Relentless Optimism

50"x14"x7"

Glass, Paint, LED, Wood

2020

"Relentless Optimism" portrays an old bicycle pump pushing out Edison lightbulbs in the the air. I think of art, and many ways of living, as doing our best to put good energy and thoughts in to the world. Some ideas sink, some soar, but this pieces is about the relentless pursuit of trying no matter what. The colors are bight and intense, but there is a patina of age to suggest the past. The piece has an inner glow and radiance from the LEDs, and a dichroic layer that changes color as the viewer changes their view of the work. The light accentuates the layers in the glass, the bulbs, the pump, and amplifies the dichroic color shift. The piece contains its own light and as you walk past them, the colors shift in a dynamic and dramatic way.

Auction Wednesday!

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!

Auction Wednesday!

I've been super busy for the past few weeks, but I'm back and 

I'm auctioning off this piece today on my Facebook Page

"Choices"
Glass, Enamels, Resin, Wood Frame
18"x8"x2.5"

As many of you know, I've been experimenting with cast glass pieces combined with epoxy coloring. This one is a great example of the direction I'm heading with flowing, vivid colors.
The piece can be wall mounted or sit on a table, counter, or windowsill.
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AUCTION RULES
-Starting Bid is $10
-Bid as a New Comment in $10 Increments.
-Message or Text me if you want to place a secret bid ( i will confirm i received it. )
-Bidding ends at 12:00 Midnight EST.
-If its too close to call, the auction will extend until no one has bid for 5 minutes.

If no bids by 5:00, I’ll take the post down and cry.

Payment to be made via paypal or check if necessary.
(I'll message winner the details)

Pieces can be picked up at my studio in Mount Rainier, MD or at my home in Baltimore, MD.

Shipping can be arranged both Domestic and International
(estimated $35 to ship to west coast, for instance)

Bid Early! Bid Often!

Click here

https://www.facebook.com/sean.hennessey/posts/10154627956486868
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Thanks for checking out my Auction Wednesday offering! I would love it if you could share my post to reach a larger audience! Maybe tag someone if you think they'd like this piece.

If you like what I’m doing would you please become one of my patrons on my Patreon page?

Anyone can sign up, even for as little as $1/month. It really can make a difference for me. and THERE ARE REWARDS!!!
REWARDS!!!! Who doesn't love a reward?!

https://www.patreon.com/seanhennessey

#auctionwednesday #glassart #doors #seanhennesey

Using Resin

Recently I've been experimenting A LOT with resin. My primary goal was to create something akin to layered, fused and hot glass panels that still relied on the kiln formed deep relief cast glass base that has become the main body of my work. So, in doing research on what to use, I luckily came across ArtResin, most likely through there Youtube videos.

The combinations of resin and glass was EXACTLY what I need to move my work in the direction I was looking to go. I am able to cold fuse sheets together, to isolate digital prints, to make somewhat devitrified glass more optically clear, and to add colorants on a wet painterly way.
I've been auctioning off these experiments every Wednesday on my facebook page with the tag #auctionwednesday

I've also -just- starting adding resin to more major pieces of mine and have plans to continue to do so. I couldn't be happier with the results I'm getting. 

For the discerning art collector: I use the resin, mostly isolated between layers of glass and protected by steel frames. these puppies aren't delaminating. Also, this type of resin uses a hindered amine compound to prevent yellowing.

For the discerning artist: this stuff is easy to use and takes pigment and dyes easily. If you're in the DC area, come by my studio and I'll show you what it looks like in person.

Here are examples of the pieces I've been making, all in the past few months.

I used purple and blue concentrated pigments to swirl the color around in 3 layers

I added a green liquid pigment to the resin for the bottom of this piece

I used untinted resin on the surface of this piece to improve the optical quality of the casting. This allows for me to control how clearly the viewer can see the images behind the casting

Same use of untinted resin here.

I added an intense pink pigment to the resin for a very bright piece.

Swirls of blue pigmented resin on both the front and back of the glass casting

Alcohol dyes were used in the resin and left to settle naturally.

