Stephanie Trenchard’s multi-disciplinary creative process includes painting and poetry along with cast glass. With a focus on biographical stories of how women artists have navigated careers and partnerships, motherhood and making a living while still focusing on their creative practice, the work also discusses the price the art has to pay in this grand juggling act. The artist prioritizes the actual experience of the work, making and seeing it, over the classification of genre or ownership of an idea. 

Says Trenchard: “I create my own visual vocabulary in storytelling. Using these totems, I tell stories about the artistic experience and the ensuing personal relationships usually based on true stories of artists from history. The subject of these narratives is often revealed in the title of the piece, but it is not necessary that the viewer be familiar with the subject in order to understand the concept because the metaphors are universal to the human condition.” Her work also involves using art as a way to communicate local activism as seen in her project About Sturgeon Bay.

Born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1962, Trenchard earned her BFA in painting from Illinois State University in 1984. Subsequently, she and glass artist husband Jeremy Popelka relocated to San Francisco, California, where Trenchard designed textile patterns, licensed and sold under a private label. Upon returning to Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin in 1997, the couple built a hot shop and gallery that they share to this day. They assist each other with work as well as teaching projects, such as their recent classes in Thailand.

As she assisted Popelka, Trenchard began to see glass casting as a means of translating textile patterns and other imagery to glass. The discovery of Paradise Paints allowed her to combine painting skills with glass art in the development of her award-winning body of work.

Trenchard has developed a unique method of creating art using glass combined with paint. She first creates fully realized figures or objects in clear glass, which are then painted with high-fire enamels that are mixed and blended just as with oil or acrylic paints. Next, these three-dimensional objects or figures are submerged into molten glass encased in cubes and rectangles of clear sand cast glass. Each cube or rectangle is created so that they can be fitted tightly next to one another or on top, making a totem like structure. Coldworking is required to achieve the perfect fit.

She states: “I have been following my own interests and curiosities concerning how these women have navigated their careers and artistic practices. I represent these ideas in glass through the details that speak to me, particularly the ephemera of material culture, furniture and clothing that encapsulate their era and class. I also rely on posture and facial expression to reveal the nature of the subject as I intuit it.”

In addition to teaching in her studio, Trenchard has taught workshops at Pratt Fine Art Center, University of Wisconsin, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass and others. She was a lecturer at the Glass Art Society Conference, Murano, Italy, and established the first hot glass school in Southeast Asia, at Bangkok Glass, Thailand. Recent exhibitions include: Beyond Giving, Inspiring Change, Singapore Art Week, Singapore; Matriarchs of Mastery, Habatat Gallery, Detroit, Michigan; A Creative Place, Trout Museum, Wisconsin; and Beyond the Ceiling – Women of Studio Glass, Sarasota, Florida, Habatat Invitational, Michigan. Awards include Trenchard’s 2025 Featured Poet award, presented by After Hours Journal, Chicago; 2023, 2024 Prize Winner at Habatat International Exhibition; and the 2020 AACG Wisconsin Artist Series at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass.

Says Trenchard: “Telling stories is what cultures do to understand the history and identities of the people. The small details in my work open up a conversation about the personal experiences of women in the arts as interpreted through history.”

Jane Bruce is an independent artist and educator based in New York City. She teaches and exhibits internationally and her dual careers of artist and maker have taken her around the world, from Europe to the USA, to Australia and back again. Bruce works in a range of techniques to create objects and mini installations, primarily through the processes of kiln forming, blowing and coldworking glass.

Born in England, Bruce received a Master of Arts from the Royal College of Art, London, and undertook further postgraduate study at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred. She has been the recipient of a range of fellowships, visiting artist awards and grants, including fellowships from the Creative Glass Center of America and the New York Foundation for the Arts; artist-in-residence at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass, visiting artist at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, and a New Work Grant from the Australia Council. Exhibiting internationally, her work can be found in many major museum collections worldwide, including those of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; European Museum of Modern Glass (Europaisches Museum fur Modernes Glas, Kunstsammlunger der Veste Coburg) Germany; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; and The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.

As an educator, Bruce served as senior lecturer in the Glass Workshop of  the Australian National University Canberra School of Art (1994 - 2001) and was Head of Workshop (2001-2003). She was artistic and technical director for Northlands Creative Glass, Caithness, Scotland (2003-2007) and continues to organize annual symposiums there for British and international artists and students. She has also taught workshops in the US at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York, Bullseye Glass Co., in Portland, Oregon, and Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington.

Bruce’s Vase, Bottle, Bowl series furthered the artist’s exploration of the vessel, which is deeply rooted in the history of the decorative or applied arts. Interested in the essential object, she reduces the vessel to its central and fundamental parts and attributes. She says: “If I were to pick an adjective to describe this work, it might be formal. As well as abstracting the vessel and presenting its elemental nature, it is also important as to how composition, color, light, proportion, and the juxtaposition of positive and negative space work within the object, and how a group of objects form a resolved statement.”

On the other hand, Bruce’s Houseseries explored a more personal concern related to landscape and loss in a particular place. In what became known as The Clearances, (1760-1830), the Highlands of Scotland were emptied and became a wilderness. Even today, with many ruined crofts still dotting the Caithness landscape, there continues to be a strong sense of loss and desolation in that place. “Inspired by this history and what remains, the current house forms seek to evoke thoughts of loss, the past and what might have been.”

Bruce is working on two related series currently categorized as Indefinite Objectsand Deep Space Panels, both addressing deep and never-ending space. As the viewer moves around the works they seem to change and reconfigure as the viewer’s viewpoint changes. These new series will be on view in an exhibition titled Constructs: The Thing About Space Is That It Just Keeps Going, at River House Arts, Toledo, Ohio, from October 4 – November 16, 2019. Although these new works contain very little glass, and the Deep Space panels contain none at all, they are about space and light, which Bruce considers to be inherent qualities of glass.

From November 5 through December 10, 2019, Bruce will teach her workshop, Color, Light, Glass: An Introduction to Kilnformed Glass at UrbanGlass. In June 2020, the artist will travel to North Lands Creative Glass for an international artist symposium that will look at issues of home and place and which she founded and has coordinated since 2010.

Combining technical skill with a strong aesthetic, flameworking pioneer Sally Prasch is known for her work that places other-worldly figures in glowing globes filled with rare gasses. She has also constructed portraits from broken shards of glass and is well known for her goblets made with coiled stems that allow them to bounce when handled. Her latest work incorporates cast bronze with glass.

But perhaps Prasch’s greatest fulfillment has come from teaching. She has taught flameworking workshops at UrbanGlass, Brooklyn; the famous Niijima Glass School, Japan; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA; Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC; Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Grove Gas & Light Co, University of CA, San Diego, CA; Ingalena Klenell’s Studio, Sweden, and many more.

States Prasch: “Teaching has always been a part of my life. My parents were teachers, and both my brother and sister have also been teachers. Lloyd Moore, my first teacher, found it very important not to have any secrets but to share your knowledge with others – share your love of glass and making things. He taught thousands of people, and I continue in his tradition. Lloyd started me teaching at age 15. It was scary for me to teach adults, but made me practice things over and over again. We started people on soft glass tubing and then worked them up to borosilicate.” 

Prasch began her career at age 13 with Moore working as a part-time apprentice at the University of Nebraska and then worked as a glassblowing instructor for the City of Lincoln Recreation Department. Later on, she took workshops from some of the best glassblowers of the time including William Bernstein, Ray Schultz, and Lino Tagliapietra. She attended the University of Kansas from 1977 to 1980 and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art in Glass and Ceramics. 

After college, Prasch started her glass art business that is still active today. She soon began to receive recognition for her artistic work and was selected for the Corning Museum of Glass’ New Glass Review in 1993. The artist has been attending Glass Art Society (GAS) Conferences since 1978 and continues to participate by giving demonstrations and lec-moes, serving on the GAS Advisory Board and working with the organization’s History Committee. In 1985, Prasch received her Certificate in Scientific Glass Technology from Salem Community College (SCC), Carneys Point, New Jersey. Soon afterwards, she obtained a position with AT&T doing large quartz work for the semiconductor industry.

Continuing with her studies, Prasch earned her degree in Applied Science from SCC in 1986. Later that year she got a job as a scientific glassblower and glass instructor at the University of Massachusetts. She has worked as a scientific glassblower at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass Amherst), Syracuse University, and the University of Vermont, Burlington. 

Currently, Prasch is the scientific glassblower and also teaches Scientific Glassblowing and the Properties of Glass to graduate students in Chemistry, Art and Physics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is a member of the American Scientific Glassblowers Society (ASGS) and the director of the Northeast section. Her ASGS experience includes participating in seminars on such subjects like vacuum technology, quartz technology, and glass sealing. She has instructed a neon class with David Wilson, presented a paper on her work with the discovery of the gravitational wave, and co-chaired symposiums. 

In 2025, Prasch will exhibit her work in Glass Lifeforms at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, opening February 7 and running through April 20. Her work will also be on view in Glasstastic at the Brattleboro Art Museum, Brattleboro, VT, March 22 through November 1. The artist will teach at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA, from July 28 – August 1. After curating the annual glass exhibit at Leverett Crafts and Arts in Leverett, MA for the month of November, Prasch will have a one-week fall residency with George Kennard at SCC, as well as a residency at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

In 2026, the Herter main gallery at UMass Amherst will host a solo exhibit of Prasch’s work from January 29 through May 8. The opening will take place Friday, April 24, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. with an artist talk from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Her work will also be on display at the Science Library and at the Durfee Conservatory at UMass during the show. 

As Prasch develops new work, including pieces for Laura Donefer’s 2026 Glass Fashion Show to be held at GAS, she continues to teach and fabricate scientific glassware at UMass. She says: “I have taught on average 25 students a month for my entire career, only taking a break during the pandemic. Obviously, teaching is a part of me, and I gain so much. It is not about teaching, not about glass, not about notoriety, not about pay – it is about the energy between people. It is about trust.” 

UPCOMING EVENT LINKS

Spring and Fall semester classes and weekend workshops at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst
https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/scientific-glassblowing-laboratory

February 7 – April 20, 2025 – Glass Lifeforms Exhibit, Pittsburgh Glass Center
https://www.pittsburghglasscenter.org/event/exhibition-lifeforms/

March 22 – November 1, 2025 – Glasstastic, Brattleboro Art Museum, Brattleboro VT
https://www.brattleboromuseum.org/2024/09/06/glasstastic-2025/

March 21 – 23, 2025 – International Flameworking Conference, Salem Community College, Carneys Point, NJ
https://www.salemcc.edu/glass/international-flameworking-conference

April 5, 2025 – Northeast American Scientific Glassblowers Section Meeting, Cornell University
https://northeast.asgs-glass.org/

May 14 – 17, 2025 –Glass Art Society Conference
https://www.glassart.org/conference/texas-2025/

July 28 – August 1, 2025 – Teaching at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh PA
https://canvas.pittsburghglasscenter.org/classes/1632

Fall, 2025 – one week residency with George Kennard at Salem Community College, Carneys Point, NJ
https://www.salemcc.edu/glass

Fall, 2025 – one week residency at the University of Massachusetts
https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/scientific-glassblowing-laboratory

January 29 – May 8, 2026 – Exhibit at the Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Opening April 24, 5 – 7 p.m. with artist talk 6:00 – 6:30pm
https://www.umass.edu/herterartgallery/herter-art-gallery

January 29 – May 8, 2026 Exhibit at the Science and Engineering Library and the Durfee Conservatory
https://www.library.umass.edu/sel/
https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/research/greenhouses/durfee-conservatory

Martin Blank’s early figurative work swiftly solidified his place as a premier figurative sculptor working in glass. The artist expanded his contributions to the contemporary glass scene in 2001 when he introduced his sensual and fluid abstract landscapes. An innovator with an intense drive to create and to push his material, Blank’s influences include glass masters Pino Signoretto and William Morris and artforms as diverse as origami and opera.

Blank states: “My work explores what I call visual mirroring. It deals with abstract forms and their spatial relationships. Mirroring is the way two juxtaposed objects relate to one another. There is a dialogue that is created between these forms. A tenuous and tactile presence is created. It is the resonating voice. Each shape relates to its adjacent partner. In this intimate stage, each element has the ability to affect and echo the other. There is a moment when these objects reach their peak visual potency. This is the essence of what is revealed while I create.”

Blank emerged as one of North America’s premiere figurative sculptors with a style quintessentially his own, admiring the grace and flow of the human form since childhood. In 1984, the artist earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. That same year, he moved west to begin his professional career in Seattle, working at the center for studio glass and learning from the driving force behind it – Dale Chihuly. Blank brought his infectious enthusiasm and courageous desire to push the material to Chihuly’s team, all the while establishing his own contributions to the glass movement.

From his Lotus series to Deconstructed Blue and Adorn series, Blank’s sculpture can be found in international locations including the Millennium Museum in Beijing, China, the Shanghai Museum of Fine Art, Shanghai, China, and the American Embassy in Slovakia. The artist was among a group of America’s most renowned glass artists invited to make presentations to create public art for the World Trade Center park in New York City. His work is included in private collections and museums around the world to include the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, California; and the Cleveland Museum of Fine Art. 

In 2001, Blank created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “Access to Learning” Award for recipients in Finland, Argentina and Guatemala. His own honors include: the Award of Excellence for the International Glass Invitational, Habatat Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan, 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016; Artists Grants, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, 1986 and 1990; and artist residencies at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, 2003, 2007. His public abstract landscapes include: Current at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; Repose in Amber at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana; Fluent Steps at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington; and Steam Portrait at 99 Church Street, New York, New York. These public sculptures reveal nature’s inherent structure and celebrate the complementary relationship of natural and figurative objects in space. 

Blank recently completed a new installation at Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida, titled If a River Could Tell a Story, an installation and ecosystem of light, reflection, form and motion, on view through 2022. The artist was commissioned to collaborate on a work of art for Imagine Museum with founder, Trish Duggan. The fluidity of motion contained in the work invites one on the journey of the river of self-discovery. Every year, Imagine Museum selects its Artist of the Year, a contemporary artist whose art fosters the appreciation of the artistic and expressive nature of glass. For 2022, Blank was chosen, as he is one of the premier figurative sculptors across the globe whose work distinctively expresses motion, sensuality, and the powerful resonance of human landscapes.

Since the 1990s, as an independent artist in Seattle, Blank has produced art and commissions for contemporary collectors, museums and gallery exhibitions. Whether it is a collection of flower blossoms, a monumental abstract installation, or a figurative sculpture, his hot sculpted glass is made with a combination of technical exactitude and creative exuberance. His working relationship with glass is an intimate one, as he wears heat protective clothing, gets very close, and employs his entire body while molding the molten material. Intuitive and deliberate, he is nonetheless open to enhancing his visual vocabulary with the happy accidents of glasswork.

Blank states: “It always intrigues me when the forms reveal a negative space that is as vital and potent as the actual objects. Great sculpture is like music, all you have to do is feel it.”

Alicia Lomné: Reinventing Pâte de Verre

A process that involves creating a model, pouring a mould, and carefully applying very thin layers of powdered glass within that mould, pâte de verre has historically been associated with the matt/frosted, translucent vessel forms of Lalique and Daum. Enter Alicia Lomné, who has not simply redefined the techniques, but pioneered the acceptance of radical new non-traditional forms created with paste of glass. Her glorious plant/ underwater creature hybrids are a wonder to behold with their rounded bellies, spikey spines, and stunning color gradations and values.  

Born on the island of Corsica, France, to two working artists, Lomné was exposed to life as a maker from the beginning. Her mother, well-known glass artist KéKé Cribbs, introduced her to the glass community at large and gifted her with the Pilchuck workshop where she fell in love with glass casting. Lomné studied the techniques under the tutelage of Clifford Rainey, Daniel Clayman, Jeanne Ferraro, and at The California College of Arts and Crafts. 

Having recently relocated from Whidbey Island to Tacoma, Washington, Lomné has spent the last 21 years exploring and developing her own unique style of pâte de verre. She has exhibited her work nationally and participated in shows at The Kentucky Museum of Art and Design, The Museum of American Glass, Figgie Art Museum, National Liberty Museum, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, and The Muskegon Museum of Art. 

For the last 17 years, Lomné has invested more of her time in teaching, enthusiastically sharing her knowledge of pâte de verre with others at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, The Corning Musuem of Glass, Bullseye Glass resource centers across the country, as well as in Denmark, Switzerland, Australia, England, and Germany. Though she never thought of herself as an educator, sharing knowledge has resulted in a genuine love and an enthusiasm for teaching which she describes as one of best experiences of her life. One of a few artists who have inspired a resurgence in pâte de verre, Lomné has also released four educational videos, the first with Bullseye Glass Co. and three others with AAE Glass. https://www.aaeglass.com/video-tutorial-exploring-pate-de-verre-w-alicia-lomne-1.html?noforce=1

https://www.aaeglass.com/video-tutorial-exploring-pate-de-verre-w-alicia-lomne-1.html?amp=1

Currently on a self-imposed hiatus, Lomné takes a much-needed break from teaching, traveling, and juggling many jobs. She says: “I need a reboot. Time to explore and expand my own techniques, time to rethink how to function as an artist in this world, time to build a new website and diversify myself.” Future goals include creating a line of greeting cards and fleshing out book ideas. In 2020, Lomné’s work will be featured in a new book about pâte de verre by Max Stewart and Tone Ørvik. And of course, explorations of new work to push the technical and aesthetic limits of pâte de verre continue.

“The pieces I made in the Alluvial series, which I will still be working on now, are about the flow of water, sedimentary layers, a reflection and recording of time. So much of what I do is wrapped up in my process. There is a love and calm in the making that I find nowhere else in my life. Each line laid is a loving meditation and a small record of my time past. Time is, I believe, the only thing we really have in life.” 

Current work by Jeremy Sinkus includes his Contemporary Art Nodules, inspired by collecting and focusing on the top 10 attributes that the artist and viewers found intriguing about glass objects. Simultaneously ancient and from the future, his Nodules combine texture and form with transparent windows that allow the viewer to explore unknown inner worlds. A former mineral collector and digger, Sinkus put down his chisel and picked up a torch when he realized his fondness for minerals and natural history was all encompassed in glass. 

Sinkus says: “Glass is geological. The material bit me hard in the late ‘90s and opened a future of infinite expression for my fascinations of the subterranean world. I constantly dream about finding objects beneath the surface of either the sea or the earth – the feeling of finding something exceptional and spirit engaging. Maybe that is what spending all this time in the studio is? Digging, searching, revealing important concepts from deep inside myself. Intentional forms should be both something to recognize and something to ponder or be awakened by.”

Sinkus now works out of a 2400-square-foot studio in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. It is entirely powered by a waterfall on the nearby Deerfield River and functions as a green energy studio. He uses flameworking, metal fuming/deposition, cold working (lapidary), welding, woodworking, laminating and casting techniques to manipulate the glass daily. 

“Minerals have always captivated me with their color, clarity, and infinite geometric permutations. Of all the images, objects and art I have seen, still it is these natural crystalline forms that strike me. They express something enormous that is otherwise almost impossible to voice. Akin to the felt language underlying a resonant piece of art, minerals speak precisely of their making. They require no interpretation. I am fascinated by the sheer fact of their existence and circumstantial nature of their variety. Human participation was absent but nonetheless, I wanted to be part of it.”

The opportunity to experiment with hot glass came in 1998 at a studio in central Massachusetts. The roaring furnaces, smell of burning bees wax and graceful movements impacted Sinkus. He admired the team aspect of glass blowing but needed a more independent approach to satisfy his ambition. In 1998, he began flameworking borosilicate glass as an obtainable approach to working glass on his own. He studied with Milon Townsend, Sally Prasch and Emilio Santini as he developed a body of work inspired by scuba diving, ocean conservation and ocean arts and evolved into a professional working artist.

In 2015, Sinkus began his journey in cast glass, studying with Daniel Clayman. This allowed him to apply the techniques necessary to make more authentic and precise mineral designs and increase the scale of his designs. The use of familiar tools and techniques for working stone from his gem cutting years connected him to glass sculpting. 

Sinkus says: “These tools allow me to venture into the deep process and experience of what made the mineral world so appealing to me creatively. Cast glass has taught me patience and channels a version of a 100,000,000 year geological process. This body of work gives me human participation in a form that would otherwise only be a geological event. My geological designs have reconnected me to the gem and mineral world. Though realistic, they are seen as art. In the art world they are seen as contemporary.”

In 2025, Sinkus will have an exhibit of his recent works at the Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, Massachusetts, and launch his new designs at a couple of U.S. galleries. He’s also designing a class that combines casting, flameworking, coldworking, surfacing and adhesives in the creation of glass art sculpture.

Daniel S. Coyle: When Functional Becomes Sentimental

Menacing monkeys. Peeled bananas. Bad-tempered bears. Uniquely original Munnies. Daniel S. Coyle’s whimsical, toy-inspired aesthetic in concert with mind-blowing skills on the torch have earned the artist a hefty 116K following on Instagram. The artist recently celebrated 10 years of being a full-time pipe maker with an exhibition at Ziggy’s in Huntington Beach, California. Decade Arcadia featured new work, collabs and early pieces from Coyle’s personal collection.

He says: “Often my work is playful in nature and can remind you of toys. I guess I like to bring the viewer (or user) back to their childhood and also remind them to not take life so seriously. Why pipes? Making an object into a pipe will allow someone to bond with that object. They will have experiences with it, develop a relationship with it, and in time it will become more than a piece in their collection—it will become sentimental.” 

Coyle began blowing glass in 2003 while taking a workshop with artist Jerry Kelly. As his interest in the craft developed, he pursued education in glass working techniques at Salem Community College, the only school in the US with a program dedicated to scientific glassblowing. Graduating in 2006, the artist began his career as a laboratory glassblower for a chemical company, leaving after five years to pursue his artistic vision in glass pipes. Coyle’s work has been displayed in galleries around the world, and has been seen in print and web publications including Vice, Huffington Post, NY Times, and in the books This Is A Pipe and his self-published Munny Project book. Now residing in Western Massachusetts, he works alongside some of the state’s top pipe makers.

In March 2021, Coyle participated in a virtual seminar sponsored by Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey. Pipe Art: Understudied Glass considered the glass pipe as a fluid work of art fundamental to the art history of glass. Sometimes demoted by law or public opinion to the category of “paraphernalia,” the artwork of the pipe nonetheless defies its sometimes categorization as sub-sculpture. Celebrated artists Kim Thomas and Coyle, whose works were featured in the accompanying exhibition, and Luken Sheafe, whose artist name is SALT, presented their pipes. Joined by Susie J. Silbert, curator at the Corning Museum of Glass, the artists further contextualized their work within the field of pipe-making. 

Post Covid, 2021 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Coyle, including a residence at Pilchuck in July. In September, you’ll find the artist at Molten Art Classic, Southern California’s premiere glass flameworking event. Team leader, Adam Whobrey, also known as Hoobs, handpicks some of the top borosilicate glass artists in the world to create an exquisite one-of-a-kind piece together at Classic 33 Studios in Huntington Beach. It is the largest collaborative art event to unify top borosilicate glass artists from around the world, all adding their respective influences and unique flair to the collective piece. 

Artist, pioneer, and mentor, Peter Layton is one of the founding fathers of British Studio Glass. He discovered the art form while teaching ceramics in the US in the mid-1960s and has played a major part in elevating glass from an industrial medium to a highly collectable art form. Most importantly, he gave it a home in the UK.

This month, London Glassblowing presents Glass Heaven, an exhibition uniting two exceptional glass artists: Layton and Tim Rawlinson. The show opened August 2 and will run through September 1, 2024. Representing the next generation of glass talent, Rawlinson combines innovative approach and vibrant compositions to offer a fresh perspective, challenging conventional boundaries and resonating with today’s artistic landscape. Layton, a veteran in the glass world, has captivated audiences for decades with his bold, expressive works. His 50-year journey from the studio’s beginnings on the Thames to international acclaim highlights his role in elevating glass art. 

Born in Prague in 1937, Layton is one of Europe’s pre-eminent glass designers. He has directly influenced several of his country’s leading glassmakers and inspired many more. Arriving in England in 1939, there he began his education. While at grammar school, he met another boy who had also won the attention of his art teacher – his name was David Hockney. Layton attended Bradford Art College, then went to London’s Central School of Art and Design, to specialize in ceramics, where he was taught by several of the most respected potters of the time. 

On graduating, Layton was offered a teaching job in Iowa University’s Ceramics Department. Once in the US, in 1966, he participated in one of the first experimental glass workshops with Harvey Littleton and was bewitched by the immediacy and spontaneity of hot glass. He went on to expand his connections and friendships on this side of the pond to include participating in a Los Angeles exhibition with Marvin Lipofsky, a San Francisco show with pop artist Mel Ramos, and an exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago with Viola Frey.

Back in Britain, in 1969 Layton helped Sam Herman build the first furnace at the Glasshouse in Covent Garden, and he subsequently established his own small glass studio at Morar in the Highlands of Scotland, a Glass Department at Hornsey College of Art (Middlesex University) and, in 1976, the London Glassblowing Workshop in an old towage works on the Thames at Rotherhithe. In 2009 Layton’s London Glassblowing Studio and Gallery moved to much larger premises in Bermondsey. Since its opening, London Glassblowing has nurtured and produced some of the world’s leading glass artists, including (most recently) Elliot Walker of Netflix Blown Away fame.

Layton’s colorful and painterly works of glass art can be found in numerous public and private collections, both at home and abroad, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. He has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford for his contribution to arts and crafts in Britain. Layton is also the founder of the Contemporary Glass Society, which is Britain’s foremost organization supporting and championing the work of glass artists, both established and new. A vigorous proponent of glassblowing as an art form, Layton has authored several books, become an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, an Honorary life member of the Contemporary Glass Society as well as been given the Freedom of the City of London. 

Layton has always taken inspiration from his environment, natural or manmade: a stone wall on a snowy day, the London skyline, or works by great painters. From a mere detail, a flash of a Klimt orange or a slick of oil on the Thames, he creates painterly works with a masterly use of color. The artist is inspired by whatever is around him. For example, during the winter of 2009, the heavy snow turned his long commute by train into an intriguing black and white world full of movement and texture, shaping his recent Glacier series. He has also created a number of conceptual pieces that reflect his specific concerns with issues such as ecology, religion and racial conflict.

Layton says: “A fellow artist recently described a piece that I had made for her by saying, ‘…it’s as though it holds all my travels in light.’ Lovely compliments like that spur me on. You never, ever create the perfect piece of glass and there are always new ideas, techniques and challenges to master. Glass is such an underrated medium – there is a fluidity and uncertainty about it that I choose to embrace rather than overcome. Every piece is an adventure.” 

From October 8 – 13, 2024, PAD London returns to the iconic Berkeley Square in Mayfair, where London Glassblowing will be showcasing an extraordinary selection of work from their talented makers alongside designers and galleries from over 20 countries worldwide. To coincide with PAD and Le Verre, London Glassblowing is offering a series of exclusive events, providing a unique opportunity to explore and learn more about the captivating medium of glass.

For more information visit

https://londonglassblowing.co.uk/blogs/exhibitions/pad-london

Viewing the hot sculpted work of Prague’s Martin Janecký inspires a sensation akin to gazing upon precious and antique art treasures from around the globe. His glass busts in white or black glass remind us that the human form speaks volumes about beauty, history, hope and art in a way that no other object could.

Born in the Czech Republic in 1980, Janecký began working with glass at the age of 13 at his father’s factory. His secondary school training at Novy Bor concentrated on the creation of glass art and introduced him to artists and designers from around the world that hired him to execute their ideas. In 2003, the young artist made his first trip to the United States where he studied at the Pilchuck Glass School under Richard Royal and William Morris. Among Janecký’s most recognized strengths was his mastering of blowing and sculpting “inside the bubble,” the technique used in the creation of his startling original works.

Before long, Janecký became a highly sought teacher in his field. He has taught, demonstrated and exhibited in Europe, America, Australia, Africa and Asia, to include the Corning Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, Chrysler Museum of Art, UrbanGlass, the Rietveld Academy in Holland, Bornholm Design School in Denmark, the Australian National University in Canberra, and the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art in Japan, among many.

Following a 2013 visit to Mexico, Janecký embarked on an exploration of the human skull in a tribute to Dia de Muertos, an outgrowth of his passion for the culture and people of Mexico. He says: “The willingness of the Mexican people to share this occasion with an outsider like me, someone from a totally different environment, was a humbling experience that inspired me to want to create a body of work that honors and celebrates this amazing event. My plan was to recreate iconic examples of this culture in glass, which had never been done on this scale. I did so with humility and a huge respect for Mexico’s history and culture.”

Janecký’s homeland,The Czech Republic, is rightfully proud of its own globally recognized tradition of glassmaking. Writes Dr. Petr Nový, Head Curator, Museum of Glass Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic:

“Martin Janecký’s expressive realism is somewhat alien to the Czech art scene, meaning it isn’t always met with a clear sense of comprehension. It is as if non-abstract works should primarily be viewed as handicraft instead of art. But in Janecký’s case, superb handicraft serves as a springboard for this unique artist to be able to capture emotions in his glass works. And such power is something we find only very rarely in the contemporary world of studio glass art. …

“Janecký has earned a rightful place among the greatest not just Czech, but also global, stars of the glass art scene. His original works are generating great enthusiasm among galleries and collectors, including from global celebrities. His successes are not just the result of talent, creativity, and artistic boldness, but chiefly a considerable amount of hard work. Expertise in the field of glass art requires constant application and searching out new limits – and that is only possible with an all-encompassing day-to-day dedication. Although Janecký’s confidence as an artist has undoubtedly grown, he nonetheless remains humble with regards to his chosen material, knowing there is still so much to discover. And this approach is evidently one of the key reasons why Martin Janecký’s glass works are so remarkably distinct.”

Inspired by an abiding passion for functional glass, Nick Deviley founded Glassroots Art Show in 2009 as a way to legitimize glass pipes as an art form while adding to his ever-growing collection. Glassroots has become a fixture in the industry as a multi-faceted event bringing together suppliers, toolmakers, high-end artists, production blowers, distribution companies, galleries, and head shops. After celebrating a decade in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2019 Glassroots is moving to Asheville, North Carolina, where the trade show will be held October 7 through 9.

An entrepreneur and self-made businessman since the age of 18, Deviley, now 37, began buying and selling glass pipes as a side hustle. His vast collection has recently found a home at his The Glassroots Gallery in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. From his farmstead, where he resides with his wife, five children, and flock of chickens, Deviley talks with Glass Artabout his abiding love of cannabis community and culture, his expanding glass collection, and Glassroots’ new home.

Born in Mirano, Italy, Emilio Santini comes from a family with centuries of tradition in glass. With skills in the areas of lampworking, glassblowing, casting and diamond point engraving, he has taught primarily torchworking at many of the major glass schools in the US including Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, Penland School of Craft, Bakersville, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh Glass Center, as well as at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. Currently residing in Blacksburg, Virginia, Santini is dedicating more time to his first love – writing poetry and fiction, with a particular focus on the glass world, past and present.

The product of over 500 years of glassblowing tradition, Santini’s father was his first teacher. At the age of 11, Emilio was sent to work in Cenedese glass factory during the three-month summer break from school. His uncle, Giacinto Cadamuro, was his teacher during that year. For the next five years, the young Santini went back to work for three months in the same glass factory but with different masters, including “Petà” and “Mamaracio”. At 17, Emilio’s father started teaching him lampworking, an activity that became the primary focus of his career as a glass educator.  

Santini spent nearly 10 years refining his skills before — after four summers of persistent courtship during her studies in Venice — he married Theresa Johansson and moved to her family home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Without the close family and workshop connections that helped him so much in Murano, Santini struggled to sell his work. He failed to grasp the much more demanding and decentralized nature of the sprawling American art glass market, and the couple returned to Murano.

In 1988, Santini moved with his wife to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he established a small lampworking studio. He made his third and final attempt to immigrate to the US when his wife was hired at William and Mary. During this period, the artist received a call from Peninsula Glass Guild co-founder Ali Rogan, who tracked him down after stumbling across one of his impressive works in a small York County craft shop. With her encouragement, Santini entered the Guild’s annual juried show, where he not only won top prize, but so impressed the juror — a nationally prominent Washington, D.C.-area gallery owner — that she bought his piece and gave him a solo show.

Also during this time, Santini received his first invitation to conduct a demonstration before an audience of collectors, gallery owners and other glass artists at Penland School of Craft. That’s when he knocked on the door of internationally known Studio Glass pioneer, Harvey Littleton, who was so impressed with his unexpected guest from Murano that he invited him in for an eye-opening 3-hour conversation.

Santini says: “Up until then, I really had no idea of what to do with glass beside production and fine design. I didn’t know about making art objects.” 

Over the past few years, Santini has concentrated primarily on sculpture and creating pieces that incorporate cast, blown and lampworked elements, along with metal and stone. These represent a major shift in his work, though many of these pieces had their genesis as sketches or models made throughout his creative life. Most recently, the artist has turned his focus to the written word, both prose and poetry, to which he dedicates considerable time and energy.

Since venturing out on his own 34 years ago, Santini has combined his production and fine design work with one-of-kind art objects and sculpture to become widely recognized as one of the top lampworkers in the country. His work can be found in numerous private collections and museums such as the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; The Ca’ Pesaro Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy; the Sheffield Museum, England; the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; and many others. He’s blended his superlative technical expertise with his humor, imagination and friendliness to become a nationally known teacher at Virginia Commonwealth University as well as the workshop circuit.

What has been the secret to Santini’s success? He knows Venetian techniques so well, but instead of being secretive about them, he’s generously shared his talents with students, collectors and glass lovers around the globe. 

In a world of technological excess and social turmoil, one longs to return to the simple goodness of the earth and its bounty. Like a trip to the local farmer’s market, Jen Violette’s cornucopia of glass fruits and vegetables renews in the viewer a connection with the ground we walk upon and the faith that we remain part of a plan that makes life on earth sustainable.

A full-time glass and mixed media artist based in Wilmington, Vermont, Violette is known for her colorful, garden inspired glass sculptures that often incorporate metal and wood. Recreating plant structures with molten glass, the artist has mastered the use of glass powders to mimic the colors and textures found in nature. “Since the growing season is relatively short in Vermont, I enjoy gardening with molten glass to extend my growing season.”

A 27-year hot glass veteran, Violette received her BFA in Glass and Metal Sculpture from Alfred University School of Art & Design, Alfred, New York in 1994. She continued her glass art education through courses at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), Corning, New York; the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island; the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; and Penland School of Crafts, Bakersville, North Carolina. Her mentors and inspirations include hot glass royalty such as Lino Tagliapietra, William Morris, Martin Janecky, Dante Marioni, Richard Marquis, the late Pino Signoretto, Randy Walker, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, Jasen Johnsen, Stephen Dee Edwards, Fred Tschida, Walter Lieberman, and Brian Pike.

Violette’s work can be found in private collections worldwide and is represented by a number of fine art glass galleries including Schantz Galleries Contemporary Art in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; Vetri Gallery in Seattle, Washington; Raven Gallery in Aspen, Colorado; Sandra Ainsley Gallery in Toronto, Canada; and Montague Gallery in San Francisco, California. Her work can also be found at Duncan McClellan Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida, where from October 12–14, 2018, the artist will be featured along with glass artist Claire Kelly in a weekend event including glass demos by both artists.

Currently fabricating larger scale installations and glass sculpturesdirectly mounted to the wall, Violette’s aesthetic now includes forest floor imagery with fall leaves and branches. She moves in and out of the seasons, simultaneously creating a spring inspired installation containing fiddlehead ferns and glass trilliums, as well as an homage to summer with black-eyed Susans and sunflowers, and a wall piece featuring large-scale ferns installed at different angles.

Upon her return from the Glass Art Society conference in Murano, Italy, in May2018, Violette will participate in a Vermont Crafts Council Studio Tour held during Memorial Day weekend. During August 6–11 the artist will teach her first class ever, a Creative Glass Sculpting Techniques workshop, at the CMOG Studio.

Robert Mickelsen’s second act in glass not only pays homage to his early career in flameworking, but couldn’t have happened without it. The artist gracefully transitioned from sculptural to functional glass, promoting his artwork to an entirely new fan base and resulting in the most successful years of his career.

