winter break sketching

December 28, 2022

…continuing to think about playful botanicals…and experimenting today with dark/light blocks

JOY

December 17, 2022

Christmas creativity!!

REFLECT X ENCODE

December 14, 2022

Continuing to explore architectural abstractions alongside big projects. Always start in grayscale with these.

REFLECT 6.3, 6.4 and ENCODE 3.4 each 20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete textures c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT 6.3 20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete textures c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT 6.4 20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete textures c Heather Hancock 2022

See Originals

west coast bound

December 12, 2022

Four juicy new pieces are headed to a conference room on the West Coast.

The art consultant for this project requested concepts for a set of four pieces that reflected the distinctly different landscapes within her clients’ service area.

4@ 2’x3’ hand cut glass + concrete textures c Heather Hancock 2022

Each piece needed to abstract from specific landmark views for a stand alone art piece and at the same time connect across the pieces for a compelling and cohesive hanging in an executive conference room. Clients provided reference images of the land/waterscapes.

I provided two different concept directions for preliminary presentation. I always work digitally which streamlines client communication. I can quickly sketch a vision or concept to help visualize ideas and then incorporate client feedback and preferences. Final drawings give clients a really good sense of how the finished pieces will look (minus the actual shimmer/matte contrasts that bring my pieces to life). This design phase took about 4 weeks to finalize.

preliminary concept1 specific views wetlands/city/lake/desert

preliminary concept2 abstracted color concepts wetlands/city/lake/desert

Additional versions were generated and ideas refined to get to the final selection. The clients had very specific imagery they wanted to see incorporated and we were able to back-and-forth to get to final concepts.

I created the 4 pieces based on the clients' final selection. Glass and concrete are integrated with paint and texture to create a lively contrast of matte vs shimmer. Pieces were created in ~2 weeks and shipped to arrive well in advance of receive by date.

4 views | lake/city/wetlands/desert 2’x3’ hand cut glass + concrete + paint c Heather Hancock 2022

detail 4 views | lake/city/wetlands/desert 2’x3’ hand cut glass + concrete + paint c Heather Hancock 2022

Let's talk about your project

REFLECT 4.7

December 10, 2022

Ready to deliver this gorgeous new piece. So powerful. Will get in situ pix as soon as the piece is installed. I used a new frame with this piece which makes for a slimmer profile for the panel. Really liking it. Art consultants and designers often want pieces to have a low profile. Happy to figure out this option.

REFLECT 4.7 4’x2.5’ hand cut glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

WIP REFLECT | architectural abstraction

November 28, 2022

A new architectural abstraction is in the works. The clients wanted a large piece for their family room, selecting a 4’x3’ panel size. All cutting is complete and waiting for frames to finish up.

rendering of concept at 4’x3’ c Heather Hancock 2022

WIP REFLECT | 4’x3’ cutting glass c Heather Hancock 2022

quick sketches | fun botanicals

November 10, 2022

As the color gradually fades outside, i get much more interested in color in the studio. I can see a mix of embossing and grayscale glass with some popping high contrast color.

abstracted botanicals | sketch 1 c H Hancock 2022

abstracted botanicals | sketch 3 c H Hancock 2022

abstracted botanicals | sketch 5 c H Hancock 2022

abstracted botanicals | sketch 2 c H Hancock 2022

abstracted botanicals | sketch 4 c H Hancock 2022

abstracted botanicals | sketch 6 c H Hancock 2022

urbanVine in multiples

November 08, 2022

I always love working in multiples, making pieces that connect across multiple canvases. This project will hang in another country and so the art consultant understandably specified no text elements. Embossed and etched geometric abstractions were used in place of my usual text elements. These abstract botanicals shimmer in glass, suggesting constant transformation. I’m looking forward to seeing these hanging. For now, here are some images of them in the studio.

urbanVine 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 | 3@20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

urbanVine 3.8 | 20”x20” hand cut glass and concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

urbanVine 3.10 | 20”x20” hand cut glass and concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

urbanVine 3.9 | 20”x20” hand cut glass and concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

rendering of UrbanVine | hand cut glass + concrete 3@20”x20” c Heather Hancock 2022

Available work

ideas | architectural abstraction

October 19, 2022

I recently was looking at images of a new building in NYC and could see a new set of pieces in the REFLECT series. I’d love to see what depth I could create using a limited palette of black, white, gray and concrete texture (+/- color accents). I like the overall lightness and brightness, with either silver or black concrete infill.

drawing | architectural abstractions c Heather Hancock 2022

PEAK

September 27, 2022

I’m excited to be heading to Colorado for a quick fall hiking (and remote working) trip. Growing up in driving range of the Canadian Rockies, mountains have always been a source of awe…ancient…monumental…vast.