This used clear resin to isolate the glass casting within the frame. 

Before adding clear resin to the surface, you couldn't even see the ferris wheel behind the glass. The resin fills in the imperfections of the glass that distort light that passes through it. By filling them in, and having a smooth surface, light passes straight through the piece improving the optical quality.

A fun swirly look created by pouring the resin, then asding just a few drops of liquid pigment here and there and moving it around with a tongue depressor.

I mixed up a few batches of colored resin and poured them over this glass piece.

a very thin coating of purple resin over a highly textured glass casting

Hard to get an image of this beautiful piece. Intense red, intense purple that blended together where the colors meet. the light coming through this pieces is gorgeous.

Resin poured into a plaster door casting.

I used to cover surfaces with concrete. the background of this piece is a greenish concrete, that i covered with resin. It really brought out a gorgeous feel to the concrete.

Subtle use of swirled color

A little blue at the bottom, a bit o green at the top and blended together.

Illuminated Glass Relief Sculpture

For the past 4 years, the majority of my glass work has been Illuminated Wall relief pieces.
I love the way the light transmits and amplifies the textures and nuances of the glass. The backlighting has allowed me to explore my more painterly style by adding layers of paint on the front, the back ,and 3 or four layers in between.

I've added most of the piece to my facebook page HERE. please check it out and share the album with anyone you know that might be interested in owning one or a few.

Available pieces

These are some of the pieces I have available currently.

Exhibitions and such winter/ spring 2016

I have a few things happening right now.

Otis Street Arts Project Artists at Logan Fringe Arts Space

A number of my studio mates at Otis Street Arts Project an I have work up in the Logan Fringe Arts Space. A cool showing of our different styles and approaches to artmaking.  Come see some art. grab a drink. maybe see a few plays.

Artists:
Sean Hennessey, David Mordini, Gloria Chapa, Hebron Chism, M.L. Duffy, Liz Lescault, Alma Selimovic, GrinGoh

Reception: Thursday February 4th 7-11PM
The exhibit runs through March 1
Facebook Event Page
Logan Fringe Arts Space
1358 Florida Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002



DC 5, a Glass Narrative at OKAY SPARK

My other studio home is the Washington Glass School. A collection of artists at WGS will be exhibiting glass pieces at OKAY Spark Gallery in Norfolk, Virginia.

Artists: Sean Hennessey, Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Audrey Wilson, Erwin Timmers.

Reception: Friday February 5th 6-8PM
Exhibit runs through March 6th

Okay Spark Gallery
801 Boush Street
Norfolk, Va



SCOPE NYC with Habatat Galleries

I will be showing some exciting new work at SCOPE with Habatat Galleries.

SCOPE NYC
March 3-6
639 W. 49th St
New York, NY



44th Annual International Glass Invitational at Habatat Gallery

I'm excited to once again be participating in the International Glass exhibition at Habatat Gallery in Royal Oak, Michigan. It's a huge show with some of the worlds best artists working in glass. It's a crazy huge honer to be showing with these stellar artists.

VIP events: May 5-7th
Grand Opening May 7th 8-10 PM

Habatat Gallery
4400 Fernlee Ave
Royal Oak, Michigan



Open Studios May 14th

There will be an Open Studio Tour on Saturday May 14th for all studios within the Gateway Arts District of Prince George's County, MD

Be sure to stop by my place!

Otis Street Arts Project
3706 & 3708 Otis Street
Mount Rainier, MD 20712

I'll post more details later.

Glass Wheel Studio Opens In Norfolk, Va

A new art center is opening in Norfolk, Va.
One of my pieces will be on display.

Journey to the Sun
Glass, Photo, Paint, Found Objects, LED
Sean Hennessey

Check them out
Glass Wheel Studio
128 West Olney Road, Norfolk, VA 23510
Saturday 
November 14th
7:00-10:00
Grand Opening Reception

Personal Patterns at Cafritz Art Foundation Center Opens This Thursday

A Pattern of Uncertainty

Personal Patterns, a show curated by Claudia Rousseau featuring a group of truly fantastic local artists, explores the many ways in which pattern are used by artists to express their concerns, interests and identities.

