Workshops in glass and art at studio Valeria

During the October and November 2010 in studio Valeria in Medulin, Croatia Istra held a workshop in leaded lights. Participants had the opportunity to make few attractive pieces and learn new skills. Christina, feacured here is from Sweeden, her glass reflects her love of yellows and blues. Christina is also an athlete, she recently run Palmanova halfmarathon, 21km race and finished in 1 hour 55 min. Well done you!

Extra virgine olive oil from Medulin

For the first time ever Branka and Istra made 2,8l of the best extra virgine oil. We picked olives from 3 olive trees by hand. This took about 3 hours. At the end 28kg of olives were taken to a mill in Pula. We returned home with our best ever olive oil which we shared with Terry, Damir, Nino, Sinisa and still had a little for our selves. Branka decorated our gift bottels which were gratefuly received.

Workshop in portrait painting

http://www.studiovaleria.blog.hr/

Studio Valeria, 29/10/2010 organised a workshop in portrait painting with Boris Nemes. A group of 8 artists had the opportunity to observe and learn from Boris principles of constructing a classical face using charcoal and graphite. In addition, we shared a super lunch of local specialities and a lovely walk along Visula a Roman site in a gorgeous autumn afternoon.

Autumn in Istria

A group of artists visited the heartland of Istria looking for inspiration and enjoying some of the majestic scenery and gorgeous weather. We visited Oprtalj, Kaldir, Motovun, Brkac and Rovinj; marvelous autumn colors in vineyards, hilltop medieval towns and endless open views that stretch all the way down to the Adriatic coast. We returned fully inspired to create foe our new project. Watch this space!

Talent Show in Hoylake

Community and family event in association with Hoylake Village Life open studioa art group http://www.wirral-open-studios.com/
Istra has a keen interest in supporting and encouraging creativity in the community. She has organised an evening of music, poetry, and art at the beautiful St Luke’s Methodist Church Hall in Hoylake on Saturday 25th September

Creative people from all areas of Wirral contribute and share their talent in making music including ukulele, banjo, piano and guitar; poetry recitals and sketches; and original pieces of art and batik silk. These they shared with friends and neighbours in an informal and friendly way and enjoy a fun evening. Images of Hoylake seafront on a suney September day.

'One Year On'

One Year On is an exhibition by glass artists and makers that followes from Kaffe Fassett and Steve Klein master class in 2009. The exhibition was held during the annual international conference at Northlands Creative Glass in Lybster in Scotland, U.K. http://www.northlandsglass.com/

Istra Toner - 'Silver darling'
In her work created especially for this exhibition, Istra leads a viewer into the immense, powerful and timeless Caithness landscape, seascape, and social history and shows the fragility and transformation of both. Her work is driven by her interest in Lybster’s past and its people. “Silver darling” a beautiful modest little herring played a pivotal role in the life of Lybster over some considerable time and forms the basis for Istria’s work shown here. In this exhibition Istra demonstrates skills she developed at the North Lands Creative Glass master classes:
2009 ‘Colour and texture’ with Kaffe Fassett and Steve Klein Istra developed further sensitivity and importance of awareness and recognition of colour.
2010 ‘A particulate language’ with Catherine Newell Istra developed sensitivity toward form and restraint in the use of colour in achieving power and movement.

Istra at Northlands glass

Lybster in Catithness at the very north of Scotland is a charming village that houses the North Lands Creative Glass www.northlandsglass.com

This is a place of excellence in furthering the art of glass.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend three of their master classes, to further my own creative potential by working with masters and glass artists from all over the world
‘A Particulate Language’ led by Catharine Newell, June 2010. We worked with powders on Bullseye glass sheets that were layered to create remarkable 3D images in black-white and in colour.

'Color and Transparency' led by Kaffe Fassett and Steve Klein, September 2009. I explored ways of displaying flowers using glass translucency, color and light.

‘Tradition and Innovation’ led by Jiri Harkuba and April Surgent, September 2008. We used diamond wheels to engrave, carve out and etched panels of glass to achieve images.