Cold-cathode art making course... UK/USA...
Nicko, Mon Feb 23 2015, 05:29PMI'd been looking for a top one-to-one cold-cathode display making course and had asked everyone I could find who was the best person to go to - they all said that Richard Wheater was the man at Neon Workshops in Wakefield (UK) ... it's the only place...
So, last week I went up t'north and learnt more in the hours I was there that I had in the previous 15 years or so of playing with neon. Like most of us, I have an understanding of the physics involved, but there are only a few who have got to grips with the glasswork side.
Whilst Richard is an artist and not primarily interested in neon signage, I have a specific project in mind that required me to understand how letters are made - thinking this would be relatively easy, I decided to try to make initial letters of our children - an "H", "W", & "R"...
What I learnt was that glass bending, especially with narrower tubes, is very tricky - I found it very tough, but extremely rewarding. Richard was sympathetic to my travails and helped me immensely - at the end, I was enlightened (literally) and now have an infinitely better understanding of what is involved in actually making tubes, as opposed to just wiring them up in subtly different ways.
For those of us in the USA, Richard is running a "hot glass studio" workshop at Lite Brite Neon in Brooklyn from April 17th to April 19th 2015 .
If any of you US-based folk want to do a 3-day, hands-on, cold-cathode fabrication course with a great instructor, this is for you... and its not just during the day... evening sessions involving Q&As with well known NYC neon artists and visits to neon-related exhibitions etc. are also included. - drop me a PM if you want to get more background or just if you are interested. Its great fun...
Cheers
Nick
Attached: Two letters filled with Argon & a drop of mercury (bright blue-white) and a pure Neon letter "M" I made for my wife as a small present... The two argon filled letters will be boxed the same as the "M" - "Letter/Box"...
Re: Cold-cathode art making course... UK/USA...
Sulaiman, Mon Feb 23 2015, 07:36PM
when I was living in Malaysia I wanted an NST to make a SGTC,
I found a neon sign manufacturer and just dropped by.
The guy was really helpful and I stayed a while to chat and watch.
Even though I didn't try it myself he showed me all of the stages,
different tube bores, electrode sizes, gases, vacuum .....
truly an interesting couple of hours,
so
if any of you have the opportunity, I too think that you would also enjoy the art.
Sulaiman, Mon Feb 23 2015, 07:36PM
when I was living in Malaysia I wanted an NST to make a SGTC,
I found a neon sign manufacturer and just dropped by.
The guy was really helpful and I stayed a while to chat and watch.
Even though I didn't try it myself he showed me all of the stages,
different tube bores, electrode sizes, gases, vacuum .....
truly an interesting couple of hours,
so
if any of you have the opportunity, I too think that you would also enjoy the art.
Re: Cold-cathode art making course... UK/USA...
klugesmith, Mon Feb 23 2015, 09:48PM
On the West coast of USA there are regular glassbending-for-art classes at The Crucible in Oakland (
).
I took Introductory Neon in 2001, and am pleased to see that instructor Christian Schiess is still around.
As Nicko said, neon "art" can be easier and more forgiving than making letters and numbers -- the century-old neon signsmithing trade. Now let's see if I can find my giant neon paper clip and get a picture of it.
klugesmith, Mon Feb 23 2015, 09:48PM
On the West coast of USA there are regular glassbending-for-art classes at The Crucible in Oakland (
).
I took Introductory Neon in 2001, and am pleased to see that instructor Christian Schiess is still around.
As Nicko said, neon "art" can be easier and more forgiving than making letters and numbers -- the century-old neon signsmithing trade. Now let's see if I can find my giant neon paper clip and get a picture of it.
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