Smart Phone = Dumb People, Now I'm pissed off.

This morning an old guy chatted to me and said I "didn't look like an artist more like an artisan" I smiled and replied :"It isn't about how you look , its about what is in your head." He was wearing a flouro jacket but I said nothing about how he "looked". It got me thinking though.

Then I watched a new video by Kanye West and Jay-z. and I wondered if they "look" like artists.

To me these guys are a couple of hip hop genius artists and their video shows how artists really work. Like the Marquis de Sade said "I merely held up a mirror".

My thoughts on flouro man and watching this vid have prompted me to write. The images in this "music video" tell it like it is now.The USA ,like a lot of countries in history, was established by people sick of Europe or where they were, so they headed to new shores killed the locals took the land and got to building something better with the help of African slaves. Yes I know a whole lot of social change has happened since then, just look at the video and see two really rich African American artists burning money and oil and chopping up a German (Maybach) car under an American flag. Then drifting the car with several babes hanging on in the back. If this isn't a true mirror of how stupid we are, what is?

As the world feels the USA crunching into some sort or financial Armageddon and Europe is also in the same mess, nobody is looking at the real picture. What is the real picture? The video is just a distraction really focusing on symbols and icons of success , Donald Trump is driven around in a Maybach like the one in the vid. Rolex is another premium brand etc.
A couple of months ago I came up with a slogan "Smart phone = Dump planet"
The reason I coined this phrase was an item I saw on mining in India to extract rare earth metals from forest areas where traditional communities are killed or moved off to rip out the forest and get the minerals needed to make smart phones.....so that a whole lot of kids in London can "out text" the cops and steal and burn all via smart phone. I guess the its not strictly Dump planet its more Dumb people. So the real picture is "Smart Phone = Dumb People" .This is just my opinion on a cold day and I really doubt "Big Brother" will give a toss, BB can't even track the looters, and I am just one person amidst 6.5 billion.

Later. Peter Raos artist!!!!

Here is the Video link if you want to see for yourself.

YouTube link:

James Walker 1990 NZSAG workshop

Here is a clip from the video I shot of the NZSAG workshop on glass fusing.
This lesson on glass cutting was given by Glass Artist James Walker who passed away this year.

The longest solar eclipse of the century - The Big Picture - Boston.com

The longest solar eclipse of the century - The Big Picture - Boston.com

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Blast from the past

It seems that this month has been a time of old school mates reconnecting.The recent early demise of one of our number has prompted a reunion of the class of '74 and it is cool to hear how people are doing. Maybe we have all discovered that we can communicate via email across a long time span of not seeing each other. The funny thing is that people seem to be fundamentally the same.

Peter Raos Art Glass

Shop online or by phone during the holidays.

Peter Raos Gallery Devonport

Peter Raos glass sculpture

Peter Raos paperweights part of the Corning Collection

Peter Raos paperweights included in the Worlds Within exhibition at the Corning Museum of Glass

Perfume Bottles by Peter Raos

About the artist Peter Raos

New Zealand born master glass artist Peter Raos is world renowned for his art glass paperweights, perfume bottles and vases. Peter has lived and worked as a glass artist in Devonport for the past 26 years. Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland Elam School of Fine Arts and Design in 1979, he started his own ‘Hot Glass Company’ in Devonport. He moved his boutique hot glass studio home in 1990 and the following year he graduated a Master of Fine Arts with Honours, from Elam. Since then, he has worked independently, developing a unique style to express his ideas “of archetypal objects that reflect Art and Nature”. Current projects include works on canvas and the establishment of the Peter Raos Glass Gallery as the exclusive showcase for his art.

Peter’s work reflects the natural elements shaping his immediate environment: the seascape surrounding Devonport and the garden enveloping his studio. He melts his own glass from the highest quality materials and hand forms the work on a steel blowpipe. Decorative elements are all made from special coloured glass and are pre-formed before inclusion into each piece. He uses a variety of techniques including the traditional millefiore technique to express the depth and glow of a garden in full flower. Every piece is individually made, signed and dated by the artist.

As a master glass artist, Peter’s skill has earned him worldwide recognition: he has successfully completed two limited edition series of paperweights for Louis Vuitton and his development of a new genre of glass artistry has brought him both professional fulfillment and a worldwide following by significant collectors.

"I approach glass as a painter would approach a painting" he says. "First I interpret my ideas as an image on paper, then I try to translate that image and transform it into glass." Raos paperweights have been presented to many important dignitaries, including President Bill Clinton, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand. "My objects reflect archetypal ideas about art and nature, communicated through colour, composition, harmony, flow and symmetry," he says. "I have a deep respect for other artists' vision, as well as the natural world around me." Raos has been fortunate to attend and organise workshops with some of the most respected glass artists in the world, including Richard Marquis, William Morris, Lino Tagliapietra, Dante Marioni and Makoto Ito. He finds a special inspiration in the work of nineteenth century glass makers Emile Galle, Daum, Henri Cross and Argy-Rousseau, and views his pieces as an extension of that tradition. Raos chooses to melt glass from raw materials using the purest silica imported from Tasmania. He then adds other high quality ingredients from around the world to batch his own crystal glass formula . Peter Raos' unique and beautiful designs radiate extraordinary creativity and imagination. In each design one sees the passion and enthusiasm of a man who has devoted his working life to glass.

Shalimar by Peter Raos

Peter Raos is a New Zealand Glass Artist ,see his gallery.