St. Pete glass master Duncan McClellan collaborated with nine craft artists for new show

Head to Florida CraftArt to find out what happens when nine of the best craft artists in Tampa Bay collaborate with glass master Duncan McClellan on new work.

The most interesting thing about the "Clearly Collaborative" exhibition happening Jan. 27-March 11 in St. Petersburg is that the nine craft artists are not glass artists.

They’re all masters of different craft media, from ceramics (William Kidd, Charlie Parker, Sue Shapiro) to jewelry (Pamela Fox), metal (Dominice Gilbert), paper mâché/sculpture (Joyce Curvin), fiber/painting (Nneka Jones), paper cutting (Lucrezia Bieler), and wood (John Mascoll).
“I felt it would be interesting to offer these artists the opportunity to combine their skills and creativity with blown glass,” exhibition curator David Ramsey said in a press release.

McClellan supplied each of the nine artists with a blank glass vessel or plate to work with, and showed them how to use his sandblasting equipment.

Palm Harbor artist Joyce Curvin turned her McClellan vessel into a rocket sending two of her signature paper mâché dogs into space. Nneka Jones painted one of McClellan’s glass plates and incorporated it into a glass-top side table with a wooden drum base. And Sue Shapiro added her signature geometric patterns to one of McClellan’s glass vessels.

That’s just a few examples of what you’ll see at “Clearly Collaborative.”