The Bridges Of Cleveland-An Artistic Journey In Fused Glass

Bridges on the Cuyahoga River. View of the Terminal Tower. Fused Glass. 11" w x 15 "h.

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As an artist I am constantly looking for new ways to express my ideas. I am a glass fusing artist and have currently developed several Portfolios of "Iconic Images of Cleveland" in fused glass. My studio is in Lakewood at the Lake Erie Screw Factory and if you have attended an Artist’s Open Studio event there in the last five years you may have visited me.

During the summer of 2014 I took a trip on the Cuyahoga River on a friend’s boat. I had a project in mind that had been stirring around in my head for over a year and I could see it clearly in my mind’s eye. In order to start it, however, I had to take photographs of the many bridges along the banks of the Cuyahoga River. I only work with my own images because they are part of the idea I wish to develop and express creatively.

Traveling on that winding, meandering body of water during a hot summer’s day I was captivated by the unique and fascinating view of the many bridges in the city’s underbelly. Many are vestiges of a bygone era spanning the Cuyahoga but still aiding commerce from the Port of Cleveland to ports around the globe.

My goal was to employ the technique I have been using to create my “Iconic Images of Cleveland" portfolio in fused glass, but with a twist. The images in my head were stark, graphically pitted against an intense white background pushing up from the banks of the river as black, gritty, rusted iron behemoths.

As our boat moved through the water and under these monolithic structures from another time, I snapped away, taking over 300 images of bridges intersecting one another creating a kind of rusted metal Stonehenge that held secrets of the city’s industrial power and the price the common worker paid to create that raw unbridled power.

My images of these bridges express the gritty, industrial character of the city and capture them as symbols of commerce, which in some way represents a bygone era. Each photographic image is altered in Photoshop to express my artistic vision, made into a negative and exposed in order to burn it onto a silk screen. Fine shards of glass frits, dry powders are then screened onto a pre-fused glass substrate and fused again in the kiln.

Since that time I continue to take part in local summer Art Festivals, including Cain Park, Lakewood and Hudson, to name a few. I also offer workshops and Classes from my Lakewood Screw Factory Studio. The Bridges of Cleveland project has been there waiting for me to chip away at it over the past two years.

I am ready to launch The Bridges of Cleveland - An Artistic Journey in Fused Glass on July 5th. The exhibit will be on displaythrough August 28th during normal business hours at the Malvina J. Freedson Gallery, Winton Place, 12700 Lake Avenue, Lakewood, adjacent to Pier W, a well-known Lakewood restaurant on Lakewood’s Gold Coast.

A Reception will be held Friday evening, July 22nd from 5-9 p.m. and the Closing Reception is Saturday, August 20th also from 5-9 p.m. If you are unable to attend the first festive event don’t miss the second one! Email me at dan@danielpruittstudio.com or call 216.632.4552 for more information.