Cracked with Chevonne Ariss

Break It or Take It with Jordan Benson

• Season 5 • Episode 58

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Welcome to another episode of Cracked with Chevonne Ariss! 
Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with groundbreaking, Australian artist Jordan Benson. Jordan's work offers a modern twist on our traditional craft, drawing inspiration from the gritty, raw aesthetic of street art. His pieces capture the beauty found in urban life, transforming everyday scenes into stunning visual narratives. But Jordan's creativity doesn't stop there. His  practice extends to kiln forming, etching, glass painting and beyond, showcasing his dedication to exploring and mastering various mediums. From his vivid oil painted canvases to his innovative stained glass, Jordan's work reflects a commitment to making art a part of our everyday experience.

My favorite thing about Jordan is his passion and excitement for glass. It’s really  infectious. Keep listening and you’ll see what I mean. 

Join me as I crack it all wide open!

To see more of Jordan’s work, his instagram is @jordanb_art and mine is @@runaglassworks  Jordan designed the Cracked graphic we spoke about and I made some stickers as well as a limited run of tshirts. The Patreon members had the first Crack (see what I did there) at the tshirts before the rest of the listeners. But there are still some left!! Check them out on my website and there’s a direct link here:
JORDAN X CRACKED TSHIRT + STICKERS:
runaglassworks.com/shop

 Honorable mentions from this ep:
Jordan's glass paint website:
@glass_paint_aus
Favorite artists:
Franz Hals - Dutch painter
frans-hals.org
Harry Clark -illustrations
wikipedia.org
Egan Sheil
wikipedia.org
Peter Chung - Aeon Flux
wikipedia.org
wikipedia.org
Judith Schaechter
judithschaechter.com
Judith's ep of Cracked:
runaglassworks.com





Support the show

UNKNOWN:

Bye.

SPEAKER_00:

What's up, friends? Welcome back to another episode of Cracked with Siobhan Aris. Before we jump into today's episode, I would love to thank my sponsors. Thank you to Bullseye Glass. Have you guys heard about their kiln space program? I just read about it on their website. It's pretty incredible. It furthers Bullseye's commitment to making kiln forming, aka glass fusing, as accessible as possible. It's super easy. You find a kiln on the interactive map, contact the owner, and rent the kiln. You can also sign up as a kiln host and rent your kiln out. Find out more at bullseyeglass.com. We all know the Stained Glass Association of America has been the hub of North America's stained glass community since 1903. But did you know you don't have to be living in the U.S. to become a member? All the benefits of membership in the Stained Glass Quarterly is available to all of our international glass friends for only$20 more annually. Join this community of people who love to explore and share the beauty, history, function, and craftsmanship of art glass at stainedglass.org. I'd also like to thank Canfield Technologies. When you start with quality, impurity-free materials, you end up with a smoother flowing alloy providing consistent, reliable results. Canfield is hands down my personal favorite solder and flux brand. They continue to amaze me with the quality of their products. They have set the standard for over 160 years and no one else in the industry has a better brand following. Find out which products are right for you at canfieldmetals.com. Yakagini is a small manufacturing company that specializes in the production of stained glass sheets and glass products for the stained glass industry. Yaka Ganey Glass is well known for its uncompromising quality and color artistry designed to recreate the magnificence of nature's palette. Yaka Ganey Glass has developed a series of authentic Tiffany reproduction opalescent glass. These three and four color mixes use a specifically formulated opal base glass. This base creates a true white cast, surface hazing, and the waxy quality that is generally associated with glass made I'd also like to thank Glass Art Magazine. Glass Art Magazine is the definitive source of inspiration and information for glass art professionals working in hot, warm, and cold glass. Every issue offers a connection to the glass community through in-depth artist profiles, marketing and trade strategies, and a the latest in glass news. If you are international, no worries. Glass Art Magazine does offer international print subscriptions as well as digital subscriptions for all. Find out which works best for you at glassartmagazine.com. Next up is Ed Hoy. Ed Hoy's International is a one-stop shop glass artist's paradise. They work to bring beautiful glass into the lives of anyone and everyone, offering fresh opportunities to expand your creative expression for what they believe is the most powerful medium for change, art. They see the world through are a different lens and they want to encourage the same in new, aspiring, and seasoned artists alike. With thousands of art glass infusible glass options, glass working accessories, tools infusing supplies, there is no limit to what you, the customer, can do with the glass. Their aim is simple. Work to provide the glass art community that they know and love with all of the supplies, education, and confidence it takes to reach new levels of expression and beauty in glass art. Find out more at edhoy.com. And last but certainly not least is Paul Wismack Glass Company who just celebrated 120 years of glassmaking. That's crazy. That's a lot. Wismac is ideal for stained glass, mosaic, and architectural glass applications. It comes in an array of colors, textures, and levels of transparency. It is also available with an iridescent coating. Find them at your local distributor now and learn more about Wismac art and kiln glass by visiting their website, wismacglass.com. That's W-I-S-S-M-A-C-H-Y-S-M-A-C-H-Y-S-M-A-C-H. All right, let's get into this episode. Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with groundbreaking Australian artist Jordan Benson, drawing inspiration from the gritty, raw aesthetic of street art. His pieces capture the beauty found in urban life, transforming everyday scenes into stunning visual narratives. But Jordan's creativity doesn't stop there. His practice extends to kiln forming, etching, glass painting, and beyond, showcasing his dedication to exploring and mastering various mediums. From his vivid or I'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, friend.

SPEAKER_01:

How's it going?

SPEAKER_00:

Good. How are you?

SPEAKER_01:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

It's

SPEAKER_01:

good.

SPEAKER_00:

You've been you just got up probably.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, maybe like an hour and a bit ago.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you normally an early riser?