Born in 1951 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mickelsen apprenticed with a professional lampworker for two years in the mid ‘70s, then sold his own designs at outdoor craft fairs for 10 years. In 1987 he took a class from Paul Stankard that opened his eyes to the possibilities of his medium. 

Mickelsen stopped doing craft shows in 1989 and began marketing his work through fine galleries and exhibitions in high profile shows nationwide. His work can be found in many prominent collections including the Renwick Gallery of American Crafts at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning New York; and The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Ohio. 

Beginning in the mid 1990s, Mickelsen taught flameworking at major glass schools including the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood Washington; Penland School of Crafts, Bakersville, North Carolina; and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. He has published numerous technical and historical articles on flameworked glass and served for six years on the board of directors of the Glass Art Society as treasurer and vice-president.

June 19 - 23, 2017, Mickelsen will co teach with Jared Betty the first flameworking workshop at Pratt Fine Arts in Seattle, Washington, to include pipe making as part of the curriculum. From July 17 – 21, 2017 Mickelsen returns for his ninth year in a row to Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to teach the creation of organic forms made from bubbles of borosilicate glass. He also teaches private workshops at his home studio in Ocala, Florida. 

While their sculptural forms and assemblages evoke the sensuous curves of the feminine, Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles provide a narrative that embraces our common humanity. Drawing on inspiration from day-to-day life, travel, or studies of ancient and contemporary cultures, Pohlman and Knowles have blazed a trail for women working in hot glass through their successful and cutting edge artwork.

“From our earliest collaborative efforts we have explored the feminine fluidity, curvature, strength, and plasticity inherent in glass. The innate three-dimensionality of molten glass assists with our design visions, and we often see new forms emerging from the forms we are working on in the hot shop. These glimpses into the next possibility fuel our enthusiasm and the direction of our designs.”

The Pohlman Knowles collaboration spans two decades. As seekers, they have undertaken multiple international two-month journeys to developing nations absorbing religious beliefs, political histories, current affairs, architecture, social structure, and people’s personal stories. After lengthy incubation Pohlman and Knowles morph their experiences into sculptural stories to share what they have learned about healing, self-empowerment, and the power of the human spirit.

Pohlman and Knowles have been honored with numerous awards including Pratt Fine Arts Center’s Service in the Arts Award in 2011 and Service in Education Award in 2000. The artists received a Saxe Fellowship award from the Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, in 2009; a 2015 residency at Pilchuck Glass School, and residencies at Museum of Glass, Tacoma, 2014, 2007, and 2003; as well as Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center in 2004 and 1999. Their work can be found in the collections of the Museum of American Glass, the Museum of Glass, the National Liberty Museum, the Racine Art Museum, and Tacoma Art Museum, among many others.

On view now through November 4, 2017, at Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington, is the Pohlman Knowles exhibition Lodestar. Defined as a principle, interest, or person that serves as an inspiration or guide, Lodestar features an installation of signature compositions and works from the artists’ latest series integrating photographic images in blown glass. This process was inspired by the strength, grace, and beauty of the Himba women, who the artists briefly met in Northern Namibia.

“We believe in the Magnitude of the Multitude and what it represents, that collectively we can effect change and create something more beautiful together than separately. We wish to show a feeling of reverence and solidarity together as is expressed in our Multiple Homage series and power through Luna, our Wheel of Liberation. Prayer beads are used in many cultures throughout the world. They can be used as a meditation and remind us that we can hope for something better.”

On view at Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington, Making our Mark:  Art by Pratt Teaching Artists runs from November 9 – April 23, 2018. Pohlman and Knowles will be represented by Duane Reed Gallery at SOFA Chicago, November 2 through 5; and in 2018, opening in July, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Washington, will present Journey: 25 Years of Collaboration- A Mid-Career Survey of Works by Sabrina Knowles & Jenny Pohlman.

In 1897, when The Judson Studios was established in Los Angeles by the painter and professor William Lees Judson and his three sons, they could have never imagined the scope of the work their studio would produce in the 21^stcentury. Under the direction of David Judson, Lees’ great-great grandson, every project is approached with a cutting-edge sensibility and technological savvy, whether the client is a boutique hotel or a historic cathedral.

Helmed by Walter Horace, the eldest of Lees’ sons and a stained glass expert, Judson Studios thrived from the start, beautifying the booming metropolis of Los Angeles with works that represented the best in traditional and modern design. Today, Judson is the oldest family-run stained glass studio in America, still proudly offering an exquisite, handcrafted product made by local artisans, and continuing to serve the community that has sustained them through the decades. Located in the Highland Park section of northeast LA, the studio was founded in the Mott Alley section of downtown in the mid-1890s, but moved to its current location in 1920. The Judson Studios building was named a Historic-Cultural Landmark by the City of Los Angeles in 1969 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

In April of 2017 Judson Studios’ Resurrection Window, the largest single composition fused glass window in the world, was dedicated. Created for the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the groundbreaking work measures 37 feet tall by 93 feet wide. For the ambitious project, Judson Studios collaborated with world-renowned artist Narcissus Quagliata to bring then Judson designer Tim Carey’s vision to life. This represented the first time a notable liturgical window was created entirely from fused glass. To accomplish the daunting task of producing this first ever fused window wall, Judson Studios expanded from their workspace in Highland Park to a new addition in South Pasadena. More than 5,000 square feet of modern factory and kiln capabilities enabled the studio, with Quagliata’s assistance, to complete their most challenging commission to date. 

The changes necessary for the creation of The Resurrection window have completely expanded and redefined the studio’s offerings and capabilities, allowing Judson Studios to take on more work in fused glass and to collaborate with artists who don’t normally work in glass. As Director of Innovation, Quagliata works with the studio to further develop capabilities in fusing while also helping to guide Judsons’ growing artist development program. 

Recent collaborative projects include: the Santa Clarita Fire Station 104 by Anne-Elizabeth Sobieski, commissioned by the Los Angeles County Public Arts Commission in 2020; “Embracing the World,” by Amir H. Fallah, was one of the studio’s first artist collaborations in its new fusing studio in 2017; “The Muralist, ”by David Flores. Judson Studios took a design by Flores and translated it into a stained and fused glass panel. The work was displayed as part of his solo show at Sullivan Goss Gallery in Santa Barbara, California, in October of 2017; “Portals,” by James Jean, includes three panels titled “Portal Verso,” “Portal Interior,” and “Portal Recto.” Judson Studios took designs from Jean and crafted them into a stained and fused glass triptych. The work was displayed as part of his solo gallery show Azimuth at Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, in April of 2018. Judson’s 2019 collaboration with Jean titled “Gaia” is a nearly 8-foot-tall, three-dimensional crystal made entirely of fused glass and bound with lead in a custom steel frame. The piece was displayed at another of Jean’s gallery exhibitions, this time at Lotte Museum in Seoul, South Korea.

To commemorate the studio’s expansion and growth,  Judson Studios along with Angel City Press recently released a new book, JUDSON: Innovation in Stained Glass, the first book of its kind to chronicle the studio’s remarkable five-generation history. From the earliest days of the studio during the Arts and Crafts Movement, to the newly refined fused stained glass used in today’s contemporary buildings, Judson Studios has been recognized internationally as among the world’s finest in stained glass artistry. You can pick up your copy today by clicking here.

Current president David Judson is the fifth generation Judson family member to own and operate the Studios. A supporter of the arts like his great-great grandfather William Lees, David believes in maintaining a workplace that fosters creative expression. The Studio has hosted on-site art exhibitions, and its staff includes a diverse group of artists who bring fresh eyes to this meticulous process.

From sketch books to glassware, lighting or toilets, Zach Puchowitz’s raw aesthetic, in combination with humorous, self-reflective drawings and scribbled thoughts, are inspired by daily life, inner psyche struggles, low-brow art, subculture and guys from the neighborhood. From his Hot Rod Derby Cars to his Punished Head series to The Idiots, The Kennys and Billy B., Puchowitz’s stunning sculpting skills continue to amaze fans and collectors alike.

Even the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), Corning, New York, couldn’t resist Puchowitz’s work and recently acquired his Hot Rod Derby Car #2 for its permanent collection. This functional pipe in the form of a hollow, colorless flameworked car features a bald eagle, two conical black and colorless headlights with diamond-patterning, and a rectangular red-, white-, and yellow-striped license plate reading “WOODY” applied to back. The main character is a flameworked rider with rubber boots, exposed midriff, red fabric bandana, black mohawk with red and yellow tips, and the Anarchy symbol on one side of his head. 

Currently living and working in Barcelona, Spain, Puchowitz first experienced glassmaking in 1998. He became addicted very quickly and built his first lampworking studio in ‘99 as well as began studying glass at the Tyler School of Art. While learning that “the glass moves when it’s hot,” the artist was able to develop his understanding of the arts and glass as a material. He sharpened his hand skills in flameworking and furnace glass studio processes while developing his signature aesthetic. 

After graduating in 2003, Puchowitz spent a year in Burlington, Vermont, as a resident artist at local glass shops. Needing more perspective, he traveled throughout Europe for three months while he grew out his beard and pondered life. He worked alongside with the late Venetian Maestro, ELio Quarisa, as his teaching assistant. Upon returning to his native Philadelphia, and after shaving his face, Puchowitz established his own multiformat glass shop. In 2007, he began transforming the space that would later become Ouchkick. 

Since then, Puchowitz has dabbled in different avenues of the conventional glass artist by returning to his Alma mater to present slide lectures and teaching at local glass shops. The artist has exhibited his work at galleries in Philadelphia, NYC, LA, Denver, SOFA Chicago, Scope Miami as well as many other unconventional events and marketplaces, becoming well-known in the subculture of heady art and glass making. 

Puchowitz will be throwing down a few weekend workshops in Barcelona. The classes will run from 12 – 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Workshops include demos, torch time with instruction, glass, etc. Only six seats are available per class: June 11, 12 – Pipemaking 101 workshop; June 25, 26 – Pipemaking 101 workshop; and July 2, 3 – Pro Class –Sculpting. To apply, send an email to ouchkickstudio@gmail.com. Please put 101 in the subject title and indicate your level of glass experience. Any questions or to find out more details feel free to DM on Instagram @ouchkick. Puchowitz will also teach a workshop in 2023 at CMOG. 

A unique combination of talents is required for an artist to move back and forth between conserving historic stained glass and creating original work that can pass the test of time. Since 1976, Mary Clerkin Higgins has been doing just that. An internationally renowned contemporary stained glass artist, Clerkin Higgins brings inspired creativity and a fascination with color to her original work. However, in the role of conservator, she checks her artistic voice and relies upon the finely honed technical skills and careful attention to detail of past masters.

During the 2017 American Glass Guild conference held in Rochester, New York, Clerkin Higgins was awarded the first Nicholas Parrendo Lifetime Achievement Award. In September, she presented a paper to the Corpus Vitrearum Conservation forum, titled Bringing Back the Ghosts. An original co-founder of the American Glass Guild, Clerkin Higgins received New York’s Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses award for her work at Packer Collegiate Institute Middle School Project; and a New York Construction Award of Merit for her work at Lady Chapel project, Cathedral of St. Patrick.

In 2014, Clerkin Higgins’ original creation, Oh! won the American Glass Guild’s inaugural American Glass Now Award for Excellence in the Art of Stained Glass, acknowledging the creative use of materials, original expression, aesthetic impact, clarity of narrative, and complexity of execution in the work. The 12-inch-by-40-inch piece rendered in blown glass, vitreous paints, and lead was subsequently selected for Corning Museum’s New Glass Review 36.

Last year Clerkin Higgins spent considerable time conserving two 13th-century pieces, one for Harvard Art Museums from Canterbury Cathedral and one for the Baltimore Museum of Art from the Tours Cathedral in France. Higgins’ conservation work can be found in the foremost museums and public and private collections across North America. She has conserved stained glass from the 12th to the 20th centuries, made by renowned masters and notable moderns, including John LaFarge, Tiffany Studios, Henry E. Sharp, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marc Chagall, and Frederick S. Lamb. She has also worked on windows by Harry Clarke, William Morris, Daniel Cottier, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Clerkin Higgins, the conservator, currently works on three Tiffany windows for a museum in Washington DC. As artist, Clerkin Higgins creates a new window with Sabra Field for a hospice chapel at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire; a new window for a church in Winston Salem, North Carolina, filled with Rowan LeCompte windows made with Clerkin Higgins’ assistance; and a 15th- century martyr for a collector. Her personal work is on view in the juried show Workhouse Glass National 2017 in Lorton, VA, from October 28 through January 14, 2018. 

Higgins feels lucky to have kept busy working these past decades without the need to advertise. For 17 years she worked on more than 100 pieces in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters, all while maintaining her own studio.

Toland Sand: Vibration of the Mysteries

When a friend gave Toland Sand a stained glass studio in 1977, he embarked upon a journey that would lead him to explore the myriad qualities that define glass as a medium. Sand’s 45 years as a sculptor has resulted in works of stained glass, blown glass, and every combination in between. A pioneer in utilizing the unique properties of dichroic glass, Sand begins his current sculpture with optical crystal and dichroic coated glass, hand worked by grinding in ever finer stages until a polish is achieved. Seeking balance, harmony, and symmetry, with an accent on deconstructed form, his work inhabits the symbolic, the cosmic, and the mystery.

Inspired by his peers as well as artists such as Isamu Noguchi, David Smith, Henry Moore, and Mark Rothko, Sand says: “I love that images can come and go, are made bold, and then disappear; are reflective and then not. The energetic and mystical side comes from the teachings of my spiritual Master, Sant Kirpal Singh, by whose instructions I meditate every day in my personal effort to connect to and be receptive to the vibration of the mysteries.” 

Two years in Taiwan as a child and five years in Athens, Greece, as a teenager, motivated Sand’s investigations of “otherness.” Influenced by Eastern ideograms, Greek letters and Arabic writing, the sculptor creates symbols that have meaning in their elegance as graphics and maintain the sense that language and lettering can lead one into other consciousnesses and cultures. 

Each piece takes more or less six weeks to complete, starting with a drawing in the traditional three views on large white paper ripped from a roll, pencil, ruler, and compass. He says: “It’s exciting for me to see how the finished piece measures up to my concept, that begins with inspiration and an idea, and ends up as a complex construction made more complex by reflection, refraction, and the dance of light and color in a three- dimensional setting.” 

Sand’s sculpture has been collected by individuals and institutions nationwide including Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin; Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph. Missouri; Chattanooga Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee; University of Michigan Art Museum, Ann Arbor; and The Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida. His work can also be found in the corporate collections of IBM, Coca Cola, UPS and MacDonald’s, to name a few. Exhibitions include SOFA Chicago, New York and Santa Fe as well as 25 solo shows, most recently in 2015 at Bender Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina, and in 2016 at Raven Gallery, Aspen, Colorado. 

In July of 2016, Sand moved his studio from rural New Hampshire to Carmel Valley, California. “The sculptures are a reflection of my inner space and what grabs my attention. I could be doing them anywhere. Actually, I don’t question exactly where they come from. It’s the mystery.”

The Secular Reliquaries of Therman Statom

Therman Statom – sculptor, glass artist, and painter – is most notably known as a pioneer of the contemporary glass movement for his life-size glass ladders, chairs, tables, constructed box-like paintings, and small-scale houses; all created through the technique of gluing glass plate together. Sandblasted surfaces become a canvas for spontaneous vibrant colors and line work, which take nuances from Abstract Expressionism and concepts of Minimalism, while simultaneously incorporating a twist by using blown-glass elements and found objects. 

Born in Winter Haven, Florida in 1953, Statom spent his adolescence growing up in Washington, D.C. His interest in the arts grew from a fondness of painting and he began to investigate ceramics at RISD. However, after an experimental glassblowing session with Dale Chihuly, he was soon hooked on the spontaneity of hot glass and its limitless possibilities. Statom went on to pursue studies at Pilchuck Glass School during its inaugural year, completing a BFA in 1974 from RISD, and later studied at the Pratt Institute of Art & Design. 

Throughout his career, public artworks have been permanently installed at prominent locations including the Los Angeles Public Library, Corning, Inc. Headquarters, the Mayo Clinic, San Jose Ice Center, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Jepson Center for the Arts in the Telfair Museum, Savannah as well as several hospitals across the country. 

Statom’s artwork appears in numerous exhibitions annually, including solo and group shows around the nation and internationally. Over the span of his career, he has completed over 30 large, site-specific installations. Most notably in recent years, his 2009 solo exhibition Stories of the New World, at the Orlando Museum of Art, which spanned over 5,000 square feet, has been his largest installation to date. Exploring themes related to Juan Ponce de Leon’s 1513 search for the fabled Fountain of Youth as a point of departure, the installation referenced historic and contemporary themes of hope, discovery, ambition, and destiny. Visitors traversed the gallery space consisting of a mirrored maze, panoramic glass wall mural, a room-size structure built entirely of glass, and video projections. In conjunction with the exhibit, Statom partnered with the educational department of the OMA and the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Eatonville to work with over 80 young students to create a work of art titled “Glass House,” which was a large, walk-though structure built from glass boxes designed by the children. The piece was later displayed at the annual summer community festival. 

Much of the latter half of Statom’s career has been focused on the importance of educational programming within the arts. He has taken a deep interested in employing workshops as a catalyst for social change and in affect, positively impacting a community. Working directly with the artist himself, adults and children alike share a combined experience of exploring art making via a hands-on experience. Inhibitions and limitations are left by the wayside, and the practice or act of “doing” becomes a journey of self-discovery, creating an opportunity for the participant to go to a new place within themselves.

Says Statom: “I believe art can be understood both conceptually and intuitively. I think there is a need for the general public to come to an understanding that to appreciate art and creativity they must trust his or her self; that extensive education is not a prerequisite for understanding art. Much of what I do is seeded in what is more of an intuitive process; a large portion of my work is exploring these processes within people and their environments.

“The fact is, I believe that creativity is a part of all aspects of what people do; my studio and educational efforts via workshops and the support of outside programming, general educational and cultural institutions, are a reflection of this belief. I feel that art is tool for empowerment and education. It’s also a viable tool to investigate positive change and engage a culture through exploration.”

The Glass Art Society (GAS), Inc. is an international organization whose mission is to encourage excellence, to advance education, to promote the development and appreciation of the glass arts, and to support the worldwide community of artists who work with glass. Since 1971, GAS has been using the joy of glass to connect, inspire, and empower all facets of the global glass community. 

From the early days of the American Studio Glass movement to the upcoming United Nations’ International Year of Glass, GAS continues to foster connections that last a lifetime. This year’s gathering – held in Tacoma, Washington, from May 18 – 21 – celebrates 50 years of Glass Art Society. With the theme Between Here and There, this milestone conference will explore the past five decades of glass and what the next five decades will hold for making, collecting, and educating. 

GAS Executive Director, Brandi Clark, says: “This will be one of the most exciting GAS conferences yet. GAS will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary, it is the United Nations’ International Year of Glass, and we will be able to gather together again after three long years! While celebrating the history of GAS, we will also be highlighting the reach and diversity that is the future of the glass community. Our Saxe Emerging Artists are a great reflection of that.” 

The Glass Art Society is pleased to announce the 2022 Saxe Emerging Artist Award recipients: Fumi Amano, Krista Israel, and Madeline Rile Smith. Each winner will receive the opportunity to present at the 2022 Annual GAS Conference, placement in a digital artist exhibition, an honorarium to support their artistic endeavors, and more. Through a competitive jurying process, GAS recognizes emerging artists every year based on their promising talent with glass. Applicants—nominated by peers, academics, and curators—are evaluated by a professional panel of jurors. 

All interdisciplinary artists, each of the three winners use their work to explore the similarities between the unique properties of glass and their own minds and bodies. Joining me on this episode of Talking Out Your Glass podcast, Smith uses glass as a “performative vehicle to consider notions of intimacy and embodiment,” exploring the parallels between the human body and the medium of glass. 

Informed by her background in music, Smith creates objects that explore connection and isolation. Her work has been exhibited in venues throughout the US and internationally, and has been featured in New Glass Review 41 and 35. She currently teaches glass art as an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and has instructed glass working in schools and institutions throughout the East Coast, including UrbanGlass, Salem Community College, and the Crefeld School. 

You can see more of her current work and educational videos on Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok.

States Smith: “Informed by my experience with chronic pain, my work explores degrees of ability and compromise of the human body. Pain has caused periods of isolation in my life, and as a result I have a strong impulse to connect with others. I utilize glass as a performative vehicle to explore interaction between people. Through objects and performance, I examine the pleasure, intimacy and discomfort that accompany the interpersonal experiences we all seek.” 

This episode also features a conversation Natali Rodrigues, former GAS Board President, this year’s GAS Lifetime Membership award winner, and Associate Professor in the Glass Program at the Alberta University of the Arts in Canada. Rodrigues discusses the upcoming GAS conference, the organization’s new mission, vision, values and strategic plan, and how those are being implemented to create a more inclusive organization and glass community. “The more work GAS does to be an international organization, the more ways it finds to bring together the glass community across borders,” Rodrigues says.

And you’ll hear from one of GAS’ founders, Fritz Dreisbach. Equal parts artist, scientist, and historian, Dreisbach has spent the last five decades teaching and demonstrating glassblowing around the world. This “Johnny Appleseed of Glass” has himself played a vital role in the history of the American Studio Glass movement that he now strives to preserve and share with the next generation. In the process of inspiring others to try glass, Dreisbach began studying and reinventing historic shapes in glass with his personal brand of irony, humor, and fun. Children’s toys and games, funk ceramics, and 1960s comics all inspired Dreisbach’s early artwork. Above all, he endeavored to capture the fluid nature of the hot glass used to create his work.

Having studied painting at the University of Iowa, earning his master of arts degree, Dreisbach planned to eventually teach college level art, thus his advisor instructed him to study a wide variety of mediums. A two-credit, experimental course in glassblowing was part of the curriculum. Serendipitously, his love affair with glass began the summer of 1964, only two years after the seminal ’62 Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) workshops. During this time, Dreisbach first met and was inspired by three pioneers of Studio Glass—Harvey Littleton, Dominick Labino, and Erwin Eisch.

Dreisbach has led hundreds of workshops and lectures about glass in over 185 institutions worldwide. Traversing the country, teaching and spreading the gospel, earned him the moniker, “The Johnny Appleseed of Glass.” Dreisbach designed and built many hot shops in the 1960s and 1970s, including Pilchuck Glass School. After his short visit in 1971, the artist began teaching and advising the school for over four decades and has served as an artist trustee since 1993. He helped found and direct the Glass Art Society, which presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

Enjoy this multi-faceted conversation about GAS – past, present and future.

On the first episode of the Netflix glassblowing series Blown Away, Deborah Czeresko introduced herself as having “a polarizing personality; I have lovers, and I have haters.” Winner of the competition, the New York based, 58-year-old, queer female artist with 30 years of glass experience was awarded $60,000 and a two-week residency at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG).

Wrote Casey Lesser on Artsy: “In a similar vein to Project Runway or Top Chef, Blown Away gathers glass artists to compete in creating innovative artworks. And while some contestants in the show’s first season crumbled under challenges that required conceptual depth, Czeresko thrived. Asked to make botanicals, she procured a set of oddly poetic potatoes; summoned to imagine a futuristic robotic device, she fashioned the Man-Bun in the Oven, an external womb for men to wear to gestate; and during a food challenge, she managed to make tacos appear über-elegant through a set of Venetian-style dishes. Her pièce de résistance was an installation for the finale: a feminist take on breakfast, including a fecund fried egg and a chain of sausage links.” Meat Me in The Middle, an installation with a sunny-side-up egg at the center represents women taking the art world by storm and a nod towards equity in fine arts. 

Czeresko’s work originates from personal experience influenced by the complexities of modern day political and social ideas. It challenges gender stereotypes within the traditional glassblowing landscape. “To me, it’s almost a political act to occupy the hot shop as a fierce female glassblower,” she says in Blown Away.

In her October 2019 two-week residency at CMoG, Czeresko began work on a new conceptual chandelier comprised of more than 50 mirrored glass pieces of automotive-related ephemera such as hubcaps and a muffler. The work uses the metaphorical power of car parts to create a narrative surrounding the gendering of objects.

Czeresko’s art has always invoked a range of approaches and techniques, including performance and collaboration. After completing a BA in psychology from Rutgers University and attending graduate school in studio art at Tulane University, she began working with glass at the New York Experimental Glass Workshop in 1987. For 20 years, Czeresko has made a living creating custom lighting designs and fabricating works for fellow artists such as Robert Gober, Kiki Smith, Lorna Simpson, Mariko Mori and Eric Fischl. The artist has instructed classes at many universities and schools throughout Europe and the US, including UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York, where she formally sat on the board; Tyler School of Arts in Philadelphia; College of Creative Studies in Detroit; and LUCA School of Arts in Ghent, Belgium. 

Following her appearance on Blown Away, Czeresko developed a vocal and enthusiastic fan base, inspired by this strong, creative woman articulating a message of diversity, equity and belonging. A most unlikely reality TV star, she is stopped regularly on the streets outside of her Lower East Side apartment for autographs, embraces and accolades. 

Admittedly thrilled with the attention, the artist has used her new-found celebrity to gain gallery representation. Blown Away inspired interest from New York’s Heller Gallery, which exhibited a new, large installation of her potatoes at SOFA Chicago last fall and her Meat in Chains at the NYC gallery earlier last year. In 2020, both CMoG and the Toledo Museum of Art purchased Czeresko’s work for their collections. In addition to exhibiting new works in three upcoming museum shows and multiple pending residencies, Czeresko will be the honoree for the UrbanGlass 2020 Gala held May 12.

On November 12, 2019, Venice and Murano, Italy, were devastated by “acqua alta,” record high water from tidal floods, which caused severe damage throughout the laguna and islands. Master glassblower Davide Fuin has established a GoFundMe campaign to help glass artists who need outside funding to make repairs and get shops, furnaces and studios back in working order. 

Born in 1962 on Murano, Fuin still lives and works on the island. Considered one of the most skilled glassblowers of the last 30 years, he has collaborated with Italy’s famous glass houses including Venini, Toso, Pauly, Salviati, Elite, and De Majo, as well as with many international artists and designers. His work can be found in major galleries as well as private and museum collections in Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, EAU, and Australia.

On September 15, 2015, at Palazzo Franchetti on Venice’s Grand Canal, the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti honored glass master Fuin for excelling in his ability to make blown work according to Murano tradition, highlighting especially the techniques of reticello and retortoli filigree, incalmo, and avventurina. Gherardo Ortalli, president of the Istituto; Gabriella Belli, director of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia; Georg J. Riedel, president of Riedel Crystal; and Rosa Barovier, glass historian, selected the award recipients and were in attendance. William Gudenrath, resident advisor for The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), Corning, New York, was also present at the ceremony.

“Fuin’s work was selected because he is the most visible, arguably the best, and some would say the last practitioner of the tradition of goblet makers on Murano, said to date from the Renaissance. The goblet tradition in both Murano and Venice is in considerable peril,” says Gudenrath, who himself teaches advanced courses in Venetian techniques and ensures excellence in the CMOG studio facility and its programs.

Every year Fuin spends several weeks teaching at art schools and studios around the world, including The Studio at CMOG. On January 3, 2020, the artist presented a workshop at The Glass Spot, in Richmond, Virginia, and in August will teach at his Murano hot shop.

Known widely as the crème de la crème, Fuin’s work defines classic Venetian glass. In 2000, he began producing a collection of goblets, vessels, and traditional Venetian baskets in Avventurina glass. His goal was to open new markets and appeal to a more exclusive clientele. The number of pieces and the preciousness of the sparkling, seemingly copper infused glass elevates this body of work beyond the functional. Fuin’s Avventurina collection makes an artistic statement about traditional technique and the unimaginable beauty possible only at the hand of a true maestro.

Simon Howard: Traditional Craftsmanship Meets Striking Design

Born into a working-class family in the industrial town of Lancashire, England, Simon Howard designs and fabricates traditional stained glass through meticulous craftsmanship and sensitivity to architectural surrounds. In demand as a skilled glass painter and restorer for other studios, the artist endeavors to create new contemporary commissions for domestic, private or public spaces. 

Some of Howard’s notable works include his Beddoes Window, a commemoration of an 18^th-century physician and his tragic Romantic poet son, full of playful symbolism; his Laura Ashley Windows, a full suite of windows for a remodeled Arts & Craft home (previously owned by Laura Ashley); the artist’s Talog series, created for clients who gave Howard creative free reign in their beautiful traditional Welsh farmhouse; Whitland Circles & Milo Stripes, his personal favorites; and his commission for Oldham Royal Hospital, a 3 metre tall panel in the hospital’s mortuary chapel. 

Howard’s history reads like great novel. He writes: “Oldham was one of the powerhouses of the industrial revolution, a cotton spinning town with incredible pockets of wealth, beautiful civic buildings, rows upon rows of worker’s houses that supplied the brick mill with labor and a skyline full of tall chimneys pumping out smoke. My family were mill workers for generations and these ‘dark, satanic mills’ (as William Blake called them) and the rows of blackened Victorian terraced houses formed the background to our family stories. 

By the time I came along in 1970 the region was well into a crippling decline, and my parents had a series of disparate jobs passing each other on the stairs to our ‘60s maisonette as they swapped shifts in working and looking after me and my older brother and sister. My mum was a seamstress and a district nurse and my dad began work in a large glass supplier. My very early memories of visiting my dad at work are of huge A-frames of green-edged slabs of polished plate and of feeling proud that this was my dad’s arena. He’d be there, in darkened leather wrist guards, calloused fingers in plasters. I’d watch him effortlessly pick up these enormous sheets and carry them to his cutting bench and watch him making quick pencil notes on his list of sizes, working out what he could get from the sheet with minimum waste. T-square, the sing of the cutter, and the snap…all with speed and confidence…and the swift clatter of the thin strips of waste shattering in the cullet. I never had any ambition to work there, but I loved the magic of it. 

The funny thing about my dad, and I still wonder now where the impulse came from, was his love of art, the art of the old masters and the Modernists. He was a Grammar school boy, so his education was good, and he was a lifelong reader, later a merchant seaman, but I can’t think where his love of art sprung from. I mention this as it’s because of him that I became an artist; as a young kid I would spend hours looking through his art books, and it became apparent early on in school that I could not only draw, but that art was where my curiosity lay. I tell people now that I never really wanted to be anything else (apart from a rock star in my teens. But don’t we all?). From 5 or 6 I knew that was part of my identity and what I was going to become. My parents were always very supportive. I heard other kids speak of their parents’ resistance to them studying art, but mine were right behind me even when they didn’t have a clue what it was I was making. 

Through school I was a painfully shy kid. My family and I moved town just before starting secondary school so I arrived without friends; I do wonder whether that had a huge influence on me. But I became well-known through my ability to draw. I was bullied early on at school (I’d eventually dress quite outlandishly, which the other boys hated me for because the girls liked it!), but I’d draw on demand in order to not get beaten up. Like a lot of kids, art and music were everything to me (it’s still pretty much the case). 

I went on to Art School in London, the Byam Shaw School of Art, a wonderful independent school (founded by John Byam Shaw, one of the Arts & Crafts/Pre-Raphaelite group), where I went on to make minimal installation based work, which often used the body (my body) and its relationship to its environment as a way to examine metaphorical space, the gaps in language/communication, thresholds, the in-betweens, the space where one thing becomes another. I’m still very proud of the work I did then and would happily still show it now. My intention was to stay in London and try to make my way as an artist but in reality, I think I’d realized that I wasn’t a natural networker and didn’t have the confidence in fighting for funding or for the spotlight. 

I left and spent a year or so volunteering for art galleries back up north until I was offered work with my brother who had spent the previous 10/15 years working with my dad. Mark had left school, began work as a glass cutter, but had decided to set up a decorative glass business within my dad’s place. It was a real family business, my sister ran the office, and on the shop-floor were a few cousins. Also, a natural artist, his talent rose to the surface and needed an outlet. He spent these years learning new skills, researching any technique he could find in mainly American books and magazines to broaden his knowledge. He became the only person we knew back then who was creatively sandblasting, engraving, deep reverse-carving, glue-chipping, kiln-forming, fusing, casting, painting, and enamelling. He became well- known for it across the north west, until he eventually began making traditional stained glass. 

Whilst I was still at art school, I’d spend my holidays working with Mark where I’d learn all these techniques from him. He’d exploit my time there by giving me larger projects that he saw needed my artistic input, and I’d watch the panels get made up by him and the guys that worked for him. I’d go on to start making my own pieces, but even then I really only saw it as work, a chance to earn some money before heading back down to London. 

The next few years, I really was at a loose end. My long-term girlfriend had gone to teach English in Japan and life had seemingly hit a wall. I took the money I’d been saving whilst working with Mark and went travelling. I spend around 18 months going around the globe, across America, Australasia, South East Asia, India. I had the best time and felt some changes. But, back home I fell back into working with Mark; by this time my dad’s company had been hit by recession and closed, my dad had swallowed his pride and had gone back to glass cutting for a company he’d left, and Mark had set up his own place. I worked there for a few years, still thinking that it was only a stop-gap for me until I figured out what it was I wanted to do. I started really delving deep into the international architectural glass books that Mark was buying (they were as rare as hen’s teeth) and realizing that there was something for me here (remember, this was pre-internet days, knowledge of what was happening creatively elsewhere was still found in traditional sources….it also helped that Brian Clarke was an Oldham born artist and his largest piece, in the world at the time, had just been installed in Oldham’s newly built shopping center). I still didn’t really know if architectural glass fitted me yet, but it was a huge step up from what I’d understood the discipline to be. 

I spent a long time thinking about the separate polarities of art and craft and their overlaps until I reached a point where I felt comfortable setting aside the kind of art I’d previously made and seeing that glass craft had a value and could also be enquiring and expanding. Mark emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, around this time, and I had a few months to consider whether I would take over his business and continue on my own. Eventually I decided to and spent a couple of years slowly shedding what was previously Mark’s and pushing forward what was mine. I needed to do this. I needed to know if the decision was right, if I really could spend the foreseeable future as a glass craftsman and not an artist. 

One thing I found necessary was to streamline the business; my time was being taken up with commissions that involved processes I had no love for. I realized that I could make interesting, contemporary work using just traditional stained glass techniques. It was all in the design. I slowly started guiding the small commissions I was getting into the kind of work that satisfied me. I began being more constructively critical of, not only other’s work, but of my own, until I started getting a portfolio of work together that I was reasonably comfortable with. It was still early days, but I saw potential and felt the discipline begin to take ahold of me, get into my veins and become part of my everyday consciousness. I started looking at images produced by other artists, not only stained glass, but printmakers and textile artists and wondering if I could do something similar with glass. I was consciously pushing what I saw as possible, trying to make what I hadn’t seen elsewhere. Looking back on some of those early pieces I’m still surprised by the odd unexpected detail or the ambition in such a small, unimportant piece. 

Around this time, I met my wife and we started a family. Helen is from rural Wales, a first-language Welsh-speaker, and it felt natural that we would decide to relocate to her home town to bring up the boys. Llandeilo is a beautiful place, an old, hill-top market town that has a surprising wealth of creative folk below its surface. We moved here around 14 years ago and, after previously occupying huge studio spaces, I now work from a small garden workshop. The major change from the work I did up north is due to the almost total absence of traditional period glass locally. When we first moved I was horrified. Much of my work up north had been in restoring and repairing period pieces, and here, there wasn’t that kind of showy decoration, even the chapels were plain glazed. As it turned out though, in hindsight, due to the explosion of social media, I began to get more and more small, interesting commissions from clients who didn’t have an automatic association with the period work I was doing up north. 

My current practice is an ongoing search for what interests me visually and technically. I’m a bit of a purist and, despite my experience and knowledge of a wide range of practices I like now to only use mainly mouthblown antique glass, lead and vitreous paints. I acid-etch flashed glasses, I don’t use enamels. If I need to I plate glass, I don’t use laminates or glues. It’s a personal choice; I like the restrictions that the traditional practices give me. 

My work tends to flip between apparently simple abstract, pattern-based pieces where any reference to subject is restricted or absent, and playful, painterly, heavily stylized naturalism. It depends on the commission. I was told in art school that my art practice didn’t seem to have a recognizable fingerprint; I would be using whatever was needed in order to make suggestions and connections within each piece. I sometimes wonder if my work is still the same; one can often recognize a fellow maker’s work. They have a particular style. I’m not sure whether I do. I’ve been told otherwise, but I still don’t know what that fingerprint is. Again, it’s down to the commission. It took me a while to feel comfortable with commission-based work, comfortable with the inevitable compromises that are made when meeting the client halfway with a design. But I’m getting better at dealing with it now. I think having a body of work behind you gives the client trust in you if you feel compelled to push a piece in a certain direction.”

