Chad Holliday - Fulbright

Czech School Set to Close

2009-12-10T03:10:00.002+01:00

Please sign this free petition. The school that hosted us in the Czech Republic is set to close in April. There are not enough words to describe how sad this is.

Busy Summer

2008-06-07T07:50:00.003+02:00

The summer is shaping up nicely, I wish I could say the same for our suitcases. Packing is turning out to be quite a challenge what with the combination of heavy books, heavy stone cutting wheels, and fragile glass. Luckily, Chad & I are both professional art handlers and packing experts. We're quite excited to embark on the next part of this year's adventure, jet lag and all. Chad will be making a trip to Chicago to speak at the opening of the Eastern Exposure Exhibition at the Prism Gallery at the beginning of July. While in Seattle he'll be joining this wonderful crew over here for some challenging work and reminiscing. I'm so sad to miss Martin and his crew this summer, and can't wait to see the latest installation.

Time is Flying!

2008-05-19T14:38:00.002+02:00

This is just a taste of Chad's new work, developed here in the Czech Republic, and so far it can be seen in these galleries Habatat Florida (new work will be featured at the opening of Habatat, Mass.), Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto, and Pacini Lubel. He's working day and night to complete his work here and get it all shipped & exhibited appropriately. This July he'll be featured as an Artist in Residence at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma from the 16-20th. In August he'll accompany Fritz Dreisbach and Frantisek Janak at Pilchuck from the 12-29th. He'll be working in the Seattle area in between those dates, and might just pop up at a few more places, since we loved our stomping grounds so very much. He'll have to drink his weight in coffee to cover all of my favorite spots for me, though.

Our Last Month

2008-05-09T12:11:00.005+02:00

Hello, Chloe here. Chad is totally consumed wrapping up our last month in the Czech Republic. He's made some incredible artwork, soon to be shown in the states. We'll keep everyone posted. Here in Senov, we survived the winter, visa applications for Thomas & myself, and have emerged this May from our cold flat to find sun & bonfires galore. The Czech people love their Spring & Summer. Now we know why. We were introduced to this joy by several bonfire parties last week. The picture is from our village's April 30th witch burning night celebration. Friday Chad introduced American style barbecue chicken wings at Harold's opening season jazz concert. They were a hit & unfortunately he won't have time to do more, but it was a great way to blow off some steam or smoke, if you will. The next day Charlie Parriott was in town, and together they helped Peter Rath's successor, Petra, prepare the atelier garden for a party to celebrate Peter's retirement & his walk to Vienna. It was a lovely party, and on Monday Peter Rath picked up his wheelbarrow (outfitted with a goblet and GPS, filled with beautiful glass) and started walking the historic glassmaker's route from Kamenicky Senov to Vienna. Wheelbarrows were used because horses were too bouncy. The pictures are posted here.

week 27 Photos Part 6

2008-03-03T12:28:00.005+01:00

View from our friends building in Ceska Kamenice, looking toward Kamneicky Senov. On top of the hill(mountain) in the background is the remains of a castle.

week 27 Photos Part 4

2008-03-03T10:23:00.005+01:00

Harolds Cafe/Pub in Ceska Kamenice

week 27 Photos Part 3

2008-03-03T09:55:00.012+01:00

Detail of crossroad marker

Week 27 Photos Part 2

2008-03-03T09:47:00.004+01:00

Elias Glass Factory, Kamenicky Senov

Week 27 Photos

2008-03-03T09:13:00.005+01:00

Crossroads in Kamenicky Senov, restored by Pater Rath

I will try to upload some more images. The site is giving me some difficulty right now.

Week 27

2008-03-03T08:20:00.005+01:00

I and my family have been quite busy lately. Even though the last month is a little bit shorter it has been fairly eventful. I went to Weiden, Germany to help my friend, the director of the school here, with and exhibition. We have been spending a lot of time around Kamenicky Senov and the neighboring city of Ceska Kamenice. I have also taken the chance to do some wondering around Senov to see some things that our friend Peter Rath recommended we see. During all of this I have found some time to write and work on my personal work. Finally, I have been spending the last few weeks with some students from Reinbach, Germany.

The exhibition in Weiden started with a trip to Mr. Janak's summer house about an hour south of Prague. We went there on a Thursday in the evening. I had the great pleasure of driving his car. It is a Skoda, Octavia. I mention the car because we do not have these in the states. I understand that the Skoda company is now owned by Volkswagen but they are producing a bit more economical vehicles with about the same quality.

We went to the summer house to pack and load the work. Then on friday we drove to Weiden. We unpacked and installed the exhibition. The other artist, which was chosen by Janak, is Jens Gussek. We spent the weekend here and left on Sunday. The opening for the exhibition was on Sunday at 11am. After the opening I had the pleasure to have lunch with Jiri Harcuba, a world renowned Czech Engraver. Mr. Harcuba is teaching at many places, especially in the United States. This summer he will be teaching at Pilchuck Glass School just north of Seattle.

On the way back to Senov we stopped at a very nice castle. This was the first castle I have seen that still had the moat partially intact.

Here are some websites that you might find interesting. The first is from the Bavarian/Bohemian Cultural Center in Weiden, Germany.

www.bbk-weiden.de

This second site is for the German Glass artist Jens Gussek.

www.jens-gussek.de

The weather has been very warm lately. We have been taking advantage of it fully by taking some walks around Senov and spending time with some friends in Ceska Kamenice. Here in Kamenicky Senov, we visited Prachen, the basalt outcropping at the top of the mountain. Later, my son and I took a walk to find a crossroad marker that Mr. Rath recommended we see. This marker was reconditioned by Peter Rath. It marks the original crossroads here in Senov. If you are facing it and look to the right you will see the old road to Vienna and to the left is the road to Poland. This according to Mr. Rath. (See Photo)

Not far from this crossroad is the old glass factory of the Elias family. This was one of the largest factories at the time of its construction. Unfortunately, it has not been in operation for quite a long time. I am not sure how long but I would estimate at least 50 years. You can see by the photos that this was a very beautiful factory at one time. I have to say it is a great shame that some of these old factories were not taken care. It appears to be beyond saving now.

Our friends in Kamenice own a pub. They are very incredible and friendly people. One is from Canada and the other is Czech. They also have a beautiful daughter which just happens to be the same age as our son. It is so wonderful that we met them. Our children have developed a beautiful friendship. These friends own a pub in Kamenice and a shop that is joined to the pub. The pub is called Harold's. It is an American/Canadian/Czech pub. They play great music and in the summer have outdoor concerts. It is also non-smoking, which is a bit of a rarity here. Currently they do not have a website but please contact me if you will be visiting the Czech Republic and I will be happy to help you get there. By the way, Ceska Kamenice was voted as the most beautiful city in the Czech Republic a few years ago.

So I have started to do some writing in preparation for documenting my experience here in the Czech Republic. I hope to post some of this information in the future. It would be nice to get some feedback from others about the content. the writing is based on my experience and practice of cutting glass. I have been taking notes about the new work I am making in hopes to have a very accurate account of the traditional processes I am using.

This new work is very exciting to me. I have been flooded with ideas, greatly due to my experience here. I recently sent the first sculpture made her in Kamenicky Senov to a gallery in Seattle, Washington. The gallery is Pacini Lubel.

I have been working with 10 students from Reinbach, Germany. The school in Kamenicky Senov and Reinbach have a special relationship. About 50 years ago the teachers at the school in Senov were "encouraged" to leave. They did not have any place to take there talents. My understanding is that they went to Reinbach and were greeted with open arms. The locals in Reinbach were very clever to understand that valuable treasure that had befallen them.

After 1989, the schools were back in contact. Now they have an exchange that is supported by a European arts foundation. Every year students from Senov go to Reinbach and students from Reinbach come to Senov.

When the Reinbach students come they are taught some things that are traditionally taught here but not so much in Reinbach. They have classes in drawing, modeling, mold making (for casting in the kiln) and vitreography. Vitreography in this case refers to using glass plates for printing. The plates are cut and engraved, then rubbed with ink and ran through a printing press. I have been teaching the students modeling and mold making.

Today I am headed off for Prague. There is a lecture in the evening about the new visa regulations imposed by the Schengen states of the European Union. The Czech Republic entered into the Schengen boarder agreement at the end of December 2007. Since this time the situation for Americans in Czech Republic and the European Union has changed. It has created some difficulties for American that we were unable to have knowledge of until after we came. If the information tonight is significant I will post it. The intention would be to inform those coming here in the future so that they can avoid some of the misinformation problems and have a nice stay.

February Image

2008-02-02T17:37:00.000+01:00

Here is another image of this new work.

February

2008-02-02T16:16:00.000+01:00

So now it is the beginning of February. I have been finding it difficult to sit down and update my posts regularly but I am trying to get back into the groove of it. We have been quite busy having to do some paper work. I have had to travel to Prague a few times for official translations and getting some things notarized. I don't want to go far into it. I will just say that it has been a little frustrating and very time consuming.

One of the things we had to do for this paper work was to travel to Vienna. We were very fortunate to have a friend there, Peter Rath. He was extremely generous and it was incredible to spend a few hours with a person from such and important glass family. You can see what his family has been responsible for the past, almost 200 years at www.lobmeyr.at

This trip to Vienna was very nice and comfortable. We took a train from Prague to Vienna. It cost a bit but was well worth the comfort, ease and scenery. Lately we have be relegated to taking the trains when we can. My wife gets motion sickness and my son has become sick a few time on the buses. The drivers here have a lot to work as for driving skills go. Some example would be when following other cars and going around curves. When they follow other cars they like to come within a foot or two of their rears. You can imagine what this causes. A lot of slamming on the brakes and very quick stops resulting in everyone in the bus being jerked around. This is not only the bus drivers though. It seems to the style of driving here. The next situation of going around a corner is also interesting to say the least. Usually it is common to slow down as you approach a curve and speed up as you round and complete the curve. However I have witnessed the exact opposite almost 100% of the time, even amongst other drivers. So the scenario is this. As you approach the curve speed up very quickly then as you complete the curve slam on the brakes. I am not sure what the rational is but we have not been the only ones susceptible to this. We have been on the bus as other children have gotten sick as well.

Enough of my digression. What else is going on?

We are preparing for a conference for Fulbright in Velke Bilovice, south of Brno in Moravia.(Unfortunately I cannot add the appropriate marks for the pronunciation.) We will be meeting with current and new Fulbrighters from The Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. We anticipate this to be a very exciting time. It usually is with these fellow Fulbrighters. It is wonderful to share time with other professionals, scholars and educators from other disciplines. One event I am looking forward to is a wine tasting at the Templar Knight's Wine Cellars. You can see more about it at www.vitejte.cz/objekt.php?oid=5899&j=en

Among the other things I have been doing, I have also been working on some new work. If you know what I was doing before you will see a big change. Either way I hope that you appreciate what I am doing. I have been doing some reading about geometry and how beauty is assessed from the points of view of different professionals in varying fields. One is talking about different states of consciousness. One of which is the collective consciousness that goes back thousands of years. He is talking about forms that we use today as well as the past but have their roots in the distant past. This is why people of multiple cultures seem to be drawn to the same or similar shapes and forms. I have been finding inspiration in these thoughts as well as what I am seeing in the old architecture here. In addition, I am trying to utilize different surfaces for directing light and the viewer.

Happy New Year

2008-01-09T15:42:00.000+01:00

Hesky Novy Rok! Happy New Year!

Well I am finally back. We received our internet connection just a couple of weeks ago while we were away for the holiday break. For those of you that have been checking in I am sorry for the lack of entries lately. Now that we are online I hope to be able to keep up more regularly.

We left of with our trip to Vienna. We are actually preparing to go again here very shortly. We have to submit some visa information to the consulate there.

Since then we have had a pretty mellow time. I think most of it has been spent with day-to-day experiences. Both my wife and I have been learning a lot about the culture and the nuances that accompany any move to a different area of the world or even to a different part of the country. I have to say that I think that we are getting a very unique and special look at Czech culture, having spent the last few weeks in Prague.

As I have mentioned, we live in a more rural area. There are less English speakers here and it seems, from their reaction to us, that they do not see foreigners often either. This being the case we have the chance to witness a more candid look the people we are around. For me this is a very valuable experience and I am very happy that we chose to come to this area opposed to remaining in Prague.

That being said I do not want to take anything away from Prague. It is a very wonderful city and I take every chance I have to go back and see new things. It is said to be the jewel of Europe and I totally understand why.

So enough of my rambling. What have we been up to?

As I was saying we are spending most of our time staying busy with daily activities. I spend my days a school in the cutting workshop and working on a new body of sculptures. (see photo) One day a week my wife is traveling about ½ an hour to Ceska Lipa for a ceramics workshop where she is taking advantage of an opportunity to make some new small sculpture as well. Then once a week I am working at a small glass factory in Novy Bor called Ajeto. They make mostly reproduction gothic style, forest glass there so the scale which I am working is small and more utilitarian. It is nice though, because I have the chance to learn some new styles of blowing glass such as Czech style mold blowing.

We went to Germany in November to see Meisen Porcelain factory and then later that day went to Dresden. This trip to Meisen was interesting but they really “glazed” over the information about their products and processes. I can’t say much about Dresden because my son ended up being a little sick and decided to take a nap during the stay there.

I guess the last thing of significance was our stay in Prague for the holiday break. My wife’s parents came and we had a very special Christmas in Prague. Then we spent New Years with the other Fulbrighters in Prague. The only drawback was I ended up being sick for about two weeks.

Week #9

2007-11-05T07:42:00.000+01:00

This posting has been past due. We are still patiently waiting for our internet connection. This being the case it is very difficult for my wife and I to update our blogs on a regular basis. Thank you for continuing to follow our activities.

In the last few weeks we have had a few events to note. On the weekend of October 19 we went with the school for a trip to Vienna, Austria. The following weekend was a school holiday. This was good for me being that my birthday was that Friday. This last weekend, which would be the first one in November, was spent at home with my family.

Trip to Vienna
Our trip to Vienna started out on Friday, the 19th of October. My family and I left the town square at about 7 AM on a bus with students and teachers from the glass schools in Kamenicky Senov and Novy Bor.

After traveling for a couple of hours we made a stop for relief. I mention this because I bought a wonderful DVD for my son to watch during the drive. For those of you who do not know we have a portable DVD player for these type of occasions. The DVD was a Czech claymation program of the characters Pat and Mat (Pat a Mat). There is no talking, just action so it is delightful even if you have no knowledge of the Czech language.

Our first scheduled stop of interest was in Trebic. We stopped here to visit a very beautiful basilica of Saint Prokopa. It was an interesting stop. However, I and my wife did not get a chance to see much of the interior. Our son is intimidated by the dark and overwhelming interiors of some of the cathedrals. After this we made a brief stop in Brno to visit Moravske Gallerie to see works primarily from Czech and Slovak artists that emigrated out of the Czech Republic during the communist period.

Finally we arrived at our hostel in Mikulov, just north of the Austrian boarder, still in the Czech Republic. We used this hostel as a base. Saturday and Sunday we would travel about an hour to Vienna and back in the evenings.

The first day we started by visiting the J. & L. Lobmeyer Firm. This is a very important glass company that has a close connection to Kamenicky Senov. Lobmeyer has worked with artists, primarily in Northern Bohemia for the last 100 years. We were very honored to have a guided tour of the gallery and showroom by Petr Rath, one of the decendents of the Lobmeyer family, and his son. Petr Rath has also continued his family tradition of working with artists in Kamenicky Senov. He started his own private venture and opened a small glass cutting studio in Kamenicky Senov which he will be handing over to different management this year.

After this visit Petr Rath took us for a small tour of the center of Vienna. It was great to have a native, especially someone with such an appreciation for art and design, to walk us through the area. He provided very a informed narrative of the area, buildings, architecture, people and personality of Vienna.

Later we visited the Albertina Museum. We were able to view some great works of the masters from the earlier part of the 20th century. It was very inspiring.

Then we returned to our hostel for the evening. After searching for some time we finally found a place to have dinner. However we were left with smazeny syr (fried cheese) and some salad.

On Sunday, we went back to Vienna. We visited a few more museums. The first museum we visited was the Museum of Applied Arts (Museum fur angewandte Kunst - MAK). Here we saw the works of the Wiener Werkstatte. This exhibit had work from the famous designers of the period such as Josef Hoffmann.

The second museum we went to was The Belvedere Museum. My wife and I had the most interest in seeing works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. It was great at this museum because there is a large open room with frescos and decorated in the Boroque style but with large velvet covered balls. This was the best part for my son, Thomas. He had a wonderful time rolling, bouncing and climbing on these balls.

Afterwards, we the group went to visit another museum. Instead of going we decided to check out a local famous restaurant/hotel, Sacher. They are famous for the “Sacher Tort”. This is a kind of chocolate cake. We got the cake and some coffee. Unfortunately, I have to say that the legend is more of a myth. The cake was very dry, not very tasteful and the coffee was sub-par. BUT now we can say that we have been to and experienced the famous Sacher Restaurant and “Sacher Tort”.

We then took a stroll around the city. We went back to the museum to meet the group and for our colleague to view some exhibits. We found a street vendor who was selling flaffels. It was nice to have something a bit different and something like we can find at home.

Then we took off for our return home. On our way out of the city we visited and area where the building were designed by the painter, Hundertwasser. It was a very surreal street. If there were a street to live on this would be it. It was very lively, but of course a little bit commercial. Finally we left the city.

The next week has not been too eventful. I went to visit a factory that produces some tools for the glass cutting industry. Mainly, I have been just trying to focus on some research and making some new sculpture.

I did have my birthday, which was nice because it straddled two days. On Thursday, we had a couple of friend over for dinner and cake. The next day, we went for some dinner at Penzion u Tumu. This is a nice place because the food is very good and has a designated “no smoking” area.

Now I am preparing for a visit from my Fulbright colleagues and staff members from the Fulbright Commission in the Czech Republic. They will be coming an open house at the school in Kamenicky Senov. The plan is to visit some glass museums, glass factories and the school.

There will be some photos posted later.

Fifth Week

2007-10-10T21:04:00.000+02:00

The last few weeks have been fairly eventful for us. Unfortunately we have not had a reliable internet connection, so I have been unable to update the blog until now.

I have been seeing some guys blowing glass out my studio window since I first got here. I finally found the time to take a walk and visit the studio. It is a production shop owned by an Arab fellow but with Czech blowers. They were very friendly and invited me to come in to watch the production and even allowed me to photo and record video of them working.

One of our close friends and a previous Fulbright Grantee from the states came to visit us. He is glass artist that is cooperating with Czech glass makers on a regular basis. During his stay with us we visited a local factory, Jilek Glass Factory. We met the creative director, Petr Larva. Later that evening we had the rare opportunity to meet Peter Rath. He is a very important figure in glass making in this area of the Czech Republic as well as in Vienna. He is part of the Lobmeyer family, which has had a significant investment in the development of the glass cutting industry in Kamenicky Senov.

The next weekend we went to Svetla nad Sazavou to visit a long time friend of ours who was having an opening celebration for his newly renovated factory. This factory makes glass making equipment and specializes in glass cutting equipment as well as having their own line of cut utilitarian glass and small cut sculptures. By my opinion they are one of the best manufacturers of cutting tools in the world.

After this event we continued on to our friend’s, the director of the school we are at, summer house not far from Svetla nad Sazavou. We made a stop at a book fare to visit a publisher friend of the director who was christening a new book. Here we found a great children’s book in Czech and English by Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, and illustrated by Jiri Sopko, a contemporary painter and head of the painting department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Sopko has an exhibition up right now in Prague. You can read about him at these addresses: http://www.galerierudolfinum.cz/en/vystavy.php4?v=73 and http://www.avu.cz/en/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=32. On our way, we also past through the small village of Lipnice. This is where the Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek lived. He is most famous for his book Good Soldier Švejk. You can read about Hašek and his book at this address: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/39253.

We finally arrived and settled in. The next morning, on Saturday, we went mushroom hunting. We collected three different types of mushrooms filling two baskets. After cleaning them, my wife incorporated them in some wonderful pasta. The next morning our friend got up and made some mushrooms, “Czech Style”, according to him. After working in the yard for a few hours we headed out. On our way home we visited the city of Kutna Hora and Sedlec, part of Kutna Hora. Here we visited the St. Barbara Cathedral. They are currently making renovations of the masonary and stained glass. One of the instructors at the school has a father that is one of the professionals responsible for re-leading and restoring the stained glass in the cathedral. After this we visited Kutna Hora-Sedlec, Kostnice. This is a cathedral and ossuary that had something like 40,000 skeletons stored in and around it. In the late 1800’s and artist was directed to sculpt the interior of the ossuary with these bones. You should read more and view the images on the website. See it here at this address: http://www.kostnice.cz/.

We made it home after a long and eventful day of sightseeing. The week has started of great. I have been working with the instructors of the school.

It seems that one of the local papers wrote an article about my stay at this school. You can see the article, in Czech, at this address: http://ceskolipsky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/vytvarnik_20071009.html. Then today we had a call from the Czech television station Prima who had read the article and wanted to do an interview. So this afternoon the Director of the school, Frantisek Janak, who was translating for me, and I had a very successful interview with Prima. It will be aired tomorrow in the evening between 5:30 and 6:00 PM.

Note: You will notice that I was able to include some pronunciation marks to the Czech names. I did this by cutting and pasting from the internet. Sorry I could not do it for all but I am working on it.

Fifth Week - Photos

2007-10-10T19:31:00.000+02:00

Photos:
1. My family and I with our mushroom harvest.
2. St. Barbara’s Cathedral
3. Having a drink with some friends
4. Glassblower blowing into a mold

Third Week

2007-09-24T20:02:00.001+02:00

This last week, my family and I went to Prague for the Fulbright Orientation. It was quite an eventful and exciting time. We were introduced to many things regarding the culture, history and language of the Czech Republic. The Fulbright Staff is incredible. They have been and continue to be very supportive and attentive to our needs and concerns. The organization was very generous as well, by situating us in a great location and very accommodating hotel.

The experience started with meeting the other Fulbrighters. It was inspiring to meet these professionals in varying disciplines. Each day we had some lectures that were mostly given by previous Fulbright Grantees. Again it was great to see how this opportunity can continue to enrich the careers of these individuals and how they continue to contribute to their fields.

The group also had the chance to experience some cultural events. The first was the Czech opera, The Kiss by Bedrich Smetana (you can find information at this website: http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=en). This was at the National Theatre in Prague. As a side note, thanks to the Fulbright Staff for providing us with a bay sitter, this was the first date that my wife and I have been on in over two years. The next event was a reception for the current Fulbright Grantees at the home of the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Richard Graber. The image here is of some of the grantees at this event.

Second Week - Sunday

2007-09-16T14:54:00.000+02:00

Today has been a beautiful day. While most of our time so far has been rainy and a bit cold we were blessed with a beautiful and warm weekend. We are preparing for our trip to Prague tomorrow and needed a little family break. I and my family decided to go for a nice outing. We took a great walk today around the town of Kamenicky Senov, where we are living. The first part of our stroll started out with going to a basalt outcropping. This walk was almost 2 kilometers but went by very quickly. As you can see from the photos the formation is very interesting and powerful.

After we spent some time there, climbing around and also checking out the interesting mushrooms that were growing there, we started to look for some lunch. There are only about three resturaunts/pubs here. Mostly they are smoke filled and it is also difficult because my wife and son are vegetarian, so the menu choices are small. We have found ourselves at a nice place called Resturaunce u Tumu. It costs a little more, but the staff and food are excellent. I say a little more but we are usually eating a big meal, with a few beers and some dessert, for my son, for about $10-15 US Dollars (pretty good I think).

Second Week Photos

2007-09-14T01:51:00.000+02:00

Images:
Microwave furnace with instructor
First cut glass example
Student engraving glass
Student cutting glass

Second Week

2007-09-14T01:44:00.000+02:00

Greetings! This week I have been observing classes and working with some instructors. I have been focusing my research on glass cutting but also on engraving. This is the first week, however that I have been able to attend an engraving class.

The cutting class that I am most interested in is the first year class. The consecutive years seem to be working more independently with very close guidance from the instructor.

The first year students are starting at age 14 or 15. They begin with some basic cutting focused on one wheel. From this point they practice making marks on plate glass. These first cuts are arbitrary. They are left with the freedom to experiment from the beginning. As the class progresses, it becomes a little more structured. In addition to practical workshop experience, they are also lectured about cutting theory and design.

At this point I should make a note about the structure and course of study. The classes are divided into four groups, each studying for four years. The courses of study are; glass painting, glass cutting, glass engraving and lighting design. Every student is required to take drawing (from the figure), modeling (mainly from the figure or figurative elements) and science/chemistry of glass. In addition, students take theory of their discipline and have the option to take some metal working classes.

While some schools in the states require a minimal amount of drawing, it is pressed on these students for all four years. Another difference is about the science/chemistry classes. I am aware of a few schools teaching this but most are not or they focus on ceramic chemistry, which is related but still different. Also, keep in mind of the age range of these students. This information is being obtained at a young age compared to the states.

Next I had the opportunity to work with the science/chemistry instructor in repairing the microwave furnace. I have some technical background working with glass equipment but this is a new design for me. The microwave furnace is a Czech invention. The school at Kamenicky Senov has been fortunate to have one of the first there for their students to use for quite a few years.

On Wednesday I joined the head of the school, Frantisek Janak, for the opening of a Moser Crystal exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague. It was very exciting work and very inspiring. One thing that is most exciting is the fact that I have been fortunate to meet a few of the designers recently and in the past. This offers a little more of a personal connection to the work. You can see what they are doing at: http://www.moser-glass.com/en/

To end the week I took some time to attend a figure drawing class in the evening. It is great to be back working with the figure directly. It has been too long to have not drawn from the figure. For an artist of any discipline it is essential.

The next week, my family and I will be attending an orientation for Fulbright in Prague. We are very excited and looking forward to meeting other Fulbright Fellows and Scholars. In addition, it will be good to meet the Fulbright staff who have been so tremendously helpful in making this experience happen.

First Week - Photos

2007-09-07T09:13:00.001+02:00

Images:

1. Frantisek Janak (Director of School), Rene Roubicek, Josef Kris (Glass cutting instructor) please forgive the spelling, I am unable to add the correct Czech pronunciation symbols to the letters
2. Frantisek Janak & Chloe (my wife)
3. Frantisek Janak & Thomas (my son)

***Double click on image to see it bigger

First Week - September 2-8, 2007

2007-09-06T06:54:00.000+02:00

We arrived safe and sound. The flight over was pretty uneventful until we connected in Frankfurt, Germany. This is a very confusing and not very helpful airport. However, we made to our next flight on Czech airlines which was a very quick flight to Prague.

Our long time friend and principal of the school in Kamenicky Senov, Frantisek Janak picked us up from the airport and took us on a quick tour of Prague. My wife had never been here before so it made for a good introduction. Then we headed for Kamenicky Senov.

We made it to our flat, which is just a few meters from the school. It is owned by the school, so they were able to offer it to us at an incredible rate, by American standards. It is a very beautiful area. We have a great view of some close mountains and are located not very far from Novy bor and Ceske Lipa. Both are larger towns with good resources.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Rene Roubicek, a very important Czech glass artist. We also visited his studio.

My family and I joined the instructors for a dinner and a game of bowling.

On thursday we visited the Czecg Glass Exhibition at the Fine Art Museum in Prague.

The classes I was able to attend this week were very informative. They covered basic explanations about tools, equipment and safety. One thing that is very different from the cold working studios in the US is the atmosphere. The studio is very open and has windows running the entire length of both sides. In addition the first year student brought plants in from the garden, which then line the sill of the windows. It makes the environment much more welcoming and pleasant.

After some basic explanations about the tools and how to use them, the students were left to practice. There is no cutting format for the first class. The students are allowed the time and freedom to experiment with the first wheel that is introduced.

I should also make mention that this is a Secondary School. These students range in age from 14-19. However, they are receiving information that is close to the equivelant that American students would receive at the university.

Images:
1. Front of school
2. Our apartment building, the school is the blue building behind

***Double click on image to see it bigger