dicast glass News Feed

Di welcomes visit from Jenny Scown - Inspirit Gallery

1336478400

Yesterday Jenny Scown of Inspirit Gallery and Pip Stephenson of Tamahere Forum visited Di Tocker's studio.

Jenny has been stocking Di's glass artworks for the past 3 years. Di says "Jenny is a great gallery owner to work with, as she is always keen to understand and share the process with potential buyers. However, even after many conversations about technique, I knew Jenny would benefit from seeing the process first hand".

As most people are, Jenny and Pip were astounded by the amount of steps in the process, justifying the often higher price tag on cast glass. Jenny described the processes as complex, and she is not wrong.

Di explains "I am inviting people to visit me in my studio to give people who are interested in cast glass art a total understanding of the complex processes. To give a voice to the glass".

ArtsPost team visit Di Tocker's Cast Glass Studio

1331722800

Marion Manson and the staff from ArtsPost spent a couple of hours at Di Tocker's Cast Glass Studio on March the 15th. Di issued the invitation after Marion had expressed an interest to understand the cast glass process.

While the ladies enjoyed a wine and a nibble Di explained the processes and equipment she uses to get to the finished glass. Di was in the middle of a 'batch of paper people', meaning that she had some waxes ready to mold and some molds already steamed out. So Di demonstrated the process of hand molding a refractory mold, glass selection and loading the mold and glass into the kiln.

It was an enjoyable evening and the ladies were simply amazed at the involved processes of casting glass.
Thanks for coming ladies!

Summer Workshop Success

1331550000

Each of the ten students who attended Di Tocker's Summer Glass Casting Workshop were thrilled with the results of their first cast glass works.

Day 3 was held on the 10th of March. The focus was on de-molding to reveal their glass treasures, theory on kiln firing schedules and cold-working or finishing to their glass pieces.

If required, Di operated the diamond saw to remove bases, then the students were shown how to use the dremel to remove unwanted 'dags' and to hand-lap the base and selected flat faces for polishing. Di used the linisher to give these faces the high polish.

It was an action packed day as the photos will show.

Details for upcoming workshops:
Techniques of Glass Casting Workshop Information
Enrolment Form Winter 2012
Enrolment Form Spring 2012

Di Tocker in Glass Artists' Gallery Sydney

1331550000

Ranamok Glass Prize 2011 finalists, including Di Tocker have been invited by Maureen Cahill of Glass Artists' Gallery, Sydney to particpate in Encore, opening on the 27th of March and showing until the 23rd of April 2012.

Traditionally Encore follows the Ranamok Finalist exhibition. It is a chance for the Ranamok audience to see more work from the Artists that they admired in the Ranamok show.

The Glass Artists' Gallery being the Gallery that initiated 'the Prize' enjoys exhibiting additional work from the 2011 Ranamok finalists for a month at the Glass Artists' Gallery, 68 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Sydney NSW 2037 AUSTRALIA. www.glassartistsgallery.com.au

Di Tocker has decided to show the Australian audience her Abstract Figurative work. Di says "It seems appropriate as I started this series of glass figures while completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts at RMIT Melbourne in 2000".

High demand for Glass Casting Courses - New Dates!

1329390000

Di Tocker has just announced the dates for the final two Glass Casting Workshops for 2012. Di says "Interest is definitely increasing in my courses, there were some people left disappointed at missing out on the Summer Workshop earlier this year".

There will be a Winter Workshop - June 9th and 10th, July 14th and a Spring Workshop - September 29th and 30th, November 3rd. Di explains "I can only manage to do 3 workshops a year as I have other commissions on the go and I really need to continue with the development of my own work".

It is necessary to book early to avoid missing out on Di's Glass Casting Courses.

Click on the links below to download full details and enrolment forms.
Techniques of Glass Casting - 3 day Workshop
Enrolment Form Winter 2012
Enrolment Form Spring 2012

Glass Casting Workshop Success!

1328526000

Ten students attended Di Tocker's inaugural Glass Casting Workshop at her newly built studio in Ohaupo on the 4th and 5th of February. It was an all women crew, and abilities differed some having done some glass work before but most were new to the techniques of glass casting.

Plenty of laughs were had as the group connected well and Di kept the atmosphere light while insuring plenty of information was shared about the processes.

On Saturday the students spent all day working on their wax models, carving fantastic forms from solid blocks of wax. As usual the subject matter was completely varied, there was a candle holder, labyrinth, houses, cat, negative figure forms and other abstract forms.

On Sunday the kiln molds were made, by layering the plaster over the wax model. The wax was steamed out then the kiln was loaded ready for firing during the week.

All students responded well to the challenges and will be looking forward to returning on the 10th of March, when they will reveal their glass within the mold and use cold-working techniques to finish it.

Some of the student comment from the weekend;
"Excellent pace, amazed at how much we got through"
"Di is well organised and very approachable. She knows when to stand back and when to move in without being pushy or superior"
"Seriously enjoyable"
"Very informative, great notes"

Summer Glass Casting Workshop Full

1326538800

Di Tocker's Summer Glass Casting Workshop to be held in her new purpose built studio is full. There has been a huge amount of interest in her courses of late and as a result Di will run the course with 10 students, instead of 8.

Di will have an assistant working with her during the 3 day workshop to ensure the course runs smoothly. Being in her newly completed and well equipped studio will help also.

Students will get to complete their own glass object cast from Blackwood Lead Crystal. They will work through the complete process - wax modeling, mold making, glass selection, kiln loading, kiln schedules, de-molding and glass finishing. Students can expect 3 days in a fun and totally informative environment with Di Tocker, full-time glass artist.

New Kiln for Glass Casting

1325588400

Arriving just in time for Christmas is the new kiln for Glass Casting in Di Tocker's studio. Purchased second-hand, though only fired once the kiln has yet to be fully installed. This will happen in January. Di is thrilled about the buy "I have been looking for a kiln for over a year now, second hand ones like this don't come up often so Colleen and I took a rushed, crazy trip up to Auckland leaving at 5.30am. When it looked good, we didn't hesitate".

Di continues to share studio space with long-time glass colleague Colleen Ryan-Priest and as they are both keen to 'step up' their practice, the new purchase was ineveitable. The kiln allows both artists to increase the footprint and height of their currents works, and allows for more works to be fired together.

The delivery guys (not Santa!) bought the kiln down on the 23rd of December. What a present!

Glass Casting Courses running again

1322737200

Di Tocker has announced she is running Glass casting Workshops again. Di had a small break from taking courses while her purpose built Glass Casting Studio in Ohaupo, Waikato was built.

The studio is now equipped with all the gear and facilities to ensure Di can continue to deliver fun and informative workshops once again. Di says she prides herself on running well organised workshops, " I like to know my students are going away, not only with a self-created glass piece, but also with their brains bursting with knowledge about the techniques and possibilities of this fantastic medium".

The Summer 2012 Glass Casting Workshop Dates are Saturday 4 February, Sunday 5 February and Saturday 10 March, 9.30am - 4pm.

Glass Casting Courses full details and enrolment form.