AACG - Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass

Alice Benvie Gebhart

Artist Statement:

It is important to me as an artist to combine the joy of creating with a satisfaction in the outcome. I loved the painting process but was really not satisfied with my finished pieces. With my dad’s artistic spirit as a springboard, I experimented with a variety of media over the years including printmaking, ceramics, and ultimately found my journey into glass. 

The glass construction and firing process of my kiln-formed glass is reminiscent of the ritual of planting a tree and watching it grow.  I am reminded of a poem by Mary Oliver:  

Around me the trees stir in their leaves 
and call out, "Stay awhile." 
The light flows from their branches. 

I pose to move the viewer to stay awhile, to see the light and movement and beauty and color in my glass creations.  The creation of this work becomes my own private rite of passage by continuing the family legacy in kiln-formed glass. 

About Alice Benvie Gebhart

Alice Benvie Gebhart is a native Rhode Islander, born and bred into an artistic family: her father, a painter and her grandfather, a wood carver. She was surrounded by the energy that a creative family had to share. Encouraged as a child to draw, sculpt, and paint, she attended various art classes starting very early in life. Her father was her first teacher and she became a proficient oil painter under his guidance. 

Gebhart’s first experimental designs for her glass creations were derived from little paper collage landscapes she had assembled during a college design class. They were encouraged by simple tree shapes and winding highway roads. The colors were vivid, the shapes were simple, and they were her transformed into her first attempts at fusing with glass. Her work has transcended into a visual poetry of light and color using the vibrancy, radiancy, and transparency of the glass to her advantage.  She works, not to mimic nature, but to explore the inspirational quality of the landscape. 

The landscape, specifically trees, has continued to be a main focus in Alice Benvie Gebhart’s glasswork.  The subject of trees has been found in art and literature throughout time.  Trees are symbols of the branching of family; ancestral heritage; and solid relationships.  The tradition of planting a tree has become a symbol of a rite of passage such as the birth of a child, a first home, or honoring the life of a loved one.  Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife as well as shade and comfort for human beings.  The importance of trees can be found throughout every culture and religion.    

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Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Heritage Art Gallery & Glass Studio, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, for providing the Artist of the Month.