Hi Mark,
Sorry I missed reading your name somewhere, but as I read down the posts I noticed someone had addressed you by name.
Welcome again. Nelson.

Thanks for all the positive feedback but don't be afraid to critique my work either. I might ignore advice or complaints, I might take it heart, but I am always striving to improve my work.

Yes, much of my work is inspired by what I see outside my studios, trees and a micro farm for our collective. That is an Art collective with several live in members. The Bones of the Father was a really tough piece for me. Aside from being a bit of a departure from the rest of the tree work I was doing at the time, raw emotion like that can be tough to channel.

Someone once said to me that if I put "life" into my work, brought a feeling of flow and organic nature to it, then it would set it apart from the more static works. It took me a while, but I think I finally got it.

I am looking forward to participating here, so much talent, I hope to learn a lot.

Mark Schwenk-Artist and Blacksmith
Frog Valley Artisans, LTD
A Growing Artists Collective
http://frogvalleyforge.com

Thanks for compliments.Love the dogwood in the ikebana, btw. I'll have to remember that idea and put my own flare on it. And don't worry I'll behave if I walk into a gallery and see your work, I won't compete on your turf.

So back to the matter at hand, glass in sculpture. I have created about 20 or so glass/metal works in collaboration with two different artists here. Angela Matthews-fused glass, and Veronica Wilson-stained glass. I work with the stained AND fused glass people so different effects and methods have been tried. And of course I use some glass directly off the shelf from Blenko glass. Thats the big chunky stuff.

Several of the works shown here are done by simply gluing the glass in place with an appropriate color of 25 yr caulking compound with silicone in it. Clear, bronze, black, grey- lots of colors for lots of different sculpture.

The styles where the glass is "caught in the branches" simply has the iron forged to make a pocket in which the glass has a support from front and back but can taken out from the top. This works for the chunkier type of glass, but for thin glass it doesn't. The iron is forged with a little tension on the glass to keep it from rattling, that tension will break thin glass.

More delicate work involving detailed thinner glass work requires a lighter touch. I use either screw on padded tabs or padded slots with some sort of lock in tab. For the stained glass/metal pieces I will often use screws to attach the metal frame of the glass piece to the metal frame created in the sculpture. For an upcoming work, we are going to drill holes in the glass and bolt it directly to the metal. We'll use rubber spacers and washers to pad it, but the bolts are for effect and function. So it depends.

Mark Schwenk-Artist and Blacksmith
Frog Valley Artisans, LTD
A Growing Artists Collective
http://frogvalleyforge.com

Thanks for the info on the glass. I want to get into fused glass when I get more time. Right now, I use only stained glass and you are right about it being more fragile. I save glass from all my pieces so I can replace any that get broken. So far, I have only had a few mishaps, and that is usually during transport. The dogwood piece was done in memory of my mother. My dad would cut her a dogwood branch every spring when he went fly fishing and she would do an ikebana arrangement with it. Lin

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the forum.

Fred
Fred Zweig
Metalsmith

Sometimes I forget that it actually is a nickname. Funny, I tend to use the collective name of Frog Valley because it has become just that. I can't walk into my hardware store in town without someone saying " so how's Frogvalley doin?"

At times the other artists are called the same, we tend to participate in many gallery shows together so when people say "oh you're FrogValley" it sort of just sticks. I am a founding member, 1 of 2, with a third added early on. Over twelve years in the making. There are 6 regular faces, half a dozen other associate/friend artists around, and a number of visiting transients. We are small, but still looking to grow.

Three of us live on site, at least one other might as well, and the others live in our area, excepting of course the "visiting" friends who come from all over the place. Simply put, we share our overhead as much as possible. Insurance, taxes, collective material purchases, etc. Growing and wildcrafting foods for the live ins and next season for the extended family artists has been a growing part of us too. We are a small Ltd. with various levels of involvement in the business structure, but much collaborative involvement in the art. There are three main studios, blacksmith/metal sculpture, stained and fused glass, and of course pottery and clay sculpture. The glass studios are attached to our small gallery, living areas, and office. Pottery and metal are detached, plus several outbuildings, but we have a common display area for much of our work in the gallery. We also have a little shop for the craftier end of our work.

Pleased and honored to actually connect with you. It only recently occurred to me that you are one of my influences in art metal. Quite a while ago I apparently came across some images of your work, out of context and downloaded them. Probably a google search looking for inspiration. Didn't know it was yours until this week when I looked through your online portfolio. I have apparently loved your work for quite a while and tried to emulate some of it. Your work and your website is amazing. The metal gods must channel directly through you.

Glad to have found this place, and hope to be able to learn and contribute.

You can call me Mark or Frogvalley as fits your comfort level.

Mark Schwenk-Artist and Blacksmith
Frog Valley Artisans, LTD
A Growing Artists Collective
http://frogvalleyforge.com