Arts in Focus on PBS Fort Wayne is funded in part by the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.

Coming up, we'll talk with glass artist Greg Duncan and oil painter Jasmine Matthews.

It's all next on Arts in Focus.

Welcome to Arts in Focus.

I'm Emily Henry.

Greg Duncan and his wife Emily are both glass artists who display and sell their wares under the business name Sole Eye Glass.

We recently visited them at their home studio in Fort Wayne, where they craft in separate spaces, using different methods and create in their own unique styles.

This week, Greg shows us how he uses fire to shape glass into tiny works of art.

Greg thank you so much for having me to your studio today.

We're surrounded by glass.

I'm intimidated because I'm a clutz, but I'm going to try to keep my hands to myself.

And let's dive in.

When did you start working with glass?

When did you realize that this was a creative outlet you wanted to delve into?

About six or seven years ago, Emily and I went to a lesson here in town doing some glass, and I said, You know, this reminds me of something I used to do when I was in high school because I did did some glass in high school.

But at that point, I didn't think of it as a creative outlet.

Just didn't know what to do with it.

So when I started doing it here, I said, you know, this is really fun.

I really liked it.

So I got hooked real quickly.

You mentioned Emily, your wife.

Yes.

Who's lovely.

And actually, you are both now glass artists, but you work in very different ways.

So tell me what your process is.

You work with a torch?

Yes, I work with a torch fueled by propane and oxygen.

So it's quite hot.

I mostly make beads which are made on a mandrill and I get the glass hot and kind of wrap it around the mandrill, then heat it up, get it round, and then decorate the bead with other pieces of glass or sometimes with silver or copper.

Let me rewind back to that.

That class that you and Emily took.

Did you know right away that you were going to dove right in, that this was something that you needed to to really get yourself into?

Yes.

Yes, I really did.

Then we took another class some time after that up in Kalamazoo and actually making beads, actually with a different type of glass.

The art glass comes in many different with different characteristics.

So the first class actually was somebody who'd been on your program before, Eran Park.

And the class up in Kalamazoo with with a different glass.

A lot of the bead artists and sculptural artists use mine comes from Murano.

Most of my glass comes from Murano.

Now, you mentioned Eran.

Who is a glass blower?

Yes.

Tell me some of the differences between all of these.

Emily and I were talking about the differences between the way that you work with glass.

And my mind was blown because I had no idea, even though we have interviewed him before.

So, yes, clarify for me, if you will.

There are three main categories of people that work with glass.

There's cold glass working, a warm glass and hot glass.

Cold glass is like stained glass when you cut the glass cold and then you solder strips around it to hold it in place, warm glass is often thought of as being kiln worked glass where it is.

She cuts up sheets of glass and puts them back together again.

Kind of like doing quilting with a lot more, right, to it than that And then it's put in the kiln, and fused back together into one single piece of glass.

Now, did you find that it was a steep learning curve, even as you are explaining all of the different types of glass and and the way in which you can work with it?

My mind is blown.

Did you catch on really quickly or did it take a minute to sort of figure out what this whole new world was?

It's a whole long process.

I could melt the glass and put it on the mantle pretty quickly and without too much trouble and get it decently around just with several hours on it.

But I am still trying to learn to do some things that I tried to do back then that I it's it just doesn't work for me.

And I think that's that's true of many people that everybody has a different skill.

I do things with very, very small strings of glass, like threads of glass, and like for Eran Park he says No, I can't.

No, I you know, that's that's fine.

That's, that's not in his area of work that he does.

Yeah.

But then I think that I would like to do actually other people.

Do I. Aha.

Oh how do you do that.

Yeah.

I just started trying to make flowers and I got some little ugly flowers that kind of look nice.

Sometimes, if the lights right If you squint.

But then there are, there's somebody just made a carnation with like 50 different petals on it.

I don't know what.

Yeah.

So tell me a little bit more about the logistics of what you do.

I'm looking at these tiny pieces of glass.

It freaks me out.

