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Starting at 10 years old,
I was in and out of various studios as a bit boy, apprentice,
assistant, and production glassblower. I spent 4 summers
as a glassblowing instructor at Buck's Rock Summer Camp;
teaching beginning and intermediate glassblowing to students
as young as 11 years old. This is where I met my long time
good friend Jason Wertheimer.
After spending 2 years studying glass
at RIT, in the School of American Crafts, I finished a BS
at Marist College. In 1999, with the help of friend and
glassblower Mark Sognzoni, I built the Glassblowing.com
studio and began teaching glass once again. At that time
I started creating "One of a KIND" Lamps, Light
Boxes, Installation Projects, as well as a line of Functional
Glass Art.
I love having the opportunity to introduce
people to glassblowing. It never gets old watching peoples'
expression's change as they first start to play with this
2000 degree molten glass... They forget everything else
in the world and they become complete entransed with the
material... maybe a little nervous at first, but come on...
it is crazy hot...
Personally there are so many reasons that
I love working with glass...
There is no other material that lends
itself so naturally to using light... The way glass reflects
the light or glows from the inside makes it such an amazing
spectacle; and to remember that this final object started
as a ball of glowing honey-like substance, makes it even
more interesting.
It is a craft in which the techniques,
tools and concepts have not changed much in centuries. I
am shaping and blowing just the way people have done almost
since glass was conceived. The only major thing that technology
has brought to glassblowing is the ability to have private
studios. The people in the late 60's who developed burners
and furnaces that would enable you to run a small individual
studio created an environment for artisans to explore and
grow. Prior to that time the only Glassblowing studios where
controlled by major manufacturing companies.
The influence of artists like Dale Chiuhly
have broadened the vision of what glass can be used for.
In addition to wonderful work, Dale also has raised the
appreciation level of glass. People today are more interested
in the medium than before he made his mark.
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