SPEAKER_01:

Would like to be easier said than done, though. But yeah, sometimes I'll go through waves. What about you?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I yes, I am an early riser. But I think a lot of that has to do with, um, I'm a mom. And so I have to get up early to like, you know, get school going and stuff like that. So I kind of don't have a choice, but now I'm trained. So even if I do have an opportunity to sleep in, I just, I wake up at like seven 30 at like the very latest

SPEAKER_01:

muscle memory now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yeah. My body's like, all right, we're doing this. My dog has an Australian name. Yeah. Yeah. His name is Bungie. Doesn't that mean like friend, like mate in Australia?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'm not sure. Have

SPEAKER_00:

you never heard that? Oh, I was so excited to tell you that.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not sure. I could look it up. But you seem pretty confident. So I might take your word on it.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you can back me up if you need to. But I'm really sad that you've never heard of the name Bungie. I was so excited to tell you that he had like an Australian slang term for friend as his name i was looking for points

SPEAKER_01:

maybe if you called him mate i would have uh definitely clued on

SPEAKER_00:

but then i would have had to say it like with an accent all the time

SPEAKER_01:

yeah yeah yeah

SPEAKER_00:

um okay so you're joining us from melbourne

SPEAKER_01:

yeah

SPEAKER_00:

is that how you say it i mean it's not how it's spelled

SPEAKER_01:

Melbourne. Melbourne. Melbourne.

SPEAKER_00:

I feel

SPEAKER_01:

like Australians probably like compress everything in a lazy way. So you could probably guarantee that most things that Australians say are probably like, yeah, not correctly spoken.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you born and raised there?

SPEAKER_01:

I was originally born in Torquay, which is sort of near Geelong, which is maybe like an hour and a half out of Melbourne. It's sort of like a coastal tourist Did you grow

SPEAKER_00:

up with an interest in art? Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe I thought of like graphic design for a long time. I was like always interested in art. And then I got into doing graffiti when I was like 15. I was doing that for about 10 years. But originally when I was like 12 or something, I started making little stickers with like a crow draw, like vector program. So I taught myself how to use crow draw when I was about 12. And then I was like making stickers for Lego. minifigures sort of thing like the little lego people so i make my own little designs or whatever for those um which probably like where i know art related stuff started to kick off a bit

SPEAKER_00:

um yeah

SPEAKER_01:

but always been drawing and like messing around

SPEAKER_00:

were your parents artists

SPEAKER_01:

uh nah dad's like he was in it but now he's like a first aid sort of trainer and then mom is a receptionist um so nothing yeah too creative or exciting but My little brother is a tattooist, so we're both really into art quite a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So we're both really into art, but mom and dad, not very creative as far as art goes.

SPEAKER_00:

Is your brother, did you say he's older or younger?

SPEAKER_01:

Younger. Three years younger. I think he's still an apprentice, but he's pretty good. He does lots of very Japanese style tattooing. I'd say he's pretty good. He's definitely a Yeah, he does a lot of very technical tattooing. It'll be interesting to see where he goes with it all.

SPEAKER_00:

Have you allowed him to give you a tattoo yet?

SPEAKER_01:

I have one. I've got to get more. I've just been a bit lazy with it. He still lives down in Torquay and works down there. And whenever I'm down there, I just can't be bothered getting a tattoo because it's just a bit of an effort. But I've got some hours banked up with him. I did a painting for him a while ago, so I've banked up a few hours. I'll cash in eventually.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Did you surf when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_01:

No, my dad is quite into surfing, but I never really got into it. Neither did my, maybe my brother a little bit, but we had to do like the surf lifesaving thing when we were young. And even during the winter, it gets pretty cold, but we still have to, every Sunday you would go out and do all these sort of like surf lifesaving drills as like a 10 year old. It gets like pretty cold down there in the winter and stuff like that. So it's, I don't know, you don't, you learn not to love it after a while. It's like a bit of a punish. But I do like going to the beach, but only when the weather's good.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so to paraphrase, you had a magical upbringing in a seaside town, small town. Is it a small town?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's pretty small. It wasn't super small. It's definitely grown. It's like doubling, tripling at the moment, though. It's all getting developed quite heavily. It was small when I grew up.

SPEAKER_00:

And then how old were you when you moved to the city?

SPEAKER_01:

22. Okay, so

SPEAKER_00:

you're like, how old are you now? You said it was eight years ago? 30. So did you have like a formal art education or are you just straight from the street?

SPEAKER_01:

I did two years of graphic design and then... I pretty much, yeah, I think that was when I was like 18 to 20. And then all I really cared about for like a real long time was just doing graffiti. So I pretty much just like once I finished, I was just like working, messing around, doing as much graph as I could. And then eventually I saved up a bit of coin and went to Europe for about nine months. And I plan on just sort of like painting trains and like messing around. And I started going to like galleries and churches, mostly, yeah, Started in the Netherlands and, you know, started going to lots of churches and galleries and museums and stuff like that. Became really interested in oil painting and a bit of stained glass. And then I started to decide to teach myself how to oil paint off YouTube. And then, yeah, when I got back, I started getting lead lighting lessons with this old lead lighter out in Melbourne's West. And, yeah, I know I did like one year of fine arts and I didn't really, I didn't really feel like I was getting what I wanted out of it so I just sort of left that yeah that's as far as formal education yeah just a couple years of graphic design and then one year of fine arts and then once I was like sort of into the stained glass I did there's like a newish course in Melbourne which is like cert three and four of glass and glazing which is at Melbourne Polytechnic so I did those as well and then that was maybe I finished the cert for like a year and a half ago but yeah so those are A few little bits and pieces here and there.

SPEAKER_00:

And you did a residency?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, at the Canberra Glassworks.

SPEAKER_00:

And how did you find yourself there?

SPEAKER_01:

One of my teachers at Melbourne Polytechnic just said I should give it a crack. And then I applied and got it. And yeah. Yeah, I just had like a great time. I was just earlier in the year, last year, I went to Europe for three months with my partner and then I was back for about two weeks and then I did the residency for one month and I was just like filled with all these ideas and I was doing lots of drawings. And so I just had like one month to like really use the kilns as much as I want and do lots of this and lots of that. And then I was also learning about glass blowing and some glass glassblower at the Canberra Glassworks blow me a couple of vessels and then a couple of cylinders that we turned into double-sided flash glass. So it was really good to experiment and learn a lot about some other areas of glass that I wasn't, you know, I didn't really have too much knowledge on. I think there's a bit of hot glass in Melbourne, but... there's probably like far more flat glass and like warm glass sort of art going on but i feel like it's especially with blind away it's definitely taking off a bit more i feel the hot glass stuff

SPEAKER_00:

yeah you were doing all sorts of stuff you were doing let's see you were doing silver and copper stain enamels some sandblasting

SPEAKER_01:

yeah

SPEAKER_00:

fusing and you're kind of mixing it all together

SPEAKER_01:

yeah yeah i do like all the techniques like i'm very into the yeah painting staining um last year i started distributing the ruchet paints and stains as

