We will handle the works of Sara Watanabe, a glass artist from Shizuoka Prefecture! I asked her about the production process.
Ms. Watanabe had many picture books in his home since her was a child .
“When I was little, my mother read to me a picture book each night that my sister and I chose. Ever since then, I have loved drawing pictures and thinking up stories.”
It was a story that became the starting point of my work, but perhaps it was inevitable that one day when I was in elementary school, I happened to see a video of glass blowing on TV and decided, ``I want to be a glass craftsman! ''It seems that it was thought. That dream never changed, and I entered the glass course at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, Faculty of Arts, where I could study glass. After graduating, she studied more practical techniques at the Toyama Glass Art Institute, and worked as a technical staff at the Toyama Glass Studio. After working in Toyama, she will be independent in her hometown of Shizuoka in 2022.
Ms. Watanabe, who has fulfilled her childhood dream, not only likes to make glass, but also likes to create various things such as illustrations.
The ``Snacks (= OYATSU in Japanese)'' series that we will handle this time are from my favorite picture books ``Kuma-kun's Honey Bun Bun Cake'' and ``Kun-chan and Rainbow''. It seems that it is a work that was born from thinking.
“I think the image of a bear living in the forest trying to make hot cakes for a snack at 3 o'clock, and I think it was good that the title, colors, and pictures made it possible to imagine the world,” says Watanabe. Certainly exciting and fun scenes seem to come to mind!
The glass is blown into shape and tinted with colored glass powder to give it a gentle golden hue like honey. After that, a picture is drawn with wood glue, and by sandblasting the color outside the pattern, only the masked pattern emerges. Fine parts are carefully carved with a leutor (electric cutting tool) similar to that used by dentists.
Put your favorite sweets on it and spend a fun time at home cafe with cute bears.
Click here for works handled by Sara Watanabe
