By Vivien Hart

In March GLANC had a delightful visit with long time glass collector Jim Della. Without notes in hand Jim shared his knowledge of an extraordinary  array of glass and the stories behind the art, dating back to the 1980’s. It  was interesting for the group to hear the perspective from someone who collects art. Jim grew up in an artistic family with a mother who painted extensively. Many of her beautiful paintings were hung throughout  the house. Jim shared how he enjoyed collecting things as a child and had both a stamp collection as well as a collection of baseball cards.

As an adult Jim developed a fondness for butterflies and began collecting them. One of his rooms is dedicated to butterflies, although a few pieces of glass managed to slip in there. Jim Della is quite  creative himself and showed us a series of gorgeous dried flower and butterfly arrangements he made. He also has a large collection of intricately cross-stitched cushions also made by hand. Jim shared that his fascination with glass started in the mid-eighties when he was gifted two glass pieces on two consecutive Christmases. This spurred him forward to research and become a glass collector.

​One of his first pieces was a large Gundi, Viviani-Finch clear vase made with many recycled tumbled glass strips that were meticulously glued together to create the whole. There was a colorful Klaus Moje bowl, a gorgeous piece by April Surgent a large Amber Cowan and a nest by Demetra Theofanus. The collection also included some of Chihuly’s original drawings and paintings, including one with his footprints. There were glass works representing a range of techniques including cast glass pieces,fused glass pieces, blown glass, pâte de verre and flame-worked glass art.

What became clear by the end of the tour is that Jim Della not only loves his glass works but also the relationships he has developed over time with the artists. He is a true believer and supporter of the glass arts. Thank you Jim Della for your time in sharing your collection and your enthusiasm for the artists behind the work. It was an unforgettable day!

by Vivien Hart

We enjoyed a fascinating exhibit, lecture, and glass-blowing demonstration at the BAGI hot shop in February by the De la Torre brothers—Einar and Jamex De la Torre. The two brothers hail from Guadalajara, Mexico and got their start as teenagers. They work on both sides of the border in Baja and San Diego.

Their bicultural identities inform their work. They often combine mixed media with their glass work. Their work is very ornate and multifaceted. They also enjoy creating installation work using lenticular printing which uses a number of lenses to give an illusion of motion or depth in an image.

The brothers often use 30-40lbs of glass in their sculptural pieces. They demonstrated the making of “Portal of life” in the hot shop reminiscent of one of the pieces in the gallery exhibit.

They have a work described as a meteorite fire ball that will soon be in the modern wing of the Corning museum.

To experience more of their work you can check out the Collidoscope retro-perspective exhibit from Feb. 9th- May 4th at the Crocker art museum in Sacramento.
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For more information you can go to their website here: http://www.delatorrebrothers.art/