Grant Donaldson - Glass Artist

Glass Artist Grant Donaldson is recognised as one of Australia’s most experimental and exciting new glassblowers. Along with his wife Eileen Gordon, a renowned glass blower, he established Gordon Studio Glassblowers to create a production line and exhibition glassware. Grant has exhibited throughout Australia and internationally including Japan, Germany and USA.

Grant Donaldson - Artist Biography

After working on the land for 15 years Grant Donaldson started his career in glass in 1990, assisting his wife Eileen Gordon to establish the Gordon Studio Glassblowers. Essentially untrained, Grant's progress as a glass artist has been remarkable. Encouraged by Eileen, a renowned glass blower, by 1994 Grant had already started working full time on his own unique range of glass art. Today he is recognised as one of Australia's most experimental and exciting new glass blowers. "As a farmer I came to feel part of the Australian landscape - as a glass artist my work is a natural extension of that. I love the difficulties of working with glass, the dangers and thrill of exploration and experimentation - finding new and more challenging ways through the medium of glass blowing to express my feelings about the land ".

• 1959 Born Melbourne, Australia
• 1979-80 Certificate of Agriculture, Sunraysia College of TAFE.
• 1981 Diploma of Farm Management Marcus Oldham Farm Management College.
• 1982-88 Farm Manager on various properties in NSW, Vic. & Tasmania.
• 1984 Worked on property, Northern Germany . Travelled through Europe.
• 1988 Bought a Dairy Farm, Numurkah, Vic
• 1990 Assisted partner, Eileen Gordon, to establish 'Gordon Studio Glass blowers', Numurkah, Vic.
• 1994 Sold Farm & relocated 'Gordon Studio Glass blowers' to Rosebud, Vic. Full time Glass blowing, Developing own production line and exhibition glassware.
• 2005 Eileen and Grant closed their Rosebud glassworks and opened a specially designed glass workshop/studio and gallery/viewing space at Red Hill in the beautiful hinterland of the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. The studio is also used by other glass blowers and is now a tourist attraction, open 7 days a week.

Exhibitions

• 1996
  • Sea in Glass, Peninsula Galleries, Sorrento, Vic
• 1997
  •  The Gordon Family, Glass Artist Gallery, Glebe, NSW Group Show, Arica Gallery, Nedlands, WA
• 1998
  • Without Pier, Family Exhibit, Sandringham, Vic
• 1999
  • Azecra Kimono Dept. Store, Osaka, Japan
  • Munich International Craft Fair, Germany
  • Interior DesignEx Show, Melbourne, Vic
• 2000
  • Munich International Craft Fair, Germany
  • Translucence, Johnstone Gallery Revisited, Brisbane, Qld
• 2001
  • Munich International Trade Fair, Munich, Germany
  • Without Pier, Sandringham, Vic
  • Ausglass Conference, Members Exhibition, Melbourne
  • Commissioned for 16 Vases for the CHOGM Candidates
  • SOFA - Chicago, USA
• 2002
  • Commissioned for 3 vases for Crown Casino, Melbourne.
  • Munich International Craft Fair, Germany
  • SOFA - Chicago, USA The Journey
  • Eileen Gordon and Grant Donaldson, Skepsi on Swanston, Melbourne, Vic
• 2003
  • Ausglass Members Show
• 2005
  • Members Exhibition, GAS Conference, Adelaide
• 2006
  • Land Collaboration with painter Mike Green, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
  • The Gordon family, Kirra Gallery, Melbourne
  • Outback and Beyond,Seaview Gallery, Queens cliff
• 2007
  • Glass is Oxygen, without Pier Gallery,Cheltenham
• 2008
  • Cool Climate Glass, Lindenderry at Red Hill
• 2008
  • Sculpture in a Drier Land, Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show
• 2008
  • Artanica Garden Sculpture, Duniera, Mount Macedon
• 2008
  • Some like it Hot, Glass Plus Gallery, South Melbourne

Publications

• 2006 Hammond V, "LAND" exhibition catalogue