Laura Donefer and Gianni Toso will headline the 2011 International Flameworking Conference

Gianni Toso during a demonstration at the 2007 International Flameworking Conference.

If you were looking to pair up two artists who approach flameworking as differently as possible, it would be hard to top the contrasting combination of Laura Donefer, an artist who mixes flameworked elements with blown glass into exuberant mixed-media works, and Gianni Toso, who is steeped in traditional Murano flameworking techniques and was possibly the first Venetian willing to share centuries-old skills with American students during a visit in 1976. Yet Donefer and Toso will share the honor of “Featured Artist” during the 2011 International Flameworking Conference taking place from March 18th – 20th on the campus of Salem County Community College in Carneys Point, New Jersey, and at the nearby Paul J. Stankard Studio and Lab at the Samuel H. Jones Education Center, in an event that will also include lectures by jeweler and critic Bruce Metcalf, art dealer Lewis Wexler, Luke Jerram (via Webcast), and Salem Community College assistant professor of glass art Rika Hawes.

Laura Donefer in a photograph from her artist's Website.

Looking more closely, however, Donefer and Toso, share a surprising amount. Both have a love of rich color and cheekiness. Toso has applied his irreverent spirit to everything from religious history in his 1981 chess set depicting figures from Jewish and Catholic history to scenes of Carnival in Venice, while Donefer has made a second-career as the curator of glass fashion shows that have a strong undercurrent of bawdiness. And both are equally comfortable in front of the torch as the hot glass furnace, and both are fond of blowing.

Among the highlights of the three days of all things flame will be the pre-conference reception on Friday afternoon that will feature a lecture by glass art skeptic Bruce Metcalf reprising his 2009 Glass Art Society talk “The Glass Art Conundrum,” glass secondary-market leading dealer Lewis Wexler discussing the state of the market for glass, and Salem assistant professor Rika Hawes discussing the emerging field of 3-D printing with glass, which some are calling vitraglyphic printing. (Admission to pre-conference events requires a separate admission fee.)

The official kickoff of the conference takes place Friday evening at 7 PM, when Luke Jerram will deliver a lecture from his home in Britain via live video feed, followed by a slide show presentation by Donefer, and a reception to honor her and fellow featured artist Toso.

Saturday and Sunday will be devoted to flameworking demonstrations. Donefer will demo at 9:30 AM Saturday, while Toso will be the main event at the same time on Sunday morning. In addition, demonstrations by David Wilson, Sally Prasch, and Amber Cowan will round out the three-day event.

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