Vent: I saw a demo at the Corning Museum that changed how I feel about modern glass colors

Last fall, I watched a guest artist at the Corning Museum in New York make a vase using only the new, super-bright synthetic colors. Everyone loved it, but the piece looked flat and cheap to me, like plastic. I've been mixing my own pigments from traditional formulas for twenty years, and I think that depth and subtlety is getting lost. Has anyone else felt pushed to use these newer colors even when they don't like the look?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_singh181mo ago

Wait, you can still mix your own pigments? I thought that was a lost art! The fact you've been doing it for twenty years is wild. That demo sounds like a total bummer, all flash and no soul. No wonder it felt cheap. I'd be mad too if my whole craft was getting swapped out for plastic-looking stuff.

alicem291mo ago

Is it really that deep though? New stuff comes out all the time. Some artists will want the fast, bright paints. Others will stick with the old ways. It's just more options, not a personal attack.