"Whenever I get gloomy... with the state of the world, l think about the arrivals gate... at Heathrow airport. General opinion makes that we live in a world of hatred and greed... but I don't see that. [...] As an artist and jewelry designer, Linda has always believed in the power of art to convey messages of hope and unity. That is what she aims to do with this collection..
Read MoreNational Museum of Sweden Builds a Strong American Contemporary Art Collection /
Curated by Helen Williams Drutt, an exhibition of art works by contemporary American artists from the National Museum of Sweden will open in March, 2023.
Read MoreSome Ideas Never Get Old /
From Ancient Egypt 2000 B.C. to Modern Day, Some Ideas Persist.
Read MoreTimeless Women | Artful Time Travel - Part Two /
This month I am exploring the idea of whether these works can travel through time by holding it up to iconic women in art from different eras and cultures. So far the illusion and play on perception has me mesmerized.
Read MoreCorning Museum of Glass Adds Two more MacNeil Works To The Collection /
“I hope you have an opportunity to visit this marvelous museum at least once in your life” - Linda MacNeil
One of my favorite museums, The Corning Museum of Glass now has two more works of mine.
Pate de Verre Vessel No. 5, 1983
Neck Collar No.55, 2021 Donated by
I created the models for my Pate de Verre Vessel Series when I was a guest of Christallerie Daum, France, while my husband Dan Dailey created limited sculpture editions as an independent artist for Daum. The glass was kiln cast at the factory. The metal was fabricated in my studio at the time.
New Series "Vitrolite" is launched /
Vitorlite was one of the named brands for industrial plate glass manufactured from 1915-1947. This plate glass was available in a variety of thicknesses and opaque colors. The purpose of this type of glass was used for interior and exterior walls, tiles, and surfaces. The material is scarce because it is no longer manufactured.
I have collected and used Vitrolite in my work since the 1970’s. The rich luscious colors has a strong influence in my art work. I am attracted to this glass because it is a pure material and is precise which suits my designs.
This type of glass is dominant in the Vitrolite Series.
Vitrolite No. 3, 2021. Maas Private Collection.
Acid polished blue & orange mirrored plate glass.
Polished Chartreuse, Yellow, black & cream Vitrolite plate glass.
24k gold plated brass. 3 x 2½ x ⅜ inches
Snake chain length 18 inches / magnetic catch.
Photo: Mark Nantz
Timeless Women | Artful Time Travel - Part One /
This month I am exploring the idea of whether these works can travel through time by holding it up to iconic women in art from different eras and cultures. So far the illusion and play on perception has me mesmerized.
Read MoreAJDC "Badge" Project /
“Perhaps you know the feeling of bypassing obstacles to reach a goal. “First Step” portrays the idea of breaking a desired goal down into manageable segments. Try stepping into an unfamiliar situation with a positive attitude and embrace the uncertainty.
”
In April 2021 Linda nominated Paul Klecka as her successor as President of the board of directors of The American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC). The 2021 theme of the annual project for the AJDC Living Collection was “Badge.” This post sets out to reveal the process involved in a work like this.
Linda MacNeil AJDC Theme Project 2021 - Badge Process
"First Step"
1. The concept. Inevitably involves erasure.
2. Technical Drawing. Dan is drawing the technical drawings for me. These plans and elevations make up the set of instructions I will give Gregore and Jennifer Rabe Morin. I have commissioned them to model the 3D foot.
3. Form. In a kiln, the plate glass block will melt and change shape in a plaster cast. The plaster cast is created by first pouring hot wax into a rubber mold. The hot wax, when cooled, creates the void in the plaster cast used in the kiln.
4. Color. Three color tints and reflective mirror are adhered to the rear surface of the glass using very specific light-resistant adhesive.
5. Pattern. Different surface patterns are carefully drawn and tested.
6. Stencil. The blue linear pattern is a stencil material adhered carefully to the front surface of the glass.
7. Sandblasting. The piece is then sandblasted. When the stencil is removed the pattern has been etched on to the surface of the glass.
8. 3D Modeling. Meanwhile in Santa Barbara, CA, jeweler Gregore Morin has refined a 3D model CAD drawing and has created the foot in wax for casting.
9. There’s one more thing to add… the three hoop ankle bracelets. This is the drawing with specifications are interpreted in CAD, blue sapphire stones and gold are completed by Gregore Morin. The specifications for the Sapphire settings are sent to be made.
Polka Dots at Aaron Faber Gallery during NYCJW 2021 /
New York City Jewelry Week runs from November 15 through 21, 2021. The AJDC Polka Dot Project will be on show at the Aaron Faber Gallery in Midtown Manhattan (by appointment only) from November 15 and will continue through the holiday season to January 22, 2022. A handful of my selected works will be on sale at the Gallery.
