A Peek at the Process

Rarely are the sculptures I create completed in one sitting. Many of them take multiple stages until they are completed. Below you will see the start of one of the graal stuffed cups. They begin as two bubbles in which they are joined together. One bubble is turned inside out onto the other thus allowing the surface to have the color. (Normally the color is the inside skin of a blown vessel.) The technique used below is referred to as Swedish overlay. It takes precision heating and turning along with a good assistant to shield you from the heat. After this overlay is completed the remaining bubble is blown into a large cup shape to later be carved and heated up. 

In the previous post you can see how the cup is carved using various diamond engraving wheels and a lathe. Stay tuned for what happens next….

Coldworking Timelapse

I posted a new video on YouTube showing part of the process of creating some of my new sculpture. These new works will be featured in my upcoming solo exhibition in Rotterdam, Netherlands at Dock Gallery on September 4th. 

Please view the video here – https://youtu.be/oyoMlJFQS_M

This cup will become the outside layer of a larger sculpture. Once the engraving is completed this cup will be heated up to 1050*F. Then a larger amount of molten glass will be plunged into it to pick it up. The glass is then heated and blown it into its final shape. 

  

Friday Interview

Celebrate your Friday! Here is a quick interview I did with Fusion Art Glass Galleries. 

INTERVIEW HERE

 

Updated. Not outdated.

I first want apologize to anyone who regularly checks this website hoping for updates. I’m much slower to post on here than on social media websites like Facebook and Instagram, both of which I update regularly. Please follow me on Facebook at Mark Leputa Glass Sculpture and on Instagram @markleputaglass. For those of you who choose not to use those sites, what I hope to manage today is to bring you up to speed on the past few months.

My biggest news is Dock Gallery in Rotterdam, Netherlands will be hosting my second Dutch solo exhibition, which has yet to be titled. The opening will be held on September 4th. The work for this show is centered around Glaciers and my relationship with the mountains. The Glacial Series was merely touched upon in 2013 and for this show I am focusing on this theme. So far, the work has been emerging beyond expectations, and I feel this is some of my most interesting sculptures to date. It will be exciting to see this series together in September. Victoria and I hope to see you at Dock Gallery on September 4th. For more information please visit the Dock Gallery website.

Below are some photos and videos of the exhibition’s progress and inspirations.

Big Four Ice Cave, Washington

Glacial lake, Washington

Glacial lake between Vesper and Sperry Peaks, Washington

Working on the outer rim of a glacial lake inspired sculpture

Surface texture

Details of the sculpted rim

Details of the inside of a glass glacier

Surface texture

The high polish of this edge brings this sculpture to life

Details of some polished lenses

Carving the edge of this sculpture.

Field study of some ice during a hike

Pulling the ice cube murrini

Ice cube murrini ready to be picked up and turned into a sculpture

Inside details after some surface carving

Details of the edge of this sculpture before high polish

After the high polish

Some of these sculptures are my largest to date. This particular one didn’t make it as the weight of it broke the largest blowpipe on the market.

How air is whipped into the glass to create bubbles.

Details of the surface. Peering into ice.

Bubbles trapped deep under the ice.

Removing some color to create floating icebergs near the rim.

Spending time creating

Just wanted to share a few great photographs taken by my good friend Mark Postle. During this time of the year the sunlight pours straight through the hotshop at sunset. This makes for some of the best natural lighting you could ask for.
 
 
 
 

Lookout Alabama Magazine feature

Keep your eye out for my glass sculptures in the upcoming Fall 2015 issue of Lookout Alabama Magazine. This is a great regional magazine that is written well enough to stand on a national level. It is truly an honor to be a part of such a professional periodical. I can not wait to read the rest of this Artist Spotlight article. For more information please visit Lookout Alabama Magazine’s website.

Big Art Show in Belgium

There’s a pretty exclusive art expo happening in Belgium this week, Art Nocturne Knocke. It runs from the 8th through the 16th of August in Knokke-Heist, Belgium. I am being represented by the Dock Gallery out of Rotterdam, Netherlands with Melvin Van den Doel.  Dock Gallery will be opening at its Rotterdam location in the next few weeks. 

For more information visit http://www.artnocturneknocke.be/ and http://www.dockgallery.com.

   

 

New Work Posted and Instagram Account Opened

Some of my latest work has recently made its way to the website. Please have a look at both ‘Prismatic‘ and ‘Smoke‘. Also please follow me on Instagram @markleputaglass.

Video Part Two, in case you missed it.

Here is the link to the second part of the video documenting the creation of one of my ‘Crystalline Series’ pieces

http://youtu.be/Tn688MkP1bM

Sometimes you just need Nature to be inspired.

I recently just returned from a inspirational trip to the Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. I like to do this from time to time. It is important to occasionally leave the hustle and flow of everyday life and return to Mother Nature. One must take the time to return to the simplicity of life – food, water, shelter, nature. It’s when we leave everything behind that we allow ourselves to see what we really have. Our earth should be everyone’s greatest inspiration, and we should all fight to keep these natural places healthy.

Thank you to those past important figures who understood the importance of protecting the lands that have become our national parks, national monuments, and national wilderness preserves.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir