This past weekend, the hot hiss of the flame could be heard as glass experts and students alike experienced the excitement of glass art at the 11th Annual International Flameworking Conference sponsored by Salem Community College and the SCC Foundation.
Held in the Paul J. Stankard Studio and Lab at the Samuel H. Jones Glass Education Center in Alloway, the event showcases the beauty and techniques of using glass to create art.
SCC Distinguished Alumnus and Conference Chairman Paul J. Stankard said the event's main objective was to offer an additional aspect of education - an out-of-the-classroom experience - for glass students, while celebrating excellence in glass art. More than 300 attended the three-day conference.
Through demonstrations, slide shows and networking, SCC glass students and other attendees received lessons from some of the best in the glass world, including featured artists Laura Donefer and Maestro Gianni Toso.
Artist Amber Cowan also gave a presentation to the group, detailing her journey in glass from self-taught methods to her near-completion of a master's in fine arts (MFA) degree from Temple University's Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.
Cowan encouraged students to broaden their thoughts on continuing education in glass art and to explore the possibilities it could bring to their artistic vision. She shared information on several colleges and universities that offer master's in fine arts programs.
"Sometimes students have a hard time seeing into the future as far as the obstacles that keep artists from their creative goals," she said. "I never expected to go back to school for my MFA."
Cowan earned her bachelor's degree in 3-dimension design with a concentration in glass from Salisbury University in 2004. She then moved to New York City where she worked as a glassblowing and flameworking instructor at One Sixty Glass and Urban Glass in Brooklyn.
She also has been a resident artist at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, Minn., and an ongoing visiting artist at the recycled glass center of Maho Bay Eco-Resort in St. John, Virgin Islands.
Cowan has served as a teaching assistant to many of the glass world's finest artists working in glass, including several featured at the International Flameworking Conference through the years - Paul Stankard, Loren Stump, Kari Russell-Pool and Gianni Toso.
