through a windshield in an automobile accident:

" 'There was no despair because I just felt so lucky that I didn't lose both my eyes.' Instead of an artificial eye, he put on a swashbuckling black eye patch.  It became one of his trademarks." 


​The authors describe how this loss, which cost him depth perception, and the physicality of working quickly to shape molten glass led him to forming a team of glassblowers who could create his vision:

​"After dislocating his shoulder in an accident while body surfing, Dale finally gave up blowing glass.  He assumed the role of director making drawings in the hotshop to pass along ideas to his team.  His ability to lead as well as to spot talent revitalized him."

World of Glass is a beautifully produced book, lavishly illustrated with full colored photographs and including a  double-wide page to be unfolded, emphasizing the scope and power of Chihuly's work.  Greenberg and Jordan had personal access to the Maestro himself, as well as his team.  The back matter includes a list of places where you can see Chihuly's masterpieces for yourself. Only then can you truly marvel at the scale of his work.  

Publication date: May 12, 2020







What Does It Take to Create an Artist or Two?

20/2/2019

 
Picture
PictureAlberto Giacometti- Walking Man II, 1960 National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Enid Haupt Art ©2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/VAGAat ARTS, NY/ADAG, Paris

Alberto Giacometti was one of the most iconic sculptors of the last century. His brother Diego, one year younger, who loved nature and had a wild spirit, was there by his side.  They were sons of  a Swiss painter, so they were both introduced to art from birth.  Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti, a picture book biography by iNK author Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, lavishly illustrated by Hadley Hooper, shows how these brothers tackled life and art as a team and left the world an extraordinary body of work.  

Becoming an artist requires a lot of study and experimentation and, yes, failure.  Alberto is influenced in Paris by his surrealist artist friends who believe art should express imagination, not reality. Alberto tries it for a while, as Diego starts doing carpentry.  World War II intervenes.  A discouraged Alberto goes home to Switzerland while Diego toughs out the war in Paris guarding their studio.  Upon Alberto's return to Paris after the war and the arrival of his soon-to-be wife Annette, Alberto starts sculpting something never before seen.

          "Alberto's skeletal, lonely figures are survivors.  They rise up courageously from these ruins of war.  People are moved by the truth in Alberto's sculptures.  They express a new spirit in art."

But Alberto does not create these sculptures alone.  "Diego fashions thin constructions of wire to support the willowy figures.  He builds bases to balance them on their outsized feet......His hand touches every sculpture." Fame and fortune come to Alberto but he dies too soon.

Yet Diego carries on alone:  "As if his hands decide for him, he starts making more objects, furniture so magical that one sees sculpture and forgets its function."

Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan have crafted a poetic story as true and lean as a Giacometti sculpture.  At the back of the book is a photo of Alberto's famous "Walking Man" with suggestions about how to look at it and what can be seen. What can't be seen in
 Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti,  but can be felt throughout, is the love and devotion between two brothers and the authors' and illustrator's love and respect for their legacy. 

Publication date:  April 23, 2019 




     Vicki Cobb

    *Award-winning author of more than 90 nonfiction books for children, mostly in science.
    *Former Contributor to the Huffington Post
    *Founder/President of iNK Think Tank, Inc.
    *Passionate advocate for the joy of learning for every child and teacher.


    Disclaimer: All opinions, typos, and grammatical errors are my own,  especially small word omissions which I often don't notice in my fervor.  

    RSS Feed

    ​​​​Archives

    March 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    ​Categories

    All
    Abuse
    Achievement Gap
    Adkins Jan
    Albee Sarah
    Anti Bullying
    Anti-bullying
    Art
    Author Driven Nonfiction
    Author-driven Nonfiction
    Authors On Call
    Biology
    Birds
    Black History
    BLC2018
    Book Review
    Child Abuse
    Children As Political Pawns
    Children's Nonfiction
    Citizenship
    Civics
    Civil Rights
    Class ACTS
    Climate Change
    Clinton Chelsea
    Collard III Sneed B.
    Common Core State Standards
    Conversation
    Coronavirus
    Costaldo Nancy F.
    Covid-19
    Critical Thinking
    Data-driven
    Definition
    Democracy
    Dewey John
    Dogs
    Dunphy Madeleine
    Ecology
    Education
    Educational Standards
    Electron Microscope
    Empowerment For Children
    Endangered Species
    Excellence
    Extinction
    Fact-checking
    Fleming Candace
    "flow"
    Galileo
    Girls' Education
    Global Warming
    Greenberg Jan
    Grit
    Gun Violence
    History
    History Of "school Reform"
    Home Libraries
    Hurricanes
    INK Database
    INK Database Of Books
    Insects
    Interactive Video Conferencing
    Isaac Sally
    Jeopardy Winner
    Learning
    Lesser Carolyn
    Leveled Reading
    Levinson Cynthia
    Lexiles
    Listening
    Literacy
    Literature
    Liu Eric
    March For Our Lives
    McClafferty Carla
    Mentor Texts
    Montgomery Heather L.
    Montgomery Sy
    Motivated Reasoning
    Motivation
    Munro Roxie
    Nathan Amy
    Nonfiction
    Nonfiction Minute
    Nonprofit And Education
    Opening Schools
    Patent Dorothy Hinshaw
    Pedagogy
    Picture Books
    Podcasts
    Primary Source
    Pringle Laurence
    Pundits Of The Pandemic
    Rap Music
    Reading
    Rules
    Rusch Elizabeth
    School Choice
    SchoolTube
    School Visits
    Science Experiments You Can Eat
    Science Teaching
    Semple Heidi E.Y.
    Social Skills
    Socrates
    Speaking
    Spring Fling
    Standardized Testing
    STEM
    Studies On Education
    Swanson Jennifer
    Teaching
    Technology And Children
    Thomas Peggy
    Trump
    Truth
    Voting
    Warren Andrea
    Washington George
    Weatherford Carole Boston
    Webinars
    Work With Us
    World War II
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Links

The Nonfiction Minute
​

​iNK Think Tank website

​Vicki Cobb's Kids' Fun Page

We Dare You Videos


Company

iNK Think Tank, Inc. is a nonprofit with the mission of using nonfiction children's literature in classrooms

Contact

vicki@inkthinktank.org
​

© 2019


© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.