by Bella Erakko
Glass artist Jan Thomas laughingly explains her glass fetish by saying, “It was the only jewel I could afford.” The vibrant colors and the play of light with the material are compelling and delightful. Wind chimes became stained glass windows became blown glass sculptures. After earning an undergraduate degree in literature, and a Peace Corp sojourn in Afghanistan, Jan landed at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1992. Her husband Cameron Smith learned glass blowing on the west coast, earning his MFA in 1988 at California State University at Fullerton. He moved to the Midwest in 1992. Together, Jan and Cameron explore their endless fascination with glass. While Cameron may be cooking 250 pounds of glass in a cement-mixer type furnace to be poured into large molds, Jan today can be found sorting through decades of it-didn’t-work-out pieces and fusing them at 1200 degrees to create incredibly vibrant abstract assemblages.
So how do they get the glass? They buy dry glass mix by the ton in 50-pound bags, jokingly calling it “bisquick glass,” because it contains all the components in the proper proportions, thoroughly mixed at the factory. They then “cook” it in furnaces built by themselves at their studio. They also utilize colored opaque glass from Germany because after all, as Jan quips, “They have been making it for 400 years.” Jan and Cameron can heat it, form it, add color to it, overlay clear glass on opaque glass, crush it like bread crumbs and roll it into hot glass. The techniques are limited only by their imagination.
Jan explains that once a piece has been blown, it is placed in a computer-controlled kiln at 925 degrees and slowly cooled to room temperature, in order to relieve any internal stresses of uneven temperatures and prevent cracking. For most pieces that is over night; Cameron’s large sculptures can take ten days. (Interesting fact: The glass lens for the Mt. Palomar telescope took two years to cool.)
Cameron and Jan have also been engaged in a 20-year project to restore Murphysboro’s historic segregated Frederick Douglass Elementary School into the Douglass School Art Place, usually called “the Doug.” Originally purchased in 1993 in partnership with Gretel Chapman, art historian and comrade, the Doug now offers artist studios, exhibition and meeting spaces, a growing sculpture garden and of course, the glassblowing “hot shop.”
During the pandemic, they took a much needed respite from glass production. Jan laughs, “Glass is a very physically demanding art form. I really needed a rest.” And as we all know, art shows were canceled and most galleries were closed throughout 2020. But the Alliance Art Gallery considers itself very fortunate to have Jan and Cameron as its guest artists over the Christmas season. They bring a brightness and joy that only vibrant glass can evoke. As Jan says, “I have loved glass for 50 years.” And frankly, it is the jewel that keeps on shining.
An Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, December 11 from 4 until 7:00. While Jan and Cameron are not able to attend, the mood will be festive as the reception coincides with Hannibal’s annual Living Windows event. During the course of the day and evening, visitors will receive a ticket for our monthly drawing which will take place at 6:30. Winners do not need to be present to win.
