{"id":722,"date":"2014-03-21T18:53:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T18:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=722"},"modified":"2014-03-21T18:53:43","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T18:53:43","slug":"crystalizing-moments-with-d-h-mcnabb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/03\/21\/crystalizing-moments-with-d-h-mcnabb\/","title":{"rendered":"Crystalizing Moments with D.H. McNabb"},"content":{"rendered":"

By AUDREY JENKINS<\/strong> –\u00a0STAFF WRITER<\/em><\/p>\n

When he first stepped onto Centre\u2019s campus in the fall of 1998, Florida native D.H. McNabb \u201902 wanted to be a veterinarian or a naturalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t come to Centre with the intent of majoring in glass. I don\u2019t think a lot of things make sense until after you\u2019ve done them,\u201d he said. \u201cGlass is just something that I stumbled upon. But now, looking back, I realize that in an unintentional way, I definitely came to Centre to find glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing four years of glasswork, he graduated from Centre with a Bachelor of Arts in glass. Now sixteen years later, with an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, thirteen shows, eight glass workshops, and a wealth of professional appointments with some of the most famous glass blowers in the world under his belt, he has returned to Centre as the Graduate Fellow for Jones Visual Art Center and Adjunct Professor of Glass.<\/p>\n

Before coming to Centre, McNabb had never blown glass in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy college roommate\u2019s parents went to school with [H.W. Stodghill, Jr. and Adele H. Stodghill Profess of Art] Stephen Powell and he used to blow on Sunday nights. We were bored so we went down and checked it out,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I signed up to take a class. Lino Tagliapietra came to Centre and I hit it off with him and later I ended up working with him for about eight years \u2026 It was just kind of one of those serendipitous things.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, he moved around the country and around the world blowing glass. He has blown in studios in New York, Seattle, Findlay, the Czech Republic, Scotland, and Japan. \u201cI always knew that no matter what I ended up doing, I wanted to see the world. Glass has given me that opportunity,\u201d McNabb said.<\/p>\n

In 2009, McNabb attended the Rhode Island School of Design to attain his M.F.A.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A piece from D.H. McNabb\u2019s Monuments: Moments. The new exhibit is open for viewing every day through April 4 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Jones Visual Arts Center (JVAC).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGraduate school isn\u2019t exactly necessary, but I wanted to have the ability to teach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As a Graduate Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Glass at Centre, McNabb teaches Glass II, III, and IV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like teaching glass because I get to help set good fundamentals, but then I can also help students expose their ideas in a material,\u201d he said. \u201cGlass is ubiquitous. It\u2019s everywhere, yet people rarely consider it. We all depend upon it, but it often passes by unnoticed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to teaching, McNabb is involved on campus as the technician of the art facility, assistant to Stephen Powell, and assistant swim coach.<\/p>\n

When asked what drew him to glass, McNabb explained that it\u2019s sheer joy and passion for the craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Lino was here, someone asked him what his favorite piece was. He said, \u2018The next one.\u2019 At the time, Lino was probably 65 or 66, and yet every time he sat down at the bench, he was excited,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s as simple as that. So many people change their jobs over their lifetime, but I wanted to try and find a passion that I could commit my entire life to. Glass is a lifetime pursuit. It\u2019s been a strange ride, to be sure, but it\u2019s been a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNabb\u2019s most recent show, a faculty exhibition in the Jones Visual Art Center (JVAC), combines both functional and more \u201cartistic\u201d pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really love the process of creating. At the end of a week, if I\u2019m drinking a beverage out of a glass, whether it be beer, scotch, or milk, I\u2019m thinking of why a certain glass needs to be a certain way. Then I can make it,\u201d he said. \u201cI can make a juice glass be the way I want it to be, a whiskey glass be the way I want it to be. It\u2019s just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The philosophy of his show, as McNabb explained it, is \u201cpoof.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just sitting around and thinking about things passing. I was thinking about people that make art, and how they may think that they are making monuments, but really, they are just fleeting ideas. Moments. Everything is a moment,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re a moment, I\u2019m a moment. Centre is a moment. That\u2019s what inspired this whole show.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNabb\u2019s philosophy of art in general is very simple. \u201cThe only rule in art is awareness,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a broad rule, but I just think it\u2019s important to be aware of audience, history, and self.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although McNabb is clearly an accomplished glass blower in his own right, his pupils also appreciate him for his incredible teaching skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s worked with a lot of really famous glassblowers and has a lot of experience,\u201d senior Kayla Ohlmer said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a really great technical glass blower, but he\u2019s also really great to talk to about your work. He is very good at helping students to develop their ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Hannah Lifsey also agreed that McNabb is not only an exceptional artist, but an exceptional teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201c[McNabb] is very skilled. He has a very methodical way of working and can tell you step by step what a piece is supposed to look like and how to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cHe will show you the process of how to work, and will talk you through forms step by step. He has the technique down and is definitely one of the most skillful glass blowers I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, McNabb is known for being a patient and understanding professor, one who is both a teacher and a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cD.H. is just really great because he gets on the level of the students. He\u2019s not that much older than us and he graduated from Centre, so he understands the Centre way of life,\u201d Lifsey said. \u201cWhen it comes to getting pieces done, he doesn\u2019t stress about it. He always says to make attempts, to try and produce pieces. He is also always willing to show up during your blow slot to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as his students respect and appreciate him, McNabb also appreciates his students.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy students have taught me how to be patient. It\u2019s also been great to really be able to see how another person looks at something,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to help students expose their ideas in the form of glass, so that\u2019s what I try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what legacy he would like to leave at Centre, McNabb explained that he would like to be able to teach students to embrace the struggle, to refuse to accept no for an answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlass is difficult. It\u2019s a struggle,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople enroll in class and struggle, but they come back. And that\u2019s important in some way. The struggle. A lot of students who take glass won\u2019t major in it and maybe they\u2019ll never do it again, but they will understand it. They will enter a gallery or a museum, or they will look through a windshield, and they will understand. Knowledge is power, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he has enjoyed his time at Centre, the graduate fellow position will terminate at the end of the year, and McNabb will be moving on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably in the same boat as most of the seniors here. I just don\u2019t know exactly where I\u2019ll be,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things that\u2019s hard about what I\u2019m doing. Seattle was pretty comfortable but I wanted to start making my own things and to teach \u2026 but ever since then it\u2019s been a journeyman lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that eventually he wants to find a full-time teaching position and have the opportunity to continue producing his own artwork. But in the meantime, anything is possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, you just have to try to leave things better than you found them,\u201d McNabb said. \u201cQuite simply, I just want to do something that at the end of the day, I can look back and smile at. I think that\u2019s the ultimate goal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By AUDREY JENKINS –\u00a0STAFF WRITER When he first stepped onto Centre\u2019s campus in the fall of 1998, Florida native D.H. McNabb \u201902 wanted to be a veterinarian or a naturalist. \u201cI didn\u2019t come to Centre with the intent of majoring in glass. I don\u2019t think a lot of things make sense until after you\u2019ve done […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}