Sutton artist is a unique glass sculptor

46, he was enrolled in a four-month program blowing and polishing glass. He learned that blowing was not what he wanted to do.

James eventually visited the Czech Republic and prominent cast glass sculptors Stanislav Libensky and his wife Jaroslava Brychtova, who created the glass wonders for the Czech pavilion at Expo 67.While there James created his first cast glass artwork.

He opened his first glass studio in 2001. A year later he held his first solo exhibition in Montreal, during which, at his expense, he got friends to invite their friends to parties where his work was on display. Nearly all the pieces sold, he says.

James has sold his work around the world.

One piece, called Walnut, was rejected by a Colorado gallery because the staff thought it was too erotic, he said. He ended up selling it to a collector from Saudi Arabia.

Another work he named Tranquility was sold to a world famous collector who in January opened his own private art museum in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany. Tranquility’s twin is included in the Musée des beaux-arts exhibition.

James uses the “lost wax” method of casting, which is traditionally used in bonze casting, he says. It requires patience and high technical skill. A wax model is enveloped in a plaster mould (a mixture of plaster, silica sand, fiberglass strands, kaolin clay, and water). The wax is removed (lost) when it is melted out from the plaster mould by steam from a hose. This leaves the block of plaster with a void, which is the exact form of the sculpture. Pieces of glass are placed into the mould. When molten the glass fills the void in the mould within a few hours. Then comes the critical stage of cooling to room temperature, which is done slowly. That process could take several weeks, James says. Finally, the mould is broken off to uncover the solid cast glass sculpture, which then undergoes several steps of cleaning and polishing.

The interior markings or bubble in some of James’ work, he says, creates a “fourth dimension.” But it is difficult to control.

James decided to go big in 2007, when he went from glass to stone. He recreated enlargements of some of his smaller glass cast work, like Heaven and Earth, and Caught by the Moon. The granite works are carved by Slavo Marjanovic of Sherbrooke, who does architectural work for buildings across North America, at his studio, Art Cubus, in Deauville.

The idea for Heaven and Earth arose after he found a broken piece of granite with a semi-circular recess at a construction site in Montreal. The original glass sculpture is 30 by 30 centimetres. The first version in granite is 150 centimetres high and 75 centimetres deep. The cobalt blue orb on the glass structure became a highly polished stainless steel ball that reflects the surrounding environment. Its base is black granite.

A granite version of Heaven and Earth greets visitors outside the museum. The glass piece is inside.

James is excited that his work is displayed at the museum.

“The exhibition space at the museum is wonderfully full of daylight which shows off the glass sculptures to great effect,” he said. “In addition the exhibition is intriguing as it incorporates works made originally in glass and then enlarged into monumental granite pieces.”