female announcer: Today on "Studio Space," hosts Kati Texas and David Ferney take you to the studios of two artists who push their mediums to the limit.

Intense concentration is required to cast glass.

Watch renowned glass artist George Bucquet at work in his studio.

Then discover what drives sculptor Jimmie Nord to teach and pass the enthusiasm for creativity to his students.

"Studio Space" introduces you to art and artists in Northern California, a place where a unique art colony thrives and supports each other while creating some of those dynamic, kinetic, and impressive art in America.

This activity was funded in part by the California Arts Council: a State Agency, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Kati Texas: Hi, I'm Kati Texas.

David Ferney: And I'm David Ferney.

Today on "Studio Space," we visit with two artists who share a passion for precision with their work in metal and glass.

Kati: I'll visit with mixed media artist Jimmie Nord, but first, David sits down with glass artist George Bucquet to talk about what it takes to create one of his enchanting glass sculptures.

George Bucquet: Pretty much done what I've wanted to do and I feel fortunate that it's all worked out.

But the majority of the time, I've just had to go for it, because the amount of effort that goes into making a piece is intense.

So I try to stay true to myself and make what I want, and the more I've done what I want, the more successful I've been.

♪♪♪ David: Today, we're with glass sculptor George Bucquet of Mad River Glass.

Thank you so much for joining us, George.

George: Well, thank you.

David: I'm looking forward to hearing more about your process.

George: Well, I'm glad you're here.

David: So let's start with, can you tell us how you first got interested in working with glass and how it's different from traditional sculpture?

George: Yeah, I was sort of a late bloomer.

I didn't get started in glass 'til I was about 28.

And I was in between looking for something to do and the notion of learning how to blow glass to make stemware was what originally attracted me.

Blowing glass is what I thought I wanted to do, and so back then there weren't very many opportunities to learn how to do it, so I ended up in Tennessee taking a three-week workshop and I loved it as much as I'd hoped.

And one thing led to another and initially, yeah, my interest was really in blowing glass because of the spontaneity, the fluidity.

It's like a dance.

It's very alluring, but I rapidly became interested in casting glass, and that's what I've done predominately for the last 35 years.

David: With your glass casting, there's so many different processes involved in getting to your final product.

Is there any part of those processes that you find more or less interesting or like more or less?

George: Well, it is an intrinsic part.

There's so many processes to get the mold made, to make the pattern, which is the original mold, designing the equipment.

I had to make the glass furnaces to be able to cast.

I make all my glass from scratch and had to modify glasses for certain needs.

I would say I like that process as much as I like having the final piece.

It's the whole flow and how it unfolds, and there's always technical challenges to casting glass to be able to get what I want to do.

Initially, I'll have an idea for--oh, let's say I wanna make a shell.

Well, then I have the question, "Well, how do I make that?"

And I have to figure out the process to be able to do it, to make the molds, which I ended up using computers for computer rendering and 3D printing, to different mold techniques for making the sand molds.

I had to formulate a new glass that would have the correct viscosity and index of refraction, and I could actually get into the mold and have it work properly.

It's never really simple and straightforward.

In many ways, I kind of envy glass blowers because there's a spontaneity to it.

There's a big pot full of glass, you can get it, and you can just make whatever your whim is on the spot.

Well, there's nothing spontaneous about this, but fortunately I like the whole process, you know, and making the equipment because there's special needs and special things I do that really the only way I can get it done is to make it myself.

David: Yeah.

George: And I like that.

David: Yeah.

George: I like that.

David: It's interesting to see, and you just mentioned it, about how you evolved into using technology in your work with the computer and computer modeling, and also the 3D printing for models and molds.

This is all really fascinating.

Can we can go down into your studio and have a look?

George: Yeah, let's go.

David: That'd be great.

George: Yeah.

George: Basically, the casting is pretty rough and it's not round, perfectly round, so the sphere machine will grind it so that it's perfectly round.

and the idea is to get a random orbital movement so that any high spots or low spots end up getting evened out.