Tell me a kind of, like, start to finish.

If you were making a bead, for example, kind of how does that work?

Well, I. I take it off, grab a larger mandrill right here.

Here's a stainless steel mandrill.

It's actually part of a welding rod.

Okay.

And he died in the torch.

And take a piece of glass.

Get that, get this hot so it's glowing and it's hot on the end.

Touch it and just turn it around and turn both things at the same time.

So I get glass there and then winds around, winds around it, and then just heat it there in the flame.

And then if I want to decorate a piece of glass, let's see if I can find smaller pieces.

Say, here, here's a smaller piece of glass.

I can put dots on it or draw lines on it.

Different sizes here, different colors, also different chemistries.

This I have a lot of glasses that interact chemically with each other and get little lines between them.

And then I have glasses that will change color in the flame or bring silver out to the surface.

So you get shiny surface and yet silver surfaces or gold surfaces.

And I've been wanting to start doing some fuming.

So I take some gold, gold or silver, and I have a piece right there.

I had a piece of silver there and put that in the flame so it vaporizes and deposits on the glass and you can get colors out of that.

Some of the red and pink glass actually has gold in the glass.

Oh, wow.

So it's it's a very interesting process.

There's a lot to learn not only about physically doing the work, but also about what's going to happen to the glass when you heat it.

That's what I'm learning.

And I'm I just keep thinking to myself, so how much of that is trial and error and how much do you learn from watching?

And I have to I'm a hands on learner.

So it would take me a lot of ugly pieces, I feel, to to get a handle on how especially the glass reacts to the flame and just the chemistry of it.

No matter how much you read, how much you think you know, when you sit down at the torch, it's going to be different.

And it's going to be different on different days, it seems, huh?

And it's it's very interesting.

You have to keep adapting.

And when I buy rods of glass, they're made in batches at the factory.

And no two batches are the same.

I have bins of glass over there and I can have the glass with the same number, same name.

They look different on in the bin.

So they look different and they come out the same.

And I have some that look the same.

They come out different.

And when you start mixing chemistry in with that, it really changes.

Yeah.

Is that frustrating or is it exciting?

To me it would be frustrating, but I have this sneaking suspicion that that it might be kind of fun for you.

Well, one of the things you have to do as a glass artist, and I'm sure any type of artist is learn to adapt to the medium you have.

It's it's always adapting to what you have.

Tell me about your design process.

You were telling me that, you know, you you will take a round of glass, make it round, and then you can take a smaller one and maybe do the dots.

How much of of that design is predetermined do you have in your head exactly how you want it to come out?

And how much of it is the circumstances and, and the chemistry of it all and and happy accidents?

It's it's a combination of things.

The like I said before, you have to adapt.

Everything is going to happen.

I have I have two different white white glasses that I use.

One of them is kind of leaks color through it.

You can kind of see the color through it.

If it's real, then the other one is quite denser in color and then sometimes and they both flow differently.

So if I put dots on one of them will just spread out like that.

And some of them, the other will be maybe needs a little assistance because I don't want to get it too hot because that might change the base glass.

Yeah, and believe it or not, you could boil glass.

So if you get it too hot, sometimes the metals that are in the glass will vaporize and then it starts to boil.

Then you've got a bad a bad surface and bad color and it's all adapting to everything and it yeah.

It can be frustrating.

What has working with glass and making this beautiful art taught you about yourself?

It is letting me express myself artistically more.

I'm not I'm not a great artist.

It's I'm more of a technician, honestly.

I have an engineering background, so I'm very technical oriented, but it allows me to express myself and it gives me a a wonderful means of interacting with people.

I love talking about it and things.

When I when we're at a show and somebody comes up and just absolutely loves some of the glass that I've done, even if they don't buy it, it feels good.

Yeah.

That they think it's pretty and that I have made something that somebody else has enjoyed.

Yes.

That's really what I enjoy all this.

Yes.

Interacting with the customer and seeing their happiness in something that I've made.

That's where the real that's where it really is.

Wow.