SPEAKER_00:

well yeah i saw that you have like a whole website

SPEAKER_01:

yeah yeah so it's been going well it's pretty slow as you imagine it's not like they're not running out the door like uh products so i just have like everything sort of sits there and little bits go here and there a few brushes here and there that i'm like i probably use it more than i've like like sold just a bad like to have the whole range there is like quite good um to be able to like experiment with all the different colors and um yeah different things is there's so much to explore and do it's insane um it's a lot of fun

SPEAKER_00:

yeah there was one piece that you posted it's just like a well it was all the things but on october 14th you posted a figure experiment that you did at canberra and it said uh really interested in the way a whole range of colors can come out of a few sheets. If you have 23 millimeter sheets of compatible glass, you have 400 colors to play with when you overlap them and fuse them to 6 millimeters. This is without the inclusion of frit or powder as well, which really opens up a lot of illustrative possibility, especially if one were to paint on top the fused glass as well. So it seems like you're bringing a lot of your painting experience into the glass.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I try to, I like, I really like the illustrative, illustrative quality in art, I guess. So I've like, and then like, I'm really, really into flash glass. Cause you can get that multiple colors in the single piece. Cause I think when I was like just doing lead lighting, it was like, I couldn't illustrate things well with just single colors in single sections. And that was like really irritating me. So I've always, tried to like get around that with different techniques and then trying fusing and then trying flash glass and then trying painting but I feel like everything sort of just like leads back to the sort of traditional methods I guess like the traditional methods seem to be like the best but I do think there's still like there's still like a really really massive amount of untapped potential with like fusing and then painting on top of it because you can just get like all the base colors down and if you can I was sort of thinking at one point I might if I get the whole range of I generally use Oceanside if I get the whole range and then I sort of cut a cut a bar off each one and then overlap them over a light box and like take photos of like every single color combination and then upload it into you know either Illustrator or Affinity Designer or whatever program I'm using you can sort of like really illustrate it like using and have this like massive like swatch kit that you know of all these colours that you can like create sort of thing you'd have to like label them all properly and stuff like that but you could really I don't know how many colours are in the ocean side set but I assume like 30 or something like that or 60 or whatever but there's so many combinations and a lot of them are really skin toning as well you could get like a lot of skin tones and do like portraiture and stuff like that that is more like sort of like lifelike tones as opposed to like just sort of slapping orange next to yellow and having like, I feel like a lot of it is like very bright colours of what people use these days. Everything's just like super bright pink, super magenta, super blue, super red. I like when people sort of like really pull back the tones quite a bit and leave it a bit more subtle. Yeah. So, yeah, there's definitely some stuff that could be done there, I think. I don't know if I'll be the one to do it, but, like, I think someone will come along and do it and get, like, really organized with it. There's a lot of potential there.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you a really organized person? Like, are you the guy for the job? I

SPEAKER_01:

don't know. Maybe. Like, I think I'm... With my own practice, I like to be learning something, like, all the time. So it might get to a point where I feel like I've learned a lot of techniques and then I'm like, okay, I'm either going to go maybe, like, learn the chemistry of why silver stain works the way it does and, you know, see if we can make, like, a blue stain or something like that or, like, yeah, go down that path of making all the swatches and making, like, a digital design-related... sort of thing. So you can plan out your designs a bit more. Everybody seems to be, even though I like to draw, like I draw quite a bit. I think drawings are really important to the process if you want to do illustrative designs, but everybody seems to be using computers more for their, their designs. So it would be, I could, I could imagine people like would probably use it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

definitely. So are you only drawing your patterns or do you have, do you also use any programs?

SPEAKER_01:

A bit of both. I like with the graphic design, sort of like qualities of, yeah, growing up using vector programs, like vector programs and the lead lines, just like, just mesh, just like perfectly. It's so easy. I just, yeah, have the line size to like 3.5 and then you just like make your design and go to Officeworks or it's like a printing place here and get it like printed out on A1 paper. So it's like super easy. And then you have multiple copies as well. And some of them I'll like you know get the line design and then I'll illustrate you know like um whatever I'm trying to illustrate sort of thing draw in a lot of details uh I feel like that makes it yeah so a bit of both I think is good because I wouldn't want to like redraw and then have to like copy by hand with like a text uh with a sharpie mark or anything like that like a whole cartoon um would be like yeah very so I think there's a good balance you gotta have like a good balance

SPEAKER_00:

your pieces are all moderately sized I don't I haven't seen a lot of scale like I don't know context necessarily on on Instagram but it seems like they're all sort of they're not huge

SPEAKER_01:

yeah no I wouldn't say like huge um Yeah, because it gets to the point you sort of need to like put a structural bar in and I haven't, I'm like, but you may need to learn how to bend those bars. I have a piece that I'm making at the moment. I'm not sure when this will be released but I have a solo show in August so I haven't been posting anything that I've been working on but I've done like, I don't know, like 15 new projects or something that I haven't posted. I've got all these projects that I'm like really excited for the solo show and But I've got this one, it's like a very large portrait and I would definitely need a structural bar going across the middle. And I would like to bend it to the lead lines so we can like one bow or anything like that. But I do want to learn that and do more larger pieces and more like full body portrait stuff. I think it would be really interesting. But I've also got, with touching back on going to Canberra for the residency and the glass blowers making me vessels, I got really into the vessel making. So I started just like sandblasting all these vessels and then I give it back to the blower and they fire polish them. I've got one here. So this one's been like fire polished. Whoa. Will this video go on YouTube or something?

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's just from my eyes. And then we can together describe what it is. But it kind of looks like a vase, like a vessel. And then I'm seeing some really pretty maroons and sort of like a reddish color. And then the whole center is more of a yellow color. And then etched into it is a floral.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So just sort of like some floral design. I sort of, I would just like draw them on and then cut them out with vinyl and then sandblast all the sections. And the way that the vessel is made, made using the Swedish overlay technique where they sort of, they make two vessels with colour and then a bunch of clear in between. So it's like colour, clear, colour, and I can sandblast off one of the colours. I've got some more I'll show you. So this one is like, the same technique, but then it was also dipped in black powder. So then I've got two colors plus black. But this one hasn't been fire polished. But I'm pretty excited to see this one fire polished.

