Vanessa Pandos - maker of the art at Shattered
My 30 year love affair with glass
started in a roundabout way. The initial introduction was through the
magnificent, master-crafted stained glass church and cathedral
windows throughout Europe. A decade later, still inspired by those
memories of colour and light, I took a Board of Education night
school course in Toronto's east end and created my first piece. That
tulip hangs proudly in my studio today.
Interest quickly changed to passion when I was able to combine stained glass with my environmental beliefs. As an avid recycler, I was surprised and discouraged by all the scraps of glass people were discarding. Stained glass cannot be recycled. So I started collecting it. And since none of these mismatched odd-shaped pieces were conducive to a pattern, i decided to scrap the pattern and focus on what mattered - the glass.
And so began my forays into making art with glass. The first piece was a three dimensional sculpture and, although slightly wobbly, it was vivid and colourful and full of movement. As I explored and experimented with shape, colour and texture, I became aware of the unique and intimate relationship between glass and light, and it became my focus, and has informed my work ever since.
What are the bare bone facts? I'm primarily a self-taught artist. I'm originally from Toronto and moved to a century home in Prince Edward County in 1999 to open a gallery and focus on my glasswork. I am inspired, among other things, by nature, Frank Lloyd Wright, words, and creative ingenuity. I work with found, reclaimed & unusual objects, open space, clear glass, strong lines, & sculpture. My first large sale was to the National Gallery of Canada's gift store. I have 1 cat...and maybe a squirrel.
Interest quickly changed to passion when I was able to combine stained glass with my environmental beliefs. As an avid recycler, I was surprised and discouraged by all the scraps of glass people were discarding. Stained glass cannot be recycled. So I started collecting it. And since none of these mismatched odd-shaped pieces were conducive to a pattern, i decided to scrap the pattern and focus on what mattered - the glass.
And so began my forays into making art with glass. The first piece was a three dimensional sculpture and, although slightly wobbly, it was vivid and colourful and full of movement. As I explored and experimented with shape, colour and texture, I became aware of the unique and intimate relationship between glass and light, and it became my focus, and has informed my work ever since.
What are the bare bone facts? I'm primarily a self-taught artist. I'm originally from Toronto and moved to a century home in Prince Edward County in 1999 to open a gallery and focus on my glasswork. I am inspired, among other things, by nature, Frank Lloyd Wright, words, and creative ingenuity. I work with found, reclaimed & unusual objects, open space, clear glass, strong lines, & sculpture. My first large sale was to the National Gallery of Canada's gift store. I have 1 cat...and maybe a squirrel.
...the tulip that started it all...
CITY GIRL – PART I (2000) this country living don't come naturally to me no, sir but it sure is habit forming grubs pop up seagulls gulp and so do I yes, sir at the size of those flies and i take it personally i sure can tell you when those blood crazed mosquitoes size me up pound for pound and standing knee-deep raking putrid pond scum fluorescent green, mind you and how 'bout those scampering critters running mazes through the walls encrusted fur pellets behind the fridge so deep needed a paint scraper to find the floor i think yeah, city girl what've you gone and done thinking you're so refined and sophisticated what's that got to do with the price of peas which you better know out here yes-sir-ee if you're gonna have enough money to survive so i decide to tend my flowers or maybe they're weeds who the hell can tell can't even see 'em the grass is so high and, oh yeah, don't forget to give the RIDING MOWER a cutesy name - 'baby' and buy table cloths with fruit on them and get to know the names of everyone at home hardware - they're your friends and go on and sit back girl because a whole new season's coming and you ain't seen nothin' yet |
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