Can one local TV host learn to fuse glass, weave on a
loom and do sgraffito in less than three hours?
Yes, absolutely!
That’s what happened, Friday, October 16th,
just before the Washington County Open Studios Tour. Good Day Oregon TV host, Jo V(Vithayathil) met three artists, Linda Gerrard, Peg Silloway
and Susan Gallacher-Turner took on the challenge.
Linda, Peg and Susan were set up and ready to go by 4:30
am. The TV van arrived at 5 am at Linda
Gerrard’s studio and Joe set up for the first live segment scheduled at 5:45!
Peg Silloway showed Joe how a loom works. What kind of fibers she uses and the how to
move the loom to weave the fabric that becomes her beautiful scarves and
wraps. Joe gave it a try, too, learning
that while it might look easy, it was a challenge to do.
Joe learned all about sgraffito, the Italian word for
‘scratch’. Susan described the process
of hand building the porcelain plates, under glazing them with three layers of
color. After the layers were dry, it was
time to sgraffito. Joe watched and then
gave it a try, scratching out the under glaze and revealing the white clay
underneath.
In Linda Gerrard’s
glass studio, Joe learned about frit, glass cutting and how glass is layered
and fused to make a landscape. Linda
showed how the different types of frit made different textures like clouds,
grass and rocks. Joe learned to cut
glass into strips, place different colors together and paint with frit.
It was a very early start to the day, but Peg, Linda and
Susan all agreed it was a very good day.
And a great opportunity to give people a peek into what they’d be able
to see during the Washington County Open Studios tour the very next day in over
40 artists’ studios across Washington County.
About her experience on TV Peg
says, “One of my students, in an introductory rigid heddle weaving class at
Northwest Wools in Multnomah Village, told me that she and her husband got up
early on Friday, November 16, just so that they could watch our TV spot with
Joe V. Her verdict was that we did great!”
“I’m not a morning person,”
said Susan, “but the energy of the artists and TV crew made it a fun morning
with a beautiful sunrise!”
Peg, Linda and Susan had
more visitors this year and many other artists said visitors mentioned seeing
the TV segments on Good Day Oregon.
All thanks to Joe V and cameraman,
Mike and Good Day Oregon!
