Glassworkers bring out the classics for holiday sale

Ten different artists put their tried and true pieces up for sale at the Albert Community Centre over the weekend for the Saskatoon Glassworkers’ Guild winter sale.

Hundreds of items, including holiday jewelry, ornaments and non-holiday items were on display at one of the guild’s two major events of the year.

“We’ve had a great response this year,” said sale organizer Robert Miller. “So come out, have a look, hopefully there’s something that you can take home.”

Miller has been organizing the winter sale for about a decade now, but he and his wife have been growing their passion for all forms of glass art for nearly 20 years.

He says the challenge of learning new techniques keeps things interesting.

“We try to teach ourselves what we can do,” said Miller. “Some things work, sometimes we get away with it, and sometimes it doesn’t work. So there’s that challenge.”

One of Robert Miller’s backlit creations for sale.

While Saskatoon Glassworkers’ Guild president Betty Gibbon enjoys both of their major events, there’s a difference between the spring show and the winter sale.

“What we do at [the spring show], is more of the cream of the crop, and more experimental,” Gibbon told CTV News. “This is more the tried and the true.”

Miller admits there are some pieces that don’t come to sales, because he couldn’t dream of parting with them. Those pieces may come out for display at the spring show.

“There are some in our private collection that don’t come out to sales,” he said. “It’s different techniques that I’ve tried at different times, so it may not be similar to what you see today, but it’s just a piece that I really love and want to hang on to,”

Part of the fun for Gibbon is finding those items that are so popular, people return year after year to add to their collection.

“Everybody loves the jewelry they got last year, so I want to get them another piece this year,” said Gibbon. “A lot of people do collect Christmas décor and ornaments, so they’ll come back year after year to get a new piece.”

Even if she doesn’t sell a piece, she says the compliments from visitors are fuel for the creative fire.

For those who missed the sale, Gibbon says they’re always looking for new members at the Saskatoon Glassworkers’ Guild.

“It’s a neat group of people to visit with, it’s always so much fun and we share a lot of great ideas,” said Gibbon. “It’s a really interesting and fun group of people, and we have really good Christmas parties.”