Comprised of hundreds of objects fabricated using multiple glass processes, Between Seeing and Knowing is a large-scale, site-specific installation by artists Anna Boothe and Nancy Cohen. The installation is on view now through February 5, 2023 at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin. Created as part of a collaborative residency that took place at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) in 2012, the artwork has been previously exhibited at Accola Griefen Gallery, New York, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and Philadelphia’s International Airport.

At its core, Between Seeing and Knowing is the result of both artists’ long-standing interest in and in-depth study of Tibetan Buddhist thangka paintings and the integration of their otherwise very separate studio practices. Thangkas are ordered cosmological paintings, often scrolls, created for the purpose of meditation and composed of numerous visual elements. This installation reinterprets the symbolism in the paintings to create new work that reflects the organizational structure and palette of the paintings, as well as the sense of expansiveness and lack of hard resolution characteristic of Buddhist ideology. 

Boothe and Cohen state: “Overall, through this collaboration, its subject matter, and our chosen methodology, we seek to understand, both visually and viscerally, another cultural perspective or expression unlike our own, through our dissection and re-assemblage of elements unique to that culture. Just as collaboration brings forth the opportunity for a deep exchange of ideas and the development of sympathetic approaches to doing what one does, pragmatically and metaphorically, this is our attempt at bridging gaps between cultural approaches to explain the unexplainable.”

With degrees in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and glass from Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Boothe has worked with glass since 1980. Included in the permanent collections of CMoG, Racine Art Museum and Tacoma Museum of Art, her cast glass work has been exhibited widely, including recently at the Albuquerque Art Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and the Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace in Venice, as well as at several villas in Italy’s Veneto Region.

Boothe taught in Tyler’s glass program for 16 years, helped develop and chaired Salem Community College’s glass art program and has exhibited and/or lectured internationally in Australia, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey, as well as at numerous US universities and glass-focused schools. She served on the Board and as President of the Glass Art Society from 1998-2006 and is a former Director of Glass at Philadelphia’s National Liberty Museum.    

With an MFA in Sculpture from Columbia University and a BFA in Ceramics from Rochester Institute of Technology, Cohen has been working with glass (among other materials) since 1990. Her work examines resiliency in relation to the environment and the human body. Cohen’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and is represented in collections such as The Montclair Museum, The Weatherspoon Art Gallery, and The Zimmerli Museum. She has completed large-scale, site-specific projects for The Staten Island Botanical Garden, The Noyes Museum of Art, The Katonah Museum, Howard University, and others.

Recent solo exhibitions include Walking a Line at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Chelsea, New York, and Nancy Cohen: Atlas of Impermanence at the Visual Arts Center in Summit, New Jersey. Group exhibitions include All We Can Save: Climate Conversations at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton, Pennsylvania, and ReVision and Respond at The Newark Museum. Cohen is a 2022 recipient of a Mid-Atlantic Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She currently teaches drawing and sculpture at Queens College.

In a review of Boothe and Cohen’s collaborative project, Elizabeth Crawford of N.Y Arts Magazine, wrote: : “Intuitively proximate to Buddhist philosophy, the piece is about the inter-relatedness of things. Each glass part appears sentient and in direct communication with the others. In a Thangka painting, none of the forms are meant to be isolated but work together to invite the viewer to take the painting in at once, as a whole. Similarly, all of the pieces in Boothe and Cohen’s installation contribute to a sense of continuous breath or movement which is enhanced by light reflecting through the glass.” For this innovative work the artists used an astounding range of glass processes including kiln-casting, slumping, fusing, blowing, hot-sculpting and sand-casting.

Principally a sculptor who employs cast glass and drawing as primary methodologies, Clifford Rainey creates work that is interdisciplinary, incorporating a wide spectrum of materials and processes. A passionate traveler, his work is full of references to the things he has seen and experienced. Celtic mythologies, classical Greek architecture, the blue of the Turkish Aegean, globalization and the iconic American Coca-Cola bottle, the red of the African earth, and the human figure combine with cultural diversity to provide sculptural imagery charged with emotion. 

A British artist whose work has been exhibited internationally for 50 years, Rainey was born in Whitehead, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in 1948. He began his career as a linen damask designer and worked in William Ewarts linen manufacturers from 1965 to 1968. Later, the artist studied at Hornsey College of Art, the Walthamstow School of Art, where he specialized in bronze casting, and the Royal College of Art, where he received his MA and specialized in glass. Between 1973 and 1975, Rainey ran his own glass studio in London and won a commission for a small sculpture to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. In 1984, the artist moved to New York and established additional studios there.

Rainey’s sculptural work has been exhibited internationally including: The Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Kunstmuseum in Dusseldorf, Germany, The Millennium Museum in Beijing, China, and the Museo de Arts Contemporaneo in Monterrey, Mexico. His work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums including:  The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, The DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, California, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Art and Design, New York, The Fine Arts Museum of Boston, and The Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Canada. Rainey has realized a number of public art commissions including: The Lime Street Railway Station in Liverpool, England, the Jeddah Monument in Saudi Arabia, and the 911 Communication Center in San Francisco. He is a recipient of the Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award, Chicago, and the 2009 UrbanGlass Outstanding Achievement Award, New York.

Balancing his commitment to studio practice with his desire to share knowledge, Rainey has lectured extensively around the world. He lectured at The Royal College of Art in London for seven years and was a Professor of Fine Art and Chair of the Glass Program at The California College of the Arts from 1991 through 2022. 

On October 8, 2017 at 10:30 p.m., Rainey and his partner, Rachel Riser, were awakened by a neighbor’s frantic telephone call warning them that a wind-driven wildfire had kicked up and was blazing toward their shared Napa, California, residence. They needed to get out immediately. Far more devastating than the destruction of his home and studio was the complete loss of all the artwork on the property — not only two year’s worth of work for an upcoming exhibition, but the artist’s archive of drawings of every project he’d ever done, as well as a collection of his strongest work he was planning to donate to a museum. 

Rainey still resides in Napa, California, and in March 2024 took time away from rebuilding his studio to participate in an artist residency at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma. There, he advanced ideas and processes originally seen in works he lost to fire.

According to Japanese tradition, anyone with the patience and commitment to fold 1,000 paper cranes will be granted their most desired wish, because they have exhibited the crane’s loyalty and recreated its beauty. Backed by a successful $92 thousand dollar Kickstarter campaign, Jeremy Grant-Levine, AKA Germ, will flamework no less than 1,000 glass cranes in a year’s time. Exploring one large idea requires the artist to focus on the moment rather than the future. He says, “It’s a step back from feeding a commodity market for a year to focus on one thing rather than what’s next.”

Based in Philadelphia, Germ has been flameworking glass pipes for over 13 years, earning a reputation as one of the most technical and innovative makers in the industry. Mixing classical shapes and modern silhouettes, he transforms functional glass into sculpture that has been exhibited at galleries in Seattle, Philadelphia, New York, Miami, and Tel Aviv. Germ has also taught workshops and collaborated with other artists worldwide.

His 1,000 Cranes project represents more of a fine art move for the veteran functional glass artist, whose smokeable pieces typically sell for thousands of dollars. This, the largest project Germ has undertaken to date, will require up to 250 pounds of glass for flameworking and approximately two miles of wire for display, totaling $20,000 in materials.

As Germ works solo making the cranes, his focus remains on this larger scale, singular artwork rather than the many individualized pieces he typically creates when making pipes. Though he misses the personal aspects and relationships involved with functional glass, the 1,000 Cranes project offers Germ the chance for a more grand impact. Upon completion, his work will be displayed in an immersive installation in conjunction with Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jim Scheller’s vessel designs are informed by simplicity and abstraction. His work is inspired by Neoplasticism and the artists of that period, beginning with the De Stijl movement of the early 20th century. Always a scientist, he is fascinated with exploring the processes that use heat and gravity to bring his designs to life in glass.

Initially introduced to glass kilnforming in a 2012 Bullseye workshop, Scheller shifted his professional focus following a long and enjoyable career as an engineer and technologist working with creatives worldwide in the athletic footwear and apparel industries. Experimenting and learning about art and glass as a medium quickly became his passion – a transformation he describes as being “taken hostage by kilnforming glass.”

Scheller further developed his technical and artistic abilities in 2014 and 2015 at the Professional Kilnforming Residency at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Gracious mentoring from many of the best artists and friends – such as Steve Klein and Richard Parrish – further encouraged and refined Scheller’s goals as a glass maker. Early vessel forms were exhibited in For the Love of Glass, at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Atlanta, in 2017. 

After two decades on the Chehalem Mountain outside Portland, Oregon, in 2018 Scheller moved his home studio to the Illinois prairie near his son Phillip, where they make decorative kiln formed glass art. Macoupin Prairie Glassworks is located in Staunton, Illinois, near the artist’s childhood home of Mt. Olive, a small town on old Route 66 halfway between Springfield and St. Louis. 

There, Scheller takes great pleasure in pushing kilnforming limits and developing new techniques. His works are composed with glass sheets, crushed glass (frit), and glass slabs (billets), then fired to over 1400 degrees F. Fired works are extensively cold worked to achieve the final finish. Number 11 of his series studying the art of the line in composition on the deep vessel shape was recognized in the Bullseye Challenge: Reactions, May 2021.

https://bullseyeglass.submittable.com/gallery/99555feb-2f47-445f-8877-26ce12b4f6d2/19356258?fbclid=IwAR0O1XOqpXfRGNoBWRvj70p0HMCeSU7-Greq61nwNTPsHN_t0sKjVhhchow

Click on Scheller’s name for image of his honorable mention piece,

https://bullseyeglass.submittable.com/gallery/99555feb-2f47-445f-8877-26ce12b4f6d2/20031801/

Scheller’s current Ancient Ring series has attracted great interest both at his galleries and on his social networks. From April 28 through July 4, 2022, Quad City Arts’ Art at the Airport presents glass art vessels by Scheller, acrylic sculptural paintings by Sally Havlis of Chicago, Illinois, and sumi-e paintings by Karen Kurka Jensen of North Liberty, Iowa. Vessels in this exhibition are inspired by the work of early 20^th-century painters Mondrian, Gorin, Kandinsky, Klee, Tauber-Arp, and van Doesbur. 

For more information:

https://www.quadcityarts.com/art-at-the-airport.html

Scheller’s Ancient Rings 13 has been accepted into the St. Louis Artists’ Guild “Constructed Visions IV” biennial, held July 1 to August 6, reception on July 1 from 5 – 7 p.m.

https://www.stlouisartistsguild.org

And Philabaum Glass Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, will exhibit Scheller’s work beginning February 4, 2023. 

https://www.philabaumglass.com

Says Scheller: “The engineer, immersed in the process of making, joins glass, heat and gravity to create works inviting one to view the once molten glass in a dance of light and color.”

Vivian Wang is an American sculptor of Chinese descent, who is inspired by the art of ancient China and Japan. With Asian features and formal poses, her figures are always elaborately clothed in garments replete with Asian patterns and motifs. The style and color of the clothing has been greatly influenced by her previous career as a fashion designer. The “textile-like” surfaces of her work are purposely distressed or antiqued. Wang uses glass components for the hands, feet and heads of her figures, which imbues them with an intangible quality. Together, these elements give the sculptures a haunting look, mirroring the paintings and sculptures of ancient China and Japan.

All of Wang’s pieces are now extravagantly embellished with semi-precious stones and crystals. This reflects the opulence and pageantry of court life in ancient Asia. Even the Samurai warrior wears the most resplendent armor covered with an overwhelming number of garnets and moonstones. The use of these semi-precious stones is a new direction in her art, one which she intends to develop further.

Wang states: “It is difficult to place my art, sometimes referred to as Asian Figurative Sculpture, neatly into the spectrum of the art world as it is both old and new. Ancient in its origins, subjects and some of its materials, my work is also contemporary in its use of cast glass as a significant element of its design. In ancient times, figurative sculpture was made in ceramics, stone and wood, and I have followed that tradition by using clay for my bodies. In old China, glass was used only for religious artifacts and decorative ornaments; its purpose to mimic jade. In contrast, I employ glass as glass to create my heads, hands and feet, a contemporary use of materials.”

A former New York fashion designer, Wang was inspired to become a sculptor after seeing work by Akio Takemori. One lucky day, sometime around the turn of the new millennium, she walked into Garth Clark’s Gallery on West 57th Street in New York City to see Takemori’s sculptures. She knew then that viewing that exhibition would change her life.

“Perhaps my interest in ceramics is what took me to Akio Takemori’s exhibition that day,” says Wang. “From the moment I saw Akio’s pieces, I was hooked. I was literally transfixed by his work. The exhibition consisted of a dozen ceramic figures, about two or three feet in height, of the people he remembered from the Japanese village he had lived in as a child. I had never seen anything like them. My embrace of Akio’s work made me want to do what he did, to become a sculptor, to create my own figurative pieces.”  

At the time, Wang was living in New York and working as a fashion designer for Jones, New York – a large, corporate, not “very creative”, clothing manufacturer. Several years earlier, Wang had sold her own design firm because small fashion companies could no longer compete against the large corporations. To satisfy her creative needs, she began experimenting with ceramics, casting plates, bowls and cups, and painting intricate Chinese scenes and people on them. For several years, she continued her career as a designer, but with some encouragement from her husband, she took a giant leap and quit her job to become a sculptor.

For a while, Wang stayed in New York, taking live model sculpture classes. But in 2007, she and her husband moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where she became an artist. Early works included first American children, called Ragamuffins. Then she moved on to Chinese and Japanese courtiers and children. By 2009, Wang had produced enough work to have her first exhibition at Stewart Fine Art Gallery in Boca Raton, Florida. Her sculpture sold well there, and three years later she was invited to join Habatat Galleries. “Since then, I have been creating sculptures as quickly as humanly possible – and having a wonderful life doing so,” Wang says. 

Wang’s sculpture can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida; Barry Art Museum, Norfolk, Virginia; Fort Wayne Museum, Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida. She has been honored with the “Artist of the Future Award” by Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida, 2019; Fort Wayne Museum of Art Award, 45th International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, 2017; Art Palm Beach Award for Excellence in Creativity, 2017; Fort Wayne Museum of Art Award, 2015; the 43rd International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan; and Outstanding Glass Artist of 2013, Florida Glass Art Alliance, Miami, Florida.

From their trademark blown vessel forms to more recent large castings, Hunting Studio of Princeton, Wisconsin, uses glass and its myriad mysteries to tell stories of unapologetic beauty and celebration of color. The work of this father-son team, Wes Sr. and Wesley Hunting, is on view now through February 4, 2024 in Directing the Flow: The Art of Wes Hunting, at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass (BMM) in Neenah, Wisconsin. The studio was awarded First Place and a solo show at the Museum following its 2022 Glass Arts Festival.

States BMM Executive Director, Amy Moorefield: “The Huntings create blown and cast glass vessels and sculpture featuring colorful palettes and murrine inspired by past and present creations of artists working in Murano, Italy. Through the process of painting with colored glass and cold surface cutting, Hunting’s newest creations invite the viewer to gaze inward into miniature worlds, paying homage to the aesthetics of overlay paperweights.”

Hunting Sr. studied under glass artist Henry Halem while attending Kent State from 1975 to 1979. He served as an assistant to Richard Ritter and has taught at the University of Kansas, Tennessee College of Crafts, Florida Keys Community College, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. 

Hunting Studio’s work can be found in museum collections internationally to include the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio; the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin; The White House, Washington D.C.; the Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan; the Windhover Center for the Arts, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin; the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona; the Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa; the Museum of American Glass, Millville, New Jersey; the Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, North Carolina; Cafesjian Museum of Art, Armenia; The Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; and The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi. Hunting corporate collections include Bank One, The Hyatt Corporation, The Standard Oil Company and The Quaker Oat Company, to name just a few.

In the early 1980s, a trip to Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and travel through Italy set Wes Sr. on the path he continues on today. His studio visits with artists such as Mark Peiser, Billy Bernstein, Gary Beecham, Steve Edwards, Rob Levin, and Harvey Littleton and witnessing the millefiori process of the Italian masters helped refine his own goals in glass. Now as his son assumes increasingly more responsibilities at their studio, new ideas and bodies of work are fleshed out, investigated and introduced to their enthusiastic collectors. From their early Colorfield series, the artists have expanded into new aesthetic territory in the creation of their Optical series, Remnantseries and Castings.

Says Wes Sr.: “We are always striving to take the work to a new level of intensity. It has developed into a way for me to express myself by painting with molten glass. There is no other material like glass. The colors are totally unique as they can be transparent or opalescent. The way light passes through colored glasses adds a third dimension that cannot be duplicated by any other material.”

In 1973, before annealers, colored glass, or instructional materials on flameworking, teenaged Milon Townsend worked glass in the torch, transforming his bedroom into a makeshift studio. In time, the artist taught himself to express his understanding of the human form in complex and elegant sculpture.

Townsend’s early career involved selling his glass art at fairs and shows until he opened a series of stores, culminating with two locations in Manhattan and a full time crew of 26 people in his retail/wholesale operation. Twelve years in New York City exposed him to the world of dance, which quickly found its way into Townsend’s sculptural aesthetic, as seen in his groundbreaking Body Language series. From 2005 to 2015 Townsend set flameworking aside and created, experimented, and transferred his vocabulary of human forms to kiln casting.



A tireless educator, Townsend has authored numerous books, and hundreds of articles on the topics of glass process, creative thought, and career development for artists. He has also produced a series of videos that demonstrate the techniques he developed, making them available to other artists in his field.

The inspiration for Jonathan Capp’s art comes from the experiences that shape his life. Whether hiking the Appalachian Trail, coaching Little League Baseball, becoming an archaeological illustrator halfway around the world, or competing on Blown Away, he channels those experiences into ideas and fully embraces life as a part of his art.

Capps states: “I welcome new ideas and innovations in the studio, bringing fun, energy, and an inspiring enthusiasm into the hot shop.”

Raised in Knoxville, TN, Capps spent much of his youth outdoors, camping, hiking, and playing baseball. After moving to Kentucky in 2001, he developed a passion for glassblowing during undergraduate school at Centre College in Danville, KY, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2005. For the following decade, he worked as a freelance glassblower, artist, and designer, traveling extensively to learn, teach, and pursue the mastery of his craft. During this time, he received several residencies and scholarships, including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Corning Museum of Glass, Penland School of Crafts, and an International Artist Residency at Lasikompannia in Nuutajärvi, Finland.

After “thru-hiking” the Appalachian Trail in 2013, Capps attended graduate school at Ohio State University and, in 2016, earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He received several awards and scholarships, most notably a travel grant and fellowship as an archaeological illustrator in the remote Oğlanqala region of the Autonomous Republic of Naxçivan, Azerbaijan.

In 2018 and 2019, Capps was awarded a U.S. Fulbright Arts Grant to research Finnish glass and design for a year in Finland. In 2020, he was chosen to serve as an Alumni Ambassador to the U.S. Student Fulbright Program; today, he continues to engage in outreach and recruitment for the Fulbright Program and Finland’s National Fulbright Foundation. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Finnish Glass Museum and the Prykäri Glass Museum in addition to private collections.

Capps has taught and exhibited extensively in the United States and Internationally. Throughout his career, he has worked with many glass artists and master craftspeople, developing a diverse practice that fluently moves between traditional techniques and experimental methods, pushing the boundaries and seeking new applications of the glass medium.

He says: “My studio practice is rooted in the multicultural traditions of the glass craft; significantly, the physical nature of glass blowing requires reliance on others to create art successfully. For me, learning and then mastering a variety of glass techniques is where the culture behind the craft comes alive.

“My work in the visual arts is rooted in the hot glass studio. My research has developed, over time, into a global practice of interdisciplinary collaboration, social engagement, and cultural exchange. I have learned that there is something in my use of the glassmaking tradition that goes beyond form and function, and enters into the realm of experience, relationships, and communication.”

Most recently, Capps competed in Season 4 of the hit Netflix series Blown Away. On Saturday, May 18 at the Glass Art Society convention in Berlin, Germany, Capps will demonstrate at Berlin Glassworks from 10 a.m. to 12   – an opportunity he won on the show. From June 10 – 14, he will teach a summer intensive at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Lifting the Veil, and present a free lecture on June 11.  He will also be the featured guest artist for this year’s Gay Fad Studio’s Festival hosted at the Ohio Glass Museum.

https://www.gayfadstudios.com

As a trained scientist prior to creating with glass, Amanda Simmons is fascinated by how our world works and how it can be fixed. Inspired by subjects as diverse as the physics of our expanding universe or how drugs function on a molecular level, the artist has been discovering new ways to explore the properties of mass, heat, time and gravity in the creation of 3D vessel forms. Intense color and patterns result when opaque glass powders react to light, varying in translucency as the form elongates during the firing process. Works are finished using many coldworking processes to shape and mark the glass including sandblasting, hand lapping, diamond point and wheel engraving.

Simmons states: “My practice as a glass artist has become a conduit to further learning by making objects in a material whose language I understand, addressing subjects that interest me in the natural world. Our achievements as a species are impressive but equally frustrating in the cycles of social and environmental injustice, from which we never seem to learn. I want to investigate these cyclic routes and the lessons unlearnt, incorporating this narrative into my work, cultivating and inspiring change in a positive and visual method.”

Originally trained in biomedical sciences (pharmacology) and clinical sciences, Simmons became interested in glass in 2002 after a stained glass course with Ray Bradley and then pursued a postgraduate in Glass and Architecture from Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, London, in 2004. Following a recent two-week residency at Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness, the artist began exploring the continuing research of the Flow Country and its massive capacity to store carbon in the many layers of peat. Working from watercolor prints inspired by the patterns and colors of the land and sky, she produced some of her largest gravity formed glassworks to date for her first solo exhibition Outer Spaces, held July 2017 at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh. 

Simmons’ Dahlia Universe series, kilnformed solstice platters, were selected for exhibition in the 2019 British Glass Biennale. Creating work that often examines natural world contrasts, the artist kiln formed platters signifying the changes in season with the thought of our universe expanding like a growing flower. The works investigate whether we could use the biological theory of convergence to explain how our universe was made. Another series, Southern Hemispheres, was inspired by three months travelling and working in Australia. These pieces represent the first small-scale investigations of the resilient Australian native botanicals, posing the question: Do the survival techniques of these plants relate to our current crises in environmental and political situations? 

Creating work from her studio in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, since 2005, Simmons is the winner of The Gold Award from ORIGIN 2010: The London Craft Fair and finalist in Bullseye Glass Company’s Emerge 2012. United States and UK exhibitions include Craft Scotland 2013 and SOFA Chicago. Most recently, Contemporary Applied Arts exhibited Simmons glass art in their material-focused exhibition COLLECT: The International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design. Her work can be found in public collections including: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England; National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland; Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Perth, Scotland; and Ernsting Stiftung Glass Museum, Germany. 

An important part of Simmons’ practice is to educate and mentor, a way to pass on the skills developed over 19 years of kiln forming glass. Her 60-minute Master Class Video, available on Bullseye Glass Co.’s website, shares the full process by which she creates her tall vessels. She says: “I enjoy mentoring students starting out in their careers with glass, including business advice, professional development, and a range of glass techniques.”

Daniel 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. He began his filmmaking career at the Delaware-based nonprofit media initiative Hearts and Minds Film in 2001, founded Dan Collins Media in 2014, and launched Fire Team Films, which focuses exclusively on glass-related content, in 2022.

In October, Collins’ latest film Slinger debuted on Amazon and Vimeo on Demand. Aaron Golbert, aka Marble Slinger, embodies the artistic evolution and cultural revolution of the American glass pipe movement. He began making pipes in the 1990s, learning well-kept craft secrets from a few generous mentors, at a time when making “drug paraphernalia” could still land you in jail. Now, 25 years later, he is revered for his unique and ever-changing pipe aesthetics, his bold forays into the world of pop-art (especially his “Assault Girl” designs; Warhol-inspired mashups of the Morton Salt Logo), and perhaps above all for his documentary film, Degenerate Art: The Art and Culture of Glass Pipes (2012). This groundbreaking film premiered at the legendary SXSW Film Festival and enjoyed a two-year run as a top-ranked documentary on Netflix, giving audiences around the world the first detailed look into the underground glass pipe subculture. 

Says Slinger: “I’ve always seen glass pipe making as an extension of legalization activism, a protest, saying we believe that cannabis is beautiful!”

Slinger studied film at Ithaca College in upstate New York, but when he first glimpsed the mysterious glass pipes that began popping up on Grateful Dead and Phish tour in the mid-90s he was hooked. Devoted to outlaw cannabis culture, and hungry for an alternative to mainstream life, Slinger headed to Seattle to learn the art of pipe making. He has since become an artistic icon in a scene which has turned into a billion-dollar industry. This film tells the story of his life’s journey in a deep, personal way, while following him through a frigid Philadelphia winter as he prepares for a rare solo exhibition in sunny California. Directed by long-time friend and award- winning filmmaker Collins, the film offers a unique glimpse into Slinger’s world, inviting audiences to intimately experience the many challenges an artist faces in the pursuit of passion. 

“You don’t need to go to film school, you need to live a life worthy of making a film about:” states Slinger.

Collins is best known in the glass-pipe community for being the editor of Marble Slinger’s opus Degenerate Art: The Art & Culture of Glass Pipes(2012). He has since gone on to direct three more feature-length glass documentaries:  Project 33 (2017): chronicling the work of Oregon Artist Marcel Braun; Art That Gives Back (2023): the story of the Michigan Glass Project, which will release at their event in September 2023; and most recently Slinger (2022): a portrait of the artist who originally introduced Collins to the world of glass art.

Currently in production on two exciting new documentary films about glass, Collins journeyed to the outskirts of Havana to document the nascent studio glass movement in Cuba, and hopes to complete his film, ¡FUEGO! soon.

Find the trailer here: https://youtu.be/UlKsyWLOqkY

Beginning in January 2023, Collins turned his lens on American glass master Paul Stankard, to produce an intimate artist portrait with the help of Stankard’s long-time colleague, David Graeber.

Collins’ work has won many awards, premiered at prestigious festivals, and been distributed internationally. He is also a published poet, recording artist, and faculty member at the traditional-arts nonprofit organization Common Ground on the Hill (McDaniel College, Westminster, MD) where he is the co-founder of the Common Ground Veterans Initiative, a program that promotes healing through the arts for combat veterans.

Tom Holdman currently faces the biggest challenge of his career – how to depict thousands of years of world history in the 200-foot stained glass wall his studio is creating for Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah. Holdman, artist and CEO of Holdman Studios, is a man on a mission, determined to complete all 80 panels for his masterwork, Roots of Knowledge (RoK), by the end of October 2016. His monumental masterpiece depicts the most important advances in human knowledge and civilization, inspiring individuals to reach their full potential while illuminating stained glass as one of the highest art forms on earth.

In this conversation with both Holdman and lead artist Cameron Oscarson, we learn how the creative team functions, how the windows were designed, painted, and fabricated, and how the team will meet the great race to the finish line of completion.

On the cover of Glass Art magazine's July August 2016 issue. For back issues go to www.glassartmagazine.com

Visit www.rootsofknowledge.org for more information and to donate to the project.

The raw brilliance and color of glass are primary inspirations in Rita Shimelfarb’s work. The deeper she explores the technical side of working with glass, the more it leaves her in awe at the range of possibilities for something new and beautiful to emerge. Building upon the millennia-long tradition of stained glass art, Shimelfarb pushes her material beyond traditional imagery and conventional construction methods by utilizing both time-proven as well as innovative contemporary glass forming and painting techniques. By combining modern and traditional, play and purpose, she makes the seemingly conflicting entities sing together in harmony.

Shimelfarb’s unforgettable series, The Sacred Feminine Grace Archetypes, recognizes the universal interconnectedness and divine essence of all living beings. Through moving portraits of strong, wise and soulful female subjects, the work embodies beauty in movement, thought and action, reflecting an inner harmony that transcends physical appearance. This state is not just external; it is a quality that emanates from within, allowing individuals to navigate life’s challenges with poise and dignity. It’s an acknowledgment that life’s challenges are opportunities for growth, and by flowing with these experiences, one can find wisdom and serenity. 

Ian Chadwick: The Aesthetic of Order

Many teachings describe sacred geometry as the blueprint of creation and the origin of all form. This ancient science explores and explains the energy patterns that create and unify all things, and reveals the precise way that the energy of creation organizes itself. It is said that every natural pattern of growth or movement comes back to one or more geometric shapes. Ian Chadwick expresses his homage to sacred geometry by kilnforming colored glass strips that are deconstructed and reconstructed into symmetrical patterns similar to those seen in the rose windows of cathedrals and mandalas.

Chadwick says: “The inspiration behind my glass work comes from a love of optical art, traditional pattern-forming and an interest in sacred geometry – in particular the meditation symbols known as mandalas. Mandalas contain many of the principles important in the esoteric practice of geometry, utilized by craftsmen for centuries in the design of cathedrals and stained glass windows. In my most recent work, I am embodying the essence of mandalas into the patterns present within each individual hand-made piece of glassware. The techniques I use are similar to mosaic work, each individual point of color is an individual piece of glass arranged in a manner which produces a kaleidoscopic, op-art effect. The combination of colors, which I carefully choose, are designed to complement the pattern formed within the glass.”

Born on the Isle of Wight and after moving to a few locations, Chadwick finished his schooling in Banchory near Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, in 1994 with an honors degree in Fine Art specializing in sculpture. Final artworks produced for his degree show in 1994 utilized glass and plastics to create sculpture which had op-art qualities and were deeply concerned with geometry and symmetry – artistic interests that continue today. In 1996 the artist pursued his interest in glass and worked for a number of years at a stained glass studio in Scotland, eventually working as a freelance window designer and traditional glass painter.

In 2001, Chadwick moved to Timperley in Cheshire, where over the next two years he taught himself glass fusing and kiln-forming techniques. In 2003, the artist established a business producing traditional glass craft and kiln-formed glass art.  Since then, he has developed an extensive portfolio of contemporary glassware, including items such as kaleidoscopes, glass bowls, glass platters, wall art, glass vases and other glass interior home wares. To survive lockdown, Chadwick launched a collection of smaller, more affordable bowls on his Instagram page. Initially planning to number each bowl CVD-1, CVD-2, up to CVD-19, the demand was so high that he is now working on CVD-72 and has a waiting list of over 50 people.

An internationally recognized kiln-formed glass artist and instructor, Chadwick is the winner of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Award at the British Glass Biennale in 2019. He recently released a 30-minute YouTube tutorial, which attracted more than 10,000 views in 2 weeks. No longer viewable online, it is in the final stages of production and will be released by Bullseye Glass Co. later this year as part of the company’s new online teaching program. Attracting a loyal following among the US kiln-forming scene, Chadwick also has a strong collector base in the US boro glass scene with pieces of his work in the collections of well-known functional glass artists including Eusheen, Kaj Beck, Marcel Braun, Adam Reetz and Calmbo. 

Chadwick’s ritualized process of making is employed to bring the essence of mandalas into the symmetrical glass patterns, which have become his unique aesthetic signature. As his work progresses, he continues to investigate different pattern forming techniques and new ways to engage with the viewer. He says: “The production of the patterns requires a high level of accuracy and patience. Once formed, they are fired in the kiln up to three times in total and go through extensive cold-working using diamond abrasives to ensure the best quality finish. Each piece of glass I manufacture is a unique work of glass art.”

One of the leading ecclesiastical artists in the United States, Sylvia Nicolas is a member of an illustrious and prolific stained glass family. She is the fourth of five generations specializing in the liturgical arts and the daughter of Joep and Suzanne Nicolas, both famous artists who immigrated from the Netherlands to the U.S. in 1939 to escape the rising tide of Nazism. Joep Nicolas was sometimes referred to as “the Father of Modern Stained Glass.”

In 1996, Sylvia Nicolas completed 13 windows for the Basilica of St. Pancratius in Tubbergen, the Netherlands, for the Four Generations Foundation, which contains windows made by her great grandfather (Frans Nicolas, 1826-1894), grandfather (Charles Nicolas, 1859-1933) , father (Joep Nicolas, 1897-1972) and cousin. Her son and fifth generation Nicolas, Diego Semprun Nicolas, created the remaining 10 windows in 2002, finalizing this unprecedented multigenerational project. 

As a young artist, Nicolas was interested in costume design. She attended the Lycée Francais and the Dalton School in New York, the German Institute in Rome, and the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques and Académie de la Grande Chaumière, both in Paris. She studied with Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo and Ossip Zadkine, French-Russian artist known for his figurative-Cubist sculptures. Throughout her career, Nicolas has designed costumes and sets for ballet productions in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Paris, France, and Manchester, New Hampshire.

From her studio in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, Nicolas has created commissions for monasteries, churches, hospitals, government buildings and public spaces. A few of her most successful stained glass projects include 10 windows for the Church of the Annunciation, Washington, D.C.; two large windows for St. Mary’s Chancery, Wichita, Kansas; 24 windows on the life of St. Benedict for the refectory of St. Anselm Abbey, Manchester, New Hampshire; 23 windows for Saints Philip and James Church in St. James (Long Island), New York; 47 windows for St. Dominic Chapel, Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island; and 19 windows for St. John’s University, Queens, New York. 

In addition to her work in stained glass, Nicolas is skilled in a wide range of other media including oil, pen, conte, sculpture, mosaic and mosaic garden sculpture, concrete relief and painted tiles. Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, is home to three of her bronze sculptures and a large mosaic in the sanctuary chapel.

The recipient of The 2019 Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure Governor’s Art Award and the 2012 Barnes Lifetime Achievement Award, Nicolas is currently the focus of a Virginia Raguin essay to be published in an upcoming book about Franz Schroeder. Raguin is also working on a video interview of Nicolas for the American Glass Guild, an organization for which Nicolas serves as Senior Advisor.

In this conversation with Nicolas, the 93-year-old artist discusses recent windows created for St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlottesville, Virginia. She also reveals the secrets to her painting process, whether stained glass is an art or craft, and the importance of iconography and mythology in her work.

No matter the medium, Nicolas expresses the humanity of her subjects. Her focus on people, mingled with talent in a variety of media, allows her to produce art both delicate and evocative. “Foremost it is people I am concerned with, in whatever context. I’m a storyteller, really.” 

With her unique sculptural works, Ann Wolff holds a distinguished place as one of the world’s leading artists working with glass. She applies her strongly personal approach to bronze, aluminum and concrete sculpture, as well as to drawing, pastel work and photography. From April through October 2022, Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, one of Sweden’s most popular art museums, presented a solo exhibition of Wolff’s work in several techniques and media from the year 2000 until the present day. VOGUE Scandinavia nominated the show as one of the 10 best fall exhibitions in Scandinavia. It was also the largest showing of her work presented in Sweden.

Wolff states: “I have seen my works in painting, stone, bronze, concrete, and glass as equal in status. Sometimes I feel that my strongest works might be in paper, charcoal and pastels.” 

She continues: “I feel as a human being out of time. The notion of self and hence identity, grips me, disturbs me and motivates me. Everything comes from that. My interest in the self includes the others. It is clear that in the way that one carries out one’s work, something like a self expresses itself. And this self is guided by constantly developing insights. The insights can be very unclear but can still be the inspiration behind a work. I am testing out old questions of identity; be it inside-outside, symmetry, layers and core, number two and the double, the goat and the monkey. Moments of recognition are what my work needs, they propel me forward. Collected moments of clarity become knowledge.”

Born in Germany in 1937, Wolff studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (University of Design and Art) in Ulm, Germany, then worked as a designer in Sweden. For many years, she designed for the Kosta Boda glassworks, during which time she also pursued an independent career as a studio artist. Currently living and working on the Baltic island of Gotland, Sweden, she is the recipient of several internationally prestigious distinctions including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Glass Art Society and the PRO EUROPA Foundation’s European Culture Prize. She has been honored with numerous international awards, among them the renowned Coburger Glaspreis (1977), the Bayerischen Staatspreis (1988), the Jurypreis of the Toledo Museum of Art (2005), and the Award of Excellence of the Smithsonian Renwick Collection, Washington, DC (2008). The Swedish Royal family has acquired several of her works.

