Gone into orbit
Published 7:00 am Saturday, September 13, 2003
Glass artist Rodger W. Aaron of Langley will help set the table when in October Lockheed Martin hosts an international dinner at a French chateau.
Aaron was approached in early August by Dee Valleras, manager of communications and public affairs for Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems of Newtown, Pa., to create 200 fused glass dishes for a dinner to be given at the 12th century French chateau, Chateau de Coudree on Lake LeMan. The dinner, hosted by Lockheed Martin, is part of a conference relating to the commercial use of space and its applications.
The dishes were created for the military and space contractor during two weeks of firings mid-August, and were shipped to France Aug. 28 to ensure their Oct. 10 arrival. The design for the pieces is centered on an abstract interpretation of the Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems logo, and accented with dichroic class on their corners, according to Combs.
Aaron, who co-owns the Aaron/Combs Gallery in Langley with his partner, Dan Combs won’t divulge what the dollar amount of the commission was, but he did say, “It bought a lot of glass.”
The 4-by-4-inch square dishes will be topped by truffles, and will be wrapped elegantly for guests of the dinner to take home as gifts. The truffle gift is a copycat of a gift item available at the Aaron/Combs Gallery on a daily basis.
“They can have the idea. It’s just great to be a part of this,” Aaron said.
Appropriately, dichroic glass is a high-tech spin-off of the space industry. Dichroic coatings transmit certain wavelengths of light, while reflecting others, thus creating an interference-effect. The transmitted color is different than the reflected color, and a third color is produced by viewing the dichroic piece at a 45-degree angle. The resulting colors are pure, saturated, single wavelengths of light, that appear to originate from within the dichroic piece.
Originally, a passion for color and light led Aaron away from painting and into the field of stained glass, where he’s worked as a mostly self-taught artist for 28 years. Aaron, now a warm and flat glass artist, has been a Whidbey resident since 1997. He moved into slumping and fusing using kilns in 1998. Though venturing into new artistic territory, he continues to work with stained glass and has created windows for homes as far away as Colorado Springs and San Francisco. He even added the finishing glass touch over the door in the newly opened Billy’s Bakery in Freeland.
“My early interest in drawing has led to a series of more monochromatic figure compositions in which the lead lines read as drawings,” he said.
At the present time, his love of color can be seen in his kiln work of slumping and fusing layers of iridized shapes.
“Self expression through the arts has been an integral part of my life as long as I can remember,” Aaron said.
Currently his work can be found in Langley, at the Aaron/Combs Gallery, which Aaron co-owns with his partner, Dan Combs. The gallery opened in August 2002, and offers, in addition to works by Aaron, blown glass and other fine art and crafts by area artists.