Greg, like I said, your perspective is fantastic.

Your work is fantastic.

I have to disagree with you.

I think you are quite an artist, so I thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me today.

It's been a real joy.

Thank you very much.

For more information, find Sol Eye Glass on facebook.

I'm joined now by painter Jasmine Matthews.

Jasmine, thank you so much for being here.

I was telling you, I fell in love with your work long before I researched you for this interview.

You have some stuff or had some stuff at at the Firefly and I just love it.

When did you start painting?

I actually started painting in August of 2020, and that was during my moment for COVID.

I question whether or not I actually wanted to invest in a new mixer because I also bake and I love to bake, but I never like to consume what I'm eating.

I just give it away.

And then I chose to take a one month painting class and every painting that I created since has been from that one moment.

That is unbelievable.

Okay, so I went through your Instagram and what I love about your Instagram, more so than maybe any other artist I have researched, is that you show some of your work in progress and so I feel like I am getting a behind the scenes look.

I mean, it's what we try to do on this show.

I want to know the process.

So it's interesting to me to see your sketches underneath the paint.

Were you always you had to have always had a knack for for the shapes and the and the construction of faces.

When I was younger, I loved to sketch.

And then I stopped because I didn't think I was good enough.

And for probably seven years I went without painting.

Actually not painting, just sketching because I had never painted prior to 2020.

Yeah.

And initially for college I wanted to go into graphic design, but I didn't have the patience for studio art, so I stopped.

And from that moment, I actually love to utilize charcoal rather than graphite or any other medium.

Yeah.

And I just kind of maybe sketched once every 3 to 5 months and I'd come back to it.

Okay.

So you do you take a painting class and what media are you using?

You're using oil, acrylic, just oil.

Paint, just oil.

Okay.

Did you have a knack for that?

Right away?

Absolutely not.

I tell you, was going to say, I feel like with the painting course that I took, I was probably very invested in it because of the amount of money that I spent.

Sure.

And then I felt that if I did not get my money's worth for that one month, then there is no point in me having taken that course and even purchasing the material.

So I studied everything that I could to learn how to paint.

What initially gets you going?

What makes you say, Okay, I saw these ideas.

I want to mesh them together.

It's time to execute this painting.

When I create a painting, I. I initially take a look at one specific photo.

Maybe it's an image of a woman or a man or someone.

And then I actually just decide that maybe I want to add other elements to it, either through listening to music or even because I have a very intriguing interest of reading the dictionary.

That's something that I've been doing since I was little.

So any words that pop into my mind and I love researching, other cultures around the world.

So that also provides inspiration to what I'm creating.

I see that cultural influences that I just love.

Okay, so once you, whether it be from the dictionary or photos, you decide to start a sketch.

Yes.

Is that do you sketch in charcoal then?

I sketch in charcoal and graphite and then I erase part of it.

Okay.

So there is a lighter outline, especially if I'm creating a portrait of someone with a lighter complexion.

That way it doesn't.

You can't see it through the oil paint itself.

Right.

Okay, then.

Then is it a matter of mixing and how does how does all of that come to be?

So I typically only have, I believe, five colors.

Really?

And those colors are blue, the traditional colors, blue, red, yellow, white, black, and maybe a burnt umber, which is slightly a darker brown color.

Yeah.

Then I just start mixing and blending colors to match the skin tone that I want.

Yeah.

Okay.

What is it that you love about?

About painting?

Because, I mean, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you didn't invest in the new mixer and you did really dive into painting.

So what is it that sort of feeds your soul?

Honestly, I don't know if it's the painting itself.

It's more so knowing that I can I can find an image that I just truly appreciate and then take certain elements from that image and then be able to create to create something completely new that maybe, maybe the world would love.

Maybe they will hate.

But I know that I will appreciate it.

Okay.

What is your favorite part about the creative process?

My favorite part is actually creating or painting halfway through the process, seeing the what I know will be the end result and certain parts of the of the painting itself and then the untouched areas.

