The Toe River Arts Council (TRAC) gallery in Burnsville is pleased to announce a show of handmade glass by the Glass Artists of the South Toe Valley.  Glassmakers Robert Levin, Katherine and William Bernstein, Yaffa and Jeff Todd, David Wilson and Loretta Forde, and Kenny Pieper will exhibit their work at the gallery from October 24 through December 6.  Offering work that is both sculptural and functional, and both natural and exotic, the exhibition celebrates that magical and ethereal quality that only the masters of this media ever attain.  Based in the Micaville and Celo areas just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway and nestled in the valley below Mount Mitchell, these affiliated artists produce some of the of finest glass work in this part of western North Carolina.

Artist Rob Levin is famed for his frosted glass sculptural vessels such as his goblets representing eggplants and tomatoes.  His decorative talent extends to large-scale mixed media pieces.  A former Resident Glass Artist at the Penland School of Crafts, he has taught all over the world and describes his work as “a sort of blend of Late Venetian and early Neurotic.”

A touch of whimsy informs the colorful glass work of Katherine and William Bernstein.  Their fanciful face tumblers, for example, bear representations of faces that seem taken directly from classical mythology, faces such as those envisioned by Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau.  Glass ornaments such as the rotund songbirds, best sellers at TRAC’s gift shops, are a convenient reminder of how affordable much glass art can be.  William was one of the organizers of the prestigious international Glass Arts Society; Katherine formerly worked in clay until the couple realized how wonderfully her designs translated into glass.

No less fantastical than the Bernstein’s pieces, David Wilson and Loretta Forde’s glass productions feature exotic designs that seem to have sprung from a profound personal mythology; their Martian Perfume Bottle is a blood-red flask with an ornate stopper nestled in a metallic crab-like stand.  The couple’s work demonstrates just how well suited to the prompting of the imaginations glass work is.

Like the Bernstein’s, Kenny Pieper’s work suggests an influence by classical forms.  His piece, Andru, features a dazzling geometrical spiral mounted atop a small human head.  Trained at Penland and other schools, he initially began working as a potter, and, like Katherine Bernstein, made the transition to glass.  His expertise is in Italian glass and his work reflects the harmony and beauty of his surroundings in the South Toe River valley.

Natural forms are celebrated in the glass sculpture of Yaffa and Jeff Todd.  This couple creates flowers in a variety of naturalistic shapes and colors, flowers that serve as perfume bottles, paperweights, and other functional items.  For Yaffa, “Nature is my inspiration;” she adds, “I make pieces that I would like to live with.”  Yaffa was the second woman ever to teach glass at the Penland School and has since specialized in opal glasses.  Her meeting husband Jeff was serendipitous, adding to her talent his own metal working and glass blowing skills.

The Burnsville TRAC Gallery is located at 102 West Main Street in downtown Burnsville and is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm. Visit the TRAC website for more information at www.toeriverarts.org or phone at 828-682-7215.