SPEAKER_00:

That's gorgeous. This one has like a snake on it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, super fun. But it's a really good couch activity, so I don't have to be in the studio to sort of sit around wherever and sort of draw and scalpel out. This one's a bit hard to see. Maybe there's a bunch of wasps.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh, I want that one. This one's like, yeah, it has wasps over grass. There's some clouds in the background. It's sort of like a peachy color with a light turquoise. But this one, I

SPEAKER_01:

had it open enough so I could sandblast inside and outside. Because then you have, like, clear. You have one color. You have the second color. And then you have both colors. So there's, like, four different color options to choose from. Yeah. Which I thought was, yes, super interesting. I've got a few of those. There's another. You see that green one? Yeah. It's almost like a uranium green. But it's, like, aqua. I think it's aqua and a yellow, I think. I can't remember. I'll have to look on my notes. But it's like so intense already that I think it's going to look like really good. Once I like start sandblasting it back to sort of clear in some spots and then one color in some spots and another color.

SPEAKER_00:

Are these going to be in your show?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So I should have about 10 of them.

SPEAKER_00:

Cool. Okay. Very cool. So you will be posting pictures of these and then hopefully by the time this episode comes out, people can go back to your Instagram and actually see what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. I think, yeah, if I'll start posting them in like August, once the show is out or I'll probably, yeah, a few bits here and there. I don't have like a general, I have like a general plan, but I'm not very too meticulous with the social media stuff. I find I just get irritated the more I do it. I don't get much out of it.

SPEAKER_00:

I feel like a lot of your pieces, the paintings as well as the stained glass pieces, there's a lot of debauchery. It's a lot of party scenes. It's a lot of graffiti, street scenes. Do you think your style changed at all? Like your topics, your style, do you think it changed when you sort of went from oil painting to stained glass? Or are you still evolving past that stuff?

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe a little bit, but only because I didn't know... Like, I feel like to do some of the stuff I did in oil painting in glass, it would require techniques that I've only, like, recently developed. So I'm, like, really... only been able to do some of the higher detail stuff like just recently, I guess. So it's going to come back definitely. And I have like a lot of ideas, um, as far as things I would like to do. And I really want to get back to doing sort of like, yeah, the debauchery and drinking and things like that. Um, sort of like party, party related things. Um, I was always, after that first trip to Europe, I was a very big fan of, uh, Franz Hals, the, um, Dutch, oil painter and he used it as sort of like really good painter that he would just paint lots of people in like pubs and things like that a lot of his his paintings um and they're like really good but i've always sort of like um yeah liked painting the the reality of my life or situations or things that we get up to or whatever as opposed to um i don't know I'm not sure what it's imposed to, but, like, yeah, that's what I, like, enjoy doing, I guess. It's more relatable, I feel. And I want to be, like, I did a couple of things where, you know, I did, like, pop culture things. I was sort of like, eh, this isn't as, like, much me, which I like to get, like, a laugh out of my friends a lot of the time with some things.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not super into like the pop culture stuff, but I like doing the pop culture stuff. I like pop culture, but I wouldn't say I like really enjoy doing it, like making pop culture art.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You did one thing that I, well, at first I should say that that's why I love your work so much. I love seeing things in stained glass that you're like, that doesn't, a woman barfing with bottles around her doesn't belong in stained glass. Like we're not seeing that. And so it like evokes like, you know, a reaction and a feeling. And I love it. I absolutely love it. You did something recently. Actually, I don't know when you did this, but also brilliant. It's called break it or take it. Did you make this up? Is this a thing?

SPEAKER_01:

I think I made it up. I don't know. I'm definitely not the first person to put stained glass in the public setting, like a real public setting where it could be destroyed. I definitely didn't make that up, but I thought it would be a funny idea where I went to an abandoned building and then I sized up a frame and then went and made a piece and then installed it in the frame and sort of did a bit of what do you call it? Long exposure, like light photography thing and um took some like images and then the next day just posted it on instagram being like break it or take it like if you know where it is like it's up to you um and then yeah someone like a friend of a friend was like who was also like a uh into graffiti just sort of like recognize the location i think um he was on a work day as well and he just like drove to the spot in the middle of the day and just like ripped it out and then took it home with him. And then I ended up having a bunch of beers with him that night. So it was pretty funny to have a laugh about. But, yeah, it was a funny little experiment, I guess. I was curious to see what would happen, but I wouldn't mind doing a few pieces where we, like, make some things for, like, some, like, public areas and just, like, size up some areas where we think, like, an artwork could go and then, like, toughen the pieces or put them in and then just, like, put loads of silicon and stuff around, like, another toughened piece of glass and, like, put it in front So, like, nobody could get in or break it or anything like that. Just, like, really secure it in there as, like, I don't know, like a piece of straight out, I guess it would be. But it would be hard to find, like, a good location, I feel. One with, like, light coming through but also viewable and all those different things. There's a lot of different factors to, like, a good spot, I guess. But it's doable, maybe.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, obviously there's not very much money in doing that, but...

SPEAKER_01:

I'd say probably zero money, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, but I loved it. I loved the scavenger hunt aspect of it. And, you know, it's yours. It's yours if you can take it, but not if somebody breaks it. Speaking of money, it's really hard to price your work. How do you price your work? Do you have some sort of formula that you follow?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Not really. I don't know. It's a bit of a tough one because sometimes I'm like looking at a piece that I might have spent ages on and I'm like, this doesn't look as good as it did in my head. But then I have other pieces that are like quite simple and didn't take that long or something. But, you know, people go nuts for it or it's like the idea just like slaps. So it's like you can charge a bit more for these ones. And then I've had some that I've put in like loads and loads and loads out and it just sort of like didn't come out that well. So generally I would like price it on like how good it looks for the most part. But... But for commissions, you know, maybe I'll, you know, try and go for like an hourly rate plus materials, you know, whatever, like other processes need to be involved. Sometimes if I'm learning something, I'll, you know, I'll sort of like be, or if it's like a really good idea, I'll sort of like try and price it in a way that I'm like definitely going to get the commission or like, you know, be a bit malleable. But it's, yeah, it's definitely a tough one um I don't have any like good advice I think as far as pricing goes like I started doing like teaching workshops and then doing um I'm like currently studying so I can become a teacher at Melbourne Polytechnic so it's sort of like um I would like to have that sort of like bread and butter sort of job teaching so I can just go and do all my art stuff and it doesn't matter if it sells or not because I much prefer I don't really want to do other people's ideas and stuff that much i really just want to do all this other silly stuff that i think of um so like yeah it's nice that like teaching there so i can just like pay the bills and then have my own art practice which is a bit like i'm not really having to bend towards people what people want or what people want to see um Yeah. That's my thoughts.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. That's amazing that you've been teaching workshops. How many have you done so far?

