CALGARY, ALBERTA — They’re called Bee Kingdom and they’re one of the most dynamic art collectives in the country. Based out of a house in a residential area of Calgary, the Bee Kingdom has become a talk of Cowtown with their inventive and unique blown glassworks, which have also earned the studio numerous international fans.
Visitors and residents alike are also able to take advantage of the group’s workshops, which take place every month or so. A blown-glass workshop is unlike any other art session you’ll participate in because of the inherent danger involved. If you’re not focused, you could get burned, cut or turn so jittery that the glass bowl you’re so keen to put on your desk ends up crashing into pieces on the floor.
Molten glass is applied to the lip of a bowl being created at a demo in Calgary’s Bee Kingdom Studio. (Julia Pelish/Vacay.ca)
The oven used in making the Bee Kingdom’s works heats up to 1,200 degrees Celsius and each piece is constantly put into the heat and then removed and shaped with gentle handling. It’s a thrilling process that keeps you totally enthralled, because of the constant threat of the heat.
At the Bee Kingdom, you’ll not only learn how to make blown glass, you’ll be able to peruse the quartet’s gallery that features some truly spectacular creations.
Read more about Bee Kingdom in Vacay.ca’s article “It’s hip to be in Calgary.”
For a tour of Bee Kingdom’s studio at 427 22 Avenue NW and learn about the glass-blowing workshops it offers, visit beekingdom.ca, or email info@beekingdom.ca or call 403-277-7375.
