Fused: a journey from artists in the National Art Glass Collection 

• Stanislav Melis Untitled 1977, free-blown, fumed glass

Cultural Background
Both of my parents were born in the Slovak Republic

Place of Origin
Divina, Slovakia

Start of Migration Journey
Vienna, 1968

Place of Arrival in Australia
Sydney, 1968

First Home in Australia
Sydney, NSW

First job in Australia
My first job was as a steel worker in Port Kembla, Wollongong

Other Jobs in Australia
Tyre Factory, Bakery and a Car Factory
In 1971 I started a flameworking studio from my home in Sydney
In 1976 I began work at the Jam Factory, Centre for Craft and Design in Adelaide

Stanislav's story

I was born in Divina, Slovakia and at the age of fourteen I served an apprenticeship from 1961 to 1963, at the Glass Industry training school in Lednicke Rovne, Czechoslovakia. In 1963 I was selected to study at the SPSS in Novy Bor where they specialised in the artistic processing of hand blown glass, I stayed there until 1967.
The invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Russian forces led to my decision to immigrate to Australia.
In 1968, when I arrived in Australia, there was very little that was known about the art of hot glass blowing. Up until I began working at The Jam Factory, Centre for Craft and Design in Adelaide I had little involvement with glass apart from my own flameworking studio at my home in Sydney that I began in 1971. During those early years I had a job working as a steel worker at BHP in Woollongong this is when I heard of glassmaker Richard Clements at the Glass Centre in The Rocks. I also worked in a tyre factory, bakery and car factory; at that stage I was only able to make glass in my spare time after working at the tyre factory during the day.
After meeting Peter Docherty in his studio at Newport I also met Goron Warff, a Swedish designer who lived locally and had a shop called Glory Hole. I sold some of my glass from Gorons shop and he got to know my work and said that I should go to the Jam Factory. Goron wrote a letter to Don Dunstan, the Premier of SA at that time. I was finally contacted by Sam Herman, Head of the Glass Studios, who made an appointment and asked me to go there.
In 1976 I started at The Jam Factory workshops, responsible for production and training in the Glass studios under the direction of Sam. I also produced the art glass for Sam, he was part of the team and I used the skills that I bought with me. This was not unusual for me because this was my training from Czechoslovakia. After about six months they offered me a job and two years later in 1978 I became the Head of the Glass Studios and stayed there for five years.
In 1980 I was approached by the South Australian School of Art, they asked me what I thought about doing some teaching because they wanted to set things up. During our many discussions I gave my opinions about how it should be set up and when Stephen Skilitzi started the course I became a part-time teacher. My focus with the trainees both at the Jam Factory and the University was to achieve high skill levels and to develop works that were well designed. During this time I was also the Artistic Consultant for Glass Decoration and Training at Phillips Lighting Industries. And then in 1983 I established Novart Glass with Pavel Tomecko also from Slovakia who worked with optical crystal. We produced free-flowing blown forms and architectural glass making substantial commissions for a number of Australian companies and VIP gifts for the Australian Federal Government.
Through my career I have had many solo exhibitions and group shows both locally and internationally including Crafts Conex in 1981, Bangkok, and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Japan.
I am currently the Artist in Residence at Peppertown Glassworks in Virginia Queensland, which is where I live. For the last couple of years I have also undertaken research and development on behalf of Private Equity in South Australia.
Those first years I was struggling with the language, Australia's landscape and people impressed me. I travelled from Sydney to Cairns and I lived in a car for one year.