Christina Steele is a Vancouver based glass artist focused on glassblowing and glass etching. Christina took her first hot glass class in 2003 at Red Deer College's summer art series and was instantly hooked on the medium. She is currently an enthusiastic member of Vancouver's Terminal City Glass Co-op in East Vancouver.
Inspired by botanical drawings, the artist etches images onto blown glass pieces by drawing them first on a masking material which are then cut by hand and sandblasted. The resulting frosted etchings on transparent glass give a dynamic effect depending on where the viewer stands in relation to the light.
This piece is the first in a series where I will be exploring images of grains and grasses. Images of wheat conjures thoughts of Thanksgiving, harvest, abundance, renewal. For me these images also remind me of the playfulness of childhood; pulling out stalks of grain by the roadside as you walk by, meticulously removing each grain one by one or all at once from the bottom to make a little starburst, lost in thought. Looking back, these simple actions strike me as a type of simple meditation or mindfulness. As an adult I have often found it difficult to find the peace to calm my anxious thoughts long enough to meditate or practice mindfulness. I have found that the focus involved in glassblowing and process and time involved in crafting a complicated hand cut stencil for sandblasting is very therapeutic and very satisfying. This piece revisits a simple childhood mindfulness by employing learned coping methods of adulthood.
www.instagram.com/xtinasteeleglass/
Inspired by botanical drawings, the artist etches images onto blown glass pieces by drawing them first on a masking material which are then cut by hand and sandblasted. The resulting frosted etchings on transparent glass give a dynamic effect depending on where the viewer stands in relation to the light.
This piece is the first in a series where I will be exploring images of grains and grasses. Images of wheat conjures thoughts of Thanksgiving, harvest, abundance, renewal. For me these images also remind me of the playfulness of childhood; pulling out stalks of grain by the roadside as you walk by, meticulously removing each grain one by one or all at once from the bottom to make a little starburst, lost in thought. Looking back, these simple actions strike me as a type of simple meditation or mindfulness. As an adult I have often found it difficult to find the peace to calm my anxious thoughts long enough to meditate or practice mindfulness. I have found that the focus involved in glassblowing and process and time involved in crafting a complicated hand cut stencil for sandblasting is very therapeutic and very satisfying. This piece revisits a simple childhood mindfulness by employing learned coping methods of adulthood.
www.instagram.com/xtinasteeleglass/
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