The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts welcomes glass artist and illustrator Jamie Boyd to the Coastal Oregon Visual Artist Showcase (COVAS) at the Newport Visual Arts Center from April 7 to May 27. Boyd’s exhibition, “Portraits in Glass,” will feature kiln-formed glass and frit painting based on her original illustrations. Living in Astoria, Boyd represents Clatsop County in the COVAS’ rotation of artists from throughout Oregon’s seven coastal counties. A First Friday opening reception will be held on April 7, 5-7pm at the VAC, with an artist talk at 6:15pm.
Jamie Boyd transforms her pen-and-ink washes of figures and portraiture into glass, through a process known as “frit painting” or “powder painting.” The process combines her interest in illustration and glass art, allowing light transmission and reflection to enhance her images and take them into new media.
“I like the challenge of moving an image toward a more sculptural form,” Boyd says. “My recent series reflects the look of pointillism, where an image looks abstract close up but blends into a portrait farther away. I capture emotion through the shapes and shadows, using cut string and found-glass shapes in a kiln-formed method. Fewer tones or value keeps a sense of connection between the original sketch and the new glass form.”
Jamie Boyd starts with a blank sheet of glass on a light box with a blown up image of the portrait she wants to create. From there she employs different glass elements as if they were drawing tools. Powdered frit, made of finely crushed glass, creates an effect similar to charcoal shading or inks used in a monotype. Course and medium frit creates a dot pattern, while confetti glass–fine shards–have the look of watercolor washes. Glass strings, pulled from rods of glass with a lamp-working torch, look like drawings made with a sketching pencil. Sheets of glass with “stringers,” cut into facets, can look like crosshatching.
“Not only does glass teach me to see in a new way, it allows the viewer to be more actively involved with my subjects, encouraging them to come closer and touch a piece to test its reality and texture.”
Jamie Boyd moved to Astoria in 2004 and co-started the business Studio Access and Gallery, which then became Studio 11, a printmakers and glass studio. Studio 11 offers rental work space and workshops in printmaking on the intaglio press and kiln-formed glass. The studio also presents art shows, poetry readings, performances and other events.
Jamie Boyd has taken various classes at the Bulls Eye Glass Company in Portland as well as classes in painting, printmaking and photography at Portland State University and the School of Fine Arts at the Portland Art Museum. She has served as board member, events coordinator and instructor for Astoria Visual Arts. With over 20 years experience as professional framer, she owned Azure Frame Studio in Seattle during the 1990s and sat on the board of the arts publication Reflex Magazine.
Jamie Boyd has exhibited her work in various shows at the Astoria Visual Center, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington (2010-2014), the Bullseye Glass’ “E-merge” exhibition (2010), the Cannon Beach Gallery (2009-10), the “Eye-Candy” juried exhibit at the Mark Woolley Gallery (Portland, 2000) and the Northwest Flat Glass Artists juried show through the Washington Arts Commission at the downtown Seattle Library (1981), among other locations. She curated the “Beauty of Glass in the Northwest” exhibition at the Astoria Visual Arts Center in 2008.
The COVAS Showcase is open noon to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.