 |
|
|
|
Artist
|
 Astrid Gate
|
 |
|
|
Astrid Gate was born in Rösås near the Swedish glass kingdom in October 1956.
Ever since she was a child she had a love for the nature, where she caught lizards, snakes and insects. And at the age of seven she learned how to ride and take care of horses. Her fascination of the animal kingdom made her start to draw. The drawings soon became fairytales.
As an adult she was the first female employee that worked professionally with horses at the government owned Flyinge stud farm. There she painted portraits of the famous stallions and sold them on different occasions.
After a while she moved to Stockholm where she worked at an advertising agency.
Where she participated in a advertising film as a model for Date shampoo.
After a couple of years she moved home to her hometown. Made contact with a travel agency, became model in their show for sports clothes.
At the age of 27, she visited Orrefors Glass factory with her grandmother, Flory Gate (married to Simon Gate). She immediately felt drawn to the glass and started to investigate the possibility of being a student at Orrefors Glass school. Completed a four months course including cold and hot shop.
Because of her background as a painter she was fascinated by the possibilities of the art of engraving and sandblasting in coloured glass.
After eighteen years of working with glass she has a profound knowledge of how the colours work together in her different techniques. Such as under and overlay techniques, Graal and Ariel.
On her pieces she designs the colour, shape and pattern. And the pattern she sandblast and engrave herself.
In the year 2000, she began working with the master blower Wilke Adolfson. With his skills and knowledge of glass, she is able to create even more delicate pieces.
Lucio Bubacco, she met in 2001, who was teaching a lampworking course, at San Servolo, Venice, Italy, where Astrid was participating. The aim was to develop her graal and ariel vases with sculptures on the outside.
Next year while attending another lampworking course with Vittorio Constantini at San Servolo, she worked together with Lucio Bubacco, to create her first piece, combining the lampworking and graal technique.
Her grandfather Simon Gate 1883-1945, arrived at Orrefors Glass factory in 1915 and was thereby the first designer employed by them. He developed the Swedish graal technique, 1916, together with Knut Bergqvist, the master blower. In 1925 at the international exhibition of applied arts, held in Paris, Orrefors gained an unchallenged international reputation. Simon Gate was there awarded the Grand Prix medal. Simon’s partnership with Orrefors lasted for 30 years.
|
1985 Orrefors glass school
1987 Gates Konsthantverk (own business)
1997 Working as Artist & Designer at Johansfors Glassfactory (freelans)
2000 Venetian Beadmakingclass, teacher Anette Shapiro
2001 Centro Studio Vetro, Venice Italy (lampworking),
teacher Lucio Bubacco
2002 Centro Studio Vetro, Venice Italy (lampworking), teacher Vittorio Costantini
2002-03 Collaboration with Lucio Bubacco, Murano Italy
|
2002 Decoration of a diningroom. Ljungby Hospital. Demonstration of Graal & Ariel, G.A.S. Conference Amsterdam.
2001 Represented at Växjö Glassmuseum.
1998 Represented at Johansfors Crystal Museum.
|
|
|
Her current works are displayed at Galleria Regina in Murano.
For more information about special prices, contact us. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Graal technique
The master blower makes an egg shaped 15-20 cm glass blanc. With different under and overlay colours. When cold, Astrid sandblasts and engraves the graal blanc with a desired pattern. Then she takes the graal embryo back to the hot shop, put it in the anhealer, heat it up to 490° Celsius. With some hot glass you attach the graal embryo on the pipe. Heat it up, marver it smoth , and then pick up some clear glass covering the whole graal embryo. Then Astrid decides what shape the graal piece will be.
Ariel technique
The ariel embryo is made using the same procedure as the graal embryo, but with deeper sandblasting around the pattern.
In the hot shop the master blower puts on like a stocking of clear glass on the embryo. Capturing the air around the pattern. Then he puts on one or two layers of clear glass. And finally shape the ariel piece.
Fabel Graal technique
Astrids own invention
The graal becomes more like a sculpture. With more than four layers of clear glass on the graal embryo and in between the layers, frit in different colours and sometimes dichroic stringers is making a three dimensional impression. If the frit covers the outside, a window is cut and polished open so you can see the pattern inside.
Overlay technique
You put a small piece of concentrated glass colour on the pipe.
Then you put on some clear glass, and shape it like an egg.
In meantime the other glass blower makes the overlay colour. The colour that is meant to be on the outside is put on the pipe. Then you put another colour on top of each other. Then you put on some clear glass on top and blow it to a rather thin bubble. After reheating you attach the underlay with the overlay. Then you push the overlay on top of the underlay (like a stocking). And shape it like a vase or desired form.
Astrid then make the pattern by drawing on the sandblaster tape, cutting out the pattern and places it on the vase. Then she sandblasts around the tape, removing all the different layers of colours. Finally she engraves all the details.
Underlay technique
The concentrated coloured glass is cut directly on the pipe. And then it’s overlained with one or two layers of clear glass. Then it’s blowned to a desired shape, often to a more open shape, that allows Astrid to make the pattern inside e.g a bowl.
Astrid then makes the same procedure as with the overlay.
|
|
|
|
1989 Orrefors glasstudio, Orrefors, solo
1989 Art & antique fair, Stockholm, Oskarshamn, Borås och Helsingborg
1989-90 Kristallkompaniet, Stockholm
1990-91 Stockholm, Oskarshamn, Borås och Helsingborg
1991-92 Swedish-American Museum, Chicago, USA
1992-93 Stockholm, Oskarshamn, Borås och Helsingborg
1992-93 Glass Joy, Växjö Glassmuseum. Kalmar Castle, solo
1994 Stockholm, Oskarshamn, Borås och Helsingborg
1995-97 Stockholm, Oskarshamn, Borås och Helsingborg
1996 Scandinaviskt Glass, Copenhagen, solo
1998 Unikt Glass, Gothenburg, Solo
1998 Stockholm, Helsingborg
1999 Stockholm, Helsingborg
1999 Länssalongen, Växjö arthall
1999 “The Big Gardenparty”, Sofiero Castle
2000 Galleri Svenskt Konstglas & Form, Helsingborg, solo. Three Artists, Johansfors Glassfactory.
2001 Galleri Angel, Lund. Art & antique fair, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Helsingborg. Fabels & Fantasie, Johansfors Glassfactory, solo. Little Gallery, Vickleby Öland. Gallery JB, Västerås, solo. Gallery Moment, Ängelholms Artsociety, solo. Hotel Sofitel, Shanghai China.
2002 Art & antique fair, Stockholm. Spring-Joy, Johansfors Glassfactory, solo. Summerexhibition, Huseby, solo. Exhibition, Specialistläkargruppen Växjö.
2003 Art & antique fair, Stockholm och Helsingborg. Nordiska Kristall, Stockholm, solo. Keramikens Hus, Strängnäs
|
|
|
