PCA Inc.

Check out the Summer 2024, Marble/Paperweight Issue of the @theflowmag ! We are super thrilled to see articles covering @gordosglass and a special human interest piece written by Toni Chambers about the history of paperweights and the PCA. #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #glassmarble #marbles #boro #borosilicate #softglass #artmarble #marble #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #murrine

@clintonsmithglass will be one of the many demo artists present, Friday May 17th at @blackstoneriverglass for this free public event! Clinton Smith is in his 24th year of glass making. At the age of 19, Clinton started an apprenticeship at a local family run glass studio. He worked there for two years, earning a solid foundation of the fundamentals of glass as well as $5 an hour. Within the next decade, he worked for other local studios, increasing his knowledge of various techniques and disciplines. Since 2003, Clinton has been working part time at Gartner Blade Glass. While he has learned blown and sculptural glass techniques over the years, he is self-taught in lampwork. After figuring out that fragile lampwoked glass can be encased, Clinton started his paperweight career. He has been making lampworked paperweights for 10 years. Connecticut born and raised, Clinton has made his home in the Berkshires of Massachusetts for 14 years with his wife, Katie. Heavily influenced by his life with his 11-year-old son, Charlie, Clinton has started to create whimsical elements featuring cartoon characters in his weights and a sense of storytelling. Learn more about this event and RSVP here: /events/s/free-live-art-glass-demonstrat/1093988921683381/?mibextid=RQdjqZ Learn more about Clinton online: clintonsmithglass@gmail . com #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #softglass #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #demo #glassdemo #freeevent #glassmaking #glassblowing

@gordonsmithstudios will be one of the many demo artists present, Friday May 17th at @blackstoneriverglass for this free public event! Gordon Smith was born and raised in Southern New Jersey, an area with a rich tradition of glasswork. From the time he was 14, Gordon was developing his skills as a glass artist. While in high school, he experimented with manipulating hot glass with a simple torch and some clear glass rods that his father bought for him. Gordon received formal glass training in scientific glassblowing technology at Salem County Community College. He worked as a scientific glassblower for three years. Gordon was exposed to paperweights through the work of James and Nontas Kontes, owners of the scientific glass company where he worked. While volunteering at Wheaton, Gordon learned how to work with hot glass in the traditional way, gathering the glass from a hot tank and then shaping and forming it with the traditional tools used by glassblowers. Although Gordon is self-taught in the art of paperweight making, the Kontes brothers offered him valuable guidance, advice, and endless support as he learned to make lampworked paperweights. To this day, he continues to learn new techniques for working glass through research, trial and error, and participation in workshops. Learn more about this event and RSVP here: /events/s/free-live-art-glass-demonstrat/1093988921683381/?mibextid=RQdjqZ Learn more about Gordon online: gordonsmithstudios@icloud.com #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #softglass #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #demo #glassdemo #freeevent #glassmaking #glassblowing

@sherwinartglass will be one of the many demo artists present, Friday May 17th at @blackstoneriverglass for this free public event Glass has been an integral part of Chris Sherwin’s life for more than 25 years. He first encountered glassblowing in 1991, as an “elective” in his senior year at SCSU, in New Haven, CT. In 1993, Chris became an apprentice with Simon Pearce, Inc., at their prestigious glass facility in Windsor, VT, In 1997, he was employed as a glassblower at Orient & Flume Art Glass where he watched and learned from some of the “masters of the trade,” experimenting with colors and techniques, developing, and refining his skills in iridescent and torch-work design. At O&F he sold many solo and collaboratively designed pieces on the “O&F” production line and had his own successful retail section in the Orient & Flume showroom. In 2004 he returned to New England to raise his daughter and set up his own glass studio & business. In August 2005, Sherwin Art Glass was officially recognized by the State of Vermont! The entire studio is run on locally produced hydropower from the dam in Bellows Falls, VT. Today, he continues to specialize in the unique art of torchwork, hand-sculpted and blown glass, striving to capture the beauty in nature, especially in New England. Learn more about this event and RSVP here: /events/s/free-live-art-glass-demonstrat/1093988921683381/?mibextid=RQdjqZ Learn more about Chris online: #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #softglass #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #demo #glassdemo #freeevent #glassmaking #glassblowing

