Blown Away by a Fierce Female Glassblower

August 27, 2019 ♦

Art and Music

♦

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I have a new hero, Deborah Czeresko. I’m a glassblower and I’m blown away. I was super excited when Netflix announced the new show, Blown Away

I shared the show with friends long before it aired.

I’ve loved glass as long as I’ve loved SCUBA diving; glass is liquid and so is water. Our planet is liquid and so is our body.

Let’s start with the good:

Talent. Different gifts from each artist.
Creativity; each interpretation was vast and varied.
Glass. I love glass!

Soon after the show aired, I heard some disappointed reviews from friends, and after my first episode this was my take away that I shared with them:

The template of the show and canned music is shit—so boring and like we’ve seen it before.
Thought it was very fast and poorly edited/annoying for a newbie; you can’t really follow the process. Even I couldn’t follow the process.
They use a lot of terminology that is not clear for the audience.
The timed competition is a TERRIBLE idea. SO unsafe.
Voting the “loser” off the island was lame.
I wonder about their air quality…the artists say several times “I need air” which means they might be suffocating in bad fumes.
The exhibition photos of the final pieces were lame. There was so much more detail I would have liked to see, at least for the top 3 best.

The creativity of the artists however, was amazing. I kept watching. It took three episodes to hook me and the creativity of Deborah Czeresko and the other artists really pulled me along. By the fourth episode I didn’t notice the shitty music anymore, but was focused more on the talents of Czeresko and the other glass blowers.

With the loss of each glassblower to competition, it did allow the show to have more time to dig into each artist’s expertise and also to show more of the process.

Deborah Czeresko’s creativity and thought provoking works and words absolutely elevated the entire show.

She was proud to be a “fierce female glassblower”. How could I not love that?
Her interpretations of the themes were so witty and smart.
Her execution and talent backed up her creative ideas; she’s creative and technical.
Every final piece from her was a WOW, and conversation worthy
She was very supportive of the other artists.
She’s got personality, humor and she is who she is. Very very refreshing.

Each other artist also brought something to the table; there was fantastic talent all around. It was a bummer to have the anxiety of losing talent with each episode. I didn’t feel the other contestants really wanted to compete, I think they wanted to create. They seemed to really embrace and shine the collaborative team episode. I still would have liked to see the entire team continue to create. Art is not a race. The hot shop is not the place for rushing. Hot shop furnaces are hot and there is molten glass on hot poles; it’s a dangerous environment. Eliminating the time crunch would have made a more interesting and overall safer example to the world regarding hot shop etiquette.

With the final pieces I didn’t feel each detail was clearly celebrated for technical expertise. No time to ask why. For example, why were the lids that fit perfectly so exceptional? Why is working with clear glass more challenging? I’m vegan and Deborah did a meaty piece that I applauded; why was it fascinating, technically? How did she get the sausages to string and each string on the meat to look so realistic? She did a human foot that was anatomical perfection; why was that notable? I can answer some of these questions but I have so many other questions, even regarding color. Each episode gave each artist another chance to choose both a topic and then decide how to showcase their technical skill.

I binge watched all of it and have been researching the artists since.

Watch the show and let me know what you think. You will transcend the canned elements and fly past them if you focus on the talent. These are artists I’d love to learn from so it would be wonderful for you to see them work. If you have any process questions maybe I can help explain them.

I’m looking forward to the next season’s talent too and hopefully some artists from the first season.

You can see my humble glass creations here https://www.instagram.com/oceanprotectionleaguegallery/

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