Where:  King Street Gallery, Cafritz Foundation Arts Center Montgomery College 930 King Street  Takoma Park, MD When:    Opening Reception, Thursday Oct 22, 6-8 pm Artist Talks, Thursday Nov 5, 4-5 pm Show runs until November 25

SOFA Chicago November 5th-9th

I'm going to be exhibiting 4 new works with Habatat Galleries at SOFA Expo in Chicago.

Explaining My Work:: A Pattern of Uncertainty/ A Pattern of Stability.

This is a new post in my series Explaining My Work.

For this post, I'm going to talk about 2 brand new pieces. I've been thinking about the pieces for a long time, but i don't usually write about brand new pieces because living with the work for a time usually brings new thoughts to the conversation.

The pieces are sisters, and both are slated for a show Personal Patterns at the Cafritz Foundation Art Center in Silver Spring Maryland. 

This is the information I sent for the catalogue:

I began the works in Personal Patterns by thinking about choices we have previously made, and choices we are currently contemplating. The two pieces I have created reflect these two different issues and the underlying patterns of those mental places. 

A Pattern of Uncertainty

In the Patterns of Uncertainty, I depict doors as the options presented before us. There is an act of volition in choosing what door to enter. But also shown, is the capricious and outside forces of a child blowing wind affecting the course of a ship at sea. The interplay between our will, and the motions of the universe on our actions. 

A Pattern Of Stability

In the 2nd piece, The Patterns of Stability, I thought about decisions I’ve made in life, decisions that resulted in being held securely, but also being held, locked into place. The locks hold an ambiguous meaning of both security but also inaccessibility. A double looped knot and the emergence of a key in the imagery adds to the sense of the result and resolution of past decisions.

Both pieces are presented with a background of a pattern. For me, this is the patterns that we fall into, keeping the rhythm and reoccurring themes of our lives, but also sometimes, a predictability we try to overcome. I use the patterns from old tin ceilings to create a feeling of the age of these patterns, that they are remnants of decisions made even before we are born. The represent to me the influences on our lives, and sometimes things we are simply drawn toward. 

My work is window glass that I form into molds in a kiln. Once fired, I add drawings and photos, and paint various layers of glass. Finally the pieces are backlit, allowing the viewer to see all the subtle layers of imagery, textures, and bubbles in the glass. 

Hennessey and Chakravarty at William & Joseph Gallery

I'm very excited to be exhibiting in a 2 person show with a friend and very talented artist, Jason Chakravarty.

Kiss My Glass 

 Jason Chakravarty & Sean Hennessey

The  William& Joseph Gallery presents “Kiss My GLASS” a group exhibition featuring the glass artwork of Sean  Hennessey and Jason Chakravarty July 1-31, 2015.

             “Kiss My Glass” aims to showcase the unique glass works being created by these imaginative, up and coming artists. Far away from the traditional blown glass vases, these two artists have created a body of work that makes us laugh, makes us think and asks us to see glass in a new light - as a vehicle for narrative story telling in a three dimensional format.  

Chakravarty is a mixed media, object maker living in Arizona. The majority of his work is cast glass and often incorporates neon for illumination. Glass can be anything; thick, thin, shiny, dull, rough, smooth, transparent, or opaque. It is the only material that can capture light. While material and notably glass are important, his emphasis is within the narrative. His most recent works are semi-auto biographical and reflect on human relationships, communication, and social networking.  He holds an MFA in Sculpture from Cal State University and a BFA from Arizona State University; he has also studied at Pilchuk Glass School, Pittsburgh Glass Center and and an Artist in Residency at Toledo Museum of Art and Alfred University.

Says Hennessey of his art, “The heart of my work is an examination and a suggestion of our identity in a world that places us in a struggle for harmony between our spirituality and our corporeality. My works contain messages of obstacles and of hope, of seeking and of enlightenment. I aim to create works that inspire and remind us of wonders and mysteries we have lost.  I primarily create wall relief sculptures that are representation and narrative. There is a feel of the past, but with materials and techniques of today.”