SPEAKER_01:

Um... Maybe only, like, one painting one. It was, like, a two-day one. And then every week I'll do, like, one or two workshops. So, like, there's ongoing sort of five-week workshops where it's just sort of, like, beginner stuff where we just make, like, a... I'll get them to make, like, a little panel, just, like, a little six-piece of glass panel with a couple curves just to, like, so they get the idea. And then I will design them their own sort of panel based on something that they want sort of thing so I'll send me a couple of photos or something like that. I'll send me an idea and I'll just like whip it up in illustrator. Cause it's, it's just so easy. It's just a few lines. It doesn't take very long. Um, so, uh, Yeah, and then they'll get to make something that, like, is a bit more custom and, like, you know, a bit more personal to them, which I think a lot of people get a bit of a, you know, they really enjoy, you know, getting something personal out of it. I think there's one, at the moment I have a workshop where one student's doing her two birds and then another student is doing her dog. And I think that, you know, even if it comes out, like, not fantastic quality-wise, they just, like, love it because it's their pets So it's like really like a personal gift, like a personal gift for themselves that they made. So they're like really proud of it, like regardless of the outcome, I guess. Yeah. So it's like a bit of a, it's just like open to, I wouldn't say like it's a very serious workshop at this stage, just a bit of like a taster. And some people end up sort of doing this certificate three afterwards, which is good. So a few people pick it up and they want to get like a bit serious with it and learn, you know, properly with a few more techniques and stuff. But it's been pretty good. I'm excited to sort of teach properly as well. I think that'll be fun. I think the social aspect is, like, really good to, like, keep the sort of, like, the gears oiled or whatever so you're, like, keeps my enthusiasm for glass, like, going to sort of being in this, like, social glass environment, like, all the time. It's good fun. It's a good community as well. Lots of nice people. Yeah. So I really enjoyed that. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00:

Is this at your studio?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I've got my own studio, which is just, it's just like a little room in the back of someone's backyard that I rent out. But the Melbourne Polytechnic studio, so they're like a TAFE. So it's sort of like a university sort of thing where you go and do like certificate courses and they're like, you know, one year or two year courses or whatever. They've got campuses all over Melbourne. So the one that I teach at, um as in paran and all these glass courses they're about five or six years old they're sort of like being like revitalized because it was a big uh skills shortage in um just like in the sector and the stained glass sector in melbourne and um So there's a woman, Donna Kennedy, she sort of started this whole program to like get young people interested in glass, which I think I heard yesterday that the first year had like nine people, but now we have about like 50 people coming through this year. So there's like lots of people. It's becoming like, yeah, quite trendy and people are quite interested in doing it in Melbourne. So there'll be a lot of glass artists coming out of Melbourne. You'll probably be interviewing a lot more people. from melbourne um in the near future i can imagine um but yes it should be interesting as yeah like a lot of people so i figured it'd be pretty good time to start selling the paint as well um it's like yeah part of my business model my very loose business model

SPEAKER_00:

i like it you're coming in from all angles let's plug your website for the for the paint

SPEAKER_01:

uh this is a glass paint oz wait let me check yeah glasspaintoz.com um i'm really just trying to sell to like new zealand and australia because it was difficult um i was always ordering from europe or the united states but um and it always like take a while to come over all that sort of stuff was a bit irritating so i thought i would get it over here and then you know people once they order and it usually arrives in like two to three days um so it's much a quicker experience experience and then um i don't know the pricing is pretty competitive and stuff um with a lot of the paints and stains and stuff um i just ordered a bunch of copper stain which i'm like pretty excited about so i'm getting like really into plating i reckon plating is like a very good tool like creating images and stuff like that um so i think uh yeah copper stain plus plating you know you can get some like really nice pinky skin tones um i think there's going to be like some really good like portrait opportunities sort of, yeah, with those two. Yeah. I suppose if anybody has any questions about the paint or anything, they can shoot me a message on Instagram. I'm pretty happy to help out anyone or point them in the right direction for whatever their needs are. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. That's very cool that you're doing that.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So back to your work. Do you feel or does your work make any social or political statements or is it just for funsies?

SPEAKER_01:

For the most part, just for funsies. But Yeah, like sometimes. I think I definitely will probably go down that route a bit. I've got a couple of projects planned that definitely will be a bit obvious. But... For the most part, it's just for funsies. But, like, you know, I have a couple of those pieces where it's just, like, an exploding police helicopter and then a police car on fire. And it's, I don't know, I have to do graph for, like, 10 years. Not that I've had to deal with the police, but, like, a lot of my friends have had to deal with the police. And, like, you know, they're pretty bad. They're just, like, a rude group of people sometimes. I would do that, I guess, for, like, a bit of a laugh with those friends I guess

SPEAKER_00:

for pieces like that you are you know you have an idea you're motivated to make it because it's exciting to you or you know what I mean like it's it's something that you like or it's something that's like funny or interesting do you ever have creative block where you're just like I just don't know what to do

SPEAKER_01:

Now I just keep like a big list on my phone. I'll just write down like every silly idea that I have. I just have like a couple of like notes and I have dozens and dozens and dozens of ideas. And some of them become a bit irrelevant. Some of them I look back and I'm like, oh, that was a good idea. So if I ever get stuck, I just go back to that. But it takes so long to do like a really nice, like fully painted, sort of like painted, stained lead light. that I'm sort of like so backed up with ideas that I do really want to do. Like it's going to be, I don't know when I'll have this creative block because it's just too many things like in the pipeline. And then I feel like the more that you draw, the more that you doodle and the more that you do like life drawing and stuff, the more you can just sort of like, you know, making artworks with like the motifs and things that you like sort of thing where it sort of like becomes a bit like, you know, real tattooy where people just sort of like know what I have like an object and I put flowers around the object and then put like barbed wire on it or something like that. I feel like a lot of, there's a lot of like sort of, um that like decorative element and a lot of like art and tattoos and stuff these days where it's like a lot of it is just sort of this repeated sort of like uh imagery but it's not really fun to go back to that imagery and just like mess around with it and like yeah use like barbed wire as a border or something like that i don't i think i like i make a lot of ideas just like by mashing different concepts together and i do like taking concepts of old concepts of new and sort of like mixing those together