As one of the founders of the international Studio Glass movement, Wolff was at the center of attention as early as end of the 1960s. Her initiation into the American Studio Glass movement came at the invitation of Marvin Liposfsky and Dale Chihuly. Early days at Pilchuck sharing ideas and techniques revealed to her a new reality – one in which she was respected as an artist not a designer. 

Wolff States: “The Studio Glass movement from the United States burst in on my work – my isolation – in the mid 1960s. I was astonished and thrilled by the freedom with which glass was handled there. An immense curiosity about the unused potential and the broad possibilities of the new material for art: glass. It has to fit into the framework of art in general, though. For me, art is the deciding factor. The path I took shows that I intensely wanted to express my life in pictures, clarify things for myself. Of course, I could have started in a quite different medium – painting, sculpture, film – but it became glass.”

In her 50-year career, Wolff repeatedly created works that made people think. With glass, she allowed the world to glance at her esthetic sentimentality, and she also created homogenous objects. Ever recurring themes predominant in her work are womanhood and habitation expressed through objects that are mostly monochrome, often in warm earthy tones. Dance-theater was a strong inspiration, and she was allowed to attend rehearsals with Pina Bausch, made views from what she saw there and then formed glass objects.

Wolff brings out the special characteristics of glass: contours, surfaces, the relation between inside and outside. She makes inner landscapes visible. What lies behind the mask? The artist has asked herself this question again and again over the years. The psychology behind the facade is a regular theme of her works. Investigating further the subject of Wolff’s blown and engraved bowls and cast sculptures, one finds that the relationships between women as friends, and as mothers and daughters, and the role of women in society deeply concern her. She writes: “It is natural to take oneself as one’s starting point. The situation of women partly determines who I am and leads me to pose particular questions.”

Raised in Milford, Ohio, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen and her naturalist father spent many a day on forays through the woods. As a landscaper, the elder Willenbrink taught his daughter about trees, birds, fossils, and native peoples. She says:  “I’m constantly inspired, revitalized and awed by the power of nature.” A self-described all-American girl, the artist grew up with her twin sister, older brother, younger brother, and parents who loved to camp and hike. In their childhood home, nature and happiness was celebrated, resulting in Willenbrink-Johnsen’s palpable passion for life.                   

Soon after receiving a BFA in sculpture from Ohio University, glass became a driving force in Willenbrink-Johnsen’s life. The artist spent several years honing her skills in the Catskill Mountains region of New York. She subsequently embarked on a 16-year stint working with glass artist William Morris, who taught Willenbrink-Johnsen to follow her vision and let the enthusiasm of her spirit guide her ideas.

Like Morris, Willenbrink-Johnsen creates sculpture not only by blowing, but by hot sculpting. Components are hot formed or lampworked ahead of time and held in a garage to keep them warm while a base is being formed. Once the base is ready, the painstaking process of joining the elements to the base begins. Stress is introduced each time a new component is added, and the weight of the piece increases. A delicate balance of time and temperature is required for a sculpture to reach successful completion. 

Willenbrink-Johnsen’s team includes husband Jasen Johnsen, whom she met at Pilchuck and married in 2001. Jasen served as the head studio technician at Pilchuck Glass School for nearly 10 years and worked as teaching assistant for Pino Signoretto and Hank Murta Adams before beginning to co-teach classes with Karen.

As bird watchers, the Willenbrink-Johnsens observe every feather, talon, and branch presented in their work and invite viewers to enjoy their sculpture with the same attention to detail. Combining unmatched technical mastery with a profound love for their medium, nature, and each other, the artists explore new territory through not only birds forms, but complex treatments of their environs. 

Widely regarded as one of the godfathers of the functional glass community, Banjo works glass in a torch to create mind-blowing psychedelic sculpture that transcends its functionality. In doing so, the artist has attracted a legion of faithful fans and collectors, many who do not smoke marijuana.

Banjo’s glasswork brings to life interdimensional biomechanical deities that represent the emergence of sacred feminine energy within the post-modern techno-industrial matrix. He also pays homage to pop culture, crafting thousand-plus piece Transformer robots, motorcycles, cars, and Star Wars characters in borosilicate glass.

Though it’s happening, Banjo and his contemporaries don’t need gallery support or acceptance from the mainstream art world in order to sell their work. The functional glass community has always been tightly woven with the fibers of social networking. With over 150,000 followers on Instagram, hungry collectors devour Banjo’s new work the minute images appear online.

“Pipe-makers, glassblowers, and even glass collectors make up an entirely new class of cannabis celebrity,” wrote Ben Parker Karris, editor and correspondent for Kind Stash, Los Angeles, California. “With the nationwide legalization of marijuana, more artists will be inspired to enter the glass industry, because the demand for pieces is growing so quickly. This heightened demand creates a rise in the value of the work as well. Artists who were once barely earning money for their work are sometimes pulling in as much as $30,000 per piece.”

In 2016, Banjo had his first solo exhibition, Sacramental Vessels, held October 8 through November 13, 2016 at Gregorio Escalante Gallery in Los Angeles, California. Featured alongside other visionary works by Alex and Allyson Grey, Amanda Sage, Chris Dyer, and Luke Brown, Banjo’s android-goddesses snuggled in amongst their pistons and gears, represent harbingers of another incremental step towards normalizing and celebrating marijuana culture as part of creative life. Goddesses in vibrant transparent colors mingled with those created in opaque glass, each one surrounded by the hundreds of detailed nuts, bolts, screws, and knobs of Banjo’s mega-mechanisms.

In terms of industry growth over the next few years, many believe the functional glass movement has a chance to become one of the biggest art movements in recent history. According to Banjo, the government called glass pipes a billon dollar industry as far back as 2003. He estimates that currently between five and 10 functional glass artists are earning half a million dollars per year, with over 300 artists bringing in over 100K each.
Nice and tidy.

Ellen Mandelbaum creates environments in stained glass that inspire connection between the viewer and the serenity of the spiritual world. Painting with light not only allowed her to transcend art glass limitations, but offered a broader concept for expanding artistic vision in the medium.

After receiving her MFA in painting in 1963 from Indiana University, Mandelbaum worked for several years as a painter, educator and lecturer before developing an interest in stained glass. In 1975, her studies in leaded glass began in earnest at the now defunct Stained Glass School in North Adamas, Massachusetts. By the mid 1980s, Mandelbaum had studied in workshops with such well-known masters as Ludwig Schaffrath, Johannes Schreiter, Jochem Poengsen, Albinas Elskus, Ray King and Ed Carpenter. 

Having learned the basic skills of leaded glass, Mandelbaum found herself wanting more fluid motion and softness in her work. The pathway to breaking free of rigid lead line confines was to paint on the glass, techniques she learned from Elskus, who encouraged her to paint in a more personal way. Becoming a member of the Glass Painting Society, founded by John Nussbaum, introduced her to other glass painters with new ideas and approaches, and pushed the artist to further explore free expression using glass paints. 

From the beginning, Mandelbaum’s primary interest was the architectural use of stained glass, though throughout her career she designed and exhibited exquisite autonomous pieces, such as Martinique. She says: “I sat on the edge of a dock, plein air painting like Monet. This piece was painted from life with special glass paint and glass I’d brought from Queens, New York, wrapped in newspaper and nestled in the clothes in my suitcase. Miraculously it made it home unbroken where I could fire it in the traditional way – in my kiln at 1200 degrees.” Bold, often geometric designs appeared in concert with expressive free-hand use of paints, stain or enamels. Mandelbaum made use of clear and light tints to enable what was beyond the stained glass to play a role in her designs. Her aesthetic signature, painted elements interacted with what was occurring in the view beyond. 

Exhibited internationally, Mandelbaum’s autonomous panels have been featured in several one-person exhibitions at the Queens College Art Center in Flushing, New York, and in a couple of one-person shows at Gallery35 in Manhattan. A member of the Women’s International Glass Workshop since its inception, in 2016 the artist participated in the group show La Grange Aux Verrieres- Lumiere Visible, in Saint-Hilaire-en-Lignieres, France.

Mandelbaum is internationally recognized for her innovative stained glass commissions including installations for the Queens College Art Center, the Marian Woods Retirement Facility in Hartsdale, New York, and a 30-foot high window for the South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, South Carolina. Liturgical projects include: Temple Beth Shalom, Annapolis, Maryland, 2014; Kol Shalom Synagogue, Rockville, Maryland, 2012; and Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, Minnetonka, Minnesota, for which she was presented with the 1997 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Religious Art Award.

In 2014, Mandelbaum was accredited as an Artist/Designer by the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA). Two years later, she was appointed Senior Advisor for the American Glass Guild. Other awards include the Ahavas Sholom Honorable Mention Award for Design Excellence, Newark, New Jersey, 2014, and the Williamsburg Art & Historical Society’s 16th Anniversary Grand Harvest Award for Excellence, 2012.

In 2019, Mandelbaum received the SGAA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Education. Her teaching experiences include the instruction of glass painting at the SGAA Stained Glass School, Raytown, Missouri; and in New York at Hunter College, Pace University, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2020, the artist will teach long weekend workshops at her Long Island City Studio. A class including Bruce Buchanan, this year’s James Whitney Scholarship recipient, was rescheduled, hopefully for September 4, 5, 6. Check her website, ellenmandelbaum.com for the latest updates.

Bandhu Dunham: Exploring the Intersection of Self and the Natural World

The 1950s and ‘60s marked the heyday of kinetic sculpture with Alexander Calder’s mobiles and Jean Tinguely’s junk machine that destroyed itself in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art. But to glass lovers, Bandhu Dunham put himself on the same map with his 2016 Rube Goldberg-esque Escape Room created for Arizona State University as a reflection of how sports could evolve 24 years into the future.

Dunham says: “Nature inspires me, the interplays between art and science always interest me, and glass merges these fields like no other material. After many years, fanciful steam engines and other kinetic sculptures represent a full turn of the circle, back to the colorful, magical mysteries that captivated my childhood self. He’s still in there, and he wants you to come play, too. I think that people like watching kinetic gizmos with gears and pulleys and crankshafts because, in a paradoxical way, these machines re-connect us with nature.”

Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1959, Dunham began to teach himself lampwork technique in 1975 while still in high school. As an undergraduate at Princeton, he received informal training from the University’s glassblower before completing his apprenticeship under American and European masters at Urban Glass, the Pilchuck Glass School and the Penland School of Crafts. The artist regularly teaches workshops at craft schools and private studios around the United States and internationally including the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, The Penland School of Crafts and the Pilchuck Glass School. A visiting foreign instructor at Osaka University of Arts in Osaka, Japan, Dunham has presented his work at numerous international conferences including The Glass Art Society, Ausglass, The International Festival of Glass, Kobe Lampwork Festa and Glassymposium Lauscha.

An internationally respected glass artist, author and teacher, Bandhu’s work can be found in the permanent collections of numerous museums in the US and abroad, and his Contemporary Lampworking books are the authoritative, standard instructional texts in the field. In addition to fabricating one-of-a-kind glass sculptures and goblets, Dunham supervises his apprentices in creating unusual gift items and decorations of his conception from his studio, Salusa Glassworks, Prescott, Arizona. In 2018, he designed a groundbreaking kinetic sculpture fabricated by Ryan Murray, GANESHA (Guard Against Negativity; Express Sane Healing Attitudes), for The Melting Point Gallery, Sedona, Arizona.

He says: “The effect on the viewer is a playful mix of contemplative fascination with bursts of excitement as the marbles make their way up and down the track. I enjoy seeing how much viewers of all ages and backgrounds are engaged by the simple drama of marbles circulating through a kinetic system. The key elements of art-as-experience are brought to life in this complex yet simple theatre. We are reminded of life’s magic when we allow ourselves to be captivated by the colorful story unfolding before us. In the best case, the world looks a little different after we have spent some time watching one of my machines.”

Dunham has established a Patreon page to support the creation and dissemination of his informative, inspiring and amusing videos about glass art. 

Visit http://www.patreon.com/bandhu

Stanton Studios, expanded from the well-known Stanton Glass Studio, was founded in 1979 by Bryant J. Stanton. Beginning with a workbench in a loft studio and a couple of crates of glass, the studio has grown into a nationally-recognized business with completed work in businesses and homes across Texas and the United States. In addition to Stanton, his four sons and their team of craftsmen operate Stanton Studios just north of Waco, Texas. 

Stanton began his journey into the world of art as a young adult in high school. When he wrote a research paper on Gothic Cathedrals, he became fascinated with stained glass and window bays. Later, attending Texas Tech then transferring to Baylor, Stanton studied 3-Dimensional Studio Art and found that he incorporated glass wherever possible in all of his art projects. But the young artist didn’t begin pursuing his passion until a fateful event occurred. 

When Stanton took an off campus walk, he discovered an old stained glass shop and met a man who changed his life by teaching him the craft. After making his first butterfly sun-catcher, the young Stanton was “instantly hooked.” He accepted a full-time job at The Warehouse working for Homer Owen and made inspirational gifts – sun-catchers with bible verses on them. 

In 1979, Stanton began his own business in a downtown Waco, Texas, shop and started calling churches and businesses, advertising his services. He received his first restoration job fixing up windows for Central Christian Church. His first two window commissions were created for Pelican’s Warf and the Brazos Landing; ironically, both waterfront restaurants wanted Pelican-themed windows looking out onto the Brazos River. 

Stanton taught his first child, Tiffany, the shop’s ways and how to handle glass. Soon after, Nathan and Jordan, the eldest sons, began learning their father’s trade. Jordan was “a little clone of his father” and quickly picked up the skills needed for creating glass. As assistant manager, he accompanied his father to meetings. Nathan, the eldest son, found that working with glass was not his passion and learned his own trade – woodworking. Tiffany eventually taught her younger sibling, Samuel, to work with glass, and he joined the shop as a grouter. 

As time passed, Stanton hired an in-house glass painter, Joe Barbieri, his wife Suzanne eventually became the bookkeeper, and Jordan became the official manager. Samuel also moved up from being in “the mud room” to being a builder. Tim, the youngest son, joined the shop as a builder, and Nathan helped to expand Stanton Glass Studio into Stanton Studios as he brought his woodworking abilities to the shop.

Since founding the business, Stanton has worked tirelessly designing and creating works in glass. The knowledge and experience gained have allowed him to complete iconic works that are not only breathtaking but magnificent feats to design and build. He and his family can tackle projects ranging from stained glass for churches, residences or businesses to huge sculptures for universities or giant glass domes for hotels. Stanton says he most enjoys projects that are big and challenging, such as the 3-story long DNA sculpture that hangs suspended in a stairwell in the McLennan Community College Sciences Building in Waco, the iconic dome of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, and the restoration of the priceless Louis Comfort Tiffany windows for a Galveston church.

Stanton has come a long way from that first butterfly suncatcher. He and his family are always learning more and continuing to find new challenges in creating the most beautiful art glass. Due to their success, Stanton has served on several community boards, including the Waco Chamber of Commerce and the Waco Art Center. He is the current president of the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA) and also served as the past Editorial Chair of Stained Glass Quarterly magazine. SGAA’s 2023 conference will be held in Buffalo, New York, September 27 through October 1.

As Stanton Studios continues to hire more builders and expand, its founder hopes that the business will live on through his sons, who are now in charge of teaching the new hires the skills involved with stained glass making – keeping the art and craft of stained glass alive.

Judson Studios’ Resurrection Window, the largest single composition fused glass window in the world, was dedicated in April, 2017. Created for the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the groundbreaking work measures a mammoth 37 feet tall by 93 feet wide. For the ambitious project, Judson Studios collaborated with world-renowned artist Narcissus Quagliata to bring Judson designer Tim Carey’s vision to life. This represents the first time a notable liturgical window was created entirely from fused glass.

Chosen for the Resurrection Window project via a worldwide selection process, Judson Studios designed, fabricated, and installed 161 panels each measuring 4 feet wide by 5 feet tall. Located above the sanctuary chancel and choir loft, the spectacular 3,404 square feet of glass is comprised of approximately 6,000 individual pieces of painted, fused, and glazed glass. Though protected from the elements by a glass curtain wall, the colossal expanse of art glass is visible at night from miles away.

To accomplish the daunting task of producing this first ever fused window wall, Judson Studios expanded from their workspace in nearby Highland Park to a new addition in South Pasadena. More than 5,000 square feet of modern factory and kiln capabilities enabled the studio, with Quagliata’s assistance, to complete their most challenging commission to date.

The dramatic centerpiece of a $93-million capital improvement plan, the Resurrection Window serves as a beacon on the church’s 76-acre Leawood campus. Designed by Minneapolis-based HGA Architects and Engineers and Gould Evans of Kansas City, the new sanctuary changed the local landscape with its seven stainless steel-clad exterior panels. These "sails" rise more than 104 feet above ground and represent each day of creation, the wholeness of life, and the seven days of Holy Week. In harmony, Judson’s Resurrection Window tells the biblical story from Genesis through Revelation.

Our conversation begins with president of Judson Studios, David Judson. Next we’ll hear from designer Tim Carey, then Narcissus Quagliata about each of their roles and experience in the creation of the Resurrection Window.

Both through his own works and his activities in education, Richard Meitner has had a profoundly positive and highly visible impact on art in glass internationally. His works have been shown around the world and have been included in almost every major international museum exhibition of art in glass for the last 25 years. In spite of his considerable reknown, Meitner’s work has never been mainstream. His place is always on the outer edge of what is happening, searching, challenging, discovering, taking risks, as if he were a child at play. It is this desire to discover and speak as a child does, to learn and rejoice in that learning, but also the willingness to be caught off guard, and amazed or puzzled by experience, which has always been at the heart of his activities. 

Anna Venini wrote: “The best way to express what I like most about Richard and his work is perhaps this: he lives in an extraordinary world, one that is not simply the pleasing world of fairy tales but is at the same time a breeding ground for some serious (albeit elusive) philosophical thought and research. It is from this place that he creates. It is my feeling that he has not only already accomplished great things, but has, in addition, a long career in front of him as an important artist. I come from a family of glass makers. I love Richard’s work most certainly not only for that reason, but also because Richard is able to approach that material and to use it with culture, with great fantasy and originality, with authority and great thoughtfulness. That combination is, in my experience, highly unusual.” 

An artist with decades of experience and practice in art and art education, Meitner has lived in Amsterdam since 1972. He has lectured and conducted workshops in the U.S.A., Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Italy and Japan. He has been invited artist-in-residence in many countries and has worked as a designer for the glass industry in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Additionally, Meitner has served on the Dutch National Commission for Endowments for the Arts and the Dutch National Advisory Board for the Arts. Together with Mieke Groot, he was responsible from 1981 to 2000 for the glass department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. In 2006, he was appointed to the faculty for Science and Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (New University of Lisbon), Portugal. Meitner’s major exhibitions include a retrospective at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs of the Louvre in Paris, and solo shows at the National Museum for the History of Science and Medicine in Leiden, Netherlands, the National Glass Museum in Sunderland, England, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Corning Museum of Glass in the U.S.A. His work is included in the permanent collections of more than 60 museums in 16 countries. In 2020, the artist received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Art Society.

In 2016, Meitner earned a PhD in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. His doctoral thesis made the case that in education and public policy for art, the way we define, make policy for and teach art is in many respects incorrect and ineffective. He formulates his arguments citing science and many other sources that strongly suggest that we need urgently to discuss, rethink and come to much more accurate and useful understandings of what making and appreciating art are really about. 

In 2023, Meitner will begin work for his upcoming solo show at Galeria Caterina Tognon in Venice during the Biennale and continue to build a working collaboration with his partner, Nataliya Vladychko, a talented Ukrainian artist. He will also carry on his work with the Vicarte Research Unit at Universidade Nova in Lisbon, i.e. working with young student artists in the Master’s degree program for the Art and Science of Glass and Ceramics. 

Saya Meitner: “Helping young talented artists as a teacher is something I’ve done for many decades, and has become quite an important aspect of both my career and my life.”

Glass Vegas 2020: Come Experience the Love

Well-known and respected as an organized, professionally run trade show, Glass Vegas promotes functional glass artists and brings together buyers and sellers of everything from simple dry pipes to rigs and bubblers to headies created by the nation’s finest artists. The success of Glass Vegas can be attributed to a lot of hard work by the Glass Vegas trade show team, including mother-daughter duo LeeAnne and Amy Short, who made the love and bonds formed in this community an important part of doing business.  

The 2020 Glass Vegas Expo will be held January 28 through 30 at Bally’s Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, with over 300 vendor booths representing between 500 to 600 independent glass artists as well as leading wholesale vendors. The show provides attending retailers with the opportunity to buy quality glass and also to experience live music and painting, live flameworking demos by an all-star roster, the Millie Meet Up, the Boro Derby, and the World Series of Glass.

After establishing the successful Glass Craft and Bead Expo 25 years ago, Lee Anne wanted to repeat her trade show success in the functional glass world by creating a trade show that would help artists solve current challenges. She says: “It was important to us from the beginning to support and promote independent artists who are taking a real hit from imported glass. Glass Vegas gives potential buyers an opportunity to see handmade functional glass first hand. We showcase the biggest names in glassblowing as well as the hottest up-and-coming artists. Retail buyers can get amazing deals while making connections with the artists face to face and growing their businesses.”

LeeAnne and Amy run Glass Vegas as a one-of-a-kind, industry only trade show for high-end functional art that feels more like a family reunion. In this conversation, they discuss the history of the show, last year’s World Series of Glass and Retailer of the Year winners, and what to expect this January 2020 at Glass Vegas.

Lino Tagliapietra’s visit to Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, in the late 1970s was a game-changer. His willingness to share glassblowing techniques regarded as Muranese secrets with American artists hungry for knowledge was one of the most important seeds of the Studio Glass movement’s growth. For Tagliapietra, the Americans planted a seed also, one that would encourage him to leave his career working in Italian glass factories and transform himself into an independent glassblower and artist.

Since 1990, the Maestro has created some of the world’s most recognizable blown glass, represented by prestigious museums including the De Young Museum, San Francisco, California; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; the Metropolitan Museum, New York, New York, as well as by numerous galleries and private collections.

Tagliapietra’s awards and honors are innumerable and include his 2006 Distinguished Educator Award presented by the James Renwick Alliance of Washington D.C. In 2011, the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere e Arti in Venice held an exhibition Lino Tagliapietra from Murano to Studio Glass, and in 2015 bestowed upon him the coveted Career Award. Tagliapietra holds two honorary degrees and the title PhD of Fine Arts from Ohio State University. In 2012 the Maestro was chosen for the renowned Phoenix Award. In 2014 he was presented with the Visionary Award at Art Palm Beach, Florida, followed by the Best Glass Work Award, Masterpiece exhibition, London, UK.

Tagliapietra is widely revered as the Maestro of glassblowing, an inspiring teacher, and the elder statesman linking the glass centers of Venice, Italy, and the Pacific Northwest. Vessels, installations, panels, and Avventurina comprise his current body of work. His 2017 exhibition schedule includes Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, from May 13 through August 6; and Lino Tagliapietra, Master of a Glass Renaissance, Morris Museum, Morristown, now through June 18. The New Jersey exhibition will showcase approximately 30 Tagliapietra masterpieces in collaboration with Schantz Galleries.

Loretta H. Yang and Chang Yi, founders and artists of LIULI Crystal Art, devoted their life to the art of LIULI for three decades. In the process, they revived the ancient Chinese technique of pâte de verre lost wax casting and instigated the contemporary glass art movement in Asia. Richly imbued with traditional Chinese artistic vocabulary and philosophical thinking, Yang’s works have been acquired by more than 22 museums for their permanent collections including Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Palace Museum in Beijing, New York Museum of Arts and Design, The Corning Museum of Glass, and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. She has created work for the Oscars, Grammys and 32 world leaders.

“Beauty transformed” is how Japanese critics have described Yang’s multiple talents. Named Best Leading Actress in the 21st and 22nd Golden Horse Film Awards ceremony, she was the first actress who won this award two years in a row. In 1987, Yang left the film industry along with her late husband, film director Chang Yi, and several other people from the film industry to establish the glass workshop and studio LIULI Crystal Art near Taipei, Taiwan. The industrious group invested their resources in rehabilitating a dilapidated factory and learned the techniques and process of glass casting in the French manner, similar to the luxury glass made by Lalique and Daum. Yang single-handedly rediscovered the techniques of pâte de verre glass casting and uses this technique to create works with a traditional Chinese artistic flare. 

When asked, “What has it been like being a woman in the glass arts industry all these years,” Yang responded: “Honestly, I haven’t given this topic much thought. Don’t exceptional women exist in all industries? Chang Yi believed that women were the stronger gender and possess a resilience men don’t. He would use the saying ‘will of steel, gentle heart’ to describe women, because he observed that we lead with a gentleness of heart and an unwavering will. Maybe I’ve been lucky to work with Chang Yi all this time because despite what other people said, we took it with a grain of salt and continued to live according to our own set of rules. We complemented each other. He was responsible for the development, planning and operational aspects of the company. And because of this, he was able to steer our team in the right direction and instill an equitable value system.” 

She continues: “I, on the other hand, have more patience and lean more toward innovation. I enjoy researching techniques – LIULI Crystal Art’s 12-step technique is a product of my work. Yes, the process was challenging, but what would we be without it? LIULI Crystal Art faced a lot of challenges in our 36 years. The sheer will to complete a project was our greatest encouragement and got us through them. Chang Yi used to good-naturedly admonish that I was the type of person who doesn’t know when to quit. But really, I’m the type of person who immerses themselves in something and will continue searching for an answer until I find it. Value and strength are creations of our own design. I refuse to put myself in a box or limit myself in any way. Women can be just as bold as men, men can be just as resilient as women.” 

Today, LIULI Crystal Art owns factories on Taiwan (Tamshui) and in Shanghai, and numerous galleries on Taiwan and in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and United States. The group decided to use the Chinese word LIULI as opposed to more common names for glass in the Chinese language. It is commonly believed that the word LIULI first appeared during the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1045-771 BCE), which referred to the glass being produced at the time. For Yang especially, using the term LIULI greatly references her own body of work, which draws upon traditional Chinese motifs and such Buddhist teachings as enlightenment and transparency, evoking an almost meditative practice and devotional purpose. Each piece undergoes a comprehensive 12-step process and requires six to eight months to complete.

Known for her floral sculptures, in 2006 Yang removed all traces of color from her work. This pure, transparent series debuted at Leo Kaplan Modern in New York in 2007 with Proof of Awareness, an oversized and colorless blooming peony, garnering widespread acclaim. To Yang, the oversized flowers of Proof of Awareness represented her life reflections and the next stage of her creative journey.

Says Yang: “LIULI petals, when looked at individually, hold little significance. But when clustered together, these petals manifest a symbiotic relationship to create a single large and flawless flower. A harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship does not focus on the self but on the greater good of everyone involved.” 

Combining pâte de verre with hot casting, Yang uses multiple castings to create the abstract form of Buddha. Because life is impermanent, LIULI is the perfect material to capture its wavering illusory and tangible qualities. Yang explored the Buddhist philosophy of enlightenment and non-attachment in her exhibition Diamond Sutra held at the Grand Palais in 2015. The Ateliers d’Art de France commented: “The collection exudes a meditative philosophy that captures the Parisian way of life yet is an uncommon component in contemporary French art.”

In 1996, when Yang and Chan Yi visited the Buddhist grottoes near the desert oasis of Dunhuang in western China, the moment they saw the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin fresco in Cave 3 at Mogao, painted during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) and slowly disappearing under the relentless weathering of the desert sandstorms, Yang vowed to recreate the image in glass as a way of handing down to future generations the wisdom and compassion it has accumulated over the centuries. On the reverse side is engraved the Great Compassion Dharani, a popular incantation in Chinese Buddhism. The unique transparent nimbus represents the wisdom and compassion of Guanyin illuminating the world. The image exudes an air of boundless compassion, quelling the anxiety of a troubled heart. Though Yang has completed a 200cm version, her deepest wish is to complete a LIULI-made Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin that measures14.7 feet tall! 

In order to “continuously create art for the good of the heart,” Chang wrote a dedicated poem for each artwork. It took great determination and faith to accumulate such a compelling body of work. He viewed LIULI as a communicator of life and death, and as the state between illusion and reality, light and shadow. Even though life was illusory, a dream and ephemeral like bubbles, there was always an unwavering touch of red in the heart urging all to never give up life and never give up hope. 

Says Yang: “Although it’s been more than three decades, we know there’s a lot more to achieve. And the only way to do so is to continuously practice what we believe in. The mission of LIULI has always been more than LIULI. It is the society, the culture, and the human beings.

Richard Parrish’s distinctive Mapping and Tapestry series were inspired by his early life on a farm in Eastern Idaho and growing up in the American Intermountain West. The artist’s dreams of big skies, endless prairie, and a single butte with little else on the horizon continue to inform his kilnformed glass. 

About a third of Parrish’s practice focuses on teaching and traveling around the world. The rest takes place in his Fusio Studio in Bozeman, Montana, where he makes three kinds of work including commissions and a series of decorative wall pieces entitled Tapestry. His less decorative series dubbed Mapping is comprised of large hanging wall panels with bas relief surfaces suggesting landscapes, topographical, and aerial views. The surfaces with their earthier feel encourage viewers to relate to them as paintings rather than glass. 

Parrish holds a Master of Architecture degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. He taught architecture and design at The University of Michigan and Montana State University but currently teaches classes in kilnformed glass throughout the world, focusing on the visual elements of design, color theory, and inspiration. The artist will teach four classes in Australia in March 2018. At his Montana studio, Parrish plans an expanded version of his Color Theory for Kilnformed Glass class in the summer of 2018 and a special class in September structured around the idea of Place and its potential for artistic inspiration, complete with visit to Yellowstone National Park. 

Initially featured in a solo exhibition Aerial Perspectives of the American Landscape held at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York, Parrish's work is now on view at the Bullseye Resource Center, in Emeryville, California. He is one of six artists participating in a group exhibition on Climate Change at Rockland Center for the Arts, Nyack, New York, titled "The Tipping Point," scheduled for April 15 - May 25, 2018. In May 2018, works by Steve Klein, Parrish and artists-in-residence will be on view at the Pilchuck exhibition space in a show titled  "Dis- Dissonance and Discovery." Continuing his exploration of aerial views and the western landscape, Parrish will have a solo exhibition at Bullseye Projects, in Portland, Oregon, opening May 2 2018. In addition, he'll be working on a commission for an individual associated with the United Nations inspired by the Niger River in Mali.

Like something out of a dark fairytale, David Fode’s personal work in stained glass entices the viewer with its frighteningly beautiful aesthetic. His alluring autonomous panels painted in the Munich style provide a canvas for Fode’s highly detailed and elaborate renderings, resulting in an irresistible synthesis of the exquisite and the macabre.

Since 2004, Fode has been designing and fabricating independent works in glass from his Waukesha, Wisconsin, studio HaeuserHeil as a means of promoting the Munich style for applications in private and smaller public venues. Though Fode’s subjects are not ancient, his medium is, making for an interesting and endlessly appealing dichotomy. His contemporary content helps to legitimize the stained glass craft through its appeal to today’s art viewing and art buying audience.

Formally trained in illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois, Fode has worked in stained glass studios for nearly 20 years, replicating the Munich style for new and preservation projects across the United States. As senior artist at Gaytee-Palmer Stained Glass in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last year Fode designed 14 4' by 4' windows for Trinity High School in Bismarck, North Dakota. With natural light on only one side, the remaining windows were artificially lit to mimic natural light. LED panels set on dimmer switches and timers controlled the light replicating daylight as closely as possible.

Whether creating autonomous panels, restoring historical glass, or designing new projects at Gaytee-Palmer, Fode’s artistic endeavors serve his goal of keeping the art of stained glass alive.

It’s not uncommon to read comparisons between Albert Einstein and Paul Marioni, artist and one of the founders of the Studio Glass movement, many based on their shared lifelong fascination with light. Known as an innovator in the glass world, Marioni has been pushing the limits of his medium for five decades, redefining what is possible not only in process but content. He says: “I work with glass for its distinct ability to capture and manipulate light. While my techniques are often inventive, they are only in service of the image.” 

A surrealist whose work addresses issues of nature, identity, and emotion, Marioni relies upon dreams as well as political and social convictions to make statements, causing us to forget the unfair advantage that working with glass affords. Using material that is inherently beautiful, the artist inspires people to think rather than telling them what to think. Marioni’s work can be found in collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York.

Marioni, who graduated in 1967 from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, is a Fellow of the American Crafts Council and Glass Art Society Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. He has received three fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and has taught at schools worldwide including the Penland School of Crafts, Bakersville, North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; the Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey; and more recently at Soneva Art and Glass in the Maldives.

At 77, Marioni remains passionate about the “road show,” a grassroots effort started by artists like himself, Fritz Dreisbach, Dale Chihuly, and Richard Marquis, to spread knowledge and enthusiasm about glass to anyone who showed interest. “I’ve worked in glass all but three years of my life. What was I thinking to get into a field with no history, no books, no teaching? Obviously I wasn’t thinking. But we built the Studio Glass movement on cooperation, not competition, because there was no past. There was nothing for us to get. And we’ve barely scratched the surface of what can be done.”

In addition to gallery work, Marioni has produced over 100 public and private commissions in both cast glass and terrazzo. From his studio in Mexico, the artist currently works on the biggest commission of his career for the $52 million Bellevue, Washington, light rail station. Its train serves business powerhouses of the Pacific Northwest including Microsoft and Boeing. Selected as lead artist for the project through a national competition, Marioni is designing 3000+ square feet of art glass for the platforms as well as the terrazzo floors. 

Kim Thomas: The Escape and Beyond

A prolific borosilicate flameworker producing highly recognizable works in functional and sculptural glass, Kim Thomas aka Zii is changing the face of flameworking. From detailed and realistic human teeth and severed finger pipes to her latest kinetic sculpture, the artist is redefining what is possible at the torch. From January – April, 2021, recent works The Cloud Capturing Apparatus and The Cloud Riding Contraption were exhibited in Glass in The Expanded Field at the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, New Jersey. 

Thomas also participated in Hunterdon’s companion symposium, Pipe Art: Understudied Glass, which considered the glass pipe as a fluid work of art fundamental to the art history of glass. Celebrated artists Dan Coyle and Luken Sheafe, whose artist name is SALT, presented their intensely wrought, figural, and in the case of Thomas, sometimes kinetic, pipes. Joined by Susie J. Silbert, Curator at the Corning Museum of Glass, these artists further contextualized their work within the burgeoning field of pipe-making. 

Following graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in ceramics, Thomas attended The Make Up Designory and later worked as an assistant to award-winning special effects make-up artist Kevin Haney. In 2009, when she answered an advertisement for a studio apprentice in North Hollywood, California, Thomas discovered her passion for flameworking. With lessons from her studio mates and observation she quickly learned the medium and turned her practice into a career.

Now making work from the Urban Pheasant Glass Studio, Detroit, Michigan, Thomas is a former professor of glass at Salem Community College in New Jersey, and guest instructor at various schools and studios including Penland School of Craft, Snow Farm, and the Pilchuck School of Glass. She has demonstrated her techniques at The International Flameworking Conference and The Glass Art Society Conference, and exhibits her work in museums and galleries across the United States. Her attention to detail and regard for realism have resulted in a highly recognizable aesthetic signature. In a world where the inherent beauty of glass is regularly exploited, Thomas relies on a gritty realism to set her work apart. Few, if any, artists create similar work. 

As Thomas continues to work on The Escape series –  she prepares to teach classes at Penland School of Craft, July 18 – August 2 and Snow Farm from August 8 – 13. Both classes are full with waiting lists. She will also participate in an emerging artist residency at Pilchuck Glass School, October 6 – November 22, 2021. 

Nicknamed after her classic 1978 Camaro Z28, Zii believes the most creative and engaging work is influenced by the things that find their way into your dreams. She says: “It’s easy with pipemaking to get pigeonholed into making one type of piece –- if you’re doing it as a living, you have to please your fans and make things they will buy. As an artist, if you want to grow and develop, and have some sort of message, you can’t just make one thing over and over.” 

Well-known early on for their signature blown glass Bags, the subsequent cast glass work of John Littleton and Kate Vogel provided a new outlet for complex contemplations, questions and reflections. In this dramatic departure from their lighthearted Bags, faces and hands are used in various poses and combinations to explore states of mind, relationships, and even spiritual themes. Cast arms with hands in amber glass hold a brilliant jewel-cut form, which seems to spread its glowing light to all that surrounds it.

