As you enter Hotel Arts, look up and you will find 42 blown glass light sconces by Calgary artist Barry Fairbairn. Continue further into the Hotel, and be greeted by the principle installation, Fairbairn’s Millefiore. Spanning 22 feet across the ballroom foyer ceiling, Millefiore is a focal point that draws you in for a closer look and, when lit up at night, sets the stage for weddings, galas and receptions taking place at Hotel Arts.
In 2005, Hotel Arts commissioned Fairbairn for the now iconic blown glass feature, Millefiore, which brings Fairbairn’s traditionally privately commissioned work to a broader audience . “It’s a great feeling knowing that international travelers get to see my work”, says Fairbairn. “The installation is constantly peaking the interest of our guests” says Fraser Abbott, Director of Business Development at Hotel Arts. “You can get lost in the installation and discover new intricacies each time you admire it.”
Millefiore is Italian for one thousand flowers, which is what you will see as you admire the installation. So how do you install a thousand flowers displayed in 195 individually hung blown glass circles that span 22 feet by 8 feet? With steel cored into the cement ceiling that is made to support the weight of a truck!
Each individual glass art piece of Millefiore took close to an hour to create from start-to-finish. Glass blowing itself, however, is a very rapid process with an element of urgency, as if it gets too cold, it will crack. Fairbairn describes it as zen-like. “It is one of the most enjoyable qualities of glass blowing, you are so focused, it is like there is nothing else around and all of your worries disappear while you are working on your art.”
Next time you are in Hotel Arts, look up and see if you can pick out these glass blowing techniques prevalent in the Millefiore and the light sconces.
Inscivo: Features linear incisions that have been made in the glass while it is cold, and then brought back up to temperature and finished.
Battuto: The finished glass looks like hammered copper. This is achieved by cutting little divots in the glass making it look battered – which is where the name comes from meaning battered in Italian.
Zanferico: Creates a lattice effect throughout the glass. This complex technique involves a glass blowing rod with vertical stripes of colour that is twisted as it’s pulled into a longer rod.
