glass palettes

I have color commitment issues when it comes to glass. Color palettes are limited with big gaps in hue and saturation. Some of my favorite glass can vary widely by dyelot. The wispy glass patterns feel busy. Iridescence adds another layer of complexity. It can be spectacular in a piece and add so much interest as it is highly reflective. But it generally brings in multiple additional hues on top of the base color.

At some point I shifted to primarily grayscale glass, partly because supply chain issues over the past 5 years have significantly reduced reliability of glass supply, and partly because black, white and grays are highly consistent colors. Finding the right contrasts (interactions with background concrete) has been a simplified. Bringing color in with paint was a recent strategy with the ENCODE series.

I have been focusing on natural imagery recently and exploring limited color glass accents alongside grayscale palettes. As I move toward using white backgrounds, I am relying on glass palettes to see how glass and background will interact. These give me quick and rough preview of how elements could interact. Of course, I really love the grayscale one. : )

hi or lo contrast?

One of the interesting challenges with using glass an an inlay is that foreground (glass) and background (concrete) are created in different and permanent steps in the making process. The interaction between foreground and background is, just like in any painting, critical to the success of the piece. But unlike painting, all decisions are made a priori and aren’t easily modified. The result is slow progress toward new contrasts.

I have typically started with a black background for high contrast, high drama, high impact. But I’m doing more with lighter backgrounds. The entire ENCODE series features silver gray concrete, a palette choice very directly linked to what I consider the ‘urban palette’ (think: concrete, signage, asphalt, traffic markings…). One of my strategies for getting to the right contrast is using white, black or dark gray glass. In the ENCODE series color could be added via saturated paint that I could modify and edit until it was in balance with the mid-tone gray background.

ENCODE 3.7 AIM | hand cut glass + concrete + paint c Heather Hancock

I’m now exploring white as a background to create a lighter, airy piece that still features clean crisp glass form and line and shadowy, embossed layers. These pieces are more subtle than the high contrast version. I love the idea of monochromatic or limited grayscale palette.

rendering | drawing FLOURISH w white background glass+paint+concrete c Heather Hancock 2023

drawing FLOURISH c Heather Hancock 2023

I can also see cutting glass forms in color for a truly gorgeous, fresh visual experience.

rendering | drawing FLOURISH/ambers w white background glass+paint+concrete c Heather Hancock 2023

The challenge is conveying in a drawing how the glass will continue to catch light and shimmer for a dynamic bold visual experience. A quick first step is a glass palette sample.

when b+w is the perfect thing

I love trying different hangings for beautiful spaces. This green sofa called for crisp b+w.

rendering | ENCODE 3.40 and REFLECT 6.3 | each 20”x20” hand cut glass + concrete c Heather Hancock

Ideas for industrial design spaces.

What would I do in this incredible space?

A single bold art piece could hold that wall. And there’s no worries about sun on art here. Glass+concrete are impervious to light and moisture.

rendering | FLOURISH w black background 30”x30” c Heather Hancock 2023

rendering GROW5.0 30”x40” c Heather Hancock 2023

Or. Take it right off the canvas onto the wall with laser cut vinyl.

Ideas for office space

What would I do in this office? I feel like bringing nature in could be nice in this spare space which quite possibly doesn’t have natural light. Natural imagery could take a couple different forms. Either approach sees nature through an urban aesthetic lens for a crisp graphic reduction of nature’s complexity. Fun thinking about different sizes and proportions that will hold that space. High contrast/black background would be high drama. And now imagine these shimmering as you walk past. And iridized amber bringing in many additional layers of color.

rendering | FLOURISH 2@24”24” c Heather Hancock 2023

rendering | FLOURISH 2@24”24” c Heather Hancock 2023

Here’s a more minimalist approach with GROW5.0. Contrast blocks gives both lightness (could be ideal if there’s no natural light in the space) and the bold dark drama.

rendering | GROW5.0 1@30”x40” c Heather Hancock 2023

What if there’s limited budget for original art but we could stretch by printed vinyl at floor-to-ceiling scale. Interesting. I am interested in thinking about mixing larger originals with prints as a way to do more with a budget.

