History of Glass Art: Keith Dymond

Keith Dymond is coming to Marshalswick Community Centre on Wednesday 25 November, for an evening hosted by the St Albans Art Society. He's a glass artist, and the night is split into two parts: a talk and a practical demonstration. The first half looks at the history of glass art, tracing how artists have worked with the medium over time, and the second is a demonstration of kiln-formed and fused-glass techniques. He'll also talk through some of the ideas behind his own work.

If you're not familiar with the terminology, fused glass is where pieces of glass are layered and heated in a kiln until they melt together into one piece. Kiln-forming is the broader process of using a kiln to shape and manipulate the glass. Seeing it done in person is a different thing from reading about it, so the demonstration should give you a proper sense of how it actually works.

It's the St Albans Art Society putting this on. They run a year-round programme for local artists — talks, demonstrations, exhibitions, workshops, and informal outdoor sketching sessions — and they open their public lectures and demonstrations to non-members, so you don't have to be part of the society to come along. Refreshments are served on the night, which makes it a bit more of a social thing than just sitting and listening.

The evening runs from 19:30 to 21:30 at Marshalswick Community Centre, 481 The Ridgeway, St Albans, AL4 9TU. It's free for St Albans Art Society members and £5 for non-member guests.