The fall PCA TX meeting began Friday, October 19 when 22 members gathered for a
festive dinner at the Horny Toad Cafe in Denton, Texas. We departed just as a
country-western band was tuning up for their first set. Saturday morning,
thirty-one members and six guests convened in the meeting room at the Holiday
Inn Express Denton-UNT-TWU. At 10AM, President Allen Boyd called the meeting to
order welcoming Guest Dealer Roger Jacobsen rogjacobsen@live.com and Guest Artist
Eric Hansen http://www.laughingglassstudio.com/.
Treasurer and Membership Recorder Jan Whitley reported that membership stands
at 73 representing 36 cities and 11 states.
New PCA TX Library administrators Mike and Terri Taylor reported that they are
happy to be housing the library, but they are still organizing the collection. They
look forward to filling members’ requests to check out materials.
Scholarship Chair Al Bates announced that a PCA TX scholarship application by
artist Alison Rusza has been approved. Ms. Rusza will attend a mosaic art class
in Italy in the summer of 2019. The PCA TX grant will cover tuition and a portion
of her travel expenses.
Several members who attended L.H. Selman’s “Celebrate the Paperweight” event in
Chicago expressed their enthusiasm for the mission of Project Fire,
http://www.projectfirechi.com/. One of our members who is a clinical psychologist shared
his experiences treating secondary trauma in victims and his reaction to the glass
art made by the wounded Chicago teens in the program. Members voted for PCA TX
to make a donation to Project Fire.
After the lunch break, our guest artist presented “Eric W. Hansen Art Glass”
which gave updates on his family, travel and recent work. With the children grown,
he and Cheryl have enjoyed traveling, including a trip to visit with Northern
Paperweight Society members in England and with Mike and Sue Hunter in Selkirk,
Scotland. Eric still enjoys working with a variety of techniques. He is currently
focused on “taking iridescence to a new level”, surface decoration and lampwork
encapsulation.
The meeting ended with door prizes, including two works donated by our guest artist.
Saturday evening, members carpooled to Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant for dinner.
Sunday morning, the Hansens hosted an Open House with breakfast treats at their
lovely home in rural Argyle. Eric gave a tour of his spacious studio and we
watched him make a crimp rose paperweight. It was a fiery finish to a wonderful
weekend.
