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 Glass
artist extraordinaire Donna Eichholz, who has been commissioned by the
Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the hugely popular Glastonbury Music Festival
in Britain, among others, to create magnificent works of glass art, will design
a genocide-inspired piece of commemorative jewelry for use by the new film
SCREAMERS and its partner, Save Darfur.
Eichholz's work has been seen in more than 20 countries worldwide with exhibits,
galleries and festivals showcasing her glass sculptures. Though a Massachusetts
native who currently resides in England, she is perhaps best known in South
Africa, where her work has merited numerous substantial showsnd media coverage.
Recently, while serving as resident artist in a gallery in Cape Town, a
photographer from The Cape Times stopped in for a visit, which led to an
interview and photo shoot with the paper. The headline of this featured front
page story was tellingly astute: Glass Art Sends Donna Around the World.
Eichholz has studied with some of the Master glassblowers and glass artists,
expanding her technique and repertoire to include work with furnaces, blow
pipes, glass blowing and lamp working, which is melting glass by use of a torch
that is fueled by gas and oxygen.
Among her mentors are Paul Forder a professor at University of Natal,
Pietermarizburg; Graham Micallef of Johannesburg; Sally Prasch and Louise
Erskine of Worcester Center for the Arts: Ed Iglehart of Scotland; Hagaer
Schultz of Kynsa, South Africa; Milon Townsend of Corning Glass in New York; and
Raja Azhar Idris, a great grand son of a King of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Eichholz was commissioned by the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, who host numerous
gala parties each year. For the Enchanted Forest celebration in Africa, she was
asked to create glass pieces that represented the theme of the party. Each of
the guests of the Prince received a glass commemorative.
Eichholz's passionate journey of glass began in 1990 at Santa Barbara City
College. She was working with mentally and physically disabled adults and was
looking for a creative outlet as a balance to her work. A chance encounter with
a glass blowing class literally changed the direction of her life. After years
of study, she decided to combine her two passions glass and music and as she
traveled the globe attending various music festivals worldwide, she began to
offer demonstrations on the art of glass. Not only were people everywhere
dazzled by her style and technique, but she earned more money than she initially
thought possible by using her creativity.
The SCREAMERS commission marks another plateau in this remarkable artist's
career.
for those who are interested in the glass artwork, its available in:
Adamas Fine Jewelry -
ww.adamasfinejewelry.com.
Screamers, will be screened before a Congressional audience on Capitol Hill
on Wednesday, January 17th and is set to be released in Fresno on the 19th, NYC,
DC, Chicago and Boston later this month.
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