Joey Kirkpatrick & Flora Mace, Still Life with Fruit, Glass Assemblage

1991, comprised of an ebonized wood bowl 17.5 in. diameter and (22) life-size fruit and vegetables including (1) eggplant, (2) apples, (1) plum, (1) peach, (1) pear, (2) lemons, (1) green pepper, (2) strawberries, (3) red peppers, (2) melons, (1) tangerine, (2) grape clusters and (3) kumquats, signed on the peach and the eggplant.

Eggplant 12.5 in.

The Contemporary Art Collection of Francine & Benson Pilloff, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

"We began our journey into the art glass world when Tom Riley put us in touch with Pilchuck Glass School. Visited and met William Morris, and wonderful glass artists called Joey & Flora. They invited us to their studio. This began many years of visits - including their wonderful visits to us in Cleveland and to them in Seattle. We shared many special times together and have stayed in touch." - Francine Pilloff

Note the meticulous detail applied to each blown glass fruit/vegetable to depict lifelike qualities like slight decay, natural growth qualities, textures and color.

"The process we use when making the glass fruit and vegetable forms is unique. Our approach evolved out of our experience using the two dimensional painting tradition. As in painting, we have learned to build layers of color by sifting colored crushed glass powders onto hot glass during the blowing process. It was exciting to find a method of "painting" onto three dimensional blown glass, creating forms with a painterly surface of realistic color and textures." - Kirkpatrick & Mace

Joey Kirkpatrick (American, b. 1952) and Flora Mace (American, b. 1949) are a powerhouse of the contemporary art glass movement with strong ties to Pilchuck Glass School. Kirkpatrick and Mace are known for their oversized glass fruit and their work highlighting technical glass skills. Their body of artwork has been made from diverse materials with feministic symbolisms.

Their artwork can be found in many public museum collections including the Portland Art Museum / Corning Museum of Glass / the Detroit Institute of Arts / the Museum of Fine Art, Boston / Seattle Art Museum / the Metropolitan Museum of Art / Krannert Art Museum / Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art / the Smithsonian American Art Museum / and Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Lausanne.

One grape cluster with two broken pieces (but present); the green/orange melon with a small hairline crack near the base; green apple and pear with broken and missing stems.