Although many texts discuss studio glass blowing in Australia, few focus on the South Australian situation and even fewer are written by studio glass blowers themselves. As a studio glass blower, I bring to this research experiential knowledge of practice to offer new insights into studio glass blowing. The study accesses knowledge that is implicit, embodied and tacit; knowledge derived from living and working within a particular community. In using this knowledge, I highlight the importance of both financial survival and the development of practice in creating a practitioner's perspective of studio glass blowing in South Australia. The study is designed as an ethnography. This incorporated a review of the literature and images found in published texts; interview and questionnaire data; anecdotal narratives and familiarity with the South Australian glass blowing community; and tacit knowledge of glass blowing practice, glass blowing skills and techniques. This tacit knowledge was accessed through an auto-ethnographic investigation of re-making the selected artefacts. The selection of these artefacts was based on my personal knowledge of glass blowing processes, first hand relationships with individual glassblowers, observation of artefacts and prior experience of working as a studio glass blower.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/284037 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Cowie, Barbara Jane |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | EN-AUS |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright B. Jane Cowie 2004 |
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