PHOTO/RUTH KEBER
Jo Tricker is a glass artisan who makes quality fused and flameworked glass items for functional and decorative purposes. Ruth Keber caught up with her about the space she creates her unique pieces in.
I do fused and flameworked glass, creating either small beads or small sculptural shapes. I work with a flame that is mixed LPG and oxygen and which reaches temperatures of 800C and 880C. When the item is made it's popped into a kiln, which cooks it, realigning the molecular structure of the glass.
I got into it via mosaics, which I was involved in for seven years. I went to a conference in Tasmania where there was a lady who made mosaic birds, and they were massive, with 5m wing spans, and every single feather was a fused piece of glass. As I looked at the glass I just thought how fascinating it was.
I came back to New Zealand and, after joining the glass society of New Zealand, I was away. I have been here two years, but have been open to the public for a year and a half. I was initially doing it at home, but it wasn't a big enough space. But it's good here because there is wood sculpture, mixed-media furniture and recycled rimu furniture ... something for everybody.
I like it because it is a working studio. People can actually come in and see how the product is made; that is really interesting because a lot of people wouldn't even think about what it entails. When people come in they can see you making the bead or cutting flat glass or the process of actually getting it into a mould. That's why this space works really well, it's about education. If you can educate people into the process, then they have an understanding of what's involved and why things cost what they do.
A basic bead takes between six and 10 minutes to make, it's not a fast process and is really a labour of love.
It's a really neat little space, it's nice because if you don't have customers you can still be doing something productive.
I have been doing it for about six years but I still think of myself as a beginner. There is still so much to learn, I look at the techniques and practices I haven't done and that is why it is such a neat medium because it is really where science and art meet. There is a huge technical aspect to it.
If you get the temperature wrong by 10C or 15C, it can mean the difference between a masterpiece or a failure. There is very slim margin for error.
I love that it starts as a solid and changes to a complete liquid. Then it goes back to a solid but in a completely different form than it started from; it's just absolutely fascinating. It is also such a challenging medium that it never gets boring. It's a good fusion for me, technical and creative.