It's noisy.

So in this room, I do the majority of the finishing work, like in this oval fish bowl here, doing the leafing behind the fish.

Yeah, I do gold leaf, variegated leaf.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ George: Okay.

♪♪♪ David: Now, your work has evolved currently into working with spheres.

How did you become attracted to that shape and what keeps you interested in it?

George: Initially I was working with form, with--there was an object and I was concerned about the outside form, and using glasses for a medium for light or translucency, especially the opalescence which I do chemically when I make the glass.

And I started to think about really simple geometric forms, dodecahedrons, all these, you know, solids, these primary solids, and one thing led to another and I became attracted to the notion of a sphere because it's like a pure form.

It doesn't have a front, a back, top, bottom.

It's like the perfect form and uniform.

And now, this brought up technical things like, well, gosh, I'm gonna have to be able to grind it.

The castings come out rough.

I have to make it a perfect sphere, and for it to work I have to polish it, which is a whole--polishing a sphere is a whole conundrum.

So once those processes were worked out, I was real pleased in dealing with this internal space instead of the external form.

And what happens as you approach the sphere personally and you get close to it, it's like because it's so uniform and simple, the form disappears and really what draws you in is to what's going on inside the medium.

And I would stick rods of opal glasses, opalescent glasses, into the pot of hot glass before I poured, let 'em come to temperature, so when I pour it out, they would striate through and create these--well, they're images I suppose, but they're random in many ways.

David: Right, which you kinda get back a little bit to that idea of blowing in that there's a random element in the work.

George: Yeah, yeah, but not like blowing glass.

It's random in that I can kind of guess and I can place these rods and things into the glass and hope they're gonna do what I want it to do, but you have to let it go.

You know, and some work and some don't.

It's just the way--it's just--similar thing in clay would be raku.

It's not always gonna pan out, you know, or wood-firing.

David: Wood-firing, yeah.

George: Yeah, yeah, you just have to let go to the process and go with the flow.

From a design point of view, or what's always attracted me to designing work is I like really simple, clean work that's evocative, that brings on a feeling of peacefulness.

Or there's just simple beauty, and in that sense it kind of stops people or stops their head for a little bit and they respond to it.

There's no need for an intellectual understanding.

There's nothing to explain.

The piece is like a catalyst with the person and whether they respond to the beauty.

Over the last few years, it's become even more simple and more pure, more simplified, you know, where there isn't even an image to deal with, and I like that.

Yeah, I like that.

But more importantly about the spheres and what I go through when I'm making them is, you know, it's about what's inside and not so much what's on outside.

I mean, it counts, but to me, so the things I reflect on when I'm making 'em are internalized, you know, and I like that.

You know, when I go in the studio and I start to work on something, I bring everything with me, you know?

What do I have to do today?

Who did I just talk to?

Oh, I gotta do this.

And slowly, as I focus my attention, that's really the key, these things start to fall away.

And all of a sudden, it's just me, you know, doing this thing.

David: In the moment, yeah.

George: Yeah, and if I'm lucky, I even go away, you know?

And you can just witness this thing happening really.

And it's like, in that sense I don't really feel like I'm making things.

I'm watching it being made.

David: Well, thank you so much for sharing your work with us on "Studio Space."

This has been great.

George: You're welcome.

Thanks for having me.

Jimmie Nord: If I could get a crane and a whole bunch of metal, I would be happy.

A crane or a forklift is my dream.

♪♪♪ Kati: Hi, I'm Kati Texas.

Welcome to "Studio Space."

Today, we're here with Jimmie Nord.

Hi, Jimmie.

Jimmie: Hi, how are you doing, Kati?

Kati: Doing great.

Thank you so much for inviting us.

Jimmie, how would you describe your art?

What is it that you do?

Jimmie: I make art, ha ha.

Love to try to dabble with as many mediums, processes, ideas as possible, and I--and so I'm kind of all over the place, I feel.

For me, every piece is just an experiment for me to learn something new and to take something that I learned from that piece or that body of work, and then I use it in the next piece or the next body of work.