Use of multiple techniques by Littleton and Vogel reveals an intimate understanding of their medium, and the execution of each work reflects artists deserving of their place at the top of the contemporary glass movement. Not only visually stunning, their sculpture allows the viewer to create a narrative, each piece a captured moment in a story of the viewers’ choosing.

They state: “As we focus on each form, we see possibilities for the next, and our vocabulary of form and ideas expands. We bounce ideas back and forth, we build on each other’s concepts, and we learn from each other’s insights. Collaboration brings our individual sensibilities together to generate something neither of us would have made alone. “

Littleton and Vogel are nationally renowned American Studio Glass Movement artists who work and reside in Bakersville, North Carolina. Their creative partnership began in the mid-to-late 20th century, when they began collaborating on their first glass pieces in 1979 after meeting as art students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 

Creating sculptural blown and cast glass works and installations that speak to the importance of their relationships to one another, their family, and their community, Littleton and Vogel currently exhibit their works in Between Us: A Retrospective Exhibition of Work by John Littleton and Kate Vogel at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, Wisconsin. On view now through February 13, 2022, the exhibition is accompanied by a perfect bound 84-page publication with essays by Casey Eichhorn, exhibition curator, and Susie J. Silbert, Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass. 

“This retrospective exhibition highlights important works, milestones, and innovations in their shared careers,” says Casey Eichhorn, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions,” – all while tying their experiences and influences back to John’s father, Harvey Littleton, an American glass artist, educator, and one of the founders of the American Studio Glass Movement.” 

Harvey Littleton, whose influential work will also be shown in the exhibition, is often referred to as the “Father of the Studio Glass Movement.” In his role as an educator, he initiated the first hot glass program offered by an America University at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and promoted the idea of glass as a course of study in university art departments in the United States. Littleton’s students went on to become the dominant figures in the American Studio Glass Movement while broadening the study of glass art and university-level hot glass programs throughout the U.S. 

John Littleton states: “Harvey introduced glass as a medium for artists. The Toledo workshops were dad’s idea. He had help from Norm Schuman and later Dominic Labino. The workshops wouldn’t have happened without him. He certainly had help developing technique, but more than anyone else he saw the possibility of putting glass in the hands of artists. The industrial model was designers who worked on paper passing the design to the factory worker who had little expressive input. There were artist craftsmen and women who worked with glass individually, but dad pursued the idea of glass being available to art students. The early years were a time he pushed to get glass into universities to expand glass’s creative and expressive potential. He saw the need for many artists working with glass for the growth of the field.”

Littleton and Vogel’s work has appeared in several group exhibitions including the Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) in Chicago and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Their glass works can also be seen in private and public collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. Locations include the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, AR; the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Switzerland; Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark; the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA. Features on their work have appeared in various publications—such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and CBS Sunday Morning. 

Littleton and Vogel state: “Choice, chance, circumstance, seductive qualities of the material…a little bit of all of the above. We stay with glass because it feels right. The process allows us to collaborate, start to finish. Glass is versatile, and we see endless possibilities in it and through it. In our work we strive to make something that is a personal expression of our thoughts and experiences.”

Gene Koss uses glass as a medium of pure sculptural expression resulting in monumental sculptures of cast glass, steel and light. He developed innovative techniques to transform his memories of the mechanized Wisconsin farm of his youth into foundry-based glass sculptures. He combines glass and steel found objects to create small-scale sculptures that often also serve as studies for his larger-scale works.

Opening on September 20, 2024 and running through February 9, 2025, The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass (BMM), Neenah, Wisconsin, presents a major solo exhibition of Koss’ work: From Farm to Flame. Says Casey Eichhorn, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at BMM: “Gene Koss’ career in glass has been one informed by experience, and driven by creative experimentation. Alongside two of his sketchbooks, Farm to Flame showcases the tangible results of these experiments in the form of 14 sculptures of glass, steel and wood – each highlighting a specific point in time in the artist’s illustrious career.”

After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls in 1974, Koss then earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia. In 1976, he moved to New Orleans to develop a new glass facility and program for Tulane University, and subsequently became head of the department. 

“Gene’s career at Tulane University helped shape the Newcomb Art Department, and he is a pivotal figure in the teaching and creation of glass art in the South,” said Stephanie Porras, chair of the Newcomb Art Department. 

Koss is the recipient of several awards including the National Endowment for the Arts, The New Orleans Community Arts Board and Pace-Willson Art Foundation grants. His work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans; the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana; the Sculpture Center in New York City; as well as the International Biennale for Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy. It has been published in International Glass Art, Contemporary Glass-Color, Light & Form and Glass Art from Urban Glass publications. Koss is represented by Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, LA. His work is in many prominent collections including the Pan American Life Collection in New Orleans and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. The Arnoldsche Art Publishers of Germany released a 2019 retrospective monograph of his work, Gene Koss Sculpture.

Creating Koss’ majestic works in glass and steel requires demanding techniques to realize their monumental scale. These massive volumes of glass are married with elaborately engineered steel elements. The artist casts molten glass directly from the hot furnace, working with teams of highly-skilled assistants and rigging elaborate systems for transporting his finished abstract works for display in museums, galleries and public spaces. Working with serial cast glass parts to enlarge scale and combining these elements with iron and neon, he has raised glass sculpture to the realm of public art. Koss’ work has had a profound impact on American artists working in both steel and glass media.

Richard Royal, a native of the Northwest, has become recognized internationally as one of the most skilled and talented glassblowers in the Studio Glass movement. Bodies of work such as his early Diamond Cut series to the more recent Geometrics are the hallmarks of his successful career in glass. The artist began working as a glass sculptor in 1978 at the Pilchuck Glass School, located north of Seattle. After spending a number of years as a ceramist, the birth of a new artistic movement appealed to the young artist. 

Working his way through the ranks, Royal became one of Dale Chihuly’s main gaffers. This relationship lasted for a number of years and consequently led to Royal’s emergence in the art market in the 1980s. He has since been an independent artist exhibiting work internationally in both solo and group exhibitions.

Wrote gallerist, Ken Saunders: “When Royal joined the staff of Pilchuck it was ostensibly as a maintenance man. In those early days a guy hired to clean up and a guy hired to drive a truck – Royal and William Morris respectively – might easily find themselves assisting the world’s greatest glassblowers as they worked the hot glass, in demonstrations for students and for themselves after hours and after the summer sessions had ended for the season.

Though Royal was introduced to glass as a student at the Central Washington University he pursued an interest in ceramics and in 1972, he and fellow student Ben Moore built a studio in their hometown of Olympia, Washington. There they created a line of production objects made from clay. The young men worked compulsively and energetically but typically found themselves in bohemian circumstances. Royal made his rent money building high-end wood furniture and endeavored to keep the studio viable while Moore enrolled in the under-graduate program at the California College of Arts.

At CCA Moore met Marvin Lipofsky, who was running the glass program, though Moore did not participate in glass at that time and went on to earn his undergrad degree in ceramics. For graduation, Moore’s parents gifted him with a session at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. There, Moore met Chihuly who liked his energy and encouraged the young artist to help out during the summer programs at Pilchuck and later to attend RISD to earn an MFA in glass. As the small staff of the school expanded to accommodate the explosion of interest in the programming, Moore reached out to his buddy Royal, inviting him to join the staff in 1978. Royal jumped at the chance to get out of Olympia where maintaining the ceramics studio had become a lonely enterprise. ‘I’d heard about what was going on at Pilchuck but I was just thinking about having a job and getting fed regularly. I had no idea what was going to happen…it changed my life.’

After spending the summer of 1978 at Pilchuck, working maintenance and, on many occasions, assisting in the hot-shop during classes and after hours, Royal was invited to stay for the fall to assist Chihuly with his work. Chihuly was assembling a large team that he felt would allow him to create ambitious, large- scale sculptures and installations…

Once winter descended on the Pacific Northwest the team was forced to abandon Pilchuck for the season. Chihuly filled his calendar with Visiting Artist Residencies at colleges and universities around the country and took members of the team with him. Royal recalls the excitement: ‘We’d take over the art department and during our demonstrations the hot shop would be standing room only,’ the team putting on what amounted to a performance with Chihuly playing the master of ceremonies breathlessly directing the action. ‘We would hit the campus like rock stars.’

While Chihuly developed a very specific vision of a large studio employing extremely gifted crafts people to handle very specific tasks in an effort to harness the best each had to offer to the process, most artists working in glass in those days worked in very small teams, basically a handful of artist/friends who took turns leading the creation of their own works with the assistance of the others. ‘We all had our own ideas. In fact, when it was your turn you were expected to have your own ideas for your own work.’ And led by the example set by Dale, ‘everybody was completely supportive of the others and willing to lend a hand if need be.’ Dale set the tone, ‘really supporting whatever each of us wanted to create.’ 

Royal continued working with Chihuly for nearly 30 years until 2006,. He simultaneously worked at Benjamin Moore Inc. beginning in 1984. 

Wrote Saunders: “Royal’s first series of blown objects to find commercial and critical success, the Diamond Cut and Shelter Series, were begun at this time… The most important technical characteristic of this early work was the overlay of color on the outside of the bubble – a strategy that turns the usual process of picking up color first on its head. Royal describes the process: ‘In the Diamond Cut Series I overlaid four or five different colors on the outside of a bubble, brought the blank down to room temperature and used a diamond band saw to cut through those layers…I wanted to create an object that would allow you to look at the outside and inside simultaneously…This was a personal metaphor for exploration, looking inside.” The Shelter Series extended this metaphor reflecting profound changes he was going through emotionally, financially and professionally. 

In 1989 his engagement and subsequent marriage to Jana led to Royal’s Relationship Series. The form consists of a top and a bottom of equal size that meet and entwine around a smaller vessel at the center of the sculpture. ‘The Relationship pieces…show two equal entities coming together around a single idea.’ Central to these works was the artist’s sense of scale. Royal committed early on to working in the largest scale that was technically feasible.

Those early bodies of work especially reflect the profound influence Moore and Chihuly had on the artist’s work. Moore’s tight technical approach was itself influenced by Italian Design. Moore blew on-center and his work is often characterized by a restrained use of color. Chihuly, on the other hand, had an organic sensibility but his approach to the creative impulse was as much informed by Warhol as by nature. His pieces were gestural, gaudy and loud in color and in form. Royal thinks that his work has benefited from the influence of these two opposites.

In Royal’s latest body of work, the Geos, the artist has sought to capture the qualities of kiln cast glass in his blown glass constructions. He has emphasized simple and subtle coloration and given the individual pieces a sculptural presence by referencing organic forms as opposed to utilitarian objects. The artist is also reinventing his Diamond Cut series, creating fresh new objects (such as those seen at the top of this page).

Royal’s work can be found in such noteworthy museum collections as The Mint Museum of Art + Design, The High Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art, The Tampa Museum of Art, and the Daiichi Museum (Japan). His artwork is also included in the SAFECO Collection, PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM, and the Westinghouse Corporation. One of the first Artists-in-Residence at the Waterford Crystal Factory, Royal continues to teach as both a guest artist and faculty member at various universities and the Pilchuck Glass School. A past grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, he has served as a visiting artist at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Washington DC artist Michael Janis has developed and refined an intuitive technique over many years, creating detailed imagery by manipulating glass powder. His illustrative works in glass are dreamy and beautifully stylized. His moody glass panels feature partially obscured people submersed in nature or seemingly dissolving beneath colors and patterns.

Maurine Littleton Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Echoes of Leaves and Shadows, a solo exhibition of new glass works and sculptures by Janis on view from September 16 – October 14, 2016. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with Maurine Littleton Gallery.

Janis' work explores the unseen sides of life, longing and loneliness, juxtaposed with fragile beauty. The atmosphere in his subject matter is often presented as if in a dream or limbo-like state, with elements of surrealism.

The artist discusses his new series of work as well as his role as co director of the Washington Glass School.

The “LIFE ART LIFE William Bernstein” exhibition opens August 6 and runs through October 9, 2022, at the Toe River Arts’ Kokol Gallery, Spruce Pine, North Carolina. This 50-year retrospective of the blown glass work and paintings of William Bernstein showcases the work of an artist who has been at the forefront of the North Carolina studio glass movement for over 50 years. It creates a visual summary of the separate elements of Bernstein’s art over time – his motives, goals, and achievements, while showing his ability to work simultaneously in diverse mediums. 

Curated by Bernstein, the artist was assisted by Jordan Ahlers from Momentum Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina. He and Billy selected approximately 40 sculptural works and 20 wall pieces that span his career. The artist’s unique style of incorporating images on glass is mirrored stylistically in his two-dimensional paintings. So much of his work and family life are evident in his art forms – portraits of the people, pets, and environs that surround him. 

Both an online and printed catalog will be available that will include narratives about Bernstein’s lifetime of art written by Bill Warmus, former curator at Corning Museum of Glass, and will include images from the show. Writes Warmus: “Bernstein is a minimalist whose style is based upon the dedication to the concepts of honesty, modesty, and humility. It has a feel of its surroundings and of the people of the region.”

Graduating in 1968 from the Philadelphia College of Arts and just married, Bernstein moved to Penland School of Crafts to be their second glass resident artist from 1968 to 1970. He was a co-founder of the Glass Arts Society (GAS) – together with glass pioneers Mark Peiser and Fritz Dreisbach –  that formed to bring together the glass community so people could work together and learn from each other. Receiving numerous awards, fellowships and grants, he has exhibited internationally and has artwork in many private and public collections. Bernstein has lived most of his professional life in the rural Celo community, a land trust in rural Yancey, North Carolina, along with his family and artist wife, Katherine Bernstein. 

Katherine and William both grew up in New Jersey and met while attending art school at Philadelphia College of Arts. In the early years, Katie worked in hand-built porcelain and Billy, very influenced by Scandinavian and colonial American glass design, started producing a variable line of goblets and sculptural pieces.

In the mid 1970s, glass master and educator Harvey Littleton moved to the area and quickly took an interest in the young artists’ work. He insisted that Katie’s sculpture in clay would translate beautifully into glass. To make his point, he took several of Katie’s clay originals back to his studio and cast them in crystal. The results were wonderful, and Katie started working exclusively in glass.

By the ‘80s, both Bernsteins had established themselves as major forces in the glass world, but to keep their studio running they needed a steady flow of sales, which eventually brought them together in the creation of a line of goblets and tableware. Katie supplied the imagery with melted glass color rods, and Billy formed the result into a vessel. This combination proved very popular and received wide recognition in design journals and magazines. They continue to produce these pieces today under the name Bernstein Glass.

Currently, both Billy and Katie produce individual pieces for gallery shows and collaborate with two assistants on the functional work. Their oldest son Josh is a physician, and their son Alex is a respected glass artist; both live in Asheville, North Carolina. Katie and Billy remain content in their log cabin with their huge dog Murphy.

Says Billy: “This has not only been a year-long process of curating pieces for an exhibit, but a lifetime of making art that connects with all things about one’s life.”

Coinciding with the United Nations’ Year 2022 as the Year of Glass and the 60th Anniversary of the Studio Glass Movement, the “LIFE ART LIFE William Bernstein” exhibition has been made possible by Toe River Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Cary Art Center, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the Blumenthal Foundation, and Mountain Electronics in Micaville, North Carolina. 

Billy’s Digital Sketchbook: https://www.billysdigitalsketchbook.net/

Retrospective Catalogue:

https://www.billysdigitalsketchbook.net/_files/ugd/70476b_4ed469574598440ebea63ee03a0c34db.pdf

Talking Out Your Glass podcast kicks off 2024 with our first episode of Season 9! This  fascinating panel discussion on flameworking features four of the technique’s most well-known artists: Paul Stankard, Carmen Lozar, Dan Coyle aka coylecondenser and Trina Weintraub. At different points in their careers, these four artists compare and contrast their journeys and experiences working glass behind the torch. 

Considered a living master in the art of the paperweight, Paul Stankard’s work is represented in more than 75 museums around the world. Over his 52-year artistic journey, he has received two honorary doctorate degrees, an honorary associate’s degree, and many awards within the glass community, including the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian’s The James Renwick Alliance and the Glass Art Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the UrbanGlass Award—Innovation in a Glassworking Technique.  

Stankard’s current exhibition From Flame to Flower: The Art of Paul J. Stankard can be seen at the Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey, now through February 4. A documentary film titled Paul J. Stankard: Flower and Flame by award-winning filmmaker Dan Collins, premiers on January 31. On March 16, the film will be shown at Salem County Community College, Carney’s Point, New Jersey, at the International Flameworking Conference, presented there by Collins.

Born in 1975, Carmen Lozar lives in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, where she maintains a studio and is a member of the art faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. She has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass School, Appalachian Center for Crafts, The Chrysler Museum, and the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. She has had residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass and Penland School of Craft. Although she travels abroad to teach and share her love for glass – most recently to Turkey, Italy, and New Zealand – she always returns to her Midwestern roots. Lozar is represented by the Ken Saunders Gallery in Chicago, and her work is included in the permanent collection at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin.

Besides continuing her work at Illinois Wesleyan University, Lozar will be teaching workshops at UrbanGlass, June 4 – 8, 2024, and at Ox Bow School of Craft, Saugatuck, Michigan, August 4 – 10, 2024.

Menacing monkeys. Peeled bananas. Bad-tempered bears. Uniquely original Munnies. Daniel S. Coyle’s whimsical, toy-inspired aesthetic in concert with mind-blowing skills on the torch have earned the artist a hefty 116K following on Instagram. The artist recently celebrated 12 years of being a full-time pipe maker. Coyle’s work has been displayed in galleries around the world, and has been seen in print and web publications including Vice, Huffington Post, NY Times, and in the books This Is A Pipe and his self-published Munny Project book. Now residing in Western Massachusetts, he works alongside some of the state’s top pipe makers.

Coyle’s 2024 events include: Community Bonfire (Maine), January 27; Michigan Glass Project, June 21 – 23: two-week intensive class at Corning Studios, Corning, New York, June 24 – July 5; Parlay Philly in September TBA; and Bad Boyz Do Basel 3 (Miami), September TBA.

Creating playful objects and curious scenes inspired by childhood memories and dreams, Caterina Weintraub uses glass, a fragile and heavy material, to recreate iconic toys or re-imagine personal memories that evoke a sense of sentiment, wonder and discomfort. She utilizes a variety of techniques to create sculptures and installations in her Boston-based studio, Fiamma Glass. From intricate torch work to large-scale kiln castings and hot blown pieces, she chooses the process best suited to realize her vision.

In 2024, Weintraub will participate in Habatat’s Glass Coast Weekend, Sarasota, Florida, February 1 – 4; Glass52, International Glass Show, Habatat Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan, May 5 – September 6; and the International Glass Show, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana, December 2 – February 18. 

Enjoy this panel discussion about how these four artists crafted careers using the techniques and appeal of flameworking and where the process is headed into the next decade and beyond. 

In Nancy Gong’s installation for RIT’s Innovation Center, titled, In Art, Science and Life, What is the Question?, a wide range of complex topics are referenced, ranging from RIT’s nine colleges to everything from the binary system to the black hole. A grand representative of her body of work in glass, the commission was heavily inspired by the marriage of science, technology and art. 

An accomplished glass artist with world-wide recognition in contemporary architectural glass art, Gong’s focus is on large and small commissioned work including installations, fine art designs, sculpture, donor walls, gifts and awards. Her designs embrace traditional techniques of stained glass craftsmen and stone carvers, combined with new materials, fusing, laminating and other new and emerging technologies. Developing skills in laminating and fusing glass has allowed Gong to display her colored glass art outdoors. Fused glass techniques enabled the artist to create impressionistic designs with soft edges, moving her art more towards abstraction.

Having mastered her own style of creating texture and painting, Gong depicts various levels of contrast using striking color, motion and spontaneity. As the ever-changing light plays against her integrated design elements, a unique living, breathing work of art is created, beckoning the viewer to see and experience something new and fresh with every passing look. American born of Chinese descent, her free-flowing modern designs echo the spirit, energy and beauty of all living things.

Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and Phillip Stark to name a few, Gong studied at the Naples Mills School of Arts and Crafts, the Allofus Art Workshop, SUNY Empire State College, Corning Museum of Glass, the prestigious School of American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology, Narcissus Quagliata design workshop, Norm Dobbins stained glass workshops, the famed Orsoni Smalti Veneziani in Italy, the Glass Art Society, and the American Glass Guild. She continues to hone her skills in workshops instructed by contemporary masters such as Quagliata, Kenneth von Roenn Jr., Martin Rosol, Tim Carey, Kathy Jordan, Deborah Coombs, Amanda Taylor and others.

As owner/principal designer of Gong Glass Works since 1979, Gong designs and fabricates commissioned architectural and fine art glass projects for residential, commercial, institutional and public clients. Her commercial and public clients include The Akron Civic Theater, The City of Rochester, ARTWalk of Rochester Inc., Beckoning Path, Corning Tropel, Duke University, LiDestri Foods, Rochester Museum and Science Center, State of Vermont, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, and Virgin Travel/Vacations. Her sculptures and fine art glass designs are acquired for private collections throughout the world, and are often presented as special gifts.

For her achievements in the world of glass art, Gong has been recognized by PBS – WXXI Arts in Focus, Who’s Who in Contemporary Glass Art, The World’s Who’s Who of Women, and 2,000 Notable American Women. She and her works have been profiled in over 20 professional publications, including: Interiors & Sources, China Daily News, The Design Journal of Korea, Stained Glass Quarterly, Professional Stained Glass Magazine, Builder/Architect Magazine, AmericanStyle Magazine, Beautiful Glass Magazine, Glass Now, ARTform, SOFA Chicago, and Guild Sourcebook of Architectural & Interior Art and Architects + Artisans. Professional memberships include the Glass Art Society, the Stained Glass Association of America, the American Glass Guild, AIA Rochester and New York, and the Society of American Mosaic Artists

Gong states: “My focus is to design artwork that speaks to the ages. If it’s good design, it will endure. My main goal is for artwork to bring peace and joy to the spaces through an experience. I want to feed the souls of people who are utilizing the space.” 

Ross Richmond: Figurative Elements and Symbolic Objects

In sculpting realistic figures of humans and horses adorned with color and pattern, Ross Richmond demonstrates how an artist can push his medium beyond its normal boundaries. The artist creates beautiful and expressionistic sculpture using gesture to convey narrative. Communication has always been the main source of Richmond’s inspiration, whether it be with oneself or between others.  

Richmond discovered glass in 1991 during his time at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he received a BFA in glass, with a minor in metals. He is considered one of the top glass sculptors in the field today and has worked with (and for) some of the greatest glass and non-glass artists including William Morris, Jane Rosen, Preston Singletary, KeKe Cribbs, and Dale Chihuly. Richmond studied and taught at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG), Penland School of Craft and the Pilchuck Glass School. The artist was awarded residencies at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, Toledo Glass Museum and CMoG. His work is represented by a number of galleries across the country.

Working as an apprentice in 1997, Richmond became a member of Morris’ glassblowing team in 1999 and worked alongside him until his retirement in 2007. Morris encouraged teamwork and working outside the box – lessons reflected in both the surface and shape of Richmond’s exquisite horse figures.

All of Richmond’s work is blown and hot sculpted, meaning that nothing is casted or mold blown – all pieces are made by hand while hot on the pipe in the glass shop. First, the main shape of the piece is established then allowed to cool. Working it in a colder state affords the artist a more “solid core” to work from. If the piece is too hot, the shape will distort as the details are brought out. A small oxygen-propane torch is used for all of the detail work, which allows for a greater variety of flame shapes and sizes to work with. Heads are typically blown, whereas all hands are solid. With a blown shape, Richmond is able to inflate areas or suck areas in as needed. Hands are made solid so that delicate fingers do not collapse or distort. All colors are applied in layers of glass powders, and the finished piece is coated with an acid to remove the shine for a matte finish. 

The inspiration for Richmond’s figures made between 2015 and 2018, was derived from ancient Egyptian sculpture, Japanese prints and Art Nouveau graphics, which all use or are inspired by natural scenes and landscapes. All of these different time periods and genres produced works that were highly ornate, yet simplistic in form and composition. Richmond used color and pattern to decorate and adorn the robes his figures are wearing to create imagery and convey a setting or scenery, to place the figure in a natural environment. Imagery of blossoming flowers or trees convey growth or growing to create the feeling of springtime bliss, awakening after the winter slumber. Carved imagery or applied components provide a bas relief and texture to an otherwise flat and smooth surface.

Richmond says: “The figure has always been a major theme in my work, and in this series, I am breaking down the human form into a basic shape as if it were draped in fabric. This keeps the eye from focusing on the details of anatomy, and lets the viewer follow the sweeping gestural lines of the form. The basic shape of the body along with its quiet contemplative facial features, gives these figures a calm meditative feel.” 

In 2016, Richmond and Randy Walker were awarded a collaborative residency at CMoG. Having worked together on the Morris glassblowing team, the two artists utilized well-learned teamwork combined with strengths in form, color, and the ability to push the bounds of the material. Walker created objects that seemed to grow out of and be part of the natural world, while Richmond sculpted realistic figures adorned with color and pattern. Marrying their aesthetic, objects were transformed from natural objects into figurative works. 

Over the last few years, Richmond has been slowly building his own hot glass studio in Seattle. From March 4 through 27, Traver Gallery presents a unique exhibition of works by Jane Rosen and Richmond. Though their influence is always visible in one another’s artwork, this is the first time they have shown side by side. This exhibition celebrates and highlights the critical impact of artist friendships and highlights the vital influence each has on the other.    

Mutant: Narcissus Quagliata’s New Book of Poetry and Sketches

“Divested of the illusion that art matters, divested of the illusion that it is meaningful and worthwhile to have a successful life as an artist, the irrational love for the creative process itself is all that I have left. It all boils down to my addiction to entering over and over in the magical moment and mysterious space when an idea forms inside of you and becomes itself by traveling from the dark cave of my soul to the outside reality, be it a huge glass dome or a small watercolor.”

Narcissus Quagliata,

October 2019 marks the release of Narcissus Quagliata’s fourth book, Mutant, a collection of poetry and sketches created from 1968 to 2018 and inspired by the life and times of this internationally acclaimed artist. The book intimately explores the relationship between dreams, words and images on 216 pages with 13 full-color photographs of Quagliata's glass and watercolor work.

Born and raised in Rome, Quagliata later lived in San Francisco for 30 years where he began his journey of redefining stained glass as an artistic medium. He made a name for himself by addressing subjects and issues in his glass that were typically handled by painters. Reversely, his work in glass made him an outlier in the world of painting. Still, the artist managed to cultivate a successful career without ever definitively fitting in anywhere.

With the introduction of new technologies in glass fusing, Quagliata set about reinventing the glass panel as a painting, spontaneous and free. He developed new attitudes and methods to rethink what could be done with glass using the kiln. Through his Painting with Light techniques, the artist pioneered a second area of the glass arts.

In both stained and fused glass, Quagliata devoted 50 years to the exploration of the human figure as a gateway to the strangeness of life in an incomprehensible universe. His work has been exhibited in museum collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum, New York City; De Young Museum, San Francisco, California; Museum of Light, Mexico City, Mexico; Museum of Glass San Ildefonso, Segovia, Spain; and many more.

Major public works by Quagliata include Wind, Fire and Time, a 6700- square-foot, public commissioned, fused and stained glass dome in the Central Station of Taiwan’s metro system in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2008); Divinity in Light, a dome of glass over the entry Rotunda of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, Italy (1999); Return to the Cosmos, a 360-square-foot backlit glass mural in an office tower lobby at Reforma 115, Mexico City, Mexico, (2004); and most recently The Resurrection Window in Leawood Kansas, a 3440-square-foot fused glass window designed by Tim Carey and created in collaboration with Judson Studios (2017). Quagliata has twice received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work in the U.S.

At 76, Quagliata continues to be much in demand professionally, dividing time between his studio in Mexico City, Mexico, and an ongoing residency at Judson Studios, Los Angeles, California, in his role as Director of Innovation. At Judson, Quagliata works to further develop the studio’s fusing capabilities while also helping to guide its artist development program, introducing artists in other mediums to stained and fused glass and successfully executing their concepts in glass.

This fall, Quagliata will present lectures at Bullseye Glass Co. in the Bay Area on October 11, and Bullseye in Portland, Oregon, on November 1. Sponsored by D&L Art Glass Supply in Denver, Colorado, Quagliata will also lecture at the Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood, Colorado, on October 23, and present a workshop at D&L Art Glass Supply in Denver on October 24.

LINKS TO UPCOMING QUAGLIATA LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS:

Bullseye Glass Co. Bay Area, Lecture, October 11, 2019

http://www.bullseyeglass.com/kilnforming/artist-lecture-show-your-true-face-with-narcissus-quagliata-bay-area-1985.html

Bullseye Glass Co., Portland, Oregon, Lecture, November 1, 2019

http://www.bullseyeglass.com/kilnforming/artist-lecture-show-your-true-face-with-narcissus-quagliata-portland-1986.html

D&L Art Glass Supply, Lakewood, Colorado, Lecture, October 23, 2019

https://dlartglass.com/education/classes/1695

D&L Art Glass Supply, Lakewood, Colorado, Workshop, October 24, 2019

https://www.dlartglass.com/education/classes/1696

QUAGLIATA’S BOOKS

Mutant, and Quagliata’s previous book, Archetypes and Visions in Light & Glass, are available at dlartglass.com or order by phone (303) 449- 8737. Both titles will be available for purchase at the October 23 lecture in Lakewood, Colorado. Have your copy signed by the author!

James Devereux’s Clovis Collection is the result of labored experiments by the artist to literally chip hot glass like stone. Having perfected this unusual technique, he produces breathtaking, monolithic objects with smooth lines juxtaposed with fractured edges. Creating these pieces in subtle tones places the focus on the texture and form of each component.

Devereux states: “A blow too hard would simply shatter the piece, too light a tap would crush the surface. After flame polishing, the meandering edges despite their appearance are not sharp, but smooth to the touch.”

Having worked with many prominent names within the industry in a host of roles including collaborating artist, facilitator, instructor and demonstrator, Devereux’s impact within British and international glass to date has been far reaching. Positioned as one of the most active glass artists currently working in the UK, it is the unique combination of abundant skills and technique with an eye for detail that has made him a highly respected and sought-after glass craftsman. 

Starting in the industry at the age of 15 thanks to a work experience placement at Bath Aqua Glass, Devereux worked at a crystal factory making stemware, tableware and gifts. He subsequently studied glass for three years at Wolverhampton University before opening his first hotshop in the inspiring Wiltshire countryside. In 2009, Devereux took a job as the glass technician at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London before attending the college as a student. He states: “RCA opened my eyes to everything else going on in glass, including new contacts and opportunities that remain at the core of my career.”

After leaving London in 2013, Devereux and fellow glass artist Katharine Huskie established a new studio together. Devereux and Huskie Glassworks is a custom-built studio dedicated to creating innovating and exciting glass for designers and artists from the UK and overseas. Over the years, Devereux and Huskie Glassworks has become known for large-scale glass sculpture that pushes the boundaries of the material. Devereux also sells glass tools and supplies through his business, Glass Toolbox. Visit https://www.glasstoolbox.co.uk.

Devereux and US artist David Patchen first met through social media and at the Glass Art Society’s (GAS) conference in Murano, but their unique collaboration didn’t officially begin until 2019 in San Francisco. United in harmony, their collaborative artworks combine Patchen’s murrine patterns and Devereux’s intrinsic forms. Making their first collaborative Clovis sculpture at a fundraising party and their second during a demo for hundreds of people at GAS Tacoma, their relationship continued during Covid with Patchen shipping pattern blanks from San Francisco to Devereux in the UK. Patchen makes murrine with color combinations he’s interested in exploring – cutting and arranging different pieces together to achieve the perfect mosaic for blowing. Devereux then uses these intricate patterns to sculpt and breathe life into the artwork. 

Says Patchen: “My collaboration with James has been going strong over the past year. We began this project just before the pandemic and have completed a dozen sculptures without the benefit of working in the studio together. We communicate via text and email with me making the patterns in San Francisco and shipping James patterned murrine blanks (thick densly-patterned cups) which he heats up in his studio in England to create the finished sculptural forms. Aside from being distinctive and beautiful forms, a particularly interesting aspect of these is the hot-chipped edge. James creates this edge texture by carefully hammering the sculpture while the glass is hot on the punty, chipping away chunks of glass, exposing the interior and creating the scalloped edge. You can see a short video on my Instagram of James chipping the second Clovis we made in San Francisco at the beginning of our collaboration.”

Devereux is currently exploring a new series, Diodes, continuing his look at collectable obsolete objects. These works combine multiple materials, processes and skills as well as distorted Morse code to look at what we consider current or outdated technology or communication. Having just returned from Biot International Glass Festival, and travels to Sweden and Istanbul, the artist discusses his history and works in glass. 

More than a decade ago, Tanya Veit was a bartender living and working in Chicago, Illinois. While on vacation in Florida, a psychic predicted she would one day own an arts related business. Back home in the Windy City, Veit attended a glass exhibition with her husband John, after which she immediately applied for a business license, knowing that her company would one day dedicate itself to glass art. 

The Veits established AAE Glass in Cape Coral, Florida, along with John’s brother, Mark Veit.  Their 22,000-square-foot facility is a Bullseye Resource Center and distributor and also offers two classrooms, a retail store, cold working shop and shipping warehouse for their large e-commerce business. Some of AAE Glass’ offerings include products and equipment from Coatings By Sandberg, Olympic Kilns, Gemini Saw Company and many popular fusing supplies. Classes are offered almost daily by world-renowned glass fusing instructors from the U.S. and by international fused glass artists 10 to 15 times a year.

At an early age Veit was inspired by her grandmother, who provided pastels and chalks from the art supply store where she worked. Since that time, the artist has explored myriad mediums including PMC, art clay, wood, metal and glass. Constantly experimenting with new techniques, Veit has redefined what is possible in fused glass jewelry. A self-taught artist, her work has been published in many periodicals. 

An energetic and “spicy” instructor, Veit developed a unique talent for assisting others in tapping into their own creativity to further their craft. Her students lovingly refer to her inspiring classes as “The Tanya Show.” The artist has travelled the US and Europe extensively, teaching her signature techniques and has expanded those offerings into highly anticipated online video tutorials. 

AAE Glass currently offers more than 50 online tutorials by fusing experts worldwide. Two recent videos include Veit’s Creating Depth & Drama in Fused Glass Jewelry, which has become her most popular online offering to date. She says: “Being able to review instruction at your leisure in your studio is priceless. Referring back and watching repeatedly will also spark something new. Life gets in the way, so being able to have that resource when you need it is invaluable.” Look for Veit’s new release, Scenic Layering and Color Blending in Jewelry in the fall along with Kiln Casting by Nathan Sandberg. 

Mainly self-taught, Adam Whobrey aka Hoobsglass, began developing his flameworking and sculpting skills beginning in 2001 by traveling the US and sharing techniques with fellow glass artists. By 2010, he had created his signature glass sneaker, the perfect visual statement for the pipe scene, and one which resulted in world-wide recognition from the glass world as well as the famous musicians and business professionals who bought the work. The combination of iconic design and world-class sculpting put Hoobs on the map.

After nearly two decades of mastering his craft, Hoobs continues to push the limits of the medium by leading some of the largest group builds ever created in borosilicate glass. His event, the Molten Art Classic, held in Southern California, has become the largest collaborative art event featuring the world’s top borosilicate glass artists who come together to create unforgettable functional sculpture to include the epic Space Station, Ghost Busters Ecto 1, and The Shipwreck, to name only a few.

Hoobs has exhibited his work and taught classes throughout the US, Canada and Europe to include: a 3-day class taught at Borofield Studio, Huddersfield, England, 2018; judge for the European Flame-Off, London, England, 2018; Spannabis Art show, RDM Gallery, Barcelona, Spain, 2019; DFO Flameoff Competitor, Peoples Choice Winner, 2019; and Day of Dunks, RDM Gallery, Barcelona, Spain, 2019.

Says Hoobs: “Since I was a young, I have had an active imagination and have explored everything from drawing to computer graphics to clay and wood. But there was nothing that compared to melting glass in a flame. From the first time I touched glass I knew I would do it for the rest of my life.”

