Hello World of Bongs Community, let´s take a step over to europe, more precious to austria and talk with Stefan Kollar, a young and very talented artist:
WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN GLASS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
I watched my dad as he was sculpting a horse and from this moment i wanted to learn everything about glass.
WHERE DID YOU LEARN YOUR SKILLS?
I learned a ton from my dad. He educated me in scientifical glassblowing and sculpting. A important part was time, he really gave me a lot of time to play around with the material.
Later beside glassblowingshcool i discovered Bernd Weinmayer and i had the chance to spend some evenings working with him and learning more about art objects, goblets and sculpting.
I learned from glassblowers around the globe. Special thanks to Martin Birzle from RooR he introduced me to amazing Artists like Nish Jajal, Patrick Stratis, Korey Cotnam, Yoshinori Kondo, Hoobs, Matt Robertson, Jag, Jared Toner, Eusheen, Daisuke Saito and much more.
DO YOU CREDIT ANY OTHER GLASS BLOWER WITH HELPING YOU ACHIEVE YOUR SUCCESS?
Every glassblower i listed in the last question!!! These guys helped me so much i will never forget!!! Thanks for all the good times and great memories!
TALK TO ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR STYLE.
My Style.. hmm I am always seeking for new challenges. I try to combine different techniques of glass. I am always focused to work as clean as possible. The design always depends on whats going on in my mind. I would describe my design as – mutable
WHAT MATERIALS DO YOU MOST LIKE TO WORK WITH?
I mostly like to work with borosilicate glass, but i also like to work quarz or soft glass when i got time for it- mostly i dont have time lol.
WHAT’S THE MOST FAVOURITE PIECE YOU’VE EVER MADE?
I really like the latest collab with Eusheen Goines, I always wanted to work with him since i first saw his work. I made all the Patterns and Eush was assembling the Pieces, it all came together great at cultiva 2017. So thats really one of my favourite pieces.
But there is still a massive collaboration with Bernd Weinmayer, i am done already but i still need to figure out how to present it. It took me 2 Years to create and its a plasma piece. That is my most expensive piece thought. Anyway these are two pieces i really wanted to mention.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT ON THE PATH TO “MAKING IT” AS A GLASS ARTIST?
One of my piece was exploding at a big event. That was really a „down moment“ for me. The Kiln didn’t work and i decided to go through it. But the piece was building up more and more tension till it really exploded. In fact i never had a piece exploding like that, not in my entire career and it had to be on that event of course.. But it was a good experiance. After the failure I tried to repair the whole piece as good as possible on the same day. The second try went great and the piece looked quite alright later. Sure it had a lot of flaws but as i it was on display it sold so fast i could not believe.
I got good money for that piece later and i think this could be a good motivation to- never give up. Even broken things can reveal treasure.
AND WHAT WAS YOUR BEST MOMENT?
My best moments happen when i am around working or having fun with other glass artists around the globe and building great Friendships. There are a lot of these moments latly and i am very grateful about it.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEW GLASS ARTISTS?
Take your time and don‘t rush. But always keep working, learning and exploring. Try new stuff. Try diffenent ways to do things. Learn from other glassblowers.
IF YOU COULD MAKE YOUR “DREAM” PIECE, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?
It would look otherworldly.
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE, MOST OF ALL IN THIS WORLD, TO HIT YOU UP FOR A PIECE, AND WHAT PIECE WOULD YOU MAKE FOR HIM/HER?
I think that would be Steven Spielberg, I would make him a lifesize Dinosaur skeleton out of glass for his livingroom hahaha, yeah that would be awesome. I love challenges.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR GLASS ARTISTRY IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY?
Thats a good question! I could only guess. But i think it might be a new vaporizing system?! I really like the quarz bangers it shows how eclectic glass can be.
IF YOU WERE SHIPWRECKED ON A DESERT ISLAND AND YOU COULD ONLY HAVE THREE ESSENTIAL PIECES WITH YOU, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE, AND WHY?
A fishing rod , a lighter, a joint and can i get a complimentary sunhat that’d be awesome. To enjoy my time there of course thanks!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC TO WORK TO/DAB TO?
Everything runs in the shop i like to often hear different styles of music. Depends on my mood.
Good mood-good music-good work
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