I'm constantly wanting to learn from my experiments.

Kati: Do you have a favorite material to work with?

Jimmie: Yes, it's metal.

I love fabricating steel and I also--I haven't done it in awhile, but casting bronze and creating these just beautiful objects, you know, that will just last and withstand the elements, you know, a lot longer than a lot of other material I use, like wood.

Kati: Is there a particular subject matter or theme?

I know a lot of your stuff is abstract, but then you see some concrete objects.

Is there a subject matter or a theme that you like to explore or that you find yourself coming back to over and over?

Jimmie: I think the theme is almost like a self portrait, but it's a lot of things that I've learned, I've done in my life, and a lot of things that inspired me in my life, from, you know, times in my life, to people in my life, to just learning in my life has really played a big role in what I make.

So a lot of my art has, like, a narrative, be it, you know, rising sea levels or pollution, but in the--but if you look back and I start talking about the work, a lot of it is a self portrait, that different parts of my life that I bring together, you know, with this, you know, this other message in there.

I think it all is a self portrait.

Kati: Well, let's talk about yourself then.

Jimmie: No, I moved over in 2000 when I went to College of the Redwoods, but my grandparents have lived here my whole life.

They moved over I believe in '83, 1983, and so I would come over and visit.

So I always felt Humboldt was like a second home, but I've been here for 20 years now.

I have a lot of friends and family in the area, and when I got out of grad school, one of my friends was gracious enough to let me use his garage 'cause I didn't have a studio space.

So I could've stayed in Louisiana where I went to grad school, but I didn't have a space to make art, so coming home and just getting a job just to pay the bills, to be able to have a space to create art was really important.

And then I got a job doing whatever, you know, and then I landed the job at--I got in at Humboldt teaching, and I--that is where I wanna be and I enjoy the teaching aspect.

So that is keeping me here, being able to teach that job, and I have friends and family here that really care.

And the community's wonderful, that you know, they support artists, and everybody's here, and we all know each other, and you know, there's different organizations that have been very supportive of me and other artists that I know.

And so it's really nice to have such a positive environment to be in, so you know, I think there's a lot of elements that are keeping me here.

But yeah, definitely this is where I grew as an artist and where I've been supported the most, so I just feel very comfortable, you know, in Eureka or in Humboldt.

Kati: What is it that you like about teaching?

Jimmie: Sharing my knowledge.

Being able to get to know each student, being able to share my knowledge and see their enthusiasm with art, and the process of art, and learning and growing as an artist.

And I had so many teachers in my life that was very supportive of me and helped me, you know, get through school, and to be able to give back what they've given me, you know, to be able to do that same thing for someone else is really what drives me as a teacher.

So just being able to share what I love, and when--people are always like, "Oh, what do you make?"

or "What is your art?"

you know, "Why do you make art?"

and I love making art and I love the process, but I think being able to teach is the part of art that I love the best, you know, sharing my knowledge and helping others become artists or learning something new.

Kati: If there's one thing you hope your students take away from your class, what is that?

Jimmie: Not to be afraid of a challenge, you know?

To have more confidence and to be able to not look at a problem but look at a solution.

You know, I hope they learn.

You know, the idea is to learn about art, learn about design and these elements of art, but also I'm giving them tools, and material, and assignments that they might not ever have done before or even thought about, so that coming up with the solution to that assignment to finish it, you know, 'cause I speak with a lot of my students and they always--they're always nervous just to get started, you know?

I wanna create a safe environment that everybody is--feels very comfortable with and encourage them to do the same for someone else out there.

But also just becoming an artist is really hard, you know?

It's a gamble that, you know, you're like, "I wanna do this," and it's a lot of hard work.

And to be able just to keep moving forward and jump over those hurdles, those hurdles might be really short or they might be really tall, but no matter what, as long as you keep going, you know, it might take longer to get over those higher ones, but you can get over 'em.

Kati: Did you have a mentor that encouraged you in that way or helped you along your path?