I’m delighted with this summer’s new pieces PEAK which feel like a playful take on mountains. The hints of gold and bronze in the iridized gray alongside crisp black and white makes for a lovely subtle color palette.

PEAK | 2@20” x 20” hand cut glass inlayed in textured concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

detail | shimmer and reflectance makes for a dynamic art piece with texture and gloss contrasts adding another dimension

And that reminds me that I did a fun zoom background mountain mural last year integrated into the architecture of the work-from-home space. Perspective is all right for Cam’s computer camera.

mountain zoom background mural c Heather Hancock 2021

growing urbanVines

September 27, 2022

I’m happy to be realizing an idea that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. The image of a vine growing on a concrete or brick wall is the perfect visual metaphor for all of us finding our way, surviving and thriving in less than ideal conditions. I like the reminder that we are also in a state of constant growth and transformation.

drawing urbanVine 3@20”x20” c Heather Hancock 2022

fall making

September 21, 2022

I’m planning for my fall studio making and find it helpful to work digitally at this stage to get to the feel and visual impact I’m wanting. One direction I’m interested in is creating sets of architectural and botanic- inspired (vine/encode…) pieces, exploring line in city and nature using a consistent palette and bold contrast.

rendering | abstract mies + urbanVine c Heather Hancock 2022

rendering | abstract chase + urbanVine c Heather Hancock 2022

rendering | abstract mies + encode c Heather Hancock 2022

quick look...fall vibes

September 20, 2022

I’m getting geared up for fall studio time. Step one is to think about what’s currently available…what’s new this summer…and how my different groups of work are evolving and interacting.

ENCODE 3.40 thrive | 20” x 20” glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT 1.55 | 24” x 24” glass + concrete c Heather Hancock

ENCODE 3.30 grow + ENCODE 3.20 build | each 20” x 20” glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT 1.62 waves | 24” x 24” glass + concrete c Heather Hancock

ENCODE 3.7 aim | 20” x 20” glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2021

new drawing | abstracting views

September 07, 2022

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been developing new concepts for graphic versions of client relevant environs. Four ecosystems are relevant to their community: city and lake, wetlands and desert. New technical solutions are supporting my interest in reducing visual ideas to their essence, distilling complexity into clean line, geometric form and simple repetition. This approach leaves room for a viewer to co-create the imagery. Here are some small sections of larger drawings still in the works.

A second approach consolidates key natural and manmade elements into single panels—leaves/foliage, water (lake, ocean, estuary), city, desert—with abstracted text creating the structure in each panel. This is a fully abstract approach with the text elements offering viewers additional information to detect and decode. Below are small sections of larger drawings still in the works.

place making | site specific concepts

September 05, 2022

Many of my commission proposals develop site-specific concepts that abstract the views+topography or themes+ideas for a given company or client. I always learn something new when I’m exploring the imagery, palettes or views that will create a sense of common ground or shared purpose for a group.

I recently looked back at this project for an energy company. The project didn’t move forward but lots of good ideas for using text and imagery to connect with a given community. Watching for a chance to re-visit this approach.

concept | energy client c Heather Hancock

commission: REFLECT 4.6

August 03, 2022

Fit in a lovely 20”x20” architectural piece over the past couple weeks and just received installation images. The client requested gold metallic tones alongside black and whites. Ties in with their wall covering beautifully.

Loving it : )

REFLECT 4.6 RHYTHM 20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT

summer sketching

August 03, 2022

I am thinking about the sky in the new PEAK pieces. I can envision a super simple embossed element as a graphic cloud or sky. There’s a versatile line that I want to try as a sort of base concept that could be repeated and re-composed for endless variation. I could see a lighter gray textured line against the silver gray background. Trying it out digitally first.

summer sketching

August 01, 2022

Whenever I’m drawing foliage/vines, I often come back to wheat/grains with their upright structure and inter-connected repeating seed heads (deeply encoded from growing up on a grain farm!). Some days I’m thinking of lobby scale ideas. Others I’m thinking about small moments. This morning I wanted to see a 12”x18” composition with wheat…keeping the composition spare and graphic with imagery and text. Realized in shimmery glass (iridescent amber or green…or crisp white), this imagery takes on an almost sculptural dimensional quality that goes beyond 2D.

sketch01 grow/wheat c Heather Hancock 2022

original concept in green+gray
wheat stems as tech lines

sketch02 grow/wheat c Heather Hancock 2022

sketch03 grow/wheat c Heather Hancock 2022

sketch04 grow/wheat c Heather Hancock 2022

Handheld samples

July 30, 2022

Samples are super helpful in understanding how texture and glass function in my work. I keep a small inventory of 8”x8” hand held samples. Samples come in a presentation box for easy transport and sharing.

Samples are available for the following series:

PEAK | abstract mountainscapes