SPEAKER_00:

now for the audience not that listen to Cracked, but the audience of the world, I suppose, who don't like your work because they can't relate to the imagery and the scenes that you're depicting. Are you good at handling criticism? I

SPEAKER_01:

don't know if I've ever had too much of proper criticism. Yeah. But I probably would need more. Maybe I probably need more, like, criticism as far as, like, to further better my, like, illustrative abilities. Like, I'm really into it, but I wouldn't say, like, I'm, like, crazy fantastic. But, yeah, I don't think I've, like, I haven't really received any hate mail or anything like that or nobody's really been, like, proper trying to come after me over some, like, idea or something. something like that so i don't know i i'm really i'm really copped it um it would be interesting to maybe maybe one day maybe after the solo show hopefully somebody like critiques the work or something and i can you know somebody who like knows what they're talking about i feel as well like if i feel like somebody like went to critique me but if they didn't if i knew that they didn't know what they were talking about or they didn't have anything any basis of what they were saying sort of thing so i sort of like brush it off, I wouldn't really care. But if it was someone who had a doctorate in fine arts or something like that, I would probably listen to their advice or their criticism to further better my practice, I guess. I haven't really gotten up to that yet. Hopefully, maybe more as I progress, I'll receive more criticism, which, yeah. That'd be interesting, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, I always say just in life, I mean, not with art. Cause you're right. Like most people don't really like have any public way of saying like, I didn't like this guy's art. Like there's no, you know, there's no, that's not there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But the more eyes that are on your work, of course there are going to be, you're opening the door for more criticism and, and you'll never get a unanimous vote. Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So usually with these interviews, what I do is I pick like a couple pieces and then I ask direct questions about that piece specifically. But I think today I want to try something different. And do you have a favorite piece? I was thinking you could pick the piece. I was thinking you could pick the piece that we talk about.

SPEAKER_01:

I'll have a quick look at my Instagram

SPEAKER_00:

to

SPEAKER_01:

refresh my brain a bit. Here,

SPEAKER_00:

I'll put mine up too so that I can be looking at it.

SPEAKER_01:

Actually, I do quite like the most recent one that I did, the bird one, the bird hitting the window. Yes. The one called Flight Path. Yes. That one was really fun. I actually really enjoyed that one. Just because it combined a few different elements of the fused and the painted works within a lead light. So it was a bit of a challenge. And then I had to fuse it first and then paint the back. So I was trying to do... Like, I don't really like to put paintings face down in a kiln, but you've got to, like, put the painting face down each time sort of thing. Yeah. There was a bit of that, but I really like just the concept of that one. I'll probably end up doing some more similar ones with like cracked windows and stuff like that. I think it was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_00:

So for the listeners that can't see it yet, maybe they're driving or something, maybe they're in their studio right now. It's basically a piece, but behind it, he painted a bird crashing into the window and then it window is cracked is it really cracked or is it painted i can't tell if it's actually cracked

SPEAKER_01:

it's it's it's like i've got uh two pieces of three mil fused and then i've cut i've like lay them on top of each other but i've cut the top one uh to make it look like it's cracked um so like uh it's not it's not painted on the cracks but it um it's uh and it's not i haven't like smashed it either i've sort of just like cut them to like make it look like it's been smashed yeah um

SPEAKER_00:

the last photo on instagram if you zoom in you can tell i can see what you're talking about

SPEAKER_01:

um Yeah, yeah. You can sort of like see it from the side a bit more. Yeah. And I was sort of there to try to like emulate the sort of look of what or how I think like glass cracks based on looking at cracked glass, I guess. Cracking glass. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And this one's cool because this one, it says, happy to announce I have been shortlisted for the Tom Malone Prize with my piece, Flight Path. I created this piece with a combination of techniques including fusing, painting, and led lighting. What is the Tom Malone Prize?

SPEAKER_01:

So the Tom Malone Prize is like a contemporary glass art prize that they do or that is held every year. And there's a few of these sort of like bigger, it's probably like on the bigger side. I think the winner gets like 20 grand. But I didn't win, unfortunately, but I was like quite pleased that, you know, to be shortlisted because it was only like a few sort of like young up-and-coming artists and then the rest of the artists were like, you know, people with like 30 years experience, like very experienced glassblowers, you know, people who were like really knew what they were doing. So, yeah, for me and a few other people, it was like really exciting to be shortlisted for that. It was like a really good sort of sign that like those sort of artworks are like quality-wise heading in the right direction. Um, So hopefully I'll probably give a few of these other ones like a crack as well and see what happens and probably trying to like, yeah, keep doing it until I win, I guess. If I stop doing them now, I feel like I'm quitting and then I'll be like irritated that I quit.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. You did another one that was similar with eggs, eggs cracking on the glass.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think I sent you that one. I haven't posted that one, but yeah, it's sort of like the same sort of concept where I've like fused the glass to make it look like it's cracked and and painted the back. And then, you know, I painted using, like, white ruchet paint and silver stain to, yeah, make it look like it's, like, egg and yolk, like, dripping down the front of the, oh, sorry, the back of the glass. Like, somebody's, sort of like a narrative, I guess, where somebody has, like, thrown eggs at the window. It's, like, a, like, traditional style. We see the diamonds, like, quite a lot over here in a lot of old houses.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so cool. It's really, really cool. Do you go by Jordan or Jord?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, either or. I don't mind. Okay. Whatever suits you. I'm easy.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I was just going to say that Jordan and I– Jordan feels very personal. I don't know if I can call you Jord yet. Let's see how this goes. Jordan and I were talking about what he was going to do for the Patreon, and he was like, let's do a collaboration of– I'll design something, and then we'll make stickers and totes or T-shirts, whatever, out of it. And I loved this idea. And that's why you sent me that one because we were talking about the literal idea of cracked.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I have been thinking about the design. I have done, like, I started it. I haven't finished it yet. But I was sort of thinking, like, you know, when you sort of those, like, old school sort of shop fronts, but you can sort of like an old barber shop, but it is, like, filled with, like, lead lights sort of thing, like the sort of front window. And then I was going to have it, yeah, so, like, cracked across the top and then having, because I think you said that you weren't really that keen on having, like, a bird Well,

SPEAKER_00:

I got it. Well, it was just like the bird is like dying.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It is a bit grim.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it, but I'm just like, oh, like I'm also sad for the bird.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Well, I was thinking about having like that sort of thing, but there's like a couple of kids playing outside. Maybe you can see like a couple of like small elements around that sort of show that it's like a shop front or whatever. Yeah. And then you can see the straight a little bit. And I'll probably try and illustrate it in a way that sort of like it looks like it's painted. So it's sort of like using those sort of like just like a few colours and then make the lines look a lot like the sort of painted like trace lines. So, yeah, something like that I think would be fun. I love that. I think that would be a fun one. Actually, I've got the– where's my other shirt? I'd like another shirt as like a similar– thing. Where is it?

