The Sharifa is cousin to the recently deceased King Hussein of Jordan and a descendant of Mohammed.
So, after a three-year hiatus from glass blowing, Jamie Sherman is back in his studio again.
In the spring, a business group familiar with his work approached him. The group is organizing a Canadian/Jordanian business and fundraising event in Toronto, scheduled to take place in February with the princess in attendance.
“The event will involve business leaders and political figures from both countries,” says Sherman. “I’m making close to 50 individual gifts.”
He was originally brought in as a consultant to the project but, during a Toronto meeting, Shaifra Zein convinced him to do the work himself.
“She was very natural but you knew you were talking to a princess,” Sherman says. “Before I knew it, I was rebuilding my studio and getting back to work.”
Several of the beautiful bird-shaped perfume containers sit in a drawer. The Romans invented the glass blowing process and, during the Roman Empire, the hollow birds were filled with fragrant oils, the tips of the tails broken off so the oil could be used.
Sherman has melted gold into the glass, giving it an iridescent and metallic quality. The process is used to simulate the aging process, to make it look as though it’s been buried under the ground for centuries.
“I love the aesthetics of antiquity,” Sherman says. “The bird is one of the ideas being considered by the princess.”
Sharifa Zein thought materials from Jordan could be incorporated into the glassworks so she sent a special package to his studio located on the out-skirts of Bracebridge.
“This box arrived with slices of rock, pieces of wooden railway ties
and different sands,” says Sherman. Posters of Jordan’s national
bird and flower hang over his desk. A black iris (Jordan’s national
flower) made of silk came from the desk of the Princess herself.
“To be able to work on a project where I can get some ancient sands from
Jordan and play with them, for me, is like being a kid,” says Sherman.
This isn’t the first time Sherman’s glasswork has been noticed.
In 1988 he was approached by the Royal Ontario Museum to reproduce the Mallorytown
Pitcher thought to be Canada’s oldest piece of blown glass. An example
of the decorative aquamarine pitcher sits on a stand against the wall; a
framed sketch of the pitcher hangs above.
“The process of making glass is very much the same as it was in the mid-1800s,” Sherman
says during a half-hour TVOntario show about his Mallorytown Pitcher.
“While doing the pitcher I had to learn to do with two hands what they
used to do with four. It was exhausting.”
Jamie Sherman’s glass studio opened to the public 17 years ago, but
after the 1996 Muskoka Autumn Tour, he needed a break.
“I wanted to spend more time on my music and photography,” he says.
A music book sits open on the kitchen counter. A guitar stands propped against
a chair and two large photographs of Mexican haciendas hang above the couch.
“I took those photographs within the first 10 minutes we got to an Indian
village in New Mexico,” Sherman says. “We travelled there a lot
when Sharon and I were home-schooling Joshua and Zander.”
His sons have inherited their father’s love of photography.
“Joshua’s interested in video and Zander’s into still photography,” he
says.
A recent trip to the Mediterranean gave the family the opportunity to crawl
around archeological sites in Naples, Athens and Istanbul.
“I’m fortunate to have been able to travel to interesting places
in the world,’ he says. Sherman won the Muskoka Arts Council Judges’ Choice
Award in 1998. The striking photograph of two men in a Greek café was
taken five years ago and hangs down-stairs in a gallery-like room.
When he isn’t making glass for a princess and the Royal Ontario Museum
or photographing faraway places, Jamie Sherman is playing his guitar. His
long-time interest in acoustic guitar has been changing to one that bridges
between Latin and North American jazz.
“When I play music, I make pictures in my mind; and when I work with
glass, I hear music,” he says.
Artist Jamie Sherman has found a unique overlap between his music, photography
and glass blowing. One wonders what his next project may be.