Hennessey’s pieces are a mixed and multimedia combination of Glass, Concrete, Photography, Drawing, Light, Video, Paint, Found Objects, Wood and Steel.

Hennessey holds a BA in Sculpture and a Minor in Philosophy from Berea College and also studied at the Institute for International Studies in Florence, Italy.  He has also exhibited at SOFA Chicago, John Hopkins University and was a featured artist at the National Institute of Health Gallery, as well as many select group exhibitions

William and Joseph Gallery

727 Canyon Road 

Santa Fe, NM 87501

505.982.9404

or email: mary@thewilliamandjosephgallery.com

                 scwjgallery@yahoo.com

Gateway Open Studio Tours and Otis Street Arts Project Grand Opening.

The Gateway Arts District organizes tours of all the Artist studios in Mount Rainier, Brentwood and Hyattsville, Maryland every spring. It's a great time to see tons of amazing art, meet up with friends, and enjoy the area's artists in their natural habitat. This Saturday, May 9th is the day.

For the past 9 years, I have been participating in the open studios with my former digs at the Washington Glass School. It's my first Spring Open Studios at my new space, The Otis Street Arts Project. As such, we'll be staying open a little later than the other studios for our Grand Opening Party. 
After the open studio tours, we'll dim the lights, relax, and listen to DJ NEW spinning some tracks. Help us bring good luck and energy to our endeavor. If you're an artist, we still have space available to rent. If you are a curator, we'd love to talk to you about putting on shows with us. If you've got ideas, share them with us.




The first thing you want to do:
Visit the Gateway Arts District page and get a map
There will also be maps available at participating studios.

Then come out and enjoy the DC area's largest concentration of artists.

Visit the Brentwood Arts Center, the EZ Storage studios, Alan Binstok's Studio, and ArtBar.
Get a coffee at Vigilante or the Waterhole. Grab a vegan snack at Sweet and Natural, or have lunch at Franklins or Busboys and Poets.

But be sure to come visit us in the Artists by the Tracks section, where you will find:

The Otis Street Arts Project
The Washington Glass School
White Point Studio
Orange Door Studios
Blue Door Studios
Blue Fire Studio
Tanglewood Arts

So much to see!

Here's who you will find at Otis Street Arts Project

Sean Hennessey
David Mordini
Gloria Chapa
Hebron Chism 
Matthew Duffy
Alma Selimovic
Scott G. Brooks
Anne Smith

PLUS, we are excited to announce Special Guest Exhibiting Artists Cory Oberndorfer and Jeff Huntington.




See the article in the Washington City Paper
and East City Arts

May 9th
Studio Tours: Noon-5:00
Grand Opening Party 5:00-9:00

Otis Street Arts Project
3706 Otis Street
Mount Rainier, MD 201712
otisstreetartsproject@gmail



Please SHARE our event and invite your friends!

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Getting to OSAP

1. Drive. We have parking. We're 2 blocks from the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NE and Eastern Avenue.

2. UberX and Lyft. get the app, add your credit card. It's probably the easiest way.

3. Car2go - Its possible to Car2go within a few blocks. We're a short walk from the DC line

4. Metrobus. Use the Wmata Trip Planner. Enter Mount Rainier Library as your destination. We're a 7 minute walk from there.

Scottsdale, Arizona!

Next Monday, March 9th, I'll be giving a slide presentation about my work in Scottsdale, AZ.


Here's the info from the AZ Glass Alliance newsletter.

Arizona Glass Alliance

Presentation by Sean Hennessey

March 9

7:30 PM at Stonegate Clubhouse

11551 E. Mountain View Road

On Monday evening, March 9, at 7:30 PM, Arizona Glass Alliance will proudly sponsor a presentation by Sean Hennessey, one of the leading young artists currently working in glass (and other materials).  Those of you who were on the trip last year to Washington will remember we met Sean, and saw some of his work, at our visit to the Washington Glass School.  Sean is one of the most original and inventive young artists in the glass world today, and his work has been recognized at SOFA and he’s represented in several major collections, both public and private.  Sean is a leading member of the “glass secessionist” movement, which focuses on the next generation of using glass in art, often in combination with other materials, in a way which emphasizes content and narrative as well as craftsmanship and form.

