December newsletter - Ramsay Community Association in Calgary

Jim Norton - Glass ArtistNancy JanovicekI first noticed the tower of glass balls when I went toJim Norton’s house to pick up his donation to the RamsayStampede Party Silent Auction. It’s a reclaimed ham radiotower. Jim has welded decorative embellishments on the topand has added rods to keep the colourful hand-blown glassballs inside the tower. It’s one of those Ramsay treasures that alot of people miss.​Jim Norton was born and raised in Calgary, and he’s livedin Ramsay for ten years. Hecomes from an artistic family.His grandmother made ceramicsand his mother painted landscapes.His brother is a photographer(and took the picture onthe front cover). Jim studied atthe Alberta College of Art from1975 to 1979. He was also a studentat the Pilchuk Glass School in Washington, a school thatis dedicated to the idea that artists teach artists to experimentwith the craft.Jim began college as a jewelry student. He worked as awelder on the weekends when he was in college, so he hadsome experience using heat to manipulate molten materials.When Jim took his first glass-blowing course he got hookedon glass because he was intrigued by the timing and chemistryof the process. The technique was different from what heknew, and he wanted to know more. Glass-blowing was partof the ceramics program in the 1970s. Now ACAD studentscan earn a glass major in their BFA program, and they’ll studywith Jim, who has taught at the college for 20 years.Jim is internationally recognized as a master glass artist andsculptor. The City of Calgary has commissioned Jim to makegifts for the Queen and Governor-General Ray Hnatyshyn,and his work is in many other important private collections.His sculpture “Sea Thing #21” is featured in the three-volumeJapanese publication The Survey of Glass in the World(1991). This creative output is produced at the Double-Struggle Studio, which he has shared with Barry Fairbairn fortwenty-three years.​I’ve been a fan of Jim’s work for a long time. Many friendsand family members back east proudly display his work intheir home. His work is eclectic. You can get a sense of hiscreativity on his website: http://www.jimnorton-artglass.com.But visiting him at home gave me a new appreciation of therange of his style.Jim and Carol’s home is a gallery. On the porch is a clearglass chandelier with fish tails and tentacles right now. Thebobbles are interchangeable. In the spirit of 007, he’s madeguns and daggers. Or you might see glass shapes that looklike gummy drops hanging on the light fixture. The house islit with many lamps that could be in a Dr. Seuss book. Jimthinks that that Dr. Seuss is an early inspiration for many artists,including himself. The best lamp recycles a Crystal HeadVodka bottle. Jim sprayed the inside of the skull, used it asthe base and made a fantastic Tim Burton inspired top hat forthe lampshade.Fish, bugs, and sea creatures peek out from all corners ofthe house. Jim explained that the process of making glassinspires these whimsical creatures because glass lends itself tolong shapes. Mammals, he explained, have to follow a form.A dog has to have four legs, but Jim can get away with puttingas many limbs as he wants on an insect or a crustacean.Their late pets’ ashes are preservedin glass paperweights. (Ifyou’d like to memorialize yourpet, see his website.) It’s hard tochoose, but I think my favouritepiece in the house is the cameratriptych. Jim made a clear glasssculpture of a camera as an experimentwhen he was teaching. It’sflanked by abstractions on the original piece. I think it’s thesimplicity of this piece, in comparison to the rich colour andintricate design of his other work, that drew me to it.Jim is exploring other media. An “assemblage” displays hiscollection of toy cars from his childhood, which are artfullyarranged between glass plates on the wall. “It’s easier to dust,”he explained. He’s recently started to paint and uses reclaimedwood as a canvas.So just where is this tower of glass balls? You need to lookfor it. And it’s worth your time to seek it out.Photo Credit: Kevin CunninghamRamsay News page 10