Jimmie: Yes, I've had several mentors in my life and some of 'em were just tradespeople.

I've had several instructors and even teachers from, you know, high school or elementary school that just inspired me, that believed in me.

I grew up, I went to school, and I did not like school.

And I grew up, I had a learning disability, so I really was just--I hated--I didn't like school.

It scared me.

It was, like, the worst place to be, you know?

It was like some people get scared going through a haunted house.

I get scared going to school.

And so to be able to have people that believed in me in that place that was so scary to me really meant a lot, and a lot of those instructors that believed in me stood behind me and showed me that I can do it.

I could do this to overcome this.

And to be in a situation where I'm at now to be able to give that back to someone and encourage others, you know, is--you know, is really nice and is also a way I can say thank you and pass that--you know, that so many people had done for me, to be able to share that with others and encourage others is really--is an honor.

Kati: Well, this has been really interesting.

Can you show us how some of your stuff is made?

Jimmie: Yeah, let's go in.

Jimmie: Right now, I'm actually working on a sculpture that is based off of a trestle, like a train, like a bridge, and also a covered bridge right here.

And this was a scrap piece of a wood that I got from the salvage yard.

And there's gonna be a top on it that goes like this, and then I'm gonna have some, like, train track things coming out of it, so it's gonna be kinda a little bit wider at some point.

But this piece of wood was actually a pipe organ--part of a pipe organ.

And so I just bought those and lobbed it off, and started building off of it.

So I really like found objects and building stuff out of them to create other objects, you know, more abstract forms.

And these sticks are actually the last of the sticks that I have and I don't know if I'm gonna keep going with it.

But I've been working in this style for probably ten years possibly, so I've made several larger pieces.

One of my favorite ones is a chalice, and a chalice is like, you know, a cup that you would drink out of.

And it's called "Drink Up" because this is the last--you know, like, we've gotta change.

You know, we've gotta change our behavior.

And it's also on wheels, and everything I have is almost all on wheels.

This table, my chair.

I just love wheels.

I think it was because of skateboarding, rollerblading, so everything I have is on wheels, so a lot of my work will have wheels.

So it's--I like to play with a little humor too and just have a little fun.

These wooden dowels actually come in giant sheets and I cut 'em down from sheets down to this small.

So I cut every one of these.

These have all been through my hands--like, working with my hand.

Then the material gets to decide for me sometimes.

The sticks aren't cut perfectly or they warp, so they kind of will start messing with each other and it kinda just builds itself.

So I let it loosely build itself, or like just kinda makes itself up.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, everybody says, "What's it mean?"

I'm like, "It's just parts of everything in my life."

Like, different parts that I've just grabbed or I've seen, and I just pull it all together and this is what it looks like.

So you know, talking about it, I just brought up all these different parts of my life and all of a sudden it's a self portrait is what I'm trying to say.

Kati: They're all self portraits.

Jimmie: Yeah, they're all self portraits.

Ha ha ha.

Kati: Do you have, like, a dream project kicking around in your head that you haven't had a chance to start yet?

Jimmie: Oh, all the time.

I got so many ideas.

I really would love to make just larger work, larger metal work.

You know, my studio's in my garage so I'm limited as tall as my garage roof is.

One of my pieces I created, the largest piece I've created recently, was called the "White House Buoy," and the only reason it's the size it is is because I had no more space to make-- to build it.

So I mean, that thing, I built it and it had to come apart because I couldn't get it out the door, so it all comes apart.

So having more space to be able to create something larger is really where my ideas are going and what I really would love to do is to make larger work.

Kati: Well, Jimmie, thank you so much for talking with us.

It's been really fun.

Jimmie: Yeah, thank you for coming.

Kati: And thank you for joining us on "Studio Space."

Kati: We hope you enjoyed today's episode.

Jimmie: To visit with more Humboldt County artists or to watch other great shows on local issues, go to keet.org.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ announcer: This activity was funded in part by the California Arts Council: a State Agency, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

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