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Door County Art League Meeting: September 24, 2006
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Contact me:
Gary Chaudoir
10130 Old stage Road
Sister Bay, WI 54234
920.854.4825
Monday, Wednesday,Friday
12-5 by appointment
garychaudoir@dcwis.com
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Chaudior not slumpling with slump glass
By Marty Gerber
Slumped glass vessels and forms are the topic of discussion as Gary Chaudoir introduces many Door County
Art League members to their first experiences with the medium of glass.
This introduction happens as Chaudoir addresses the league at its next monthly meeting, September 25th.
The color, thickness and versatility of the material will be addressed as Gary presents the real and the fantasy
in the world of glass.
His work includes the slump process and stained-glass work. “Slump glass” or “slumped glass” is a process of
using heat to collapse a glass piece and re-forming it into a preferred shape and pattern.
A native of Namur, Gary has owned and operated The Eight of Pentacles Stained Glass Studio in Sister Bay
since 1978. While he holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied
drawing and pottery elsewhere, Gary is self-taught in the art of glass, except for brief private tutoring with
Green Bay glassworker Bob Kersching in 1978. Gary’s desire is to work full time on his glass art. Chaudoir’s
love of the art came from his father. Gary started his life on a farm, where his father taught him how to cut
glass to fix barn windows. The cutting of the glass, and the flow of sunlight through it, led to investigating
different kinds of glass and different colors and thicknesses.
The fire was lit, and Gary took off with the passions of any artist, studying the color palette, texture and line
that could be created through the use of glass in all of the forms. He abides by the words of his fourth-grade
teacher, who told him to draw his own work rather than copying, because copying made you a craft person
while drawing your own work made you an artist.
Armed with is original designs and a love of color, Gary has created commissions for private homes, the Door
County Courthouse and a number of businesses. He creates plaques, awards and trophies along with the big
commissions. During his career, Chaudioir has taught hundreds of classes in stained glass, sand blasting and
fusing glass.
Gary said he enjoys the creative process while designing a commission but finds working with customers to
select colors, type of glass and structure design is personally satisfying. A major side goal of creating the
work is to do a great job of construction so the piece will never have to be repaired.
To know that opaque glass is a combination of potash, silica sand, lime and metal oxide is a start in
understanding where glass comes from. The mechanical aspects of the construction bring him the most
enjoyment: dissecting, understanding weight bearing structures and filling the piece, while aesthetic
principles are a the forefront of his thinking.
Gary Chaudoir will demonstrate how to create clump glass forms and texture surfaces in the next DCAL
monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, at Baileys Harbor Town Hall. The public is welcome to attend.
For more information, call DCAL president Jeanne at 823-2532 or log on to www.doorcountyleage.org.
Marty Gerber is the publicity chair for the Door County Art Leaque.
Picture Caption:
Chaudoir gives a slump glass demonstration September 25 to the Door County Art League.
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