Collected and sold in over 18 different countries, Hoobs’ glass blends cultures and exposes the art form to a broader audience. As of late, he is creating more refined and smaller verions of iconic imagery such as his Fear and Loathing Cadillac collab. His solo work will be on view at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach, California, in July 2022.

Earlier this month, The Corning Museum of Glass hosted an impressive group of flameworkers for a collaborative, multi-day demonstration that resulted in incredible work. The Museum’s resident flameworker, Eric Goldschmidt, invited Dan Coyle (aka Coyle Condenser), Ryan O’Keefe (aka sdRyno), and Hoobsglass to the Amphitheater Hot Shop where they showcased advanced flameworking techniques (frame building, cold bridging, and complex assembly) to create an intricate monkey-piloted robot. Here are photos.’/.

The completed piece is a great blend of their individual talents and styles. Coyle is well-known for his use of the monkey in his work, and his background in scientific glassblowing led to the highly technical hollow work necessary for the functionality of the piece. Hoobs has developed a reputation for building intricate structures of glass that allow for larger-scale, highly detailed objects. This structural approach is the foundation for this piece. Ryno has developed a reputation for his figurative sculpture and particularly for his use of the iconic rubber ducky in his work. The color scheme and ducky references in this piece are clear nods to his influence.

“The world of flameworked glass has been seeing a great deal of innovation and momentum over the past decade that has largely been driven by artists making pipes for cannabis consumption,” said Goldschmidt, Flameworking and Properties of Glass Supervisor. “These artists are constructing objects that are not only beautiful and intriguing, but they must also function in specific ways for their collectors.

“Collaboration amongst artists has become a unique way for artists to make work that goes above and beyond what they might otherwise accomplish as individuals,” Goldschmidt added. “The three artists we invited to be our guests have collaborated successfully many times over the past 5 years. The piece they created here presents a great example of how the individual strengths of these artists combine to raise the bar even higher.”

Parts of the collaboration were livestreamed with thousands of artists tuning in from across the country. It is now available on CMOG’s YouTube channel.

Like quilts fashioned from various colors and textures of coral reef, Shayna Leib’s Wind and Watersculptures reflect the two major passions in her life - music and the ocean. Trained as a classical pianist, the artist relies upon the same part-to-whole nature of music that brings together individual notes and melodic lines in the creation of a greater composition. Growing up on the Central Coast of California, Leib became a diver and underwater photographer, further informing the direction of her art.

In a recent American Craftarticle, Fear & Fascination, Judy Arginteanu wrote:“A large wall sculpture (about 4.5 by 2 feet) might contain some 40,000 individual pieces of hand-pulled, custom-colored cane, which she then slumps, cuts, and meticulously arranges in intricate patterns, like those nature seems to create so effortlessly. It takes many weeks to produce one sculpture…With the help of one assistant, Leib does all the work in her 640-square-foot studio, a converted warehouse in the charmingly boho East Side of Madison, Wisconsin…She can spend hours on the coloring process alone, and each piece of cane has at least two colors to add shimmering depth. She can use up to six different versions of a color in a monotone landscape; for a multicolored piece, the number may be 25 or 30.”

Leib studied Russian literature, glassblowing, and classical piano while completing her Bachelors of Art degree in Philosophy at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Accepted into a PhD Philosophy program in New York, she chose instead to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts in glass and metal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with her MFA in 2003. Working as a metal fabricator and forger at Pearson Design Studios in Maine, Leib reproduced the famous designs by the late Ronald Hayes Pearson for his wife, Carolyn Pearson. Upon her return to California in 2004, she taught sculpture and drawing at Cal Poly State University until her move in 2005 to teach glass at the University of Madison-Wisconsin.

Currently Leib works in a variety of mediums including ceramic, stone, metal, photography and fabric, though glass remains her focus. She prefers to use glass not for its mimetic qualities to capture the look of other materials, but for its ability to express flow, freeze a moment in time, and manipulate optics. She states: “The things I find beautiful have always been fractal in nature. I am intrigued by multitudes of tiny little parts - blades of grass all bending in the wind to the same rhythm. As you pan out you have waves of form.  Zoom in and you see each individual blade of grass moving to the flow of the wind.”

Leib’s work, found in numerous private and public collections nationally, has been exhibited at SOFA Chicago and New York for the last decade. She is represented by Habatat Galleries Florida in West Palm Beach, showcased in museums, worldwide blogs, and magazines, and featured on the pages of Contemporary Lampworking, The Best of American Glass Artists Volume L-Z, and A História Do Vidro(A History of Glass).Leibwas recognized as a 2010 Wisconsin Arts Board Grant Recipient, nominated in 2011 for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and in2015 listed as one of the 30 Most Amazing Glass Artists Alive.

For the last year Leib has been creating work for her new series, Pâtisserie, atherapeutic exercise in re-training her mind to look at dessert as form rather than food. To glass, the artist combined porcelain and nearly every possible technique in both mediums to include glassblowing, hot-sculpting, lampwork, fusing, casting, and grinding in glass and well as the ceramic techniques of hand-building, throwing, and using a good old fashioned pastry tube.

“Today I opened the window to let the spring come in, and I discovered to my surprise that the forest is in my house and the landscape is within me.”

Miriam Di Fiore’s journey through life and glass reads much like Laura Esquivel’s popular 1989 novel, Like Water for Chocolate. With a similar magical realism, the kiln worker discovered both her artistic medium and voice beginning in the small seaside town where she grew up in Argentina. Though it was a forbidden love, a lifelong relationship with fused glass triumphed in the face of political adversity and family objection.

As a child Di Fiore lived in Miramar, a little city near the Atlantic Ocean protected from wind and sand by a vast pine forest. Because important moments of childhood passed among those trees, the forest continues to contain deep and symbolic meaning inspiring the drawing, painting, and photography vital to the artist’s work.

“What I try to do with my art is not an interpretation of the woods, but rather a simple respectful translation in glass of a little part of our wonderful world where I have been in the company of trees. I want to speak about that place and how I felt there. In that way I can share at least a part of the magic and beautiful moments that made me feel happy to be alive. My works are an illusion of eternity, virtual places that try to preserve what’s constantly changing and what my eyes see in fragments of time.”

Di Fiore received her art degree in ceramics and drawing in 1977 from the Escuela Nacional de Ceramica y Dibujo, Mar del Plata, Argentina. In 1991, she studied pate de verre with Linda Ethier at Creative Glass, Zurich, Switzerland, which inspired and informed a new direction in Di Fiore’s fused glass. Additional training took place in 1994 at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, from instructors Lino Tagliapietra and Rudy Gritsch. Her professional experience includes working as Narcissus Quagliata’s teaching assistant at the Museum of the Royal School of Glass, Segovia, Spain, and for his Florence, Italy, seminars in the 1990s.

Represented by Habatat Gallery, Mostly Glass Gallery, and SOFA throughout the 2000s, Di Fiore’s work can be found in the permanent museum collections of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), Corning, New York; the Newark Fine Art Museum, Newark, New Jersey; Cafsejian Museum of Contemporary Art, Armenia; Museo Nazional del Vidrio, Segovia, Spain; in the Coleccion Estable de la Revista del Vidrio, Barcelona, Spain; in the Museo delle Arti Decorative, Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy and in the Municipal Glass Art Museum of Alcorcon, Madrid, Spain.

The work of Sylvia Laks possesses a certain mystical quality that captures the viewer. Looking at her stained and painted glass is akin to a supernatural event, such as gazing into a crystal ball or seeing the future in a magical river. Sheer beauty and mystery draws you in; the search for truth inspires in-depth study.

Laks lives and works high in the mountains of Heredia, Costa Rica, 5,500 feet above sea level in a beautiful, peaceful area surrounded by trees and vegetation. She and husband, Enrique, have a home and two-story studio on the same property, surrounded by many flowers. An extremely versatile artist, Laks takes on all kinds of commissions covering every theme possible, from ornamental jobs created in stained glass to elaborate, fully painted portraits – her forte.

Catholic church commissions comprise about 30 percent of the studio’s work, and the remaining 70 percent is the creation of new windows. Twelve artisans work for Sylvia and Enrique regularly, and they have trained a stable of eight additional artists they can call upon when needed, such as during the creation of fully painted windows for the main Catholic Seminary in Costa Rica.

Laks has also been commissioned to create glass art for government institutions such as Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (an institution that takes care of abandoned children), Albergue de la Mujer Agredida (an institution that provides shelter for battered women), and the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos de Costa Rica (which approves all constructions in the country), in addition to many hotels and residential commissions.

Most of her autonomous panels have been commissioned by private galleries and for private homes in Germany, the US, and Costa Rica. Laks shows her work at her own permanent gallery and also at the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano’s art gallery, which is part of the USA Embassy and the State Department.     

Recognition of Laks’ work in the US began in June 2010 when she won First Place in the Stained Glass Association of America’s (SGAA) annual conference exhibition, becoming the first non-American to ever receive this peer-voted award. Laks’ winning piece, Faces 1, depicts the eldest artisan at her studio prior to his retirement. “I felt unbelievably surprised winning this award. I was further excited because very few people in Costa Rica consider stained glass a medium of artistic expression.”

In 2011 Laks’ studio became the first international studio ever accepted as a fully accredited member of the SGAA. This was the result of an intense one-year process, in which then SGAA president, Jack Whitworth, traveled to Costa Rica with his wife Cindy to inspect the studio and its commissions. 

Laks’ panel, Calamity, appeared on the spring 2011 cover of Stained Glass Quarterly. This piece speaks about the sadness of several international events through its images of Muslim terrorists, armies, Osama bin Laden, and George W. Bush. “For me, the most painful feelings are inspired by the children who lost their lives. This is happening so often in today’s world. I try to express these feelings in my paintings. I feel uncomfortable with the lack of meaning in what is considered art today. This is a reflection of our modern society.”

Richard La Londe’s work reflects an undeniable harmony. He strives for balance between left and right brain, meaningful content and technical prowess, spontaneous creation and tight design. In 1983, this pioneer of the Northwest fusing movement was one of the first instructors for the Bullseye Glass Company, and his exploration and experimentation with the medium resulted in the introduction of multiple new techniques. 

Born in 1950, La Londe grew up in Vancouver, Washington, graduating in 1972 from the University of Washington with a degree in geology. Early on he held many different jobs including commercial fishing in Alaska, becoming a journeyman welder, building houses, creating stained glass windows, forging ornamental iron, blowing glass, and building kilns.

His love affair with fusing began in 1981 when he started firing Bullseye glass in an electric kiln. “In the early 1980s Bullseye created the first complete color range of glass that was compatible and when fused together didn’t crack apart.” La Londe taught fusing classes for Bullseye in glass facilities around the United States and in Canada from 1983 to 1988, and in 1985 taught at the famed Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington.

As the work evolved, La Londe began translating his ideas into the pictorial murals and handkerchief vessels he is known for today. His fused glass Lotus Bowlwas purchased in 1983 by the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning New York for its permanent collection. One of his early public commissions, Into the Mythos, can be seen at the SeaTac airport, Seattle, Washington. He has completed 15 public works in total including his 2012 Washington State Arts Commission Percent for Arts Project entitled Enchanted Journey, for Spanaway Elementary School in Spanaway, Washington.

With a deep desire to share what he’s learned, the artist has authored two books, Richard La Londe: Fused Glass Art and Technique, and Richard La Londe and Friends: Fused Glass, Vitreous Enamels and Other Techniques. Heteaches workshops around the country and at his studio on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Withhis students, La Londe always shares his desire to make glass techniques more spontaneous and to create art that is truly unique.

La Londe will teach two days of fusing Bullseye and two days of fusing float glass, from September 7 through 10 at La Londe Studio on Whidbey Island, Washington.

Geometry and the projection of light have always been key components of Debora Coombs’ artwork. In 2013 she began exploring mathematical projections as a way to understand shifts between dimensions of space. Working from Penrose tiling (a two-dimensional shadowof a five-dimensional lattice), 3D sculptures in glass and paper were built using her classic design skills to explore various aspects of mathematics.

A number of high-profile residencies have allowed Coombs to explore these new concepts. In the spring of 2016, she did a month-long collaborative residency with computer scientist Duane Bailey, and in October, a 2-week residency at Assets for Artists: The Studiosat MASS MoCAat the Massachusetts Museum for Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts.

In 2017, a 3-week residency at Carroll College, Helena, Montana, allowed the artist to focus on the theological symbolism of geometry, which resulted in a commission for 85 square feet of hand painted geometric stained glass windows for All Saints, the new chapel on campus. That same year, Coombs spent a month at Jentel Artist Residencyin Banner, Wyoming, making a series of math-based drawings that led to the discovery of a new geometric figure.

In February 2018, Coombs was invited by artist Lauren Bon of the Metabolic Studiosin Los Angeles, California, to spend two weeks collaborating and contributing to a landscape project for redirecting LA’s river water for the irrigation of city parks. In April, she presented this and other recent work at the 13th Biennial Gathering for Gardnerin Atlanta, Georgia, an international conference for mathematicians and artists. Then in May 2018, longtime New Yorker staff-writer Lawrence Weschler invited Coombs to speak at the Tamarind Institutein Albuquerque, New Mexico, as part of his Wonder Cabinet, a gathering of artists who work in close association with scientists.

Coombs’ award-winning stained glass has been exhibited, commissioned and collected internationally for over 30 years. A Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, the artist studied stained glass at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland; University of Wales, Swansea; and received her Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London, England, 1985. An experienced educator, Coombs directed the glass department at Chelsea College of Art in London from 1994 to 1996. She has lectured and taught stained glass for professional associations and colleges including Pilchuck Glass School, Stained Glass Association of America, American Glass Guild, and the British Society of Master Glass Painters. Her religious commissions include two 25-foot-tall figurative windows for Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, 20 stained glass windows for St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, and 4 windows for St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rare in the stained glass world, Coombs has successfully extended her devotion to content and story-telling to her non-commissioned work. Her piece, “Ornithologist,” from her 2009 Menfolk series, was included in New Glass Review 31, The Corning Museum of Glass publication dedicated to presenting cutting edge works of glass art. Her solo exhibition titled Menfolk, opened at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theater Gallery in London, England, before traveling to the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, England, in the spring of 2010. That same year, Coombs completed a collaborative work with artist Michael Oatman as part of his mixed-media installation “All Utopias Fell,” which remains permanently on exhibit at MASS MoCA.

In June 2018 Coombs ran a hands-on pilot project for children and community members at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and contributed to a panel discussion chaired by Margaret Wertheim from the Institute For Figuring about the connections between art and mathematics. The focus of this one-day conference was STEM to STEAM; practical ways to bring the A for Art into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs in education.

In November 2018, Coombs completed two stained glass windows with geometric themes for Carroll College, Helena, Montana. Work continues on three more windows, scheduled for completion in February 2021. The artist’s sculptures are currently on exhibition at the Schow Science Library in Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Tim Carey and Justin Monroe: From Holy Frit to Vitreonics

The marriage of Tim Carey’s art and glass making skills with Justin Monroe’s unique approach to presenting both on film has resulted in rewards, accolades and attention in both the filmmaking and glass worlds. Following the release of Monroe’s award-winning documentary, Holy Frit, the artist and filmmaker have teamed up again to start a new company called Vitreonics, dedicated to education through content creation around the medium of glass. Their goal is to reach and teach the newer generations of artists about the wonders of glass with a fresh new approach to presenting online education in an entertaining and fun format. Their first classes were released last week through Bullseye Glass Co. 

Find out more at https://classes.bullseyeglass.com/classes-events.html?instructor=1908

Holy Frit shared the wild and winsome journey of Carey and Judson Studios as they realize a church’s vision to create the world’s largest window of its kind. With plenty of human drama, creative travail, and colorful characters, including Narcissus Quagliata and folks from Bullseye Glass Co., it is a must-watch for art lovers in general and glass lovers especially. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Slam Dance Film Festival and winner of Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Florida Film Festival, Holy Frit is described by Monroe as follows: 

“Carey is a talented, yet unknown Los Angeles-based artist. He is also a bit of a jackass, who uses wit and humor to charm you into forgiving his flaws. As a Hail Mary, Tim and the company he works for, Judson Studios, bluff their way into winning the commission to make the world’s largest stained-glass window of its kind, beating out 60 companies from around the globe. The problem is, Tim has no idea how to make his complicated design.

“After a desperate search, Tim comes to learn about someone who might have the answer… a world-famous, Italian glass maestro, named, Narcissus Quagliata. From the moment Narcissus arrives, Tim quickly learns that his talent and humor can only take him so far. If he has any chance to make it to the end of the project and potentially achieve greatness, he has to confront his personal demons of self-importance, artistic merit, business instincts and spiritual insecurities. He has to put down his ego and submit to the life and artistic lessons of a complicated master, who has already preceded him in greatness. As this documentary unfolds, the clash of two big personalities slowly transforms into the forging of a lasting friendship. Both mentor and protégé come to realize it will take their combined focus to overcome this 3-year race-against-time, the complications of a $1.2 billion class-action lawsuit, and the many obstacles that emerge when attempting a masterpiece. Even though the story takes place within the niche world of an ancient art-form, it gives a universally fun, heartfelt and sometimes comedic look into the drama of any human endeavor which is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Monroe has directed, written and produced numerous projects, both dramatic and comedic, since his career began. His feature film credits include the award-winning comedy, The Rock ‘N’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher (Director / Producer), and the thriller, The Unraveling (Co-Writer / Producer). He has also written, directed and produced a wide variety of short films and client work, striving to achieve a unique aesthetic and a connection to beauty, fun and authenticity in every project he’s a part of. After studying film in Oklahoma and Los Angeles, Monroe and his wife decided to trade tornadoes for earthquakes, and headed into a full-time life in the golden west. They reside with their two children in Pasadena, California. 

Carey continues his mission to bring glass to the forefront as an image-making medium through continued exploration of techniques that he and Quagliata developed at Judson Studios. Tim Carey Studio, established in Compton, California, on July 1, 2018, moved to south Pasadena, where the artist currently creates projects and commissions in his hybrid fusing and glass painting process. These include recent works The Cast, Beneath the Surface and work with Judson Studios on the South Pasadena Library windows.

Listen to the full podcast on Carey at https://talkingoutyourglass.com/tim-carey-studio/

Listen to the full podcast on Judson Studios’ Resurrection window at https://talkingoutyourglass.com/judson-resurrection-window/

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From his studio in Dania Beach, Florida, Rob Stern creates his signature Windstar sculptures, dedicated to his father, a consummate stargazer fascinated by cosmic phenomena. Stern was also inspired by his surname, which means star in German. The artist often names his stars to reveal their celestial spheres. Copernica is derived from Copernicus, visible in the evening sky over Miami Beach. Polaris, known as the North Star, is the brightest in the constellation of Ursa Minor. Antares is the 15th brightest star in the night sky and is part of the constellation Scorpius. Other Windstar titles conjure colors and experiences, such as Red Dawn, which takes its name from a glowing red center or Modra, the Czech word for blue. Stern’s Windstars are a testament to his deep understanding of glass and belief that the material takes him where it wants to go during the making process.

Another iconic body of work, Stern’s Stilettos, was inspired by his wife’s vast collection of designer shoes that includes Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, and Alexander McQueen. However, these glass slippers are even more extreme with wild bejeweled designs that could make even Lady Gaga swoon. 

Stern states: “My creative endeavors and sculptures are mere stepping stones towards my search for understanding life. Harmonic instances between what I sense and do are the signals that guide me through my processes and prompt daily decisions. My works act as a communicative device which seeks to connect my thoughts and my actions to the collective human consciousness. A path seeking insight and enlightenment carries me forwards and always seems to bring me back to the glass.”

His mother an art teacher and father a filmmaker, Stern attended Northside High School for Performing Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was part of an elite group that performed internationally. He later pursued visual arts, receiving a BFA from San Francisco State University (1989) and an MFA from the University of Miami (2003). Other glass training includes a five-year apprenticeship with John Lewis Glass, Oakland, California, where he trained to be a metal fabricator and expert glass caster/cold-worker. Stern went on to assist Czech master Petr Novotny and worked in the Czech glass factories as a designer/maker for two years. The artist also assisted or collaborated with many masters such as Dale Chihuly, William Morris, Martin Blank, Richard Royal, Richard Jolley, Dante Marioni, Therman Statom, Stanislav Libensky, Rene Roubicek, and Vladimir Klien, among many others.

Lecturing at the University of Miami for 10 years, Stern also acted as interim professor at University of Texas Arlington in 2009. He has frequented the premier glass institutions, most notably Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, for a 30-year consecutive run where he has taught, been a gaffer, TA, AA, and worked with the most notable international artists. Dedicated to education, the artist has also taught at the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; the Penland School of Craft, North Carolina; The Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey; Bildwerk Frauenau, Germany; and Ways of Glass, Czech Republic. Stern designed and created many centerpiece collections for various institutions including Pilchuck in 2011, and he received the Amazon award for his Pilchuck auction piece in 2021. This year he has a prominent piece in Pilchuck’s October Auction.

Currently involved in long-term residencies at YZ Center for the Arts, China, and Bezaiten Arts Center in Lake Worth, Florida, Stern will serve as the future director of glass at The Dania Art Park, now in development. Meanwhile he and his team design and create original sculpture, architectural commissions, and unique lighting that has been commissioned, exhibited, and collected internationally. Recently, the artist participated in Habatat Gallery’s Glass 51 exhibition, and several of his works were acquired by Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Eighty of his pieces have become part of the permanent collection of the Weiner Museum of Decorative Arts (WMODA), Dania Beach, Florida.

Says Stern: “My aesthetic resides at the crossroads where humans and nature intersect. Between organic and angular, a space connects the temporary man-made to the pre-existing and eternal cosmos. Here, we begin to measure our perspective and contemplate the perception of our place in the world as it is one that is always changing with the evolution of space, light, and time. I venture to capture moments with materials that speak to a fleeting sensibility of the permanence or importance of this balancing act. Color and form dictate emotion, and humanity is transcended as we reflect in the inherent rhythm and fractal patterning in this natural world. My constant observation of details persuades my attention to nuances in an attempt to mimic the complexity of its simplicity.” 

Stern’s work will be exhibited at Kittrell Riffkind in Dallas, Texas, in April 2024.

The secret to success is different for every artist. By creating with the philosophy that one learns something new every day and allowing her endless passion for working with clients to inspire and inform her art, Kathy Barnard has achieved an enviable level of personal and professional accomplishment. The artist’s work, which includes carved and etched glass, stained glass, and carved granite and tile murals, can be found in public spaces, churches, private homes, and galleries in the US, Hawaii, Alaska, Apia Samoa, England, Scotland, Germany, and Japan. 

Barnard’s career is marked with groundbreaking commissions. One of her first stained glass projects, the Tree of Life, was designed in 1988 for the Jewish Community Center Campus and Offices of the National Jewish Federation in Overland Park, Kansas. This circular stained glass window measures 15’ in diameter and features a tree in medium hues and shades of blue.  Her largest carved and etched glass commission was completed in 2000 and took Barnard two and a half years to complete. Measuring 40 feet tall by 35 feet wide, this signature wall for the SNB Bank building in Tulsa features Oklahoma wildlife and landscape. In 2007-2008 Barnard combined both etching and stained glass in a tour de force titled Ode to Joy, Flight of  Dovesfor Porter Adventist Hospital in South Denver, Colorado. The artist designed and fabricated a 25-foot-by-25-foot entryway, a 16-foot carved donor wall, two carved glass entry doors, and a 12-foot-by 9-foot stained glass chapel headwall.

President of the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA) from 2015-16, Barnard remains on the SGAA Board of Directors as well as being a regular attendee of the American Glass Guild (AGG) conferences. Cooperating on an inaugural joint conference, SGAA and AGG members will meet in San Antonio, Texas, June 3 through 5, 2019, with pre-conference classes held on June 1 and 2. “This historic conference will be a great opportunity for members of both organizations to network alongside their shared interest in stained glass.”  

It is difficult to say if Barnard works primarily as a glass carver or a stained glass artist. It varies from year to year and according to which clients and commissions she works with in a given time period. Most recently the artist has completed seven stained glass panels for Presence Resurrection Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. Installed in custom steel frames, these etched and painted Lamberts glass windows represent Healing Stories of the Bible. 

A master at juggling large public commissions and smaller autonomous panels, Barnard has simultaneously been working on Fables & Other Muses, a series of exhibition pieces that includes her Raven collection and additional panels inspired by images from the natural world.  “I love to tell stories with my works in glass by layering content. At first you see one aspect of the story or image but with more time viewing the piece, you may see something more.”

To commemorate a client’s induction into the National Academy of Sciences, Barnard is currently producing a private commission that combines etching, carving, painting and firing, silver staining, fusing and slump casting, double glazing and lamination. The design, which represents the unique discoveries of Barnard’s client in the field of genetics, contains laboratory animals, scientific symbols and notations in the borders, and various species in a fantasy wildlife scene. Amidst healing flowers of echineacia and floating atop a field of water lily leaves are playful mice with fruit fly wings.

Not knowing the full story, Barnard’s mice with wings could be viewed as a delightful design of playful images and color. But look again to discover deeper meaning.

The more scientists discover about genetics, the more we understand why mice with wings can only exist in a fantasy world created by an artist.

Keke Cribbs: Frozen Moments in the Emotional Adventure of Life

Through her art, KeKe Cribbs searches for a peaceful place. Growing up, this self-taught artist moved 24 times in 24 years, and she now prefers to travel in her mind, telling stories of far-away places and exotic characters in a mosaic glass technique she has adapted to her unique style. From her studio on Whidbey Island off the coast of Seattle come boats, Moon Queens, and collage with painted glass, inspiring wonder and delight in all who view them. Her latest works will be on view August 6 – 29, 2021 at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery, Bainbridge, Washington. 

Like her work, Cribbs’ life has a fairytale-quality with dark undertones. At age 15, she was one of five children transplanted to Ireland for her mother’s graduate studies in Yeats. For the next decade she traveled from place to place in Europe before returning to the United States as a single mother and a stranger to native customs. While working in a Native American art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cribbs discovered the work of the Mimbres Indians and had a show of her adapted renditions of those drawings at Dewey Kofron Gallery in 1980. She was subsequently commissioned to reproduce the images by etching them onto the glass fronts of a suite of cabinets. 

In 1997, in a dramatic departure from sandblasting, Cribbs began firing enamels onto glass in a kiln. She drew on the glass with a quill pen and used sgraffito to further enhance the drawing before firing. Working the entire piece on the reverse side of the glass left the colors brilliant and wet in appearance. The sheets of painted glass were then cut into tiny tiles and reassembled on a three-dimensional surface. Early forms included canteens, baskets, high-heel shoes or more commonly, boats. 

Says Cribbs: “All of these forms represent journeys – the canteen and basket forms are containers which one would carry on a journey to hold water, the very essence of life. The narratives depicted on these forms represent the choices we make in this life; small vignettes into fictional lives that may remind one of a

Keke Cribbs: Frozen Moments in the Emotional Adventure of Life

Through her art, KeKe Cribbs searches for a peaceful place. Growing up, this self-taught artist moved 24 times in 24 years, and she now prefers to travel in her mind, telling stories of far-away places and exotic characters in a mosaic glass technique she has adapted to her unique style. From her studio on Whidbey Island off the coast of Seattle come boats, Moon Queens, and collage with painted glass, inspiring wonder and delight in all who view them. Her latest works will be on view August 6 – 29, 2021 at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery, Bainbridge, Washington. 

Like her work, Cribbs’ life has a fairytale-quality with dark undertones. At age 15, she was one of five children transplanted to Ireland for her mother’s graduate studies in Yeats. For the next decade she traveled from place to place in Europe before returning to the United States as a single mother and a stranger to native customs. While working in a Native American art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cribbs discovered the work of the Mimbres Indians and had a show of her adapted renditions of those drawings at Dewey Kofron Gallery in 1980. She was subsequently commissioned to reproduce the images by etching them onto the glass fronts of a suite of cabinets. 

In 1997, in a dramatic departure from sandblasting, Cribbs began firing enamels onto glass in a kiln. She drew on the glass with a quill pen and used sgraffito to further enhance the drawing before firing. Working the entire piece on the reverse side of the glass left the colors brilliant and wet in appearance. The sheets of painted glass were then cut into tiny tiles and reassembled on a three-dimensional surface. Early forms included canteens, baskets, high-heel shoes or more commonly, boats. 

Says Cribbs: “All of these forms represent journeys – the canteen and basket forms are containers which one would carry on a journey to hold water, the very essence of life. The narratives depicted on these forms represent the choices we make in this life; small vignettes into fictional lives that may remind one of a surreal dream or experience, a palpitation of the heart, a frozen moment in the emotional adventure of life.”

Eventually, Cribbs found herself seeking more information and attended workshops at Pilchuck Glass School with Dan Dailey, Bertil Vallien, Ginny Ruffner, Klaus Moje, Clifford Rainey, and Jiří Harcuba. She studied ceramics with Yih-Wen Kuo, Keisuke Mizuno, and Sergei Isupov at Penland School of Craft and attended many classes at Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle studying metal techniques. She moved to Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound to be closer to the heart of the glass community. In time, she found herself teaching at both Pilchuck and Penland as well as starting a glass program at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, MA, which then became Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU), now UMass at Dartmouth.

Anyone who learns something has to be curious enough to retain the information, no matter where it comes from. In Cribbs’ case, her life experiences and fascination with process led to the development of a unique approach to making art work, one in which the mystery surrounding objects from the past creates its own narrative in the mind of the onlooker. Working in many materials including glass and ceramics, she seeks to create an interactive form of storytelling, sculpturally producing shapes with narrative surfaces, bringing the whole work into a multifaceted exploration of the subconscious world of dreams and symbols. 

With a career spanning over 51 years, Cribbs has work in many museum collections both nationally and internationally, including the L.A. County Museum, CA; Corning Glass Museum, Corning, NY; Henry Ford Art Museum, Dearborn, MI; Mobile Art  Museum, Mobile, AL; Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; and Hokkaido Museum of  Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan. Each year from 2012-2015 Cribbs was nominated for the Twinning Humber Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, she was awarded Artist in Residence at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA; Artist in Residence, Toledo Art Museum; and was a presenter at the Glass Art Society Conference, Seattle, WA.

About her new work, Cribbs states: “I’m really happy with the new work I am producing for the show in August at BAC on Bainbridge Island. Technically I have moved to paintings with painted glass inclusions. Perhaps it is partially the isolation during the time of COVID that has pushed me to isolate each little jewel of glass so it can be appreciated individually as its own micro painting, loved for being itself …. but the departure from creating a full skin of mosaic glass on a form, be it sculptural or flat, has other aspects of elevating these small shards of what was simply float glass and mirror bits, to a placement of honor. 

“In a society that tends to look down on poverty and to isolate those who have less, I am always reminded of the song line diamonds on the soles of her shoes by Paul Simon … and then there is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles …. coal to diamonds to dust to stars where all the good souls go to sing together; these contribute to the access point where I have landed with this new work, and I am in bliss heaven.” 

On May 27, 2021, join Artist Trust Board Member Lee Campbell and artist Kéké Cribbs for a virtual house party in support of Artist Trust. This virtual event won’t be your typical Zoom call, but will instead provide an exclusive tour of Cribbs’ Whidbey Island studio, insight to her artistic process, and a glimpse of her recent work. Come prepared to laugh, think outside the box, and hear more about one of Washington State’s talented artists. 

https://artisttrust.cheerfulgiving.com/e/an-evening-with-lee-campbell-and-keke-cribbs

surreal dream or experience, a palpitation of the heart, a frozen moment in the emotional adventure of life.”

Eventually, Cribbs found herself seeking more information and attended workshops at Pilchuck Glass School with Dan Dailey, Bertil Vallien, Ginny Ruffner, Klaus Moje, Clifford Rainey, and Jiří Harcuba. She studied ceramics with Yih-Wen Kuo, Keisuke Mizuno, and Sergei Isupov at Penland School of Craft and attended many classes at Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle studying metal techniques. She moved to Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound to be closer to the heart of the glass community. In time, she found herself teaching at both Pilchuck and Penland as well as starting a glass program at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, MA, which then became Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU), now UMass at Dartmouth.

Anyone who learns something has to be curious enough to retain the information, no matter where it comes from. In Cribbs’ case, her life experiences and fascination with process led to the development of a unique approach to making art work, one in which the mystery surrounding objects from the past creates its own narrative in the mind of the onlooker. Working in many materials including glass and ceramics, she seeks to create an interactive form of storytelling, sculpturally producing shapes with narrative surfaces, bringing the whole work into a multifaceted exploration of the subconscious world of dreams and symbols. 

With a career spanning over 51 years, Cribbs has work in many museum collections both nationally and internationally, including the L.A. County Museum, CA; Corning Glass Museum, Corning, NY; Henry Ford Art Museum, Dearborn, MI; Mobile Art  Museum, Mobile, AL; Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; and Hokkaido Museum of  Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan. Each year from 2012-2015 Cribbs was nominated for the Twinning Humber Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, she was awarded Artist in Residence at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA; Artist in Residence, Toledo Art Museum; and was a presenter at the Glass Art Society Conference, Seattle, WA.

About her new work, Cribbs states: “I’m really happy with the new work I am producing for the show in August at BAC on Bainbridge Island. Technically I have moved to paintings with painted glass inclusions. Perhaps it is partially the isolation during the time of COVID that has pushed me to isolate each little jewel of glass so it can be appreciated individually as its own micro painting, loved for being itself …. but the departure from creating a full skin of mosaic glass on a form, be it sculptural or flat, has other aspects of elevating these small shards of what was simply float glass and mirror bits, to a placement of honor. 

“In a society that tends to look down on poverty and to isolate those who have less, I am always reminded of the song line diamonds on the soles of her shoes by Paul Simon … and then there is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles …. coal to diamonds to dust to stars where all the good souls go to sing together; these contribute to the access point where I have landed with this new work, and I am in bliss heaven.” 

On May 27, 2021, join Artist Trust Board Member Lee Campbell and artist Kéké Cribbs for a virtual house party in support of Artist Trust. This virtual event won’t be your typical Zoom call, but will instead provide an exclusive tour of Cribbs’ Whidbey Island studio, insight to her artistic process, and a glimpse of her recent work. Come prepared to laugh, think outside the box, and hear more about one of Washington State’s talented artists. 

https://artisttrust.cheerfulgiving.com/e/an-evening-with-lee-campbell-and-keke-cribbs

It’s difficult to pinpoint Gil Reynolds’ most significant contribution to kilnformed glass. His studio, Fusion Glassworks, built its reputation as a leading innovator of glass fusing and kiln forming techniques, evidenced by cutting-edge commissions around the country. A pioneer and founding father of today’s contemporary Kiln Formed Glass movement, Reynolds educated others through his books The Fused Glass Handbook and Kiln Crafting, and innumerable articles for art glass magazines and journals. Since 1987, Reynolds’ Fusion Headquarters Inc. has supplied kilnworking artists around the world with glass, tools, and supplies, some developed by Reynolds himself. 

Innovating has always been Reynold’s top priority, witnessed in equipment development such as his Murphy Fire Bucket. But he also has an inventive approach to technique as seen in his Flow Bar process, an adaptation of ancient Egyptian pattern bar procedure. Inspired by his explorations in pastels, Reynolds continues to develop products such as his Easy Fire enamels that will expand art glass in a painterly direction. Even the Fusion Headquarters’ website has been recently redesigned to be mobile friendly and more responsive. 

Known from the earliest days of his career for sharing any and all technical information he accessed or developed, Reynolds lectured extensively around the US and in Japan, China, The Netherlands, Canada, and Italy. In 1993 he founded Hot Glass Horizons (HGH), a seminar event for glass fusing and other hot glass techniques.

Keeping up with the times, Reynolds now teaches online via his YouTube channel and Glass Art magazine’s Glass Expert Webinars™.  Upcoming webinars include Fused Glass Breakthroughs, December 7; Advanced Flow Bars, January 16; How to Change the Shape of Glass in a Kiln, February 15; and Mold Making Magic, April 3. 

