1000 Mermaids

by Louise Irvine Have you ever imagined yourself as a mermaid? Now your dream could come true with the 1000 Mermaids Project. Body scans of aspiring mermaids are being created for a public Eco-Art installation and artificial coral reef off the east coast of Florida. Discover more about mermaids in

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Water of Life

by Louise Irvine Monster Soup was a startling satire on London’s drinking water in 1828. A horrified woman drops her teacup as she looks at a drop of Thames water through a microscope. The cartoon directed at the London water companies was drawn by William Heath when commissioners were appointed

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Wonders of the Deep

by Louise Irvine Exotic creatures of the deep exerted a powerful fascination for glass artists during the Art Nouveau era. Shimmering shoals of fish in iridescent colors appealed particularly to René Lalique in the early 1900s. The public were receptive customers, eager to romanticize the natural world as an escape

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Sensational Sung

by Louise Irvine Peacocks, exotic birds of paradise and imperial Chinese dragons soar through fiery red skies in our Innovations gallery. This iconic Sung peacock jardiniere has flown from England via Australia to Arizona before landing here in Florida. We are forever indebted to the late Dave Bearman for creating

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A Sea of Glass

by Louise Irvine Chihuly’s deep ties to the ocean in the Pacific Northwest have inspired his Seaforms, which are often reminiscent of the radial patterns on shells and sea urchins. Some of his undulating forms suggest translucent jellyfish with floating tendrils. However, his Seaforms evoke the ebb and flow of

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It Takes a Village – Ardmore

by Louise Irvine The Ardmore artists in KwaZulu Natal are known as the Isigwili, the fortunate ones. They enjoy a higher standard of living than their neighbors in this remote region of South Africa thanks to their work at the ceramic art studio. The Ardmore studio employs around 60 sculptors

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All Fired Up

by Louise Irvine Our Innovations gallery has a new exhibit of Royal Doulton’s Chang ware and returning visitors are all fired up by this dramatic glaze effect, which is reminiscent of an erupting volcano. The thickly textured crackle glazes were developed by Charles J. Noke as part of his experimentation

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Behind the Mask

David Burnham Smith (1937-2019) by Louise Irvine “A mask tells us more than a face” according to Oscar Wilde and in this spirit, we are exploring the work of David Burnham Smith, and paying tribute to this brilliant British ceramic artist who died last year. David was always fascinated with

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Fancy Masks

Chelsea Rousso’s wearable glass art is one of the museum’s main attractions in the Carnival & Cabaret exhibit and many fans have created their own works of art at her creative glass classes. However, few realize that Chelsea enjoyed a hugely successful career as a fashion designer in New York,

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