Florida Artists Group

Artist Statement:

I make kiln-fired glass vessels, using the traditional pate-de-verre technique.  I am drawn to tactile processes where I can generate and experience texture, expressed in glass, felt and enamel.  As my mother said, we ‘saw’ things in the store by touching them. The forms I make often lean in one direction and bulge in another revealing an almost, but not quite, graceful quality.  They hint at the shape of the hands that would hold them, an influence of the work of Inuit sculptor George Arlook.

Pate de verre, meaning ‘paste of glass,’is a very old kiln-fired glass technique.  To begin, I sculpt a clay model of the finished piece, around which I form a plaster and silica mold.  I then take elemental forms of colored glass – glass powder and crushed glass (frit) – and apply several layers onto the walls of the mold, after which the piece is fired.  I continue shaping and forming my pieces by sawing, drilling and finally, hand polishing.  I sometimes make needle-felted or copper enamel elements to incorporate into the final piece. Needle-felting is the interweaving of raw wool using a barbed needle and is yet another way to play with color and texture.

The interior and exterior of the glass vessel, the felt and the enamel all have different textures – their surfaces feel different to the touch, even when they are made of similar materials or, when made of different materials, may look similar, until you touch them. The felt inclusions, while adding an interesting texture also convey the joy I feel at the juxtaposition of unexpected materials or elements in a piece.

Jaye's Bio:

Jaye Houle is a full-time studio artist.  She began working in glass in 1980 while living in Houston, Texas and started her glass business in 1993 while living in Toronto, Canada.  She has taught stained glass and fused glass techniques in her home studio.  Her work has been exhibited in galleries and juried exhibitions throughout the US and Canada and commissioned by collectors here and in Europe.  In 2006 she received an Artist Enhancement Grant from the state of Florida.  She was born in Colorado and attended Clark University and University of North Carolina receiving a B.A and M.A in geography.  Jaye currently lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband David and their two cats.

Selected Juried Shows and Exhibitions:

2013             Made in Florida, Florida Craftsmen Annual, Gadsden Arts Center, Florida
                      American Crafts Council Fine Crafts Show, Atlanta
                      Imprint: Casting in Glass, Contemporary Glass Society, England, Online Exhibition
                      LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival, Tallahassee, FL
2012              Artspace Fine Contemporary Craft Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
                      National Art Encounter, The von Liebig Art Center, Naples, FL
                      24th Annual Art in Gadsden, Gadsden Arts Center, Quincy, FL
                      Fabulous, Funky & Fashionable Glass and Jewelry Show, LeMoyne Art Center, Tallahassee, FL
                      Pinnacle, Foster Tanner Gallery, FAMU, Tallahassee, FL
                      Summer Annual, Artist’s League, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL
                      Art & Antiques Fair, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, co-chair
                      LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival, Tallahassee, FL
2011             FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Summer Annual, Artist’s League, Tallahassee, FL
                      Norcross Art Fest, Invitational, Norcross, GA
                      LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival, Tallahassee, FL
                      FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Art & Antiques Fair, Tallahassee, FL
2010            Norcross Art Fest, Invitational, Norcross, GA
                      LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival, Tallahassee, FL
2007            A Glass Act, Florida State Capitol, Invitational, Tallahassee, FL
                     ACRE (American Craft Retailers Expo), Las Vegas, NV
2006            American Crafts Council Fine Craft Show, Sarasota, FL
                     31st Annual  Mt. Dora Arts Festival, Mt. Dora, FL
2005            Gadsden Arts Center , Kiln Joy, Invitational, Quincy, FL
                      FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Art & Antiques Fair, Tallahassee, FL
2004            Gadsden Arts Center, Five Elements, Quincy, FL 
                      CraftArt, St. Petersburg, FL
2003             Gadsden Arts Center, Florida Craftsmen Invitational, Invitational, Quincy, FL
                      Florida State Capitol, Vision and Variety, 22nd Floor Gallery, Inv. Tallahassee, FL
2002             CraftArt, Tampa, FL
2001             CraftArt, Tampa, FL

 

Grants and Awards:

2012             Capital Creative Professional Development Workshop, Dept. of State, Div. of Cult. Affairs, FL  
                      Fabulous, Funky & Fashionable Glass and Jewelry Show, First Prize for Glass
2007             Capital Creative Professional Development Workshop, Dept. of State, Div. of Cult. Affairs, FL
2006             Artist Enhancement Grant, Dept. of State, Div. of Cultural Affairs, FL
                      Le Moyne Chain of Parks Arts Festival, Award of Excellence,
2004             CraftArt, Collectors Choice Award

Professional Organizations:

Florida Craftsmen
Artists League of FSU Museum of Fine Arts
Council on Culture and the Arts
National Museum of Women in the Arts
American Craft Council

Media:

2013             Living an Artful Life, Issue 04: New Life, www brithammer.com/magazine
                      Tallahassee Democrat, Southern Art Glass Alliance, 3/8/2013
                      ideo, Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee.com/WarmGlass
                      Tallahassee Magazine, Jan-Feb issue, Fired Up about Glass

Education:

2011                  Pate de Verre seminar with Alicia Lomne, Bullseye Glass Studio, Portland, OR
2010                  Enameling seminar Kathy Wilcox, Wilcox Enameling Studio, Tallahassee, FL
2008                  Glass Casting seminar with Linda Ethier, Helios Kiln Glass Studio, TX
Beneath the Surface/Coldworking seminar with Jane Bruce, GlassForum, Norway
2007                  Handbuilding Clay Sculpture with Mary Donohue, LeMoyne Art Center, Tallahassee, FL
2006                  Glass Casting seminarwith Karen Reed, Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts, TN
2003                  Brock Craig and Avery Anderson seminar, Apalachian Center for Craft, TN
2002                  Newy Fagan seminar, Art Glass House, Cocoa, FL
2000                  Lesley Nolan seminar, Tallahassee, FL
1991                  M.A., UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, Geography
1980                  Houston Glass, Houston, TX
1978                  B.A., Clark University, Worcester, MA – Geography