Since the 1970s, Reynolds has been designing, fabricating, and installing site-specific custom kilnformed glass, sometimes incorporating cast, blown, and stained glass elements as well as metal, wood, stone, and mixed media. By studying lighting, architectural motifs, client concepts, existing colors and themes, end use, and budget, Reynolds’ one-of-a-kind commissions complement their environments. His artwork graces numerous private and public spaces including The Allison Hotel and Spa, Newberg, Oregon; Ohbayahsi-Gumi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan; A. Pfann, Hilversum, Holland; Del Webb at Mirehaven, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Percent for Art commissions in Oregon and Washington State.

Reynolds recently completed a corporate commission for Anesthesia Associates Northwest in Portland, Oregon, where he created the company’s logo from stainless steel and edge-lit dichroic. He also designed and fabricated a wall piece from cast and enameled float glass that references the molecular structure of ISOFLURANE, an anesthetic drug. The artist currently designs cast glass chair rails for a private client on Manhattan's Upper East Side. 

An artist using the allegorical power of medieval stained glass as a vehicle for contemporary expression, Pinkie Maclure marries traditional craft techniques with a radically different aesthetic. Stained glass was invented in the 12th century to communicate to a largely illiterate population, its vivid colors having a seductive quality that’s hard to resist. However, its narrative role has been largely abandoned in recent years, which is something Maclure hopes to change through her architectural installations and highly-detailed stained glass light boxes that reflect her commentary on the modern world around us. 

Maclure states: “My goal is to seduce the eye, but crucially, to deal with contemporary subject matter, telling darkly humorous stories from modern life.” 

For example, in her piece Beauty Tricks, the artist questions interpretations of beauty and a multitude of thorny contradictions. Her central figure is based around a classic Madonna, but she has liposuction lines on her torso and hypodermic needles and scalpels adorning her halo. Her nipples have been censored. Two little girls gaze up at her beautiful pink frock from a grey world of abandoned plastic containers. A woman fires a gun at a mirror, smashing it to smithereens. To her left, a grandmother knits a web of Barbie dolls and to her right is a bulimic Rapunzel. The palm trees refer to the palm oil industry; the roses symbolize feminine beauty. At the top, Satan is hopping across the towers of Oxbridge with a pile of books heaped on his back, stealing all the knowledge while the women are distracted. This work was acquired by the Stained Glass Museum for the national collection of stained glass and is now on permanent display in Ely Cathedral.

Maclure was raised in a small fishing town in the northeast of Scotland by an atheist mother, a talented musician who loved to sing sacred music. A prolific child artist, she drew on old wallpaper samples in front of the television every night, but was later put off by a sexist art teacher and turned to music and performance instead. As a singer-songwriter, she has recorded 10 albums over 30 years and performed internationally.

To support her music career, after 25 years of depending on low-paying jobs, Maclure found work helping a friend in a commercial stained glass studio. It was not very creative, however, she did start to study the history of stained glass and became disheartened by what she saw as the contemporary dumbing down of this extraordinary medium.

She says: “I noticed that many churches now avoid using any imagery and that fewer stained glass artists have the very particular skills required to paint images on glass. In contrast with the heady, dazzling power of figurative medieval glass, many 20^th-century stained glass windows had become simple blocks of cheap, colored glass, often designed and mass-produced by glaziers, with no artistic intent behind them – their function was reduced to something purely physical; a kind of upmarket net curtain.”

​Maclure decided to develop her painting, sandblasting and engraving skills in order to harness the spiritual power of stained glass, exploring the big issues of today such as climate, women’s rights, addiction and grassroots activism. Instead of removing the images, she changes them. Her references include bible stories, folklore, tabloid newspaper headlines and personal experiences. She uses stained glass as a language, as they did in the Middle Ages.

“I love the peculiar character of very old, broken windows, which have been repaired many times over the centuries. They have a particular poignancy which reminds us of our mortality and the fragility of the earth.” 

​For Maclure’s 2023 solo exhibition at CCA Glasgow, Lost Congregation, she combined large-scale stained glass, 3D sound, film and live performance, to create a fictional, abandoned rural chapel, haunted by its lost congregation. This multi-media installation questions our relationship with the land and celebrates the way nature and grassroots activism, such as compost-making, can reclaim abandoned places. The show attracted record numbers to the venue and was extended by a month.

Scotsman review of the exhibition;

https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/art/art-reviews-monster-chetwynd-pinkie-maclure-nicolas-party-cathy-wilkes-jala-wahid-4222378

The central work in the show, The Soil was a room-sized installation evoking an abandoned chapel where ivy grows up the sides of the old pews and the wind whistles through the broken door. At one end is a resplendent stained-glass window featuring a woman gardener, hands clasped in a secular prayer, urinating on her compost heap (human urine being an ideal activator of compost). A soundscape of whispers, children’s voices and snatches of song adds to the atmosphere. It’s both monumental and irreverent, elevating the humble pursuit of gardening while thumbing its nose at the grandiose history of the medium. While concerns about vanishing communities, climate change and damage done to topsoil by intensive farming are all present in this work, there is also a businesslike cheerfulness to the welly-wearing modern saint and her no-nonsense pursuit of her purpose. The Soil was subsequently on display at Two Temple Place, London, from January 27 – April 21, 2024.

In the collection of the National Museum of Scotland and recently exhibiting at Homo Faber (Venice), Collect (London), the Outsider Art Fair (New York) and the John Ruskin Prize (Manchester), Maclure has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Sequested Prize, John Byrne Prize, Zealous Craft Prize and Jerwood Makers. Her work Two Witches (Knowledge is Power) was selected for publication in the 2024 issue of New Glass Review, the Corning Museum of Glass’ survey of cutting-edge glass. Two Witches was also on view at the John Ruskin Prize group exhibition at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Poplar, London back in February. The National Museum of Scotland acquired Self-Portrait Dreaming of Portavadie in 2021. Maclure plans a solo show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in the near future.

​“I find medieval stained glass bewitching and daring… I want to elevate the medium into a contemporary art form, using its seductive beauty and historical associations to stimulate debate and to tell my own stories.”

Tim Tate: Alternate Paths

In 1989, Tim Tate received an HIV-positive diagnosis and was told he had one year to live. The terrible news inspired him to follow a dream he’d had since the age of 9 when he visited the Corning Museum of Glass. Driven to use the time he had left to become a glass artist, Tate travelled to Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina for the first in an intensive succession of classes. Penland and the artwork made during this time saved his life.

A Washington, D.C. native, Tate has been working with sculpture now for 30 years. Co-Founder of the Washington Glass School, his artwork is part of the permanent collections of a number of museums, including the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum and the Mint Museum. He participated in 2019’s Glasstress show with Ai Wei Wei and Vic Muniz during the Venice Biennale. Tate has received numerous awards and honors including the 2010 Virginia Groot Foundation award for sculpture; a Fulbright Award from Sunderland University, England, in 2012; second place in the 2017 London Contemporary Art Prize; and the 2018 James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Award. 

Along with William Warmus, Tate is the founder and moderator of the Facebook group 21^st Century Glass – Images and Discussions. His involvement at Penland includes teaching, serving as featured artist for the 2018 annual auction, and acting as the Development Chair for the Penland Board of Trustees from 2014 to 2018. 

In 2001, Tate helped establish the Washington Glass School to focus on sculptural glass made by kiln-casting and mixed media rather than traditional studio glassblowing techniques. Modeled after Penland and the Crucible in Oakland, the school has offered instruction to more than 4,000 students while providing a permanent studio in which Tate makes his work. 

After 10 years of making bowls, between 1999 and 2005 Tate made 30 large blown glass hearts, an exercise which required him to work with a glassblowing team and revealed his preference to work solo. His Reliquary works created between 2004 and 2014 drew attention from journalists, galleries and critics, putting Tate on the map of the art world at large. 

Never fully fitting into any one definition of Studio Glass, steampunk or video artist, Tate blends traditional craft with new media technology, the framework in which he fits his artistic narrative. Through moving images and endless mirrors his contemporary work possesses the aesthetic of Victorian techno-fetishism, which emerged from fascination with Jules Verne as a boy. Artwork and video, he believes, will be society’s relics of the future. 

He says, “I like to reference many possible histories and will do so with video or mirrors to show our common artistic ancestry and illustrate alternate paths. Perhaps centuries from now my work will have the same presence as abandoned archaic machines from the Turn of the last Century, as people marvel over what could have possibly been its intent.”

Cappy Thompson is an internationally acclaimed Seattle artist known for her mythopoetic narratives on glass created via the grisaille painting technique. Early in her career, she was drawn to the images and symbols of the medieval period, inspired by the Christian tradition of Western Europe as well as the content of Hindu, Pagan, Judaic, Buddhist and Islamic painting. In more recent years, the artist has moved away from mythological narrative and toward compositions on vessels that draw upon images and themes from her personal life. Thus began an autobiographical exploration of world culture and spirituality that continues to the present.

Thompson states: “For me, as a narrative painter, the issue has always been content.  The issue wasn’t glass, the material that I chose some 45 years ago. Nor was it the painting technique—grisaille or gray-tonal painting—that I taught myself to use. My work—which spans several decades and a variety of scales from the intimate to the monumental—has always been driven by content.”

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1952, Thompson grew up in Seattle and attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she received her BA in 1976 in painting and printmaking. Basically self-taught, her first professional exposure to glass came in 1975 when she worked for a small studio in Olympia. For several years she learned and worked in solitude until her reputation brought her to the attention of glass artists Charles Parriott, Therman Statom and Dale Chihuly. In 1984 Thompson moved back to Seattle, and her subsequent exposure to artists at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, led her to painting on vessel forms.

Thompson’s work can be found in collections worldwide, including those of the Corning Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, the Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum of Art and Design, and the Microsoft Corporation.  Recent exhibitions include Indie Folk: New Art and Songs from the Pacific Northwest, held at The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman, 2022; The Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon, 2022; and Fluid Formations, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington, on view in 2021. Public commissions include large-scale installations at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Evergreen State College, and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. In 2019, Thompson designed, fabricated and installed eight painted glass windows for Salk Middle School, Spokane, Washington, a project commissioned by Washington State Arts Commission in partnership with Spokane School District. 

A recipient of an NEA fellowship, the Libensky Award, and Pilchuck’s John Hauberg Fellowship, Thompson has also been artist in residence at Pilchuck and at Toyama City Institute. She has served on the Bellevue Arts Museum Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of the Glass Art Society and Pilchuck Glass School’s Artistic Program Advisory Committee and continues serving on the Board of Directors for Pottery Northwest. She has taught workshops around the world at Bildwerk, Frauenau, Germany; California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California; Canberra School of Art, Canberra, Australia; Centro del Arte Vitro, Monterrey, Mexico; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; International Glass Center, Dudley College, Stourbridge, England; National Sculpture Factory, Cork Ireland; National College of Arts and Design, Dublin, Ireland; Northlands Creative Glass Center, Lybster, Scotland; Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; and many more.

Though each piece tells its own story, there is one general message Thompson tries to convey with her work: “I see now, after more than three decades of work, that I am like those medieval painters striving to express magnificence and beauty.  But my expression focuses on the human experience of goodness, of hope and of love.”

Lucy Lyon: Every Gesture Tells a Story

In these pandemic days of limiting contact with others and contemplating the dangers of simply being with another person in a shared space, Lucy Lyon’s ambiguous figurative works take on new meaning. Using a stunning combination of technical prowess and a sculptor’s eye, the artist transforms cast glass into atmospheric settings whose characters’ stories, stances, and placement are open to viewer interpretation. Whether solitary or in groups, the figures reflect their state of mind through gesture.

Lyon says: “Even though we are all meeting up with each other and interacting in twos or threes or crowds, each of us is essentially alone. That brings up a bit of melancholy, but it also makes the individual unique and therefore very important.”

An only child, Lyon was artistically inspired at a young age by perusing her mother’s art books that depicted works by Edgar Degas, Francisco Goya and Thomas Hart Benton. Later, in her early twenties, the artist became aware of Edward Hopper’s work. Though Hopper’s were painted and Lyon’s are cast in glass, their figures convey a shared sense of being alone, isolated, even in the company of other figures, reflecting that people have private thoughts in public places.

Born in 1947 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Lyon graduated in 1971 from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, earning a BA in philosophy. Further educated at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, she has taken a number of workshops across the country from well-known glass artists. Working with glass since 1979, for the past 26 years the artist has been creating breathtaking tableaus from her Jaconita, New Mexico, studio.

Lyon’s work is included in the permanent collections of numerous museums including Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida; Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida; Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan; and the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin. Public commissions include the Sandy Hook Memorial; Night Read for Glencoe Public Library, Glencoe, Illinois; and Waiting Room for Western New Mexico University, Silver City, New Mexico. Recent exhibitions include Divergent Materiality, at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Narratives in Glass, held at Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California. Lyon is represented by Habatat Galleries and Lewallen Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

As with many artists, the seductive quality of glass, along with its ability to be sculpted, attracted Lyon to her medium. In much of her work characters read in libraries, places where one can be in a private and public space simultaneously. Settings or environments have been pared down over the years to simple geometric forms. Walls present opportunities to explore color and blending. For Lyon, the greatest challenge and satisfaction is born of sculpting her figures using subtle gesture - a turn of the head or twist of the hips- to express the figure’s state of mind. The refined figure is the cornerstone of Lyon’s sculpture.

Perceiving her role as a record keeper, artist Jen Blazina captures the essence of lost memories and forgotten voices. Through her work, she holds onto fragments of personal history, transforming common objects into poignant relics of the past. Her visual narratives express universal concepts of memory, inviting audiences to connect with the stories she preserves. 

Blazina states: “Memory is embodied in everything around us: in our culture, beliefs, objects, and ourselves. Discarded objects and those passed down to me become personal keepsakes and icons of the past, rather than overlooked or regarded as useless. My collections represent a sense of holding onto a place in time. By re-creating these keepsakes, I re-cast their history into my own voice.”

A sculptor and printmaker who uses glass as her primary medium, Blazina currently resides in Philadelphia where she is a working artist and professor at Drexel University in the College of Media Arts and Design. Blazina’s work can be found in multiple collections such as the Neuberger Museum of Art, The Imagine Museum, The Cranbrook Museum of Art, and the Corning Museum of Glass, to name a few. 

The artist has been awarded numerous residencies including: the Corning Artist in Residency at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; GAPP Residency at Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, OH; Bezalel Art and Design Academy in Jerusalem, Israel; and the Creative Glass Center of America in Millville, NJ.  She has also been awarded prestigious grants such as the Bessie and Louis Stein Fellowship; Independence Foundation Grant; and a National Endowment for the Arts Grant. Nominated for the 2022 Pew Fellowship Award, Blazina received her M.F.A. in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art, her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in New York and her B.F.A., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Purchase College. 

Blazina is represented by Habatat Detroit Fine Art in Royal Oak, MI; Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, NC; Vetri Glass Gallery in Seattle, WA; Kittrell Riffkind Gallery in Dallas, TX; Bullseye Projects in Portland, OR; and Koelsch Gallery in Houston, TX. 

In 2025, Blazina will have work on view at the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI, in New Art on the Block: Selections from the Permanent Collections, October 31, 2024 – April 6, 2025; in Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith at 20*20 Gallery, Lansdowne, PA, February 22 –  April 15; in Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, April 24 to October 5, 2025; in Collections at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC, May 2 – June 25; and in Glass 53: International Glass Invitational at Habatat Fine Art Gallery, Royal Oak, MI, May 1 – September 6. She will teach Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass at Corning Museum of Glass Studios, Corning, NY, June 16 – June 21; and In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting at Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey, August 25 – August 29.

Says Blazina: “As an artist, I am intrigued with the idea that what is precious to one person will be discarded by another. My work is influenced by commonplace possessions, familial vignettes and photographs. These evoke an ephemeral sense of past memories. Whether found in a second-hand shop or passed down from my family, I am often attracted to and captivated by the lost beauty of subtle images and materials. By re-creating and casting momentos in glass and metal, I can capture and hold on to another time in the past. Photographs and chosen objects allude to narratives of fleeting moments.”

​UPCOMING EVENTS

New Art On The Block: Selections From The Permanent Collections

Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass

Neenah, WI

Dates: October 31 – April 6, 2025

Object Memory, Jen Blazina and Ash Smith

20*20 Gallery

Lansdowne, PA

Dates: February 22 – April 15

Through a Window Darkly, The Works of Jen Blazina

Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass

Neenah, WI

Opening: April 24

Dates: April 24 to October 5

Collections

Blue Spiral 1 Gallery

Asheville, NC

Opening Reception: May 2, 5 – 7 pm

Dates: May 2 – June 25

Glass 53: International Glass Invitational

Habatat Fine Art Gallery

Royal Oak, MI

Opening: May 3, 8 pm

Dates: May 1- September 6

Alternative Approaches to Printmaking and Glass

Corning Museum of Glass Studios

Corning, NY

Dates: June 16- June 21

In Pursuit of Light: Kiln Casting

Glass Furnace

Istanbul, Turkey

Dates: August 25 – August 29

In 2014, glass artist, author, and craftsman Scott Ouderkirk published The Wind in the Islands, his adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, reworked for the Thousand Island area of the St. Lawrence River where he lives. To accompany his book, Ouderkirk designed and created stained and fused glass panels, depicting relevant moments in his story. 

The project was successful artistically, but also introduced a novel approach to marketing. By combining his skills as both author and artist, Ouderkirk’s The Wind in the Islands created an interdependent one-two punch of book and glass art sales. Local bookstores promoted the book, which resulted in increased glass sales. Glass panels on view at local exhibitions and at his gallery increased sales of the book. For the first time, his creations were bringing in money beyond the singular and initial sale of one object. 

Ouderkirk earned his BS in Technical/Vocational Education from State University of New York, Oswego, New York; his MA in illustration from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York; and his MFA in illustration from the University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut. His other books include The Amish Secret, Fallen Heroes, Sunday Drive, The Adirondack Run, Island Images, Barns, and Wood, Waves and Wispy Smoke. 

Ouderkirk’s home and studio are located on River Road Farm, Hammond, New York. There, he and wife Mary Alice grow and raise their own food including vegetables, eggs, meat, honey, and cheese. On this self-sustaining homestead, you’re just as likely to see a bee hive as you are a stained glass panel. From repurposed parts of old wooden boats and barns, Ouderkirk built a place from which he created stained glass, although he now devotes most of his time to captaining wooden boats and hosting his YouTube channel on the subject under the name, Glass Goat. A love of the water and sea faring vessels is evident in early Ouderkirk panels, such as Gold Cup Races and Hacker Craft, his response to a call for entries for an exhibition at the Antique Boat Museum, in Clayton, New York. Hacker Craft paid homage to John Hacker and the wooden motorboat he invented, showcasing the blueprint of the vessel in the background. 

The beauty of nature that surrounds River Road Farm was a constant source of inspiration for Ouderkirk’s autonomous panels such as Hen House, created for the American Glass Guild’s American Glass Now 14 exhibition. This combination panel of warm and cold glass techniques features two big chickens, fused and painted with Reusche paints, Gum Arabic, and water. Four chickens in nesting boxes, the earth, and two chickens coming out of a barn door were created from silver stained and painted window glass. 

In July 2015, Ouderkirk exhibited The Queen in American Glass Now 2015, the AGG juried members’ exhibition displayed at the National Cathedral, Washington D.C. The Queen, his stunning painted, fused and layered glass interpretation of a queen bee, is a collaboration with Marty Snye, blacksmith and beekeeper, and Lorraine Austin, who contributed design ideas and blew the glass ball that serves as the jewel atop The Queen’s crown. 

In this ToYG interview, Captain Ouderkirk discusses his successful combination of fusing and stained glass in autonomous panels, unique marketing ideas and suggestions for stained glass artists, thoughts on the creative process regardless of genre, and his love of wooden boats and boating.

world-renowned glass artist located in Washington State, Phil Siegel developed his own unique understanding of flameworked glass without any formal education or apprenticeship. With an extensive background in construction and education in architecture, he challenges himself to create a relationship between fantasy and structure throughout his pieces while relating to his spiritual, intellectual, and emotional self. 

Born in 1972 in Petaluma, California, Siegel developed a career as a general contractor designing and building high-end homes, working with clients from the ground up. In 2008 the economy crashed, banks stopped loaning money, and people stopped building houses. Out of work and experiencing his first winter off in years, Siegel began exploring a book he’d purchased 18 years earlier – Intro to Glassblowing by Homer Hoyt. 

In 2010, at age 38, Siegel took his first classes in flameworking pipes, something he’d wanted to do since seeing basic spoon pipes at a Grateful Dead show years prior. As a busy contractor, he had no idea how pipe art had evolved over the years, and his fellow students suggested he check out Instagram for education and inspiration. Siegel eventually progressed in his own torch skills to the point where the owner of the studio where he was taking classes, Dustin Revere at Revere Glass in Berkeley, offered him a job. Siegel worked there for five months before opening his own studio. His early glass included sculptural pieces adorned in classical line work, horns, symmetrical builds that were classically inspired, and bumblebee rigs. But perhaps one of his most successful series began six years into his glass career. When Siegel’s wife suggested he make a pipe for himself, the artist created a wizard figure based on a Christmas gnome he’d made as an ornament. 

He states: “I posted it as a goof really. I never thought people would enjoy it so much. But there was nobody making a wizard pipe at that time. And the more that I made, the more people requested them. It was the first time I made something that wasn’t an exercise in discipline. I came from a world that rewarded precision, symmetry, proper planning. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience making something whimsical and fun. It was hard for me to begin with. I’m thankful for the wizards more than anything, because they allowed me to find that more childlike part of myself when it comes to the creative process.”

An avid reader of Joseph Campbell, archetypes resonate with Siegel. When he noticed that pipe artists weren’t utilizing traditional art space – walls – the artist created a series of shallow shadowbox pieces featuring fish in 3D movement. These works frame pipes in a new way while telling a story. Siegel was inspired by a legend involving a huge school of golden Koi swimming upstream the Yellow River in China. Gaining strength by fighting against the current, the school glimmered as they swam together through the river. When they reached a waterfall at the end of the river, many of the Koi turned back, letting the flow of the river carry them away. The remaining Koi refused to give up. Leaping from the depths of the river, they attempted to reach the top of the waterfall to no avail. Their efforts caught the attention of local demons, who mocked their efforts and heightened the waterfall out of malice. After a hundred years of jumping, one Koi finally reached the top of the waterfall. The gods recognized the Koi for its perseverance and determination and turned it into a golden dragon, the image of power and strength.

“I’m intrigued by folklore in general because it’s specifically tailored for each culture but is also globally understood by humanity,” explains Siegel. “All cultures share archetypes – hero, martyr, pariah. These stories are universal and touch on many of the same motifs. They warn or inspire. They’re equally powerful, and people gravitate toward both.”

Describing himself as “more rigid in the way he thinks things through,” Siegel is currently working on a project that required 200 hours of prep. One of his ancient Lost Gods series, the Feathered Serpent is a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It is still called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs. The double symbolism used by the Feathered Serpent is considered allegoric to the dual nature of the deity, where being feathered represents its divine nature or ability to fly to reach the skies and being a serpent represents its human nature or ability to creep on the ground among other animals of the Earth, a dualism very common in Mesoamerican deities. 

Says Siegel: “Snake motifs, bird motifs, these Gods are inspired by multidimensional beings that passed into this dimension to share knowledge and help humanity evolve.” 

On 4/20, Siegel had a solo show at Fuego Smoke Shop called Conjuring Clouds. From January 30 – February 3, 2023, he, Lacey (Laceface) Walton, and Chris (Hickory) Vickers collaborated at the Coring Museum of Glass studio, employing advanced flameworking techniques that included complex assembly of hollow forms and finely detailed solid sculptural elements, which came together into a compositional sculpture. This work incorporated each artist’s individual style into a seamlessly blended idea. From May 18 – 20, Siegel and LaceFace will co-teach a class at Orlando Glass Union, Orlando, Florida.

Says Siegel: “The most exciting things going on in glass right now are happening in the pipe world. We are not constricted by traditional ideals of art. It’s pulled from a nexus of popular imagery from our own small community and larger cultural elements. These things aren’t really being expressed in much of any of the other glass that’s being made. The pipe community has a lot of pretty far-reaching ideas.”

Under cover of his signature top hat and distinctive moustache, Lewis Wilson has accomplished more than most people dream of. His list of achievements includes success as a glass art instructional video producer, demonstrating lampworking artist, promoter of the world’s largest hot glass competition, and founding member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. A fixture at glass bead and pipe shows, “Looie” is also a fire-eating juggler, knife swallower and a black belt in karate. In his Crystal Myths gallery, you’ll find everything from goblets and vases to birds and dinosaurs. The fantasy realm is where this artist draws much of his inspiration.

Being from New Mexico, it is only fitting that Wilson is also known for glass sculptures of Native American ceremonial dancers. The intricately costumed pieces have not only become prized additions to private collections, but were also given as official presentations from the state of New Mexico to visiting dignitaries such as King Juan Carlos of Spain, blues legend Bo Diddley, and Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Born in 1949 in Roswell, New Mexico, Wilson was part of a military family that moved frequently to places such as Dallas, Texas, then Morroco, North Africa, and on to Riverside, California. In 1960, 11-year-old Wilson moved with his family to Goose Bay, Canada, where he taught himself how to eat fire, juggle, throw knives and do various magic and circus tricks. In 1963 following a move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, he started learning Shotokan karate, receiving his first-degree black belt in 1969. 

Joining the United States Air Force in 1970, Wilson was a medic during the Vietnam war, stationed at Cocoa Beach, Florida. During the slow hours of the night, he taught himself about glass through an old scientific glass blowing book he found in the Air Force base library. The medical lab was his studio and a Bunsen burner his equipment. There he made intricately woven animal figurines from 4 mm Pyrex stirring rods.

Wilson’s first real lessons in glass blowing came in 1973 under the tutelage of Alfonso and Tomas Arribas who had reportedly caught the attention of Walt Disney when the brothers represented Spain at the 1964–‘65 New York World’s Fair. Wilson talked them into an apprenticeship at the Crystal Arts on Main Street, U.S.A at Disneyworld where he made thousands of crabs, teapots and birdbaths for the tourists. Mexican glass blower Miguil Bonilla, who also worked for Disney, was another of his mentors.

Upon leaving the Air Force in 1974, Wilson went the following day to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, to try to secure a job as a glassblower. There were no glassblowing openings, however they did have a vacancy for a juggler and fire-eater. For the next two years he worked with tattooed belly dancers, a magician, and an organ grinder and his monkey. Later that year, Wilson married, and his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he opened his glass business, Crystal Myths. 

In 1993, Wilson produced his first glassworking video, Glass Bead Making, and now has produced more than 20 titles. In 1996, Crystal Myths promoted its first show, The Best Bead Show, in Tucson, Arizona, earning him the nickname of “the P.T. Barnum of Beadmakers.” In 2002, Wilson promoted the world’s largest hot glass competition called the Albuquerque Flame-Off. There, 300 glass workers from the U.S. and Canada worked on six torches running for 12 hours a day for two days. 

In 2005, Wilson demonstrated at the Kobe International Lampworking Festival in Kobe, Japan, and only spoke Japanese, which he taught himself, during the demo. Later that year, a building was named after him at Art Glass Invitational in September, one of the highlights of his career. 

Wilson sold the Best Bead Shows in 2008, re-emerging as a talented artist able to concentrate fully on lampworking. Later that year, at the Oakland ISGB convention, he was presented with the Hall of Flame Award. In 2011, Wilson married glass artist Barbara Svetlick with whom he founded Soft Glass Invitational, promoted for two years in Hilliards, Pennsylvania. In 2015, the event was given to Kris Schaible, and she continues to promote the event. 

These days, Wilson spends the bulk of his time filling commissions and doing standard production work, with the remainder dedicated to new designs. He and his wife enjoy collaborating, which comprises about 10 percent of each artist’s work. With Svetlick’s flowers added to Wilson’s glass sculpture or her sculpture incorporating his beads, the artwork benefits from the best of both worlds.

In his role at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG), Eric Goldschmidt gives demonstrations in flameworking, glass breaking, and optical fiber, in addition to teaching, lecturing, and exhibiting his work around the world. In the winter of 1998, he took his first formal class in flameworking with Roger Parramore at the Museum, which opened his mind and illustrated the possibilities of what could be done with the material and processes.

In 1993, with the goal of gaining residency to attend The University of Vermont, Goldschmidt relocated to the state and found work as a short-order cook, then as a candle maker. As a Dead Head, he had seen Snodgrass pipes in the early ‘90s, and his roommate at the time had worked with Chris Shave, one of Snodgrass’ early students in Oregon. With a torch set up in the garage, Goldschmidt began making mushroom pendants and marbles, working hollows, and by 1996 making his own pipe work. 

Goldschmidt began working for The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass in 2001 and returned to work for the Hot Glass Demo Department in April of 2008. In between, he worked for Arribas Brothers Company at Disney World from July of 2007 to March 2008. Making dragons, fairies and mermaids to entertain the public, Goldschmidt had to push his skills daily, perfecting the very techniques he relies upon today. 

Missing the academic atmosphere of CMoG, Goldschmidt returned, moving from studio to demonstrations. From the walk-in workshop where guests made a piece of glass to serving as Resident Flameworker, he taught, advised, helped other instructors, and made his own work in the classroom when it was free. Having the opportunity to assist, observe or interview artists in Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic, Goldschmidt was able to tune into cultural differences in the way flameworked glass is considered and approached. 

Some favorite tasks in his current role as Flameworking and Properties of Glass Supervisor at CMoG include assisting Toots Zynsky during her residency and making work for a Robert Wilson installation that was shown at Design Miami in 2019. One of his many responsibilities is setting up glass demos such as the recent multi-day demonstration that resulted in incredible work by Dan Coyle (aka Coyle Condenser), Ryan O’Keefe (aka sdRyno), and Hoobsglass. Parts of the collaboration were livestreamed with thousands of artists tuning in from across the country. It is now available on CMoG’s YouTube channel.

Says Goldschmidt: “The world of flameworked glass has been seeing a great deal of innovation and momentum over the past decade that has largely been driven by artists making pipes for cannabis consumption. These artists are constructing objects that are not only beautiful and intriguing, but they must also function in specific ways for their collectors.” 

Although Goldschmidt stopped making pipes when he began working at CMoG, he has been welcomed into the functional glass community as a “brother of the torch.” With a passion for goblets, he is known for both his Cage Cup series as well as his series of elegant Lidded Goblets. Sheet glass figurative work is his most unique contribution to flameworked art. The artist’s Cage Cups feature fragmented face imagery surrounded by twisted vine-like “cages.” These cages create a more in-depth narrative beyond their traditional silhouettes, presenting a metaphor for the cages that we become entrapped in within our lives. They draw the viewer in to find the deeper narrative. Each of his Lidded Goblets has a removable lid accented with a delicate finial. 

In comparing pipes to goblets, Goldschmidt states: “Goblets are other objects that have potential for decoration. They involve the use of hollow forms, solid forms, and pattern work. Pipes and goblets are certainly related. The techniques and materials are very similar, if not exactly the same. People talk about the taboo of pipes because they’re used for cannabis. Cannabis is gaining huge acceptance these days. It’s a matter of time before the taboo is completely gone. Goblets and drinking vessels have been used for the consumption of alcohol for a long time. I don’t see too much of a difference. Some people are now connecting pipe makers and collectors with drinking vessels.”

Currently travelling in Italy, Goldschmidt is working with Cesare Toffolo’s sons on the beginnings of a film series that will cover a great deal of the history of flameworking. He will teach a workshop at Salem Community College, Goblet as a Tool for Growth, June 13 – June 16, 2022 and at Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program, a nonprofit, residential craft school in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, in October, 2022.

Glass Knitting by Carol Milne

A pioneer in the field of knitted glass, Carol Milne combines passion for knitting with experience in sculpture. The artist began working with kiln cast lead crystal, experimenting with different methods and developing a lost wax process to cast individual knitted works into glass. Playing with translucency and the material’s ability to highlight a prismatic range of hues, light is essential to Milne’s body of work, and she has recently been working on pieces that focus on illumination.

States Milne: “I see my knitted work as metaphor for social structure. Individual strands are weak and brittle on their own, but deceptively strong when bound together. You can crack or break single threads without the whole structure falling apart. And even when the structure is broken, pieces remain bound together. The connections are what bring strength and integrity to the whole and what keep it intact.”

Receiving a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Guelph, Canada, in 1985, Milne realized in her senior year that she was more interested in sculpture than landscape. After casting iron around glass in graduate school, she experimented with many materials: clay, bronze, concrete, wood, glass, epoxy, fiberglass, mosaic and found objects. In 2000, she returned to glass and has been working primarily with the material ever since.  

In 2006, Milne created her Knitted Glass, incorporating the techniques of knitting, lost wax casting, mold making and kiln casting. Her unique process involves knitting the original art piece using wax strands, surrounding the wax with a heat-tolerant refractory material, removing the wax by melting it out, thus creating a mold; and placing the mold in a kiln where lead crystal frit is heated to 1530 degrees F, melting the glass into the mold. After it has cooled, the mold material is removed to reveal the finished piece within.

Collected internationally, Milne’s work garnered the Silver Award at the International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan; the Juror’s award, All Things Considered 9: Basketry in the 21st Century, National Basketry Organization; Special Citation and Honorable Mention, the 9th Cheongju International Craft Juried Competition, Cheongju, Republic of Korea; the Joan Eliot Sappington Award for On the Fringe: Today’s Twist on Fiber Art, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts; and Honorable Mention purchase award, Art of Our Century, UVU Woodbury Art Museum, Orem, UT^.. Recent exhibitions include Carol Milne: Knit Wit, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in 2019; Vogue Knitting LIVE! Seattle, Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, WA; and Carol Milne: Knitting Glass, Schiepers Gallery, Hasselt, Belgium, both in 2017.

Milne’s collectors include Amazon Headquarters, Seattle, WA; Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC; Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; Glasmuseum Lette, Coesfeld, Germany; The Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey; Gustav Selter GmbH & Co KG, Germany; The Kamm Teapot Foundation, Sparta, NC; MusVerre Nord, Sars Poteries, France; Notojima Glass Art Museum, Ishikawa, Japan; and UVU Woodbury Art Museum, Orem, UT. She has published three e-books: In the Name of Love; Knitted Glass: Kiln-cast Lead Crystal Bowls; and Glass Slippers. Carol Milne Knitted Glass: How Does She Do That?, authored by Steve Isaacson, is available as an e-book and in paperback

Through her original work in knitted glass, Milne has blazed a new artistic path. Bringing the visual illusion of softness and drape to a material that is fixed in its final form, her work encourages closer inspection to reveal the nuances of her designs. 

Says Milne: “I’ve knitted since I was 10, but knitting wasn’t a career path – or at least it didn’t seem like one. I studied landscape architecture as a bridge between engineering and design. But I became captivated by earthworks and kinetic art, which lead me to sculpture. Glass is very much like kinetic sculpture, since it changes with the light.”

Through different bodies of work – socks, shoes, baskets, hands knitting themselves – Milne addresses themes including the circle of life, the disconnect between appearance versus reality, black humor and visual puns. If the work wasn’t challenging, she says, she would get bored and quit making it. “But in working with glass, scale is the biggest challenge. Large work requires large molds. Large molds are difficult to make, and heavy to move once they’re made,” explains Milne.

This month, Milne will have an open studio during REFRACT: The Seattle Glass Experience, October 14 from 11 to 4 p.m. She will exhibit a new body of work in an upcoming solo show, Knotty and Nice, at Culture Object gallery in NYC. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on October 18. Three of her Grenade pieces are on view in an ongoing group show called Like Mother, now through November 2 at the Helen S. Smith Gallery at Green River College, Washington. Milne will teach Knitted Glass from November 4 to 6 and 10 and Casting Hands, November 8 to 9 at Milkweed Arts, Phoenix, Arizona. In 2024, she will exhibit at the Gala Opening of Chasen Gallery’s new location at The Mark in Sarasota, FL, on January 20 and participate in Blue Spiral 1 Gallery’s Glass Invitational, November 2 – December 25, 2024 in Asheville, NC.

ott Deppe, pioneer in the functional glass art scene for three decades, brings an artistic vision to glassblowing that parallels that of influential artists of other media. Adept at evolving techniques, he quickly mastered traditional moves like reticellos and disk flips and innovated techniques of his own to achieve alien function and incorporate intricate detail and sacred geometry into his glass work. Most recently, his exploration has culminated in silver and gold fumed hologram glass that transforms finished pieces into deep illustrative tapestries.