As Sean describes his work:  “The heart of my work is an examination and a suggestion of our identity in a world that places us in a struggle for harmony between our spirituality and our corporeality. My works contain messages of obstacles and of hope, of seeking and of enlightenment. I aim to create works that inspire and remind us of wonders and mysteries we have lost.  My work is a mixed and multimedia combination of glass, concrete, photography, drawing, light, video, paint, found objects, wood and steel. I primarily create wall relief sculptures that are representation and narrative. There is a feel of the past, but with materials and techniques of today.”

An image of one of Sean’s works is shown below, and to see and learn more about him take a look at his website, www.dcsean.com.  You’ll find Sean to be a very interesting and entertaining guy, one whose work is on the short list of people to watch.  The presentation will be held at our normal venue, the Stonegate clubhouse, which is at 11551 E. Mountain View Road in Scottsdale, beginning at 7:30.  For reservations please email fredschomer@cox.net.

Explaining My Work: She Drowns The World With Her Sorrow

Continuing with the Explaining My Work series, I wanted to address a piece from my Alice Revisioned series.

She Drowns the World With Her Sorrow
Glass, Paint, Photo, Found Objects, Video
19.5"x16"x5"
(Photo by Pete Duvall)

This piece comes from my series based on Alice in Wonderland. It is directly informed by the chapter Pool of Tears. Indirectly, it is informed by personal experiences. It is also a adapted remake of a piece in the original series I created in 2012.

Pool of Tears
(photo by Pete Duvall)

In 2012, I created a series based on the works of Lewis Carroll and exhibited at 410 Goodbuddy Gallery in Washington, DC.  (Here's an interview with the Huffington Post about the exhibit)  I was really happy with my approach to the pieces and my first inclusion of video in my work. I felt that there was still room for more piece in the series but didn't have the right opportunity to continue with it. in 2013 I was contacted by the College of Southern Maryland to Exhibit in their gallery. I waffled a bit on what I would created, considering a series based on the Wizard of Oz, or possibly simply random pieces without a unifying theme. I do like themes though. Earlier this year I settled on remounting the Alice series and knew that based on the size of the space i needed more works. I had in mind pieces that didn't quite work in the original batch, or that i just didn't have the time to complete. Since the original piece, Pool of Tears, was no longer available to exhibit, and I had an idea of how to make it differently, I set about creating/recreating She Drowns the World With Her Sorrow.
When first conceptualizing Pool of Tears, I had imagined a video of eyes crying behind a boat, inside of a room with drapery. The designed morphed a bit and I decided to include a video I had taken while on a kayaking trip on the Susquehanna River. The boat, the oar, little sea creatures stayed with the design.  With the piece being unavailable and the chance to remount the exhibit with additional pieces, I was able to rethink and fine tune my approach. I was certain I wanted to include my original idea for a child crying. I wanted to rethink not just the elements, but what I was trying to convey. I wanted to really think about the self pity aspect and the destructive part of that. And I wanted to make it a warning to myself. The piece is actually quite personal.

I'll talk about the different elements and how they came to be.
On the top section is a flat window pane with the image of a cargo ship. The image came directly from Cargo Ship, a piece from another series, The Luxury of Dreams.

Cargo Ship 
Glass, Paint, Photo

The image is part photo, part drawing, part photoshop. The pane of glass has been painted as well. I wanted to add another ship element to the piece, and a pretty open metaphor of the baggage that we carry with us. The load that weighs us down in the water. but also the things that we're able to transport to others. The Cargo Ship only exists because of the load it can carry. And I really wanted to draw connections to other pieces I've made. To draw a connectedness, to illustrate that these pieces are in the same world I'm connecting.

