GRAAL

History

Our creative process employs the Swedish Graal technique. Graal was developed in 1917 by Artist Simon Gats and Glass blower Knut Berquist at the renowned Orefors glass factory in the heart of the Swedish glass region. Graal sits at the crossroads of visual art and glass blowing, where it frees the image from a two-dimensional canvas and gives it new life in the walls of a fine hand blown vessel.

Process

The Graal piece begins as a colored glass egg. Our husband and wife design team of Rich Arentzen and Tove Ohlander work on matching the color and form of the piece with Tove's conceptual sketchs. After they decide on what form the piece will take the egg is covered with protective matting, this matting is the medium with which Tove works. After sketching her design for the piece she uses cutting tools to carve the matting.
    The next step is sandblasting the egg. Here the matting protects the colored glass, creating forms through positive and negative visual space. After Tove removes the matting and inspects the image she and Rich make the final decisions on size and shape before Rich creates the final piece.
    Reheating the egg, Rich begins blowing the piece into its final form. Under his experienced hand the egg will hatch, forming a bowl, vase, or plate. The finished Graal is a unique fusion of both artist's visions and a testament to mastery of their mediums.

Style

Graal fosters the interaction between the deliberate process of the visual artist and the dynamic creation of the master glass blower. By combining the visions of Rich and Tove we are able to create pieces which are both pertinent to the asthetic of today while being steeped in the rich history of Swedish Graal. By bringing art off the wall and into physical space we have opened the door to a whole new realm of expression.