Paul J. Stankard: Flower & Flame
Director: Daniel R. Collins
Jersey Feature - Documentary
Human Interest |
USA |
70 min
English
View trailer
An artist inspired by his rural childhood memories captures nature’s exquisite beauty in molten glass, battling dyslexia and defying critics on his way to international fame.
This stunning new documentary from award-winning filmmaker Daniel R. Collins paints an intimate portrait of New Jersey-based glass artist Paul Stankard, exploring his work, his wit, and his wisdom.
As a boy, he wanders the New England woods, inspired by the beauty that surrounds him. Fascinated by the dew on the Lady Slipper Orchid, the honeybees dancing among the daisies, and lowbush blueberries surrounding the summer marshes. He struggles through school with undiagnosed dyslexia, desperate to please his parents, and searching for life’s meaning. Then, suddenly, he discovers it: his path, his profession, his purpose.
Today, Paul Stankard is an internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement. He is considered a living master in the art of the medium, and his work is represented in more than 70 museums around the world.
Preceded by Short Film/s:
Rat Race and
Human-Quartz Sand Communication Models and
A Texas Mermaid Movie and
Oh, Johnny! and
The Lost Park
PAUL J. STANKARD: FLOWER & FLAME w/Short Films
Basie Center Cinemashas passed
PAUL J. STANKARD: FLOWER & FLAME w/Short Films
Basie Center Cinemas
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Director’s bio:
Daniel R. Collins has spent more than 20 years directing award-winning documentary films that examine the untold stories of innovative artists, unsung activists, and underground subcultures. He has strong roots in the glass-art community, producing work that focuses on both the American Studio Glass Movement and the often-misunderstood borosilicate pipe movement.
His work has won many awards, including a Mid-Atlantic regional EMMY Award in 2003 for Outstanding Cultural Documentary. Dan is a published poet, musician, and faculty member at the traditional-arts nonprofit organization Common Ground on the Hill (McDaniel College, Westminster, MD). He is the co-founder of the Common Ground Veterans Initiative, a program that promotes healing through the arts for combat veterans.
Paul Stankard’s contributions to the American Studio Glass Movement are widely known. His achievements and accolades are well documented. As he continues to innovate, create new “illusions”, and deliver some of his most monumental artwork to the world, he turns his lens toward Paul as a man: a father, a teacher, and a poet, as well as a celebrated glass artist. As Paul celebrates his 80th birthday, what will his legacy be? How will his work be received by new generations of glass collectors, artists, and historians? What, in the end, matters most to this unique soul, who so many look up to and love?
I have had the great honor of capturing Paul in all his authentic charm – his artistic grace, his quintessential wit and sometimes uncouth humor, his celebrations and frustrations, and his existential human condition. This film is an impressionistic ode to his life’s journey, featuring intimate interviews with friends, and fellow artists. It showcases stunning scenery of Paul’s artwork, and archival imagery of his journey from a child in New England to a celebrated artist with international acclaim. More importantly, it gives this great American artist an opportunity to pass on his wisdom, and celebrate a life well lived.