I have just returned to the lucky country from the home of the brave and the opening festivities for the "Links" show at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. You can check out the accompanied catalog here.

This show is a collection of several Australian and American artists whose development is directly linked through their work and their specific locations. With this said, the included artists/works are merely a concentrated collection since the length of the links could be extended much further than the space could contain.

For me, I have been lucky enough to have a single work included in the show through (I believe) my time in Portland and my direct interaction with Australian artists, my marriage to a very special Aussie, the influence of Australian techniques on my work, my consistent time/travel to Australia, my relocation from the Pacific NW to Australia and the affect the move has had on my personal/professional development. Here is a few images of my included piece and that of my special Aussie...

I have just returned from a whirlwind adventure to the UK, Northern Ireland, Ireland and France. In three of these four areas, I presented some lectures, small workshops and visited some of the major art programs that provide majors in glass.

My trip was fantastic and all the people I met were excellent.

I did notice that as I talked to many students, lecturers and practicing artists that it seemed to be much more difficult to build a thriving practice without the support, integration and connections of a wider community. In the talks that I gave on my own practice, I reflected on my good fortune to have always been able to construct my path within areas awash with artistic activity (such as Portland and Canberra) as well as quicken the pace of my development through my involvement with formalized organizations (such as GAS and the Pilchuck Glass School).

I also focused on how I work to progress my path by first building a foundation of ability and access to support the structure and span of a career in art. I see this as developing the skills to build your way as well as the support to hold you in place. For me, I owe a lot to those who have educated and employed me and also those who are my friends and colleagues (especially Mel George).

Here is a link to a write up by Fiona Byrne on the talk I gave at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

Now returning from this trip and back to focus, I am excited and energized to start back up on my PhD and all of the various projects circling the areas of my available free time.

I have just returned to Australia from the GAS conference in Toledo. It was a fantastic event. I couldn't be happier!!

Check out what Andrew Page says about the event here.

Aside from the conference ending, my 7.5 years on the GAS Board and my 2yr. term as the President has also come to a close. It was a hard job, but one worth doing in order to keep a community coming together.

Here is a photo of me getting to present Joel Philip Myers with his Lifetime Achievement Award and an image of me and my greatest support...

This week "Alphabet!" (curated by Mel George) opened at CraftACT here in Canberra. For this show, twenty six artists who use glass were assigned a letter and asked to make a piece that reflected themselves and the letter. I was given the letter "X". The image above is my resulting piece called "X Ray: Exposure 1" (25cm h x 13cm w x 15cm d).

My aim for this "X Ray" was to make a piece that looks at revealing an everyday man's internal view of himself. I ask that if you are in Canberra to check out the other impressive letters/artists in this show.

Unfortunately for the lovers of individual letters, I have been told that the entire show has been purchased by Canberra Museum and Gallery!! This is fantastic news for the artists, the work, the comprehensiveness of letterkind and first time curator Mel George!