Read MoreOne of a kind. Once a year. Linda MacNeil's Annual Singular Sale /
“I have gotten so many compliments on these pieces - mostly from people who aren’t familiar with Linda MacNeil’s work and are not collectors of contemporary glass - they just know good design and fine craftsmanship” — Suzanne Perrault
In 2021, Linda introduced the idea of creating an annual offering of a singlular piece from her private collection of her work. Every year the offer will be announced in late January and released on her birthday, April 14. This year, the 2021 inaugural offering, Neck Collar No. 46 from 2018 went to Suzanne Perrault of Rago Arts and Auction Center
Read MoreAJDC Secret Garden Exhibition /
Continuity of Concept /
Both of these works incorporate a mechanical method of assembling my parts, screws and hinges. They are early works, however they already reveal the importance of the combination of metals and color was to my work and the integration of geometric ideas. Both pieces are functional objects in their own way, the bell works as a bell and the necklace is wearable. The concept was linear line and although you can see the continuity you can also see how the concept grew and evolved from 1974 to 1979.
Read MoreMacNeil Family Influences /
… grandfather Robert Charles Dean (1903-1997), American Architect, (MIT 1927) was a great influence on your life and work. Notable projects he worked on included: the 1936 original Restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, Va. pictured above, known today as known as the world’s largest “living history” museum; the United States National Cemetery, Cambridge, England; and the Campus of Furman University, Greenville, SC. What are your memories of him and how did he impact your path as an artist?
Read MoreMacNeil's "Bell with Stand" Moves to Memphis /
Read More“I am pleased to announce that one of my earliest sculptures, The Bell with Stand, 1974, created while I was at RISD has been acquired and is now in the permanent collection at The Metal Museum in Memphis, TN.” – Linda MacNeil
AJDC Together 2021 Exhibition /
Myrna B. Palley’s Bold Statements: Reflections on a Collector, her Collection, and Her Artists /
Like many artists working with the medium of glass, I made a point of visiting the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts at the Lowe Art Museum when my husband Dan Dailey and I visited Miami in 2018. We were welcomed by the Lowe’s director, Dr. Jill Deupi, who toured us through the Museum’s surprisingly large facility. Dan (a fellow artist) and I were astonished by the breadth and depth of the Lowe’s holdings, including the impressive display in the Pavilion, which featured a number of works from the Palleys’ personal collection. These promised gifts to the Museum are an expression of the couple’s commitment to ensuring that the public can enjoy their collection as a source of intellectual and aesthetic stimulation, as they themselves have, for more than fifty years.
Read MoreRaising A Glass, MJSA Journal /
I went to school for metalsmithing and jewelry, and I evolved into using glass because it’s such an intriguing material. Working with glass is a unique way of making things, and I’m hooked on the range of colors I can develop with glass processes. I find that with minerals commonly used only in jewelry, I just don’t have the freedom of making any shape I want.
Read MoreMacNeil on Glass, Part 3 - Organic Forms and Bubbles /
Fritted Glass… I use this method of kiln casting to create more organic, 3-dimensional forms. By filling the negative space in a plaster mold with chips, flakes or chunks of glass ranging in size, this technique allows me to control the number of the trapped air bubbles and scale of the bubbles I want to achieve through texture within my design.
Read MoreArts Philanthropist and Collector, Barbara Tober Honored at the Urban Glass Gala, in May 2021 /
Barbara Tober wearing one of her Linda MacNeil necklaces
I was very proud to see Barbara wearing one of my necklaces in the invitation and news about this year’s URBAN GLASS GALA and AUCTION.
URBAN GLASS
UrbanGlass, the nonprofit art center that publishes the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet, held its 2021 Gala and Auction on May 12th, where it will celebrated glass as a medium for contemporary art. A virtual event, this year's fundraising gala was unique for its distinctly New York flavor with contemporary art stars such as Kiki Smith, a co-chair, and honorees arts philanthropist Barbara Tober and artist Deborah Czersko who shared their personal takes on the material and how it is used by contemporary artists.
The event kicked off at 6:30 PM for VIP ticketholders, who received a special "House Party Box" that included the makings of a Mojito cocktail to be sipped from a hand-blown glass, also provided. All ticketholders were welcomed at 7 PM, when performance artist Grace Whiteside emcees the evening alongside co-chairs Kiki Smith and Margaret Rose Vendryes. Guest appearances by Heller Gallery's Katya Heller, chair of the UrbanGlass board, as well as Leslie Jackson Chihuly, Beth Lipman, and board member Cynthia Manocherian.
Linda MacNeil Chooses Her AJDC Successor: Paul Klecka /
Linda MacNeil nominates Paul Klecka as her successor as President of the board of directors of The American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC). Paul Klecka will assume the role of President on April 29, 2021
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