AGOG presents Tile and Glass

I looked up how to write an artist statement and came away with very few ideas that didn’t sound stuffy or pretentious. But the one question I was told to answer was “Why do you do this”?

Why do I do this? Theses suckers are heavy! I use a wet saw, a glass cutter, and a grinder. It’s noisy, dirty and painstaking. They take a very long time to make (months) because I cut and shape every single piece. I wear a rain coat, respirator, ski goggles over glasses and ear protection. It’s not comfortable that’s for sure and it looks ridiculous. I occasionally make them to sell, but generally, I give them away. Very few people even see them and yet I LOVE IT!! Glass is incredible. I can get swirling, gorgeous combinations of colour easily. Tiles are harder. Canadians now seem to prefer white through to black, with a bit of brown thrown in, but I find colourful, old ones at the dump. People save and give them to me. Habitat for Humanity offers reclaimed tiles and sometimes, I just get lucky and a weird tile that nobody wants get dropped in my lap. I’ve built whole pictures around one unusual tile. I collect wood and antlers and so do my friends. Everything gives me ideas. My projects have stories to tell. They aren’t my stories, but I can relate. I hope you can too.

About Tannis

Tannis was born in Golden. She left for school and returned after 10 years to the best place on earth where the mountains, the wetlands and the natural world are her inspiration and motivation for her artwork. Using tile and glass as favorite mediums, Tannis creates scenes that convey moments that stand out in memory or imagination. She hopes that her pictures help people imagine a story. Bright, sometimes unusual colours, and different thicknesses of tile and glass create light and texture.