About

Glassmaking is the human expression of a geological process. In fact, glass is geological. 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. Every formation the terroir of its origin. Human participation was absent but nonetheless, I wanted to be part of it.

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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 me. I admired the team aspect of a glass blowing studio but needed a more independent approach to satisfy my ambition. Flame working borosilicate glass was an obtainable approach into working with glass on my own. It was a life-changing technique. A body of work was created to bring me through the steps and stages to grow into a professional working artist.

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In 2016 I started making cast glass. This allowed me to apply techniques to make more authentic mineral designs. This method would give me the ability to sculpt, involve more precision and increase the scale of my designs. The use of familiar tools and techniques for working stone from my gem cutting years connects me even more to glass sculpting. 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 an form that would otherwise only be a geological event. My geological designs have reconnected me to the gem and mineral world. There, though realistic, they are seen as art. In the art world they are seen as contemporary.

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I now work out of my own 2400 square foot studio in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. It is entirely powered by a waterfall on the nearby Deerfield River functioning as a green energy studio. I use flame working, metal fuming/deposition, cold working (lapidary), welding, woodworking, laminating and casting techniques to manipulate the glass daily. I continue looking forward to digging up new prospective ideas to geologicalize in glass.

PUBLICATIONS

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Journal of Gemology volume 35/no. 6 2017

Rocks and Minerals   volume 92   no. 6 2017

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Featured in "The Flow" glass magazine for the
"Glasscraft Emerging Artist"


The Flow Magazine for "Glass Aquatic"
May issue 2010

Best Of America "Glass Artists"
issue 2010

Glassline  oct/nov issue 2011

Niche Magazine "artist profile" fall 2013

Scuba & H2o Adventure
"Reflection of Fragility"
March 2014

Rocks and Minerals Magazine Jan 2018

Flow Magazine 
"Artisan Made Gemstones" spring 2018
 

Exhibitions

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Tuscon Gem and Mineral Show 2016, 2017, 2018

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Imagine Museum

Pivot Exhibition 2019

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Study Credits:

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Daniel Clayman

Master Glass Casting,

Urban Glass

Ny,Ny 2018

Sally Prasch,

flameworking hollow borosilicate glass

2003

Milon Townsend, lampworking sculptural borosilicate glass 2007

Emilio Santini , lampworking venetian hollow forms 2010