Artists show skills, sell crafts to raise money for hospital

By Cassie Tomlin

Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 | 12:52 p.m.

Most of the time, artists work in solitude — the painter crafting a canvas, the weaver at the loom, the photographer in the darkroom.

At Art in the Park Oct. 4 and 5, some artists will work on their craft for all to see.

Among them will be Don Thompson, who will be melting glass into sculpture, de-mystifying the process behind his intricate, delicate works for sale.

Thompson, the Crystal Wizard, is one of 405 artists who will be showcased in Wilbur Square, Bicentennial Park and North and South Escalante Park at the 46th annual art fair benefiting the Boulder City Hospital Foundation.

The two-day sale will bring artists from as far as Canada and as many as 100,000 visitors to Boulder City, organizer Wendy Christ-Kyser said.

There will be 20 food vendor booths, live music and hundreds of raffle drawings for art and other donated prizes, she said.

Christ-Kyser expects this year's festival to raise more than $250,000.

"The response from the community has been overwhelming, and we expect our best year ever," she said.

Thompson, a local glass blower with a studio in Goatfeathers Emporium, returns to the fair after sitting out the past couple years.

With a 2,500-degree Fahrenheit oxyacetylene flame, he melts glass rods into a gummy, elastic material and creates animals, ships, flowers and other designs.

He works colored glass into the pieces, and sometimes fires gold onto them.

He'll demonstrate his craft near the Sunrise Rotary's barbecue in Wilbur Square.

Thompson will bring 60 already-made pieces ranging from about $150 to $500.

The former unicyclist learned his craft in the 1970s, observing and working with the glass blower at Disneyland in California.

Later, he became an apprentice to the glass blower at the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City, after pressing his nose against the master's studio window day after day to watch.

"I have a gift," he said. "If I see it in three dimensions, I can copy it."

This year's featured artist will be Glen Powell, a pencil artist from Gold Canyon, Ariz.

This year's fair will begin a new tradition for the event, which is the primary annual fundraiser for the hospital foundation. The night before the fair's opening will be the inaugural ArtEve, an evening reception at the Boulder Dam Hotel.

The wine-tasting event provides an early chance to purchase selected works from the weekend show.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].