Today an article ran in the Appeal Democrat, The Yuba-Sutter county newspaper, about our entry in the California State Fair. The award winning "Skyscraper" will be on exhibit in Sacramento from July 12th to the 28th. Fusing glass into art July 11, 2013 12:01:00 AM Share This| Print Story | E-Mail Story Know & Go: California State Fair Fine Art Show: TIMES: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Sundays through July 28. WHERE: Cal Expo, building 7, 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento. FAIR ADMISSION: $8-$12. CALL: 916-263-3247. ON LINE: bigfun.org. Tim Darrough of Yuba City entered his fused glass artwork in the California Fine Art competition at the state fair in Sacramento for the third time, not knowing if it would be accepted. He received the 2013 Award of Excellence in the 3-D artworks-glass category for his "Skyscraper," a 29-inch by 69-inch piece with 75pieces of cut glass in 45 colors. Darrough, using the name T. Robert Darrough with all of his art work, had also entered a second piece this year — "Destination," platter with hundreds of pieces of glass fused on the edge. "I liked 'Destination' better," he said with a laugh on Tuesday. "It just goes to show you. That's life." The juried art competition received more than 1,500 entries from artists throughout the state, according to a press release from the California State Fair. A total of 180 pieces were selected to be shown during this year's fair, with 20 earning Awards of Excellence and 154 receiving Awards of Merit. Many pieces of artwork will also be available for purchase. Yuba County resident Susan Polstra received an Award of Merit in the color photography category. All pieces will be on display during the California State Fair from Friday to July 28 at Cal Expo's building 7 in Sacramento. Darrough, born and raised in Yuba City, said he became interested in color while living in San Francisco and working as a food safety technician in 1995. He first worked with balloon decorations at parties and weddings for almost seven years, then with stained glass before concentrating on fused glass. "Glass is exciting to look at," he said. "When the color's right, it can excite your imagination." Darrough, 66, maintains a fully equipped studio in his garage with large work tables, small and large kilns, a light table, circle cutters and sheets of glass in several sizes and colors. This is his third year doing fused glass work. "I do well with a range in colors. Glass is a good medium to work with. I seem to begetting better at it," he said. His completed work is on view throughout his home and has been displayed at various art galleries, including The Theater Gallery in Yuba City and the Yuba-Sutter Regional Arts Council Gallery and Art-O-Culture in Marysville, plus at the Sacramento Art Complex in Sacramento. The artist also maintains a website, i1j.net, featuring his work. His wife, Fran Darrough, 67, is in the promotion end of the business, writing accompanying text to artwork, business cards and keeping track of the individual pieces. She also names all of the pieces, except for "Destination." Tim Darrough had to beat the "naming committee" to that one, his favorite piece, he said with a chuckle. Currently, he has five projects in progress, including "Atlantis," something he has been working on for a year. Many artists he knows have several projects going at one time, he added. "I don't have all the details," he said about the main project, noting that he has most of the glass cut for the project. "I can see it in my mind what it looks like. You can lay all the glass out and not see it until you fuse it and it strikes the color." "I've seen him put it together," Fran Darrough said. " He'll take it apart, put it together, not be happy and put it away and take it out later." Another project in the works is "Love In," with many glass hearts. "Sometimes I'll think of these things for months," Tim Darrough said. |