SPEAKER_00:

Wait, I think I know what you're going to show me because I saw it on the website. I

SPEAKER_01:

got a tights and t-shirts. Yeah, this one, sort of like one for the glass workers.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

The everyday struggle of breaking glass and cutting your hands.

SPEAKER_00:

So what does it say one more time? It says another day in the glass shop.

SPEAKER_01:

Another day in the glass workshop. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

In the glass workshop and then has like cracked glass and like bloodied hands with holding a glass cutter. And I saw that on your website this morning and I was going to order one, but then I was like, well, I'm going to have to talk to him first because I don't know if it's men's sizes or women's sizes and if I need a smaller medium.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I enjoy making work. Sort of like, yeah, T-shirt design illustrations every now and then. If I have like a funny idea, I'll give it a crack. I had another one the other, like a while ago. You ever seen the... It's like the YouTube music videos or it's like hip hop beats. It's like lo-fi hip hop beats to like study slash relax to.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

I was thinking of like redrawing the image. It's like a girl studying is like always just like one image, but I was going to like redraw it as like a girl lead lighting. And then it's like lo-fi hip hop music to like lead light slash copper foil to or something like that. That's good. So I'm just like redraw the whole thing. I thought that would be a funny one. But. Or maybe a sticker or something. It's good to mix it up a bit, I think. I don't like doing the same genre of art medium all the time. I'll even mess around with ceramics a little bit. I've got a bit of clay. I'll mess around with that. I wouldn't mind getting into casting and stuff like that. It's nice to just go around and do everything and then you find that they can influence each other and like mix and all these like wild different ways um even those vessels i showed you before like you can paint the vessels um and like put them in the kiln and paint them so that'll be one to experiment with i think that'll be interesting um and then i will yeah whether like on the on the topic of yeah mixing mediums and stuff it's like glass casting i think it'd be super interesting to get into a little bit uh there's so many so many ideas and like things you can like mix together at Yes. It's that crazy endless.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It's like overwhelming sometimes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. How

SPEAKER_00:

much you can do.

SPEAKER_01:

And then in the camera glass work, somebody told me that a lot of the hot glass that they use is, like, 96, the coefficient, or the COE is 96, which, like, the ocean side is also 96. So you can, like, fuse things in the kiln to then be, like, wrapped up. So you could do that whole technique that we were talking about earlier where you've got, like, the illustration. We've got all the different colours and stuff made from the double layering, and then you've got, like, a 6mm thick panel that's, X big, big enough to, like, roll up onto a punty and then you get the glass, get a glass blow to, like, blow up an image into a vessel that you've, you know, fused sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, my

SPEAKER_01:

God.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And then you can sandblast it and then you can paint it. And I know it just like doesn't stop.

SPEAKER_00:

No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

There's so many different, different things.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I don't know if you get this kind of glass there, but Yaka Ganey here, they just started, they took over. There used to be this glass company called Uroboros. I've heard of

SPEAKER_01:

that one, but I haven't heard of the new one yet.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, they're no longer, but Yaka Ganey like took, I don't know exactly how, what, how it works. Like if they just took their formulas or what it is, but it's called Euro by Yach. So now Yachagany is making fusible glass too. Is it 96? It's all 96. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I think the Euroboros was 96 if I remember, but I'm really bored at that specifically, but I would buy things off marketplace here and there. And I got some glass that was Euroboros through that. But I haven't seen it being sold in shops here i don't think all the suppliers um but that's interesting i would be i would be curious if it like ends up coming over here at all um i think um the main glass supply here just does oceanside as far as fusible glass goes and then i think there's another like there's a couple smaller online shops that have different um different brands but I do, yeah. I do like to sort of see glass and pick it up and stuff like that when I'm buying it. So I'm generally like, you know, I'll end up sort of just like using my local place. It's like convenient. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Who is your local place? Let's plug the local business, the small guy.

SPEAKER_01:

Access Glass Supplies in Thomastown in Melbourne. So they have quite a good range. They got like a decent, pretty decent size to like warehouse and shop and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so they're not such a small guy. They're like... I

SPEAKER_01:

wouldn't say they're small. They're probably like one of the bigger ones, definitely in Australia, like one of the more major ones. But I don't know, as far as like a business goes, they're not like some big international business. It's like, yeah, it's like a bunch of nice people. So that's quite good. I do like going there. They're pretty easy to deal with. That's good.

SPEAKER_00:

That always makes it more enjoyable for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Jordan, are you ready for your final three questions?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Who is your favorite artist outside of glass?

SPEAKER_01:

It's a tough one. Yeah, it's pretty tough. Like, I would say, like, Franz Hals that I've mentioned earlier, like, there's a lot of, like, even, like, the oil painting strokes, like, very, like, so masterfully applied and stuff like that. I was really into his stuff for quite a while. I wouldn't say that, like, I fan over, like, one particular person, like, too heavily. Sort of like that Harry Clark era illustration. I really like Harry Clark, but there's a few other illustrators of that sort of like that era that are just like crazy illustrators.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And, like, yeah, there's a lot of really good, like, figurative art I'm, like, quite into. Like, when people, like, really make, like, really gaunt, like, Egon Scheele sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

That sort of, like, there's, like, a whole group of illustrators who have made some amazing stuff that sort of, like, put his sort of style to, like, shame just using, like, black and white. Like, it's so amazing. I've been, like, yeah. I got quite into that a bit recently. Um, but yeah, I'll say I'll say as far as like traditional stuff goes, I would say, um, Franz Hals. But I do have this one other artist. It's Peter Chung. He's actually the guy. He's the guy who made the Rugrats. You remember the Rugrats?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh,