The main portion of the sculpture is a slump cast window glass pane. I carved the boat out of insulation foam and made a mold of it for the glass casting. The boat is the same boat from Pool of Tears, but this time with more people, and oarless, adrift in the current. but surviving.

The setting for this current is a section of rowhouses along First Street NW in Washington, DC. As with the cargo ship, the image is a photo that has been highly altered with drawings, photoshop, and paint. And was also taken from a piece in The Luxury of Dreams series.

The scenery represents the world around us, and the ramifications of what could be, and is, lost. This was my old neighborhood, a place I was quite found of, and worked tirelessly for through a home renovation, street clean ups, volunteer work, starting an neighborhood blog, and making murals on a few business. It was really the first and only place I've felt "home". The loss of place, even through a necessary direction in my life, holds a profound effect on me. Theres a lot going on in the piece for me. layered and with perhaps a blurred distinction between Alice, Home, The boats, the rising waters, and those in the boat. I think that we are all of those things simultaneously. The piece represents the destructiveness of self pity. It represents survival in the face of destruction and change. It represents the things and people we carry with us. It is a touching and beautiful moment in the book, and I wanted to bring a sense of that to my work, while adding my own world, and vision and viewpoint. For me it holds a warning, and a reminder, and a fear of sadness. It also holds hope and a means to move forward.

detail

Also, as with most of the pieces in my Alice in Wonderland series, there is a hidden image of a rabbit.

What do you think?

Alive Revisioned!

There are only a few more days to see my solo exhibit at the College of Southern Maryland!

 Details:
Alice Revisioned 
A mixed and multimedia series based on Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Tony Hungerford Gallery 
 Fine Arts Building 
College of Southern Maryland
8730 Mitchell Rd 
La Plata, Md
September 8 – October 3

Gallery Hours:
Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Explaining My Work: Seeing Beyond

A continuation of my posts trying to give you a glimpse into why I make what I make, and what I think it means. I wrote about this piece before, but felt I should expand on it.

Seeing Beyond
Glass, Paint, LED

24”x30”x4”

I want to give you a sense of the arch of my feelings toward this imagery. I love locks. Ever since I was a child I was fascinated by locks. Padlocks, key locks, combination locks, door locks, they all fascinated me. When I worked in theatre, I was always pleased that we used old fashioned and historic antique locks for trunks and doors and chains. The shapes seemed to tell a story of the preciousness of what it was protection, or the strength which which it did it's job. A lock is a puzzle, for which there is, if you can find the key, an answer.

I began using locks in my paintwork, really for as long as I can remember. When I began working in glass this was an early piece that I used the lock imagery.

Doubt
Glass, Concrete, Paint
42"x13"
2009

 I was thinking about things that hold us back. The obstacles we face in life, the things we must break free from. With this piece I wanted to lead the viewer toward a psychological understanding of obstacles and titled the piece "Doubt". Our doubt holding us back. I used the imagery for a number of pieces, exploring how to express this idea of locks holding back our growth. This was a suite of 3 pieces which starting with Doubt, also included an outside aid -Path of the Boatman, and a resolution- Both Shores.

My next series included the imagery of Goggles that I've revisited for Seeing Beyond. I first used goggles in science class in school. And for swimming, and I think I even had some for sledding. I used goggles in college when i learned oxyacetylene welding and steel cutting. I even bought a pair of goggle sunglasses back in the 90's when i thought i was a bit cool.  They were at least good for raves and waterslides. 

I created a lot of paintings with figures wearing goggles. a lot of those never made the jump from slides to digital files so may be lost forever... but the image to the left was the first time I used goggles in glass.
It's a retelling of the story of Prometheus. The story of Prometheus has been a huge part of my artwork for a long time and something I've thought about since I first read Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus in High School.  In this piece, I use the goggles to represent Victor Frankenstein, the scientist, or Prometheus in his capacity to think creatively and problem solve. This also goes into why I use lightbulbs so frequently in my work

So, onward to 2013 and Seeing Beyond, which i initially posted here