And seeing that seeing and knowing that I did this, that I could go from just a blank canvas with lines to something that's colorful and could potentially provide a story for someone.

Is that is that your goal ever to or always to to have a story with with each piece?

That is my end goal.

Some of my paintings, I have not been able to create a story or develop one, but many of them I have, and there's one in particular of a woman who has, I don't think anyone's ever noticed it.

If they've saw my work, she has moons and it's connected to part of her hair.

And for that painting itself, I had decided to go into Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, and I decided let me let me create a painting that's a different take on the God Jupiter, something that no one would ever think to create.

So are you creating these stories before you create a piece, or do you create a piece and then assign it a story or both?

Both, actually.

Many times I've created a painting and I've already had a story in my mind.

But then it just deviates into another story and it creates a larger, I would say, novel, novel, because there there are, I believe, two paintings that are kind of in the same I'd say the same realm.

One is an image of a woman with donuts as the background.

Love it.

and another one, which I actually gave away.

And it's an image of another woman in the background, is completely black with lemons and gold painting on it.

Yes, I saw those pieces and they're just beautiful.

Okay.

So what is next in terms of painting?

What do you hope for as you continue to evolve?

I actually it maybe it's it's probably not the biggest thing that anyone could think of in terms of painting.

But I would love to challenge myself to create a painting that maybe I want to say seven by eight feet.

I've never I've never, never thought to purchase a canvas that large because I'm slightly terrified to try and sketch out my image first.

And I feel like if it's something a painting that's extremely large, I wouldn't need to create a sketch prior and I would just have to freehand the painting itself.

So how have you seen your work evolve?

How have you grown as an artist?

I feel like I've grown just based on the amount of time it's taken me to paint an actual painting in itself.

The first painting that I created through the art course that I had taken was an 11 by 14 painting, and that took me about three days.

And then from there, I just started challenging mysel with larger paintings and portraits and knowing that I can potentially create a painting in less than 5 hours, that is amazing to me.

And having having the painting itself actually turn out the way that I want it to.

What kind of feedback have you been getting about your artwork and does that fuel you to continue to create?

Much of the feedback I have received is more of expressions, facial expressions, which I honestly I prefer the facial expressions to words because if I can see the emotion on someone's face of how my painting is affecting them, then I know I'm doing something right.

Yeah.

Even if it's.

Even if the emotion might be negative.

I did something.

Correct.

You created, yeah, some It provided some emotion for you.

What is the hardest part of of creating your work is is there a certain step that you sort of dread or a sticking point that you come up against?

I think it would be when I am at the 75% mark where I know what the outcome of the painting will be.

But there are moments where even when I can see it in my mind's eye, I somehow mess up what I'm trying to do.

Then I'll have to let the oil paint dry for about a month before I go back to it.

But by the time the painting has dried, I have already started other multiple paintings.

Right.

So you took a course that basically changed your life.

Do you do you anticipate taking more courses or are you really enjoying sort of finding your own way in this creative endeavor?

I would enjoy taking more courses, but I also am leaning towards going back into my love of baking and somehow combining it.

That's I believe that's why with the painting that I created, with the image of a woman and the donut surrounding it, it combine my love of culinary arts, but also oil painting.

So I have I have a goal and a bit of inspiration to create an entire series that is based around various pastries, but also included with different portraits of either men, women, or a combination of both.

I am so on board, Jasmine.

If you decide to to combine your love of culinary arts and fine art, I'm going to need you to come back.

because I can't wait to see that Thank you so much for taking the time to be here today.

I love your work.

You're very welcome.

I am very glad to have an opportunity to be here and to actually tell you about not only my journey and the process of my art.

For more information, find Jasmine Deangela on Instagram.

Our thanks to Greg Duncan and Jasmine Matthews.

Be sure to join us next week for Arts in Focus.

You can catch this and other episodes at PBS Fort Wayne dot org, or through our app.

In the meantime, enjoy something beautiful Arts In Focus on PBS Fort Wayne is funded in part by the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.