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Glass Penguin |
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The Höglund Art Glass family of finely handcrafted crystal penguins are individual creations, which begin life as pure silica sand. The sand is melted in the glass furnace at a temperature in excess of 1360ÅC for 12 hours. By morning the crystal glass is ready to be gathered onto the glassblower’s iron blowpipe, and work can begin on a penguin. At this stage, the crystal glass is at a working temperature of around 1150ÅC. In the hands of master glassblowers at the Höglund Glassblowing Studio, crystal glass is patiently transformed into a unique work of art which can never be duplicated. Using techniques and tools that go back centuries, as well as the critical eye of an artist, the glassblowers shape and create these lifelike birds. The hot crystal glass is rolled in crushed, colored glass to create the familiar black and white body of the penguin. When completed, the penguin is put into the annealing kiln to cool down to room temperature over a period of 20 hours. Once cold, the penguin goes through a diamond cutting and polishing process which requires skilled people to work different grinding wheels – and a lot of patience. Hand crafted glass is an art form, which bears the ‘fingerprint’ of the craftsman in every piece he creates. Therefore each penguin has its own characteristics and its own unique appeal, with slight variations in color, shape and size. It is hand engraved with name for collector’s reference, and then individually packaged in its own gift box. Different sizes of penguins are available, from the mini to a large ‘show piece’. They are collectors’ items - either individually or to build into a full family set over the years. The penguins have international appeal – and do they travel! They have been sent from New Zealand to the UK, South Africa and all around the world, each time knowing that their new owner will find them appealing... and they are now also available in the U.S. from Sea Life Creations! |
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| Artist's Profile & CV | |||
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Ola Höglund and Marie Simberg-Höglund settled in New Zealand in 1982, where they have a glassblowing studio in Nelson, the Northern tip of the South Island. Born in Sweden, Ola and Marie trained with Kosta Boda and Orrefors, before three years in Africa on a Swedish Government (SIDA) development project, teaching the art of hand-blown glass techniques in Swaziland. Ola & Marie have exhibited their art glass in more than 20 international exhibitions, including the New York Art Expo, the SOFA Exhibition in Chicago and exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, Indonesia, the US, Hong Kong and Japan. Ola and Marie’s work features in public and private collections worldwide. In 2000, Höglund Art Glass was appointed to produce the “Official Team New Zealand and America’s Cup 2000 & 2003 Art Glass” and the “Official Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Art Glass”. KostaBoda - Sweden - 1972-1976 Orrefors Glass School - Sweden - 1976-1977 Västkusthyttan - Sweden - 1977-1978 Ngwenya Glass - Swaziland - 1978-1981 Hokitika Glass - New Zealand - 1982-1984 Höglund Art Glass Studio - Nelson, New Zealand - 1984-present Höglund Art Glass Gallery - Auckland, New Zealand - 1999 - present Höglund Art Glass Gallery -Sydney, Australia - 2000 - present Höglund Art Glass Gallery - Melbourne Australia - 2001 - present Höglund Art Glass Studio - Port Douglas, Australia - 2002-present Awards 1987 Merit Award Hot Glass 87 Compendium Gallery 1989 UBS Craft Award 89 Suter Gallery 1989 Art Award 89 Academy of Fine Arts 1990 Craft Award 90 Academy of Fine Arts Exhibitions (Selected) 1985 - Wellington Cultural Centre - New Zealand 1986 - Crafts Council - Wellington, New Zealand 1987 - Gisborne Museum - New Zealand 1988 - Kanazawa Ishikawa -Japan 1989 - Academy of Fine Arts - Wellington, New Zealand 1990 - CSA Gallery - Christchurch, New Zealand 1991 - The Gallery - Akaroa, New Zealand 1992 - Suter Gallery - Nelson, New Zealand 1993 - The Glass Gallery - Christchurch, New Zealand 1994 - Otago Museum - Dunedin, New Zealand 1995 - Ludwig Beck - Munich, Germany 1996 - Compendium Gallery - Auckland, New Zealand 1997,98,99 - SOFA exhibition - Chicago, USA 1998 - Varberg Museum - Sweden 1999 - New York Art Expo - USA 2000 - Jenggala Gallery - Bali, Indonesia 2000 - Compass Rose - Singapore 2000 - Olympic Games - Australia 2000 - Las Vegas, New York Art Expo - USA 2001 - Höglund Art Glass Gallery - Melbourne, Australia 2002 - Te Papa Museum of NZ - Wellington, New Zealand 2003 - Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia 2004 - Suter Gallery, Nelson, NZ 2004 - Page One Taipei, Taiwan 2005 - Wynn Resort, Las Vegas, USA 2005 - Neiman-Marcus, Las Vegas, USA 2006 - Koru-hk.com Contemporary Art Gallery, Hong Kong 2006 - Paragon Bangkok, Thailand 2007 - Powerhouse Museum - Smart Works Sydney, Australia Public Collections (Selected) Tasmania Museum and Gallery - Australia Auckland Museum - New Zealand Nelson Polytechnic - New Zealand Ebeltoft Glass Museum - Denmark Power House Museum - Sydney, Australia Private Collections (selected) Mohammed Ali - USA Sir Elton John - UK, USA Bill Clinton - USA The King and Queen of Sweden The King of Tonga Prime Ministers - Japan, NZ Christie's - New York, USA |
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