National Glass Centre

On Thursday 26 May Grainne Sweeney wrote:

Sarah and Rose were up early this morning to leave for Murano. Today is the day that Sergio (the Master blower, not gallery Sergio) will be making the reticello plates and if he has time the new goblet for Mo Yu Ting (for STORYBOARD).

Rose and Caterina have been back and forth this week for their meetings and Sergio has 2 hours this morning to do the work (they are very strict with the time). It is not easy negotiating with the furnace and I now fully appreciate that we just couldn't do this without Caterina. Her knowledge (she used to work in a furance many years ago) is something money can't buy in this case. I hope sometime down the line we can get James Maskrey out here to work with Sergio for a couple of days - that's the plan anyway.

Yesterday evening Sarah and I were 'driven' home to the Lido in a water taxi (a very good friend of Caterina's, Georgio)... after a quick tour around the canals and a stop off at a 'pub' the only building on a very small Island where they grow all of Venice's vegetables. I ate my first baby squid, out of politeness! Sarah who has a fish allergy enjoyed pasta and zuccini. Georgio dropped us off at the canal at end of our street. What a treat!

All this is not without problems - today we have to solve Rose's STORYBOARD. There aren't enough panels to fit the work and getting another cut will be difficult now. There's some negotiation to be done - Rose understandably is pretty reluctant to edit the work (it would be like taking part of a triptych away or rubbing out part of the drawing)... but getting anything done here is slow... this was brought home to me again yesterday when I was introduced to Anne Ellgood the curator of the Australian Pavilion who at the time was wondering around waiting for the electrician who said he'd turn up at 2, but which day? Watch this space.