starting to think spring | sketches

Starting to think about color in a little different way…within a month of things starting to sprout…exciting.

sketching | with spring ideas like cartwheel and carefree and move and climb … c Heather Hancock 2023

urbanVine growing in NYC

I am thrilled to have a large UrbanVine framed and hanging in a new luxury condo building in Manhattan. The art consultant specified 42”x38” piece to create an engaging viewpoint.

urbanVine4.1 framed and installed 42”x38” hand cut glass + concrete infill c Heather Hancock 2022

UrbanVine combines precision cut geometric botanicals with a textured irregular concrete background and layered, shadowed elements in paint.

Vines on concrete are my favorite metaphor for resilience, transformation and thriving. Finding nature in city is endesssly fascinating for me given my farm girl roots. Bringing an urban aesthetic to natural forms has become my way to simplify nature’s complexity in a fresh way.

urbanVine 42”x38” | unframed c Heather Hancock 2022

This piece shipped unframed and was framed by the art consultant. Work up to ~12SF can ship unframed if preferred. Larger than 12SF we can either use my panel presentation or integrate a lightweight wood structure to ensure the piece doesn’t flex en route to a framer and wall.

detail | urbanVine 42”x38”

detail | urbanVine 42”x38”

Got a snapshot of framed piece by elevators. Loving the frame with silver edging.

urbanVine framed and installed 42”x38” hand cut glass + concrete infill c Heather Hancock 2022

Winter color | first up iridescent green

Found some time in the studio this week. There are lots of elements coming together in this piece. There are definitely echos from the San Diego Vista series where clean horizontal lines do much of the work. I regularly circle back to natural imagery, using an urban aesthetic to simplify nature’s complexity in a new way.

still to be titled…urban botanical…neutrals + some iridescent green | hand cut glass + texture 20”x20” c Heather Hancock 2023

evolving concept | abstract FLOURISH

Sketching. Circling back to a graphic concept that I developed as part of a recent project proposal. This concept is sticking with me…and I want to explore where this could go. I am interested in how my favorite text forms can interact with other elements, ranging from complete abstractions to hints of space/vistas. Step 1 free form exploring with color and contrast, line and form.

sketch | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch1 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch3 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch 5 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch2 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch4 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

sketch 6 | botanical collage Hancock 2023

VISTA desert 2’x3’ hand cut glass and paint c Heather Hancock 2022

framed and hanging

Got a pic of urbanVine now framed and hanging in a multi-fam development in NYC. This piece shipped unframed. I love the silver edging on the frame they chose.

urbanVine 42”x38” hand cut glass + texture c Heather Hancock 2022

detail urbanVine 42”x38” hand cut glass + concrete texture c Heather Hancock 2022

detail urbanVine 42”x38” hand cut glass + concrete texture c Heather Hancock 2022

four views | line+form, color+grayscale

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

cityscape | 2’x3’ hand cut glass, concrete + paint c Heather Hancock 2022

Case study: architectural artifacts

A recent design proposal involved some interesting architectural research. An 1920s art deco building was demolished and replaced with a multi-family development. The art consultant requested a design concept from my architectural series that connects the historic 1920s building with the newly constructed multi-family building. Archival images of the building were sourced and a 2 panel installation was proposed to point to the beauty and detail of the previous building on the site. One panel offers a looking up perspective while the second panel offers art deco details and information from and about the original building.

So much to explore in this approach to architectural work. Making physical world objects inspired by physical world objects creates an intriguing opportunity to explore the relationship between the built world and our understanding of information and place.

concept | re-creating original building facade as art piece

concept | re-creating details from original building as art piece

mood. jan 2 2023.

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

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

hello2023

Excited for new projects and ideas…so much to explore in 2023…let’s go!!!

winter break sketching

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

JOY

Christmas creativity!!

JOY | concepts c Heather Hancock 2022

REFLECT X ENCODE

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

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

west coast bound

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

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

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

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

REFLECT 4.7

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