Lydia Liu Works with Many New Materials Interning for Master Craftsman Studio
from FSU Art BA ’23 Lydia Liu:
As an artist, I haven’t pushed the boundaries of 2-dimensional art into 3-dimensional art until I came to intern at Master Craftsman Studio. From day one I have been exposed to a new world of art and have been working hands-on with so many new materials. While interning there, I have genuinely enjoyed every second working with all the friendly and experienced people there. As an intern, you get to be immersed in projects on the business side and learn how to use tools and materials on the learning side. All the projects are unique and so unexpected. I’ve gotten to work on a variety of tasks from sanding and painting a steel dragon for Disney’s Epcot, to restoring the condition of an antique baby mobile, to helping out at a glass workshop for the wives of some government representatives.
Among all the new mediums I have been exposed to, I have found glass to be the most intriguing material to work with. One of my most memorable moments was when the other interns and I were able to create our own individual glass projects. I learned about glass slumping, coefficients for glass fusing, stained glass, to detail a few from Karen Pritzl. Cutting glass fascinates me; the scoring of the glass is just a shallow line and with added pressure from a clamp, it breaks the glass in a clean cut if done correctly. I had a difficult time scoring glass at first because I was putting too much pressure on the glass cutter. Another fact I learned was that glass needs to be the same coefficient for it to properly melt together. I gained an understanding for it the hard way because I accidentally used two different coefficients of glass in one of my projects, resulting in it becoming prone to cracking.
Learning alongside my other fellow interns let us form our team-building skills and grow as artists through our newly acquired knowledge. Unfortunately, while my internship has been shortened by a month due to the COVID-19 virus impact, I am still infinitely grateful to have the experience to be involved in this internship. I definitely plan to intern at Master Craftsman Studio again if the opportunity arises.