Born in Idaho, Deppe moved to Bellingham, Washington, the year before he started making pipes. He encountered his first blown glass pipe at a Grateful Dead show in 1993. On his way home, he stopped at a local hardware store, bought a torch and some glass, set up in his living room and melted a couple of spoon pipes, trying to recreate a piece he had fallen in love with at the Dead show – a little spoon with a mushroom bead on the side. Deppe says: “I had a natural ability to deconstruct things with my mind. Through experimentation, I often came up with better, easier ways of doing things.” 

Other than an early goblet class with Brian Kerkvliet, Deppe is self-taught and well-known for his constant experimentation on the torch resulting in early mind-blowing solo works such as Take Me to the Mothership, his Deady Bear piece, and his collaborative Team Japan works – all of which expanded how people thought about glass and how much they were willing to spend on pipe art. Since then, he has done collabs with many industry greats.

Deppe is the founder of Mothership –  a glass artist collective with a mission to create the best functional glass in the galaxy. The Mothership first landed on Earth in 2013, making contact in the Pacific Northwest. Its team of glass artists and crew constantly push the boundaries to make creations that combine beauty and sophistication into functional glass art. The company prides itself on passion for both the artform and cannabis culture, resulting in every piece being handcrafted with love.

When it comes to a consensus on who is the most talented glass artist within the industry, you will be hard pressed to find one with more mentions than Deppe, a true master of the art form. Holding a Deppe piece, one marvels at the precision of his craftsmanship. While many artists are cornering a niche market with a trademark style, this artist has always been one to display a breathtaking ability to master any technique.

Legacy GlassWorks Gallery in Duluth, MN will feature Mothership Glass on Saturday, December 3, 2022  https://www.legacyglassworks.com/pages/upcoming-events-2

Legends of Hash will also feature Mothership from Dec 2 – 3, 2022 in Los Angeles.  https://www.legendsofhashish.com/projects-6  Deppe will attend this event.

Says Deppe: “I just want to do something different, always. It’s what feels good.”

Eli Mazet: Revealing the Handmade Shot Glass and the Eugene, Oregon, Glass Community 

Looking to expand his artistic repertoire, torch artist, author and entrepreneur Eli Mazet discovered that today’s flameworkers were not making one of the world’s most collected glassobjects. In 2013 with the support and sponsorship of Northstar Glass, over 40 artists produced more than 70 shot glasses effectively creating the largest handmade contemporary shot glass collection known today. Along with chronicling each piece in his book, The Contemporary Shot Glass, Mazet reviews the rich history and trivia of the smallest drinking vessel. 

One of the most passionate glass artists you will ever meet, Mazet resides in Springfield, Oregon, with his best friend and partner Jessica and their three daughters. Born in Eugene, he is the middle of three brothers all involved with glass. Older brother Josh Mazet graduated with a BFA from the University of Oregon, where he was a resident artist in the university’s ceramics department and instructed their Wood Fire Ceramics program for three years. 

When Eli expressed an interest in learning to work with glass, the brothers set up a small lampworking studio in his garage. During the next two years, while working two jobs, Eli logged hundreds of hours behind the torch. In glass, an outlet for his high energy and a passion for creating art was discovered. He travelled to the coast, selling his whimsical glass creatures to galleries and shops. The response was exciting and encouraging, and soon a family business, Mazet Studios, was established including younger brother Tim and mother Tym.  

Since 2002, Mazet Studios has created lampwork glass pipes, sculpture, marbles, paperweights and pendants from borosilicate glass. Recognition and awards included The Eugene Glass School Flame-Off, Sonoran Glass Academy Flame-Off and Glass Craft and Bead Expo Gallery of Excellence. In addition to their studio work, Josh and Eli regularly instructed lampworking from their private studio and at various schools throughout the US. 

Though Josh left the company, Eli continues pushing forward at Mazet Studios. He has published a second book, The American Shot Glass and the Machine, purchased the rights to Homer Hoyt’s instructional flameworking book, which he now sells, and was instrumental in the documentary film Pipe Dreams USA, which won five awards including the Seattle Cannabis Film Festival. Currently on its way to London’s Cannabis Film Festival, you can watch the film at pipetownusa.com.

Degenerate Art, the 2012 documentarydirected by pipemaker Aaron Golbert a.k.a. Marble Slinger, chronicled and in some ways changed the history of functional glass through its popularity and widespread distribution. The film, whose title references a German expression used by the Nazi regime to criticize non-conformist art, inspired multitudes of artists to take up pipemaking as their passion and profession.

Living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home to one of the nation’s most vibrant glass pipemaking scenes, Slinger developed a body of work that communicatescomplex themes through the utilization of graal techniques.He’s known for his visages of pop culture icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Sherlock Holmes, sandblasted onto matte-finish, color-blended pipes and tubes.

On the Board of Glass Alchemy’s Makers Alliance, Slinger works with the company to determine the future direction of its color palette. Independently, his aesthetic signature includes myriad patterning techniques such as honeycombs, inside out, fuming, disc flips, reticellos, bowties, spirals, stuff and puffs, and traditional shaping styles. Bronze casting, painting, and mixed media are also employed to convey concepts influenced by pop and graffiti art.

Dark and beautiful, Bertil Vallien’s sculpture takes the viewer on a mystical journey through the subconscious. Part oracle, part art object - his boats, maps and heads reveal existential secrets through a series of symbols and codes embedded in a glass matrix that appears to contain light. Sweden’s most innovative and well-known contemporary glass artist, Vallien pioneered sand casting in the 1980s and began creating sculptures in glass that inspired his now famous quote: “Glass eats light.”

Born in 1938 in Sollentuna, a suburb north of Stockholm, Vallien studied ceramics at the Konstfack School of Arts, Crafts, and Design in Stockholm, then spent two years at the School for Advanced Industrial Design. At Konstfack, he graduated at the top of his class and was awarded a Royal Foundation grant. His love of ceramics took him to Los Angeles for a position with HAL Fromholt Ceramics, and soon he was meeting artists, critics, and gallery owners, attending events at California universities, and exhibiting his ceramics. In 1963, he was invited back to Sweden by the C.H. Åfors glass-factory, where he contributed to a successful reorganization of the company and designed many of their most well-known lines.

Vallien’s introduction to glass offered artistic opportunities that were lacking in ceramics, and blowing glass became central to his work. He describes it as, “ladling matter out of a volcano and watching the glowing lava turn into ice.” His work has a symbolic and mystical narrative, in which the human head, boats, maps, stars, crosses, bridges, pyramids, and rings play recurring roles. Sometimes the light-absorbing glass is transparent like a membrane that allows vision into the spaces within. At other times it is translucent to represent how our understanding can at times be clouded.

From California to Israel, Vallien has exhibited around the world including The State Heritage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia); the National Museum (Stockholm, Sweden); the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England); the Art Institute of Chicago (IL); the National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto, Japan); the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney, Australia); and the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA). He has received numerous awards, such as: Prince Eugen’s medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts (1995); an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Vaxjö (2002); the Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of Science, Stockholm (2005); and the Libenski Award, Seattle (2008).

At 82, Vallien is still active as a creating artist. In 2018, he exhibited new work at Spritmuseum, Stockholm, in an exhibition titled, Under ytan (Under the Surface). The art objects were made in a coarse-cut black glass that suggested an archaeological excavation of a desolate civilization. Wrecked ships and desolate landscapes stood on pedestals in a dark room with a light source above it.

On February 8, 2020, during Imagine Museum’s Fire and Light Gala, Trish Duggan, Founder and President of Imagine Museum, presented Vallien with the “Artist of the Future” award, based upon his undaunted journey as an artist looking toward the future while continuing to aspire other artists in new ways of expression and communication. “Bertil’s vision about the future and his unbound curiosity about what lies ahead puts him far ahead many of the younger artists working in the field today,” said Duggan about the award recipient.

Continuing down his prolific path, on May 14, 2020, Vallien’s exhibition Surface Tension opens at Gallery Glas in Stockhom. His show Anhalt will be on view at VIDA Museum and Art Gallery, Borgholm, Sweden, beginning May 23. The artist is also preparing for his demo at the Glass Art Society (GAS) conference in Smaland, Sweden, May 20-23, where he will be presented with GAS’ Visionary Award.

Remembering Benjamin Moore: Heart of the Seattle Glassmaking Scene 

Seattle glass art legend Benjamin Moore died on June 25, 2021. He was 69. His passing has been a shock to the glass community — both locally and beyond — evidenced by outpourings of sadness from such institutions as the American Craft Council, UrbanGlass, Tacoma Art Museum and Pilchuck Glass School, where Olympia-born Moore took a class in 1974 (a college graduation gift from his parents).

A seminal figure in establishing Seattle as a contemporary glass center, Moore provided his studio and top-notch glassblowing team to make the work of the world’s finest artists and designers. The groundbreaking art produced on King Street at Benjamin Moore, Inc. (BMI) contributed both to the glass arts and the art world at large. But the true gift of art making within this supportive community is the camaraderie and lifelong friendships born out of such a unique creative environment. This is the lifeblood of the Seattle glass experience.

Said Moore, in our 2013 conversation: “The one thing I learned from Dale (Chihuly) that made a profound impact on me and has always been a part of my career is the joy of working with others. The camaraderie of our community here, working with one another and supporting each other, is huge. Dante Marioni and Preston Singletary both came to work for me out of high school, and when I look at their careers now, I’m the proudest guy in the world.”

Moore served as Chihuly’s primary gaffer from 1975 to 1982 and was the first educational coordinator at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, beginning in 1977. Following graduate studies with Chihuly at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Moore went to work at the Venini Glass Factory in Murano, Italy. In 1978 he brought the Italians to Pilchuck for the first time to demonstrate time-honored techniques rarely seen by US artists. For the Americans, this exposure resulted in a dramatic increase in the sophistication of works produced and further entrenched the value and process of working glass as a team.

Though Moore dedicated much of his career to making Chihuly’s work, their aesthetic approach to glass, form, and color could not be more different. In his own work, Moore reveals a Modernist sensibility reflected in pure geometric forms and simple colors. Translucent, a solo exhibition held at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, from February 2012 though October 2013, presented a selection of his masterpieces that simultaneously evoke aspects of historical tradition and the refinement of a unique contemporary aesthetic.

Inspired by Scandinavian ceramics of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Moore’s objects in glass possess a timelessness achieved by the artist’s focus on color, shape, and proportion. By altering the way light interacts with the work through opacity, translucency, and transparency, he created different impressions for each series of his work. The fundamental concern and focus of his own work was to achieve simplicity, balance, and clarity of form.

He said: “If you think of trying to blow something off hand on the round, historically almost everything had already been done. To come up with something fresh and totally new with those parameters was almost impossible.” 

Almost. Moore’s The Interior Fold Series (1975) incorporates the technique of folding the transparent glass onto itself. The ancient Romans used this technique as a utilitarian detail in the vessel form, giving the piece added thickness. “I use this folding technique as a design or aesthetic element. In this series, I combine this folding technique with a horizontal plane of glass, which is spun out from the fold. The spiral wrap on the horizontal plane emphasizes the circular form.” 

Moore’s Palla Series (1983) was developed and based on the simple spherical form “palla” – the Italian word for ball. In this series, the sphere functions as the foot of the form as well as the focal point. “I use contrasting opaque colors to draw attention to the contrasting geometric elements. These forms are created generally in pairs, accentuating the horizontal and vertical lines. However, the bowl does stand strongly on its own.”

In the Exterior Fold Series (1978), Moore uses a similar technique to that of the Interior Fold Series. The difference being the exterior fold creates a hollow ring on the outside of the piece. This fold is used as the breaking point between the concave curve and the convex curve in the blown form. These pieces are generally displayed in groupings, and the translucent colors vary from subtle to bold.

This podcast was created from an interview with Moore recorded in 2013 and retrieved from the ToYG archives.

From Team Pilchuck

Moore was a visionary artist, an inspiring mentor, and a once-in-a-lifetime friend. Many of you knew and loved him, and many more of you have been touched by the steadfast and collaborative leadership he brought to our community over the past 50 years.

We are all deeply saddened by Benny’s recent passing, and we know how eager you are to show your care and support for Benny’s beloved wife Debora, their daughter Jasmyn, and the rest of their family.

Friends of the Moores have set up a GoFundMe page to honor Benny’s memory and assist Debora in this sad and difficult time. We want to share it with you now—if you are able, please consider contributing. Gifts of any amount are much appreciated as the family grieves and works to honor Benny’s incredible legacy.

Pushing the boundaries beyond form and function, Janusz Pozniak’s blown glass abstractly reflects his personal experiences while distilling human emotion. Works in decorative, functional, figurative or abstract glass reflect the highest level of hot glass expertise. Whether colorful or achromatic, a Pozniak sculpture is always delicate, detailed and striking.

In 1986, Pozniak earned his BA in 3D Design from West Surrey College of Art and Design in the UK. He subsequently went to work for Christopher Williams and Annette Meech at The Glasshouse in Covent Garden, London. Driven by his passion for pursuing a creative career, the artist moved to the US in 1991 to work alongside Dale Chihuly. This opportunity allowed him to expand his knowledge, talent, and substantial glassblowing skill. 

Throughout his career, Pozniak has worked with the most prominent glass artists in the world including Lino Tagliapietra, Sonja Blomdahl, Josiah McElheny, Dick Marquis, Benjamin Moore and Preston Singletary. He’s been working alongside Dante Marioni since 1992. In addition, Pozniak has travelled all over the globe to teach and mentor others, providing students with the skills, inspiration and encouragement to fulfill their own artistic visions. 

After more than 30 years as an artist, Pozniak is still discovering new ways of experimenting and evolving his work to elevate and communicate the unique beauty of glass as an artistic medium. In 2019, he became one of 10 highly skilled glassmakers from North America to appear in the Netflix competition series, Blown Away. On the show, glassblowers had a limited time to fabricate beautiful works of art that were assessed by a panel of expert judges. One artist was eliminated in each 30-minute episode until a winner was announced in the 10th and final episode. Pozniak, an instant show favorite for anyone who knows glassblowing, quickly grew in popularity amongst neophytes, the result of his impressive command of glass and on-screen magnetism. 

Riding the wave of fame which resulted from his appearance on the show, Pozniak and wife Michelle funded a successful Kickstarter campaign to launch [Hohm-meyd], a home goods company that utilizes a network of local makers to produce functional wares they design. 

Says Pozniak: “Driven by our core values of community, sustainability, and ethics, each product will be made with care and integrity. Simultaneously we hope to train and mentor local artisans. Between the two of us, we have 50 years of making and selling work as artists. We also know that purchasing a piece of fine art is too expensive for many people. Given our combined experience, our community of other artisans and craftspeople and our growing family, there is no time like the present for us to pursue this shared dream.”

The De La Torre Brothers: Irreverence as a Tool for Reinvention

Through their Ultra-Baroque polycultural work, Einar and Jamex De La Torre tackle topics of identity and contemporary consumerism. Influences range from religious iconography to German expressionism while also paying homage to Mexican vernacular arts and pre-Columbian art. They don’t consider themselves glass artists per se, but treat glass as one component in their three-dimensional collages, one that interacts with a multitude of chosen – not found – objects. Einar recalls their mother’s fondness for puns as a likely source for the brothers’ own interest in multiple layers of understanding. 

Collaborating since the 1990s, the De La Torres were born in Guadalajara, México, in 1963 and 1960. They moved to the United States in 1972, transitioning from a traditional catholic school to a small California beach Town. Both attended California State University at Long Beach. Jamex earned a BFA in Sculpture in 1983, while Einar decided against the utility of an art degree. Currently the brothers live and work on both sides of the border, The Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, México, and San Diego, California. The complexities of the immigrant experience and contradicting bicultural identities, as well as their current life and practice on both sides of border, inform their narrative and aesthetics. 

Gussie Fauntleroy wrote in the July 2009 issue of American Craft: “Similarly, in their art the brothers intentionally disregard conventional borders between dichotomous pairs such as high and low art and sacred and profane, and between deluxe objects and the detritus of everyday life. Virtually every assemblage and installation incorporates blown glass or cast-resin elements in sumptuous colors that shimmer, juxtaposed with an array of … objects, including plastic toys, snack food wrappers and old tires.”

https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/de-la-torre-brothers-and-border-baroque

The De La Torres have been honored with The USA Artists Fellowship award, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, The Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, and The San Diego Art Prize. They have had 18 solo museum exhibitions, completed eight major public art projects and participated in four biennales. Their work can be found in the permanent collections of Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Museum of American Glass, Millville, New Jersey; The Kanazu Museum, Kanazu, Japan; Frauenau Glass Museum, Frauenau, Bavaria, Germany; GlazenHuis Museum, Lommel, Belgium; and the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, to name a few. Private collectors include Alice Walton, Cheech Marin, Elton John, Irwin Jacobs, Terry McMillan, Sandra Cisneros and Quincy Troupe.

Guest instructors at Penland, UrbanGlass, the Pittsburgh Glass Center and Pilchuck, the De La Torre brothers have shared their multifaceted knowledge of glass technique including blowing, bit work and flameworking with students worldwide. In the last 15 years they have been creating photomural installations using Lenticular printing as a major part of their repertoire. 

“If ever there were a case where materials and their masterful use provide a perfect match—and metaphor—for an artist’s concepts and themes, it’s in the art of Jamex and Einar de la Torre,” wrote Fontleroy. “How better to convey the rich complexity and alchemic intermingling of border cultures than through mixed media creations as multilayered, thought-provoking and engaging as the cultures themselves?”

TO WATCH WITH IMAGES, VISIT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

https://youtu.be/PiIBtKII_zE

Equal parts artist, scientist, and historian, Fritz Dreisbach has spent the last five decades teaching and demonstrating glassblowing around the world. This Johnny Appleseed of Glass has himself played a vital role in the history of the American Studio Glass movement that he now strives to preserve and share with the next generation of artists.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dreisbach grew up in Akron as part of a family of educators. His father, a college chemistry professor, and mother, a high school music and literature teacher, created in their son what is referred to as conciatore - a marriage of art and science. Fritz holds two bachelor degrees, one in art and one in math. This duality is reflected in both his technical consulting for glass factories such as the Glass Eye Studio, Spectrum Glass, Kugler Colors, and Seattle Batch as well as his continuing personal journey to express using hot glass.

Dreisbach studied painting and sculpture at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, earning his MA. Planning to eventually teach painting, his advisor instructed him to study a broad range of artistic subjects. A two-credit course in glassblowing was part of the curriculum, and serendipitously his love affair with glass began. Dreisbach continued his studies at the University of Wisconsin where he earned an MFA and was inspired by three pioneers of the Studio Glass movement: Harvey Littleton, Dominick Labino, and Erwin Eisch. His education includes a hefty dose of art history including Ancient, Renaissance, and 20th-century painting and sculpture. His background in painting and classical intaglio printmaking provides the basis for practical color theory.

When the excitement of working with hot glass spread from the University of Wisconsin, no one traveled farther or more frequently than Dreisbach to proselytize about glassblowing. The artist visited the first summer session held at Pilchuck Glass School in 1971 and has been active with the school as teacher, advisor, and trustee for 39 years. He also helped found the Glass Art Society, which presented him with a lifetime achievement award in 2002.

Drawing from the wild and erotic character of the natural environment, Bri Chesler’s work reflects on cultural obsessions of beauty and their relationships to internal anatomies. By fusing similar elements found in biology and botany she creates forms that flirt with the audience, exploring ideas of intimacy and desire. Known for its nontraditional approach, her work combines a variety of glass techniques with other media. 

Says Chesler: “Over the last few years glass has become the focus of my material exploration. The process revolves around using your body, the momentum of its movements, and your breath to shape a form. You have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. A dance between artist and medium, each movement carefully caressing, convincing the glass to become something new. The reality and illusion of its fragility, its weightless transparent quality, feed into the idea of being exposed, a material, a skin, that has the ability to be both vacant and full of depth.” 

She continues: “I like to maintain a glass focus while using a multidisciplinary approach, emphasizing qualities found in both materials that translate a similar idea or aesthetic. Manipulating surfaces and materials in a way that plays with the audiences’ perception allows me to develop a surreal dialog by diminishing the limitations of material identity. The cohesion of different glass techniques and other media has become something innate to my making; it’s what defines me as a glass artist. It not only allows me to explore the material in untraditional ways, but it also demonstrates and highlights the multidimensional nature of glass itself.”

Though she now lives in Seattle, Chesler credits her Palm Beach upbringing as a major influence. While Florida’s landscapes inspired the foundation for her conceptual ideas, the cultural environment informed the themes of superficial beauty, intimacy, and empathy. A product of BAK MSOA and Dreyfoos High School of the Arts, the former alum always knew her calling was a visual one. She discovered her passion for glass while studying metal and foundry processes at the Kansas City Art Institute during her undergraduate studies. The sensual and organic aesthetic of glass resonated with Chesler in a way that metal did not.

Chesler has received accolades such as the 2019 Pilchuck Emerging Artist-in-Residence award, the 2020 Hauberg Fellowship, the 2021 Glass Art Society’s Saxe Emerging Artist Award, and a Chihuly Gardens and Glass Anniversary Scholarship. In 2022, she taught as an instructor at Pilchuck Glass School and was featured in a solo exhibition, titled Untamed: The Anatomy of Desire, at the Center on Contemporary Arts in Seattle. Her works have also been exhibited at the Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington State and Habatat Gallery in Michigan. 

DELECTABLE, a collaborative installation, is on view now through April 15 at Method Gallery. Chesler and MinHi England (Blown Away 3 finalist) bonded after learning about shared traumatic life experiences, only to realize the conceptual parallels in their artistic practice. In 2017, they founded a collaborative brand called Liquid Lush Studio and have since been collaborating artistically. Throughout that time, they have continued a partnership not only creatively but in a familial friendship. The two describe themselves as “widow wives” after caring for and witnessing cancer take the life of Jesse England. After surviving this new shared traumatic life experience, their connection grew stronger and motivated the two to continue a collaborative partnership.

Museum of Glass (MOG), Tacoma, presents a concert in the Hot Shop on April 20, featuring local music group Mirrorgloss alongside live glassblowing demonstrations led by Chesler and England. The artists will act as lead gaffers for the evening, guiding Museum of Glass Hot Shop Starter Sarah Gilbert and students from the Hilltop Artists program in creating works inspired by the music. The event is inspired by the themes of feminism and the work of powerful women-identifying and gender-expansive artists in MOG’s current exhibition She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy.

Chesler and England will also demonstrate at the Glass Art Society Conference in Detroit, Michigan, in June 2023 as well as co-teach at OxBow School of Art, Saugatuck, Michigan, in July 2023.

Throughout Kathy Jordan’s career, education via workshops and hands-on experience has kept her approach to glass fresh and informed. Her training is the beneficial byproduct of many workshops, including a decade of Richard Millard’s glass painting instruction held at his Antrim School in New Hampshire, intensive China painting study, and master instruction internationally. Antrim inspired Jordan to teach others by providing the same kind of camaraderie combined with intensive glass painting instruction. Jordan states: “If I had gone to an art college or university when I graduated high school, I would not be involved in glass today. My education has been unconventional, but most certainly degree worthy.” 

At home in Media, Pennsylvania, Jordan is wife, mother, and artist. The success of her studio, The Art of Glass, Inc.,rested upon her multifaceted talents in visual arts, historical research, technology, and entrepreneurship. Jordan’s studio completed projects in churches and public spaces from Barbados to Maine, 95 percent of which were restorations. Though restoration painting is her forte, in 2013 she painted and fabricated seven new windows for St. Joseph Church in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. The largest, a panoramic baptism scene, measured 560 square feet. The late Charles Z. Lawrence, who created five windows for the Washington National Cathedral, designed the windows and selected glass for the project.

Over the last three decades, Jordan has been involved with many notable restoration projects by Tiffany, LaFarge, Clayton and Bell, Mayer of Munich, Lalique, and other historically significant artists/ studios. Many of these jobs were carried out in collaboration with Femenella & Associates, including seven Tiffany angels for a travelling exhibit called In Company with Angels, Princeton University Chapel, the Washington National Cathedral and the fire-damaged windows of St. Bernard’s Episcopal Church in Bernardsville, New Jersey, which established Jordan as a conservation painter. Several of these projects received Historic Preservation awards. 

In 2014, Jordan closed The Art of Glass, Inc. and began working for Willet Hauser Architectural Glass, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As Director of Art Development, one of her first jobs was to represent the studio at an important function at West Point Military Academy. She is currently involved with ongoing large, new window projects for St. Wenceslaus in Omaha. Nebraska., St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Jefferson, Mississippi, and St. Agnes in Key Biscayne, Florida. Willet Hauser received the Philadelphia Preservation Alliance Award this year for the historic restoration of the Isaiah Rose Window by John LaFarge, First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

In contrast to her work on historic windows, Jordan’s autonomous panels, especially those that involve portraiture, reveal her hand and are painterly and spontaneous. For example, The Chief’s Wife, which is comprised of three, 5-inch-square paintings of Native American elders that turn within the frame, was painted with Reusche’s water based medium. She explains: “It behaves like an oil, but thins with and cleans up with water. It will dry if left out, but you can work into it for an extended period of time before drying occurs. I can work quickly and get a full range of value in one face, in one fire. This technique can be spontaneous and loose or controlled and refined, allowing the viewer to see tool marks, brush strokes, or none at all.” Jordan created her panel On Walden’s Pond in a Debora Coombs’ class from a sketch done previously in a life drawing session. Coombs’ workshop was an exploration of all the different textures possible with water-based medium.

Many of Jordan’s autonomous panels have been donated to the American Glass Guild (AGG) auctions to raise money for the James Whitney educational scholarship. Involved with the AGG since its inception in 2006, Jordan is going into her third year as president of the organization – an extended term due to the global pandemic. The AGG will hold its annual conference from July 14 – 17, 2022 at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. Also serving as Co-Chair of the International Year of Glass’ North America Steering Committee, Jordan says 2022 is the perfect year to celebrate glass in all of its forms.

Jordan states: “My work and more importantly my contributions to our industry, emerging artists I work with, the clients we work for and the students I teach is why I love this medium and continue to work and volunteer in glass. It is in my DNA and am enthralled by its beauty, mystery and endless possibilities. I was asked not too long ago what or where my body of work was. It was a leading question, and my response was swift. I responded by saying, my body of work was within historic works of stained glass windows that were preserved. My work is called upon by the many students I have taught and by doing so, they now create with confidence and pass along what they have learned.  I can’t ask for any more.”

https://masterclass.narcissusquagliata.com/courses/business-life-of-an-artist

Click the link above for the webinar, The Business Life of an Artist, featuring Kathy Jordan, Narcissus Quagliata, and Orfeo Quagliata. On the checkout page, click on Have a coupon? and type: toyg

Two Dimensional Biographies by Amir H. Fallah

Los Angeles based painter Amir H. Fallah renders two-dimensional biographies of his subjects using alternative imagery to create a visual language that helps us understand who a person is. Though surrounded by intimate belongings, the faces and bodies of Fallah’s subjects are covered in highly ornate fabric, turning everything we know about portraiture upside-down.

Brainard Carey wrote, in Praxis Interviewmagazine: “Portraits of the artist’s veiled subjects employ ambiguity to skillfully weave fact and fiction like the textiles that cover them. While the stories that surround his muses are deeply personal, as told through the intimate possessions the subjects are encompassed by, they universalize generational experiences of movement, trauma, and celebration. With their Pop Art hues and investment in domestic life, Fallah’s paintings wryly incorporate contemporary American tropes into paintings more formally rooted in Islamic Art, including the organization and arabesque embellishment of Persian miniatures. In doing so, his work possesses a hybridity that reflects his own background as an Iranian- American immigrant straddling cultures.”

In 2017, Judson Studios translated two of Fallah’s paintings into stained glass. Embracing the World, the artist’s stained and fused glass self-portrait, alludes to Renaissance paintings of mother and child. An homage to his son, the piece was sold before the opening of Fallah’s solo show at Shulamit Nazarian Gallery in LA. A second Judson collaboration, entitled Offering, features Fallah’s portrait of an Iranian artist who came to America to pursue her art career the day after The Supreme Court upheld Trump’s Muslim ban.  

Fallah received his BFA in Fine Art and Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2001 and his MFA in Painting at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2005. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad, including solo presentations at the Schneider Museum, Ashland, Oregon (2017); the San Diego Art Institute (2017); the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland, Kansas, (2015); and The Third Line, Dubai (2017, 2013, 2009, 2007, 2005).  The recipient of the 2017 California Community Foundation Grant and 2015 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, the artist was chosen to participate in the 9th Sharjah Biennial. This event enriches the cultural landscape of the Gulf by commissioning, producing, and presenting innovative and challenging art experiences for the United Arab Emirates community while offering an internationally recognized platform for artists from the region.

As his work attracts new collectors in painting and glass, Fallah will participate in three solo exhibitions in 2019-2020: the first in August 2019, at Dio Horia gallery in Greece; then in January 2020 at MOCA Tucson; followed by April 2020 at Shulamit Nazarian Gallery in Los Angeles. The artist is currently working with Judson Studios on a large public stained glass project for LA City to be unveiled in 2021.

The biggest deterrent to people donating funds to charitable organizations is the fear that their money will not reach those in need but be squandered on overhead and administrative costs. This motivated Dr. Laura Schlessinger, America's number one relationship talk show host, to seek out Operation Family Fund (OFF), a private, non-profit, volunteer, charitable organization benefitting military veterans. An avid glass enthusiast, Dr. Laura devised a plan to use her glass art to raise money for OFF. 

Her online Mother's Day Boutique sale of fused glass and jewelry takes place April 27 - May 2, 2016.

The emitted light from a David Huchthausen sculpture is an artwork unto itself. For the last five decades plus, the artist has been captivating viewers through sculpture defined by its unique and other-worldly manipulation of light. A critic once described his work as “high tech spiritual,” an observation the artist rather liked.

Huchthausen once stated: “Creation is a continual and evolutionary process, constantly digesting and reevaluating past experiences and current perspectives. My work has always been deliberately enigmatic and mysterious. I constantly strive to generate a strange and curious quality that both tantalizes and challenges the viewer to develop his own response system. The work must have an existence of its own if it is to have any real significance.”

Huchthausen was one of the first artists of the Studio Glass Movement to emphasize cold working and fabrication techniques such as cutting, sawing, laminating, and optical polishing. Within his most recent crystal-clear geometric forms, the artist integrates complex shapes, concave lenses and intricate color panels, reflecting and refracting light as it hits the shapes and projecting colored glass patterns into the fractures and lenses below. Huchthausen’s sculptural narrative has always been enigmatic by design, challenging the viewer with its curious and unknowable quality.

Ferdinand Hampson, co-founder of Habatat Gallery, wrote: “David Huchthausen is one of an elite group of artists who have altered the history of contemporary glass.  As a Fulbright scholar, university professor and museum consultant, his achievements over the past 50 years have played a vital role in the evolution of the material into a fine art form.  

“As an architecture student at the University of Wisconsin, Huchthausen gravitated toward the sculpture department, working with welded steel, wood and found objects. In 1970 he discovered an abandoned glass furnace in the corner of an old brewery building on the Wausau campus. After six months of struggling, he learned of Harvey Littleton’s work in Madison 150 miles to the south.  Once contact had been established, Huchthausen’s career moved with rapid strides. He served as Littleton’s graduate assistant in the early 1970s, ran the Illinois State University Glass Program during Joel Myers’ sabbatical in 1976 and lectured throughout Europe as a Fulbright scholar in 1977 and 1978. During this period, he established vital links between European and American artists and galleries, organizing numerous exhibitions in both the United States and Europe. As curatorial and acquisitions consultant for the Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, he conceived and developed Americans In Glass. This important series of exhibitions in 1978, 1981 and 1984 documented the evolution of American Studio Glass from its early emphasis on blown forms and hot working to the explosion of sculptural and conceptual concerns of the mid 1980s. The landmark 1984 exhibition traveled to museums across Europe and provided the first major review of any glass exhibition by Art In America.

“As an educator and art professor, Huchthausen has been a significant influence on a generation of glass artists. He was one of the first Americans to emphasize coldworking in the early 1970s.  Large sculptural constructions such as Spider’s Nest, which combined hot-worked, cast, and architectural glass elements, stand as historical landmarks of the period. Many of the specialized fabrication techniques he pioneered are widely used by other artists today.

“Throughout his career, Huchthausen has remained a strong advocate of increased aesthetic criticism of contemporary glass. His outspoken and often controversial positions have helped articulate a basis for today’s increased level of critical dialog. As an artist Huchthausen has consistently maintained a high degree of integrity in his work.  Limiting production to 12 to 15 pieces each year, he devotes several months to the development and creation of each sculpture.  Even within a specific series the images are extremely unique, furthering his evolution of the concept without letting it harden into a formula.

“Huchthausen’s background in architecture and personal fascination with primitive art and ritual, have remained strong influences over the years. He deliberately imbues his sculpture with an enigmatic quality, generating a strange and curious energy, which entices the viewer.  

“One unique aspect of Huchthausen’s sculpture is his innovative integration of glass and light, the concept that the projected images and patterns constitute an integral and inseparable component of the sculpture.  These ideas have their genesis in his large totemic forms of the early 1970s and have permeated his work to varying degrees throughout his career.  They were more fully explored in his mysterious Leitungs Scherben series of the 1980s, where transformed and altered patterns were projected with amazing clarity onto the surface beneath the piece. Huchthausen’s next body of work expanded on that foundation.

“The Adumbration and Implosion series (1991 – 1999) combine the integral color laminations that have become a trademark of his work, with massive blocks of crystal.  By juxtaposing the pristine optically polished surfaces with fractured jagged edges, Huchthausen created precariously balanced fragments alluding to a larger whole.  The colored shadow projections are directed into the heart of the piece, splashing colored light onto the fractures, radiating like translucent watercolors into pools of intense color.  Huchthausen creates an illusion of incredible complexity that appears and then vanishes as the viewer is drawn around the piece, only to reappear as the refracted image mutates and projects onto another plane.  The constantly shifting visual depth and dimensionality create new and unique views from every angle.  This use of the full 360-degree circumference of the piece sets Huchthausen apart from many artists, creating sculpture that is in perpetual visual motion.

“The Implosion sequence evolved into the Echo Chambers, which expanded on the use of hand polished lenses cut into the bases of the sculpture. These concave orbs reflected and distorted the geometric color patterns laminated onto the top of the sculpture, further enhancing the complexity of the illusionary space and creating a kaleidoscopic effect as the viewer moves.

“Huchthausen’s latest series of Spheres began after he read an article on the theoretical analysis of gravitational fields. The article described the three-dimensional universe that we perceive, as a holographic projection, generated by a two-dimensional field at the edge of infinity. The optical simplicity of the sphere permits an intimate exploration of the interior geometry. With the Spheres, Huchthausen has fully escaped the perception of three-dimensional space. His spheres have no top, bottom, up, down, front, or back; every axis point creates a unique visual perspective that is in a constant state of flux.”

Having participated in over 500 national and international exhibitions and included in 80 permanent museum collections, Huchthausen is considered a leader in both the glass specific and larger art worlds. His public collections include: The Corning Museum(NY); The Chrysler Museum of Art (Norfolk, VA); The Detroit Institute of Arts (MI); The High Museum(Atlanta, GA); The Hokkaido Museum (Sapporo, Japan); The Los Angeles County Museum (CA); The Metropolitan Museum (New York, NY); The Museum of Fine Art (Dusseldorf, Germany); The Museum of Fine Arts (Lausanne, Switzerland); La Musée de Verre (Liège, Belgium); The Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.); The Tacoma Art Museum (WA); and many more. 

Today, Huchthausen creates sculpture from his Seattle studio. He has also renovated several historic buildings in the city, including the 150,000-square-foot Bemis Brothers Bag Building, where studio space is leased to other artists. Over his 53 years in glass, Huchthausen’s work has been documented in many books and catalogs. He is currently working on three new books to include Classic Motor Yachts 1910-1960 and Art Deco Glass: The Huchthausen Collection, as well as a book covering the history of his own sculpture. An exhibition of the artist’s Art Deco collection has been travelling for seven years.

On his way to Cebu in the Philippines where he escapes Seattle’s gray winter, Huchthausen spoke with TOYG about when he fell in love with light, how he uses glass in the telling of his stories and why his work remains relevant and collectible into the 21st century and beyond.