@alisonruzsaglass will be one of the many demo artists present, Friday May 17th at @blackstoneriverglass for this free public event Alison Ruzsa began working in glass in 1991 at a small glass school in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. She moved to New York shortly thereafter to pursue a career at the New York Experimental Glass Workshop, where she became fascinated by techniques incorporating painted inclusion in glass. Since 1995, Ruzsa has been making glass at Pier Glass in Brooklyn, New York, with Kevin and Mary Ellen Buxton Kutch. Working in a small studio, with good friends, has been an essential situation in the progress of her current work. While continuing her endeavors in Brooklyn, Ruzsa has studied and taught with various artists in New York, Seattle, Venice, Milano, and Balzano, Italy. #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #softglass #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #demo #glassdemo #freeevent #glassmaking #glassblowing

The 2024 Biennial Paperweight Convention is coming to Providence, RI, May 15-18! Come check out some of the most magical glass art being made today by the world’s leading glass artists. We will be hosting lecturers from artists and experts in the field of flamework and millefiori paperweights, live demos, museum visits, special exhibitions and so much more. Signup to attend the full convention in early March or join us Friday and Saturday for the free public events. Join us Friday for artists demonstrations held at @blackstoneriverglass and then plan on visiting us on Saturday back at convention headquarters at the Providence-Warwick @crownplazahotel for a chance to see see and buy glass art direct from the artists and dealers who specialize in this one of a kind art. Including live glass making demonstrations from the following featured artist: @davidgraeberartglass @stephen_boehme @ayotteglass @clintonsmithglass @mayauelward @sherwinartglass @gordosglass @mansonglass More details are coming soon. Be sure to follow us here to stay informed or contact us at the link in the bio to learn more. #glass #art #glassart #paperweight #paperweights #glassmarble #marbles #boro #borosilicate #softglass #artmarble #marble #handmade #sculpture #artcollecting #collection #collectible #studioglass #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #murrina #providence #rhodeisland #providencerhodeisland

A rare antique Saint-Louis closepack millefiori handcooler. The belief is that victorian women would carry these objects in their hands just prior to shaking ones hand so that the they would be cool to the touch and free of perspiration. Some paperweight historians believe that these could have also been used as sock darners. Saint-Louis made other, more common, examples featuring scrambled millefiori and some of these were hollow blown. #paperweight #paperweights #pressepapier #briefbeschwerer #fermacarte #pisapapel #collecting #collection #collector #collectibles #collectors #baccarat #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #studioglass #glassart #artglass #nonprofit

In the the final years leading up to 2002, the year which Baccarat Crystal ceased paperweight production, they created some of their most ambitious works. The example pictured here is a super magnum sized millefiori piediouche, measuring 6-11/16 inches in diameter. This design was made in 2000 and is called "Arc-en-Ciel", only 12 examples were produced. #paperweight #paperweights #pressepapier #briefbeschwerer #fermacarte #pisapapel #collecting #collection #collector #collectibles #collectors #baccarat #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #studioglass #glassart #artglass #nonprofit

In the world of antique paperweights there is rare and then there is near impossible to find. Islington paperweights fall in the second category. This small glass works made very few millefiori paperweights in the mid 1800s in Birmingham, England. Three examples are signed with an "IGW" signature cane. The example pictured here includes 4 horse silhouette canes. Photo Credit: @bonhams1793 #paperweight #paperweights #pressepapier #briefbeschwerer #fermacarte #pisapapel #collecting #collection #collector #collectibles #collectors #baccarat #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #studioglass #glassart #artglass #nonprofit

This weight, with its interesting colorful torsade, was made in 2006 by Scottish artist Perter Holmes. Peter first started working in glass in 1963 at @caithnessglass as an apprentice to Paul Ysart. Photo Credit: Allan Port #paperweight #paperweights #collecting #collection #collector #collectibles #collectors #baccarat #flamework #lampwork #millefiori #murrine #studioglass #glassart #artglass #nonprofit