Red Spot Gallery - Rotorua Art Gallery supporting local artists
Ron Van DER VLUGT
Ron van der Vlugt – de Flute Glass, Rotorua
A life-long fascination with moving colour and light motivates glass blower Ron van der Vlugt. His work has a sense of movement, an instant of fluid light and colour frozen in glass. As a child Ron experimented in the dark with torches and pieces of coloured plastic from car tail lights. As a glass blower, he is intrigued by the elusive challenge of capturing the shifting qualities of light and colour as the glass moves from a glowing, flowing, molten state into a cool, hard, solid shape. Like the Italian glass blowers, Ron works “hot and fast” with few tools, working the glass quickly while it is fluid and hot, relying on the natural forces of gravity and spinning to shape it. He says this makes him more in tune with the glass, so that while he doesn¹t always control the tricky medium, at least he understands it. Ron developed his art first in the US, at California Art Glass, then the Wanganui Glass Blowing School, and the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Japan where he was exposed to Japanese aesthetics and the sophisticated techniques of the Italians. Ron now works from his own De Flute Glass studio in Rotorua.
Self-employed glass blower since 9.9.99
EDUCATION AND CAREER
1988-1991 California Art Glass Studio, USA
Aug 1990 Advanced Fused Glass Course, Pacific Glass, USA
1991-1993 Fusion Art Glass Studio, Gisborne. Self-employed
1992 Commercial Art Adult Student, Gisborne Boys High School
1993 Wanganui Polytechnic, Glassblowing and Production
1994-1995 Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Japan
Graduate Student, Glass Blowing Major
May 1995 Hoglund Glass, Nelson
1996 Blown Glass Studio, New Plymouth
Feb 1997 Pacific Light, International Art Glass Conference, Auckland
1997-1999 Research and building of the de FLUTE Glass Studio, Rotorua
June 2002 GAS – Glass Art Society of America, International Glass Conference, Amsterdam, Holland
May 2005 GAS – International Glass Conference, Adelaide, Australia
Jan 2008 Release of the “Volcanic Series” body of work, culminating 7 mths development
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS
Oct 1988 Trish White Gallery, Stained Glass
June 1990 Gisborne Artists Winter Exhibition
Nov 1990 “Focus on Glass”, Art Glass Association of Southern California, San Diego
Best 1st time entry award
Oct 1993 “Glass Blowing and Casting”, Fine Arts Centre Wanganui
Mar 1995 Graduation Exhibition, Shimizu Plaza Gallery, Toyama, Japan
Sept 1999 Opening Exhibition, de Flute Glass Studio & Gallery, Rotorua
Aug 2003 Rotorua Artists Biennial Exhibition
June 2004 Ashburton Society of Arts, Annual Exhibition, Guest Artist
Sept 2005 Rotorua Artists Biennial Exhibition, Judges Selection
Aug 2007 Mazda Artworks at the Hilton, Exhibition, Auckland
Nov 2009 Rotorua Artists Biennial Exhibition, Three Dimensional Prize, Highly Commended