Casino news source: Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com
Glass sculptor's vision graces Island View
Graceful, translucent stems of golden glass rise from a garden of black, peaty-looking marble. They seem to wave in the breeze as they are captured in time, anchored by the two-tiered structure.
Barry Entner spent weeks working on the glass sculptures and two days installing the golden garden at Island View Casino, where visitors will see it for the first time Monday when the casino opens its expanded gaming floor.
Entner learned his craft just a stone's throw from the Coast. A psychology major at Tulane, he took a class in glass blowing his senior year. Five years later, he was selling small pieces - vases, bowls and such.
"It was 1987 or 1990 when the work starting getting notice. That's when I started imagining things and making them," he said.
The flower sculpture was a combination of a sketch from designer Sandy Barker and Entner's imagination.
"The designer had an idea and I had an idea and we made it work together," he said.
And even then, it was a work in progress.
"When it originally started , I had an oval, pod shape, and I thought the calla lily had a nice shape and it would have more movement that way," he said.
Entner actually created 50 glass sculptures, which have been transformed into a garden of 27 calla lilies.
He said he created about seven or eight pieces a day for 10 days. To get the graceful bend that makes them look as though they're waving in the breeze, Entner had to stand on a platform in his 1,000-foot studio, practically touching the ceiling as he held the hot glass over his head to bend it properly.
He worked with two assistants at his Rhinebeck, N.Y., studio. Then he fitted the individual pieces into the flowers, using a mock-up of the marble fountain to get the look he wanted.
Then they spent 12 hours packing three crates to ship the sculptures to Gulfport.
"One was so big, we couldn't get it in the casino," he said. "We had to uncrate it outside."
Entner won't be at Island View for Monday's opening, and says he will miss the Southern hospitality he's enjoyed since being back in the South.
"I love hearing the y'alls and the friendliness of the people," he said. "I miss the Southern hospitality. But I'm pleased that I was a part of this project." |
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