SPEAKER_01:

yeah. But he has, like, this sci-fi show called Aeon Flux that is just, like, this insane sci-fi. It's, like, this MTV cartoon. I just, like, really, really enjoy that and the art style. and, like, I don't know, sci-fi stuff I find really interesting. Like, I just love watching sci-fi-related things. But the way he's, like, sort of, yeah, the way that that show is, like, illustrated, like, absolutely love. I would say, like, that probably, like, influences my own, like, illustration style quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00:

Is this the same one that was on MTV? Or is this, like,

SPEAKER_01:

a new one? No, there was, like, oh, yeah, it was the one that was on MTV. But there was, like, a live-action movie, which was, like, a massive flop. I haven't seen that. It's Charlize Theron, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Charlize Theron. It's what? Charlize Theron, I think, was the actress.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not sure. Oh. All I heard, it was absolutely horrible. So I just didn't want to taint my opinion of the cartoon, I guess. I have a very high opinion of the cartoon. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I remember that really clearly. Yeah. Eon Flux. The movie? Yeah. Well, no, not the movie. I remember the cartoon. I remember it. Oh, the cartoon.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Because there's a lot of wild imagery. And even in the opening sequence, there's a bit where there's a fly crawling on an eye, and then the eye has no iris. And then it sort of crawls in the middle. And then the eye closes, and it sort of really resembles a Venus fly trap. And then the iris just sort of comes around and looks at the eye. I'm sorry, it looks at the fly. There's lots of these really interesting concepts. It's a really well-built world, I guess. There's the whole concept of world building when it comes to storytelling, and it's just so well done in this sci-fi show. It really sucks me in. A well-built world, I think, is the key to a really good movie or series or um whatever day and day like yeah details and stuff like that

SPEAKER_00:

yeah you're kind of building a a well-built world with your work you're like you have like all these different mediums like you know they all connect somehow little metaverse right there

SPEAKER_01:

yeah hopefully

SPEAKER_00:

okay who's your stained glass artist

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, Judith Schechter, easily. Yeah. She's amazing. So, hands down. So, incredible. Super envious of Hannah, that Hannah got to spend some time learning from her. Hannah Gregory. But... Yeah, she's amazing. I look at her stuff, I'm like, I'm blown away all the time. I'm really trying to learn from her and really get into plating and carve out my own style, a lot of which through plating and flash glass, things like that. Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

she was uncracked.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah, nice, nice.

SPEAKER_00:

And then the final question is, what are your five to 10 year goals?

SPEAKER_01:

Number one being just, like, make lots of art, just, like, regardless of what happens. I suppose it would probably be, like, teaching. Hopefully it would be, like, continuing teaching. I should finish my course and then be into teaching by next year. Sell more paint and just, like, do lots of painting. Yeah, get into casting, a few other glass-related things. It would be nice to have some more kilns or access to more kiln But I'd probably like try and enter some more competitions. I feel like as well. I don't know, maybe like a residency or two. It'd be interesting. I had so much fun at the Canberra one. It was like legitimately one of the best months I've like ever had in my life. It was so much fun. Everyone there is so lovely.

SPEAKER_00:

When I think about you and your work, especially after having spoken with you today, it feels like you're like in a continuous flow state. Like I feel that pull, like that pull that I feel when I'm in a flow state, I feel like that energy coming off of you. Like you're constantly like getting lost in your work, like wanting to like get back into the studio and have so many ideas and are so curious about other ways to incorporate different techniques. I love that. I love that for you. I love that though. I do. I think it's like, it's, it's so exciting. Like, I think you're really excited about it. glass and and and we all are excited as well but it just it feels so good to hear somebody talk about it

SPEAKER_01:

yeah i i definitely look very excited um and i think as a medium as well it's like it can be 2d can be 3d it can be opaque it can be transparent it can be anything in between um like it's probably like one of the most versatile like i don't really think of like a more versatile uh like art form really as far as the things that could be and the avenues that you can go down and like the mastery that's required. Like it's, yeah, it's just like insane, the amount of stuff. I feel like if I'm going to do this my whole life, I have to like really sink in and like try as much as I can because it's like, like it would take like multiple lifetimes to like really do lots of them properly, I guess. to, like, learn them properly. Yeah, it's wild. Yeah, I do try and incorporate, like, art where I can in my own life, sort of like. Me and my partner, we like to, like, when we went to Europe, we, so we got there and we just bought gouache, like, on the first day and, like, a couple of pads and then we would just do, like, plein air painting here and there. We'd be, like, drawing all the time. We'd do, like, little master studies. Just trying to, like, yeah, really, and I find that stuff, like, really keeps the fire burning like quite a lot to do all those like little studies and you just learn so much from um yeah like paint uh like drawing statues and stuff like that uh once you get like the fun sort of like the fundamentals down like i won't even say i don't even have like the fundamentals down properly but like once you get like a basic idea of like how to do all the stuff and then like doing it and like doing life drawing and stuff like that um Yeah, it just sort of does keep that flow state sort of like going.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'm glad to have met you. I'm glad to have found your work. I

SPEAKER_01:

was lovely to meet you as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Jordan, your work is amazing. It's so innovative. I cannot wait to see what you come up with next. I have this feeling about you that I don't have about all the artists that I speak to. I mean, love, all love for everybody. But I truly feel like you are going to be one of the greats. I think you really

SPEAKER_01:

are.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I do. I really feel that.

SPEAKER_01:

That's super flattering. Thank you. Yeah, that's really nice. It was lovely to meet you. Thank you for having me on. the Cracked podcast. I've had a really nice time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, absolutely. Great start

SPEAKER_01:

to the day.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. Well, have a wonderful and productive day in that studio today and I'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Enjoy. Have a good day. All the rest of your day.

SPEAKER_00:

To see more of Jordan's work, his Instagram is at JordanB underscore art and mine is at Runa Glassworks. Okay, so the design that Jordan and I were speaking about, it's incredible. I made some stickers as well as a limited run of t-shirts. The Patreon members had the first crack. See what I did there? On the t-shirts before the rest of the listeners, but there are still some left. Check them out on my website and there's a direct link in the show notes. I have plenty of stickers left, so if you don't get a t-shirt, definitely get your Next week, we're headed back to the U.S. to talk to artist Soeun Lee. And that's it for this week. Thank you for listening. Bye, friends.