Studio visit: Philip Stokes Studio Glass

This week, CLOG is proud to present a studio visit to glass artist Philip Stokes' studio in Cremorne! Philip is currently exhibiting a new body of work in our enCOUNTER window space. Urbaneyes opened on Monday and is viewable till 2 July, so there's plenty of time (for now).

Having just moved to his new space in Cremorne (Philip was previously located at the Mercator Building in Abbotsford Convent), the new Philip Stokes Studio Glass is part contemporary glass gallery and part working studio. The premises are located at 20 Gwynne Street, Cremorne and opening hours are Friday and Saturday from 11am to 3pm or by appointment and we highly encourage you to visit Philip!

Speaking about the inspiration behind Urbaneyes, Philip says:

Having moved my studio from the banks of the Yarra River bend to the inner city edge, I have become fascinated with the vibrant outdoor gallery on my doorstep. The series Urbaneyes is inspired by the vibrant and contrasting styles of street art and graffiti which adorn the streets of Cremorne and Richmond in a bombing of vividly contrasting colours.

While Philip had already completed work for Urbaneyes (a snippet is pictured above), we had the good fortune of visiting while Philip, Scott and Miles were working on a commission for visual artist Noël Skrzypczak, and we were able to see them complete a work from start to finish.

Without further ado, we hope you enjoy this week's studio visit and please remember to check out Urbaneyes next time you're at Craft Victoria!

So here begins the early stages of creating Noël's work - a series of large glass forms for her upcoming exhibition Talking to Strangers at Heide (which opens on 25 June by the way!).

Bit by bit, more glass is added on and impurities are removed by literally snipping them off!







Glassblowing in action that inflates the glass to a 'bubble'



Success! The work is put through the furnace a few more times before it is paddled into shape.

Gradually it begins to take form...







And it's almost done! The work is then put to rest in a cooling chamber.

To see this work in its finished form, make sure you visit Noël's exhibition Talking to Strangers which is on at Heide III from 25 June to 9 October.

Not all glass pursuits are successful, and sometimes they end up in the recycle bin!

Anyhow, there you have it! This studio visit was so much fun to photograph, a big thank you to Philip, Scott and Miles for being so accommodating.

To see the full suite of images, please visit our Facebook album (and please 'like' us if you haven't already)


Photography: Kim Brockett