Hello everyone, my name is Brock E. Eddleman and I am a glass artist from Bloomington, IL. I have been working with glass for about 12 years now. I first developed an interest in lamp work glass when I went on Grateful Dead tour and saw all the great ideas that were blistering in the scene for lamp work glass artists. Shortly after I moved to Carbondale and had some friends who decided to get into lamp work. I watched them for a couple of years and started to develop an interest in it. They pointed me in the right direction as far as tools and books and the experience I gained watching them. I soon went to a museum in Indianapolis that had a Dale Chihuly exhibit and learned all about the furnace work aspect of soft glass.
My wife and I moved to Bloomington so she could finish her grad. program and one day she saw a commercial for Prairie Fire Glass in Monticelo, IL. She got me some classes for my birthday and I was hooked on the soft glass immediately. I have done lamp work with borosilicate or pyrex for about 12 years and have been working with furnace work soft glass for about seven years. I just have a simple workshop set up at home for my lamp work. I then go to Prairie Fire Glass in Monticello and over to Farmer City Glass in farmer City, IL to pay for studio time and classes on the soft glass. I do not have a store front right now. I do our local farmers' market on Saturdays
and then do several art shows sprinkled through the season. I do have a web site that is still a work in progress trying to figure out how to use. I also have a gathered illusions facebook page that I try to use to market myself. http://giglassart.com and gathered illusions on facebook.
I hope to learn from others about how they approach the art fair thing and how they market themselves and there work. I am glad to meet you all and look forward to spirited debates with my fellow artists.
Replies
We
ll I start the Farmers' Market in Bloomington on the 14th. We have an artist section which allows me to have a place to show my work somewhere all summer long. My first official show is is Taylorville's art on the square June 1st which I received and honorable mention at the last two years. It is not a huge show but it is by my home town of springfield so I try to get friends and family over to spend money with me. I look forward to learning how your site works and to meeting all the other artist involved. I am going to let a few others know about it as well. Enjoy this great mother's day weekend. The weather is finally coming around.