By Kelly M. Gross
Director, The David Strawn Art Gallery
The Art Association of Jacksonville is pleased to welcome Randy and Joy Turner to The David Strawn Art Gallery, 331 W. College Ave. in Jacksonville, from March 1-30. An opening reception was held on Saturday, March 1 from 6-8 p.m. with a “Gallery Talk” by the artists at 6:30 p.m.
Randy Turner began blowing glass more than 20 years ago at a small arts and crafts facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma, when he and Joy Turner were students at Oklahoma State University. This facility was subsidized by the parks and recreation division of the small town; it ran on a shoestring as well as the love and dreams of those who taught and learned there.
It was a great place to begin, and Randy Turner was hooked on the magic and endless possibilities of glass as an artistic medium. “As part of the chemistry curriculum at OSU, you could take glassblowing. It is scientific glassblowing, where you work on vacuum lines and you are making the scientific equipment, so I took a class of that and just fell in love with the material,” Randy Turner says.
In the years since then, opportunities to blow glass were occasional and precious — either trading labor for studio time or taking as many more classes as possible. The dream of a studio of their own grew in those years (as well as two marvelous children).
It wasn’t until several years later that Randy Turner decided to take what he learned and translate it into an art form. In 2007, Randy and Joy opened up Larkfield Glass on their farm in Edgar County.
Joy Turner says that “since opening their doors, the business has seen much success thanks to the fact that they hand-make their products in an age of mass production.”
For the Turners, opening up a glassblowing studio has given them the chance to combine their love of both science and art. The tremendous freedom of creating in his own studio has produced an explosion of color and form with totally unique creations.
Joy Turner contributes to the collective effort of glassblowing as an assistant during the glassblowing process and “business manager.” She also helps to find festivals to sell the art, and sends out email lists.
The glassblowing process begins as Randy Turner dips a metal pipe into hot glass to start his creations. This causes a bubble-like inflation to occur. The blown glass then sits in a heater for 16 hours at 750-660 degree temperatures. The finished production is an iridescent, blown glass structure, appearing in many shapes and sizes.
Randy Turner continues to experiment with combinations of colors and shapes. His glass forms include paperweights, Christmas ornaments, candy dishes, vases, plates and fish. He also welcomes commission work, as is a chance to try something new.
His art has been bought and displayed in various countries such as Germany, Australia, England and India, as well as at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
When he’s not working in the studio, Randy Turner makes a living as a mechanical engineer at Grain Systems Inc. in Paris.
Gallery hours are free and open to the public. Gallery hours March 2-30 are: Sundays from 1-3 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday from 4-6 p.m.
