Christopher Blade Design: Recently Added Galleries and Collections

Akzonobel HSE Award

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Click of 'slideshow' to see the images at their best, or click on images individually. Click 'escape' to end slide show.

This amazing Award was manufactured using Gaffer Glass from New Zealand, renowned for its incredible colours & mounted on Cumberland grey-green slate by Burlington Stone.

The award was designed by Chris Blade MA (RCA), Manager of the National Glass Centre Studio, Sunderland. The work was modeled & cast by Katya Filmus an Israeli glass artist chosen by the Glass Centre for her expertise in this field. It was produced at the National Glass Centre.

See the award being made here

christopherjblade@gmail.com

United Kingdom

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:08:38 GMT

Click on photographs to enlarge.....

Contemporary Glass

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Please contact Chris if you would like information regarding availability, costs or commissioning of work christopherjblade@gmail.com

All work is designed by Chris Blade; hand made; hand blown; cut and signed unless otherwise stated.
Graal work is always the product of a close working relationship with a skilled team - it cannot be made by one person. Teams of up to 5 people were involved in the blown graal works illustrated here.

Some of the newest works have been made in collaboration with Israel glass artist Katya Filmus (www.katyafilmus.com). These are all cast in a kiln & involve very different skill sets than the blown work. Pieces may take a month or more to make. Work made with Katya is identified in the text associated with each image.

The Glassblowing Process

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:27:13 GMT

Glass blowing is a fascinating process to watch. The tools have hardly changed since the Roman era. There are too many different processes to illustrate the all but a few of the basic skills are shown here.

The following images show the 'graal' process. This process allows controlled coloured patternd to be incorporated into the glass & involves each work being blown twice! After the first time, it is cooled & then I then cut in the final design through multi-coloured layers of glass using a diamond lathe, diamond drills, diamond saw & sandblaster to create a unique design ready for the piece to be reheated & blown to its final size & shape.

www.timshawglass.com
www.jamfactory.org
http://www.nationalglasscentre.com
www.glassfurnace.org

Thailand

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:04:13 GMT

Israel

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:48:40 GMT

Kenya 2009

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:44:03 GMT

Lalibela & Gonder

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:35:38 GMT

Axum

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:53:20 GMT

Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:47:43 GMT

Omo Valley Tribes

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:15:37 GMT

Palestine

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:57:21 GMT

The Dividing wall between Israel & Palestine is the source of much anguish. Whilst no one questions Israel’s right to protect itself, the barrier has been called ‘illegal’ by Jack Straw & the Hague. It dramatically impacts on the rights & quality of life of the Palestinian people & stands as a monument to oppression & freedom.

Near Bethlehem the wall has been utilised by both local artists & international artists, such as Banksy, to comment on the political & humanitarian situation. See photos.

The barrier is over 400 miles (650 kilometres) in length, at a cost not less than $1.6 million per mile ($1 million per km), and will exceed $1 billion. The main barrier takes on many forms, including 8-meter high cement walls, 3-meter high electric and barbed-wire fences, and a combination of the two. The infrastructure of the barrier that also includes a buffer zone on both sides, surveillance cameras, trenches, and observation posts.

More information about the wall is available here:
http://www.palestinefacts.org/
http://www.cmep.org/Statements/2005July_DiscWall.htm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E5D9163CF930A15751C0A9629C8B63
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/israel-palestine/occupindex.htm

China 2008

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:29:00 GMT

CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Made to commission only

Kazakhstan 2008

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:44:00 GMT

How is it possible to comprehensively illustrate the 9th largest country in the world? Everything is mind boggling. Including the world's largest man made environmental disaster - the loss of the Aral sea. Consigned to a not so slow extinction, along with the towns, villages & people who used to make a living from it, all in the race to produce cotton

Mongolia

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Working as a photographer for the British adventure travel company Dragoman (www.dragoman.com) has enabled me to explore countries I have only dreamed of visiting. The most recent being Outer Mongolia. A vast, desolate & beautiful country boasting some of the most inhospitable landscape & hospitable people one could hope to meet. Traveling in a large truck, converted to carry passengers, was the ideal mode of transport enabling us to go pretty much anywhere. But even that did not prevent us getting stuck occasionally! Mongolia as one of the largest countries in the world amazingly only has a few hundred km of tarmac roads - it is vast. A country without roads, fences or limits, home to some of the last truly nomadic people on the earth.

Places visited include: Outer Mongolia; Inner Mongolia; Khovsgol Nuur National Park; The Ice Canyon; Flaming Cliffs; Gers; White Lake; Gobi Desert; Tsetserleg; Shankh Monastery; Erdene Zuu Monastry; Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park; Tsagaannuur Lake & The Great White Lake.

Russia 2008

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:51:00 GMT

4 weeks driving through Russia enabled visits to a number of fascinating places including Samara with it's impressive memorials & Stalin’s Bunker; Kazan with it's UNESCO site, churches & Mosque; beautiful Suzdal, the picturesque epitome of an old religious Russian town with 16 churches; Vladimir with it's gorgeous Cathedral; Moscow in all it's glory with a myriad of major & minor tourist attractions including Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral, Kremlin, Lenin's tomb, etc; Novgorod & finally St Petersburg. A beautiful city founded by Peter the Great & boasting sights such as the Hermitage Art Gallery, which has a collection so large that reputedly if you looked at a work for 1 second 24/7/365 it would take 3 years to see! The Tsar's Summer Palace with its gravity fed fountains is a rare treat.

Contact christopherjblade@gmail if you are interested in photographs from any of these cities. A larger selection is available for commercial use.

Siberia 2008

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:39:00 GMT

Portraits for Tim

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:41:00 GMT

The Glass Casting process Illustrated

christopherjblade@gmail.com (Christopher Blade Design) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here is a collection of images documenting the creation of a life-size cast glass sculpture, made from a life-cast of myself. It was made by Israeli glass artist Katya Izabel Filmus in July 2008.

There are no images of the final work, but the 2 images at the beginning of the presentation show something of what it will look like.