Contributing Artists

Clement Bommarito - Expressions In Glass

Glass artist Clement Bommarito first learned about the Dalle de Verre technique in Chartes, France. After researching the technique, he began to adopt these methods into his own unique techniques for creating his Dalle de Verre glass works.

All of Mr. Bommarito’s pieces are made with quality Blenko® Glass and the finest glass epoxy resin. The method of casting the dalles is the same process used hundreds of y ears ago so pieces have charactistic imperfections that give each piece an antique character. The thickness and cut edge of the glass gives it a rich translucence. The glass is held in a matrix of black epoxy binder, giving the artwork a contrasting brilliance.

Dalle De Verre glass has its origins in the Byzantine Empire when large chunks of glass were placed in holes broken into temple walls. Much of these original buildings have been destroyed, but later examples of this technique were found in Spain.

Persians, where the glass industry began adopted, adopted a similar process by setting crude glass into wood frames. Gothic tribes moving through the area admired the practice and brought the method back to Spain. Eventually Dalle De Verre was used in France for early Christian churches during the fifth and sixth century. S the Christian art became more complicated, the move to thinner glass in a leaded framework began to become more common.

The modern artists making use of the Dalle De Verre technique sought a combination of modern strength and durability…while taking advange of the great depth in color. With the development of modern epoxy materials, all of this is achieved.

Dorothy Caples

Texas artist Dorothy Caples has been doing arts and crafts since Jr. High. She was encouraged by a Mother that was into all forms of art.

In 1979 she took her first stained glass class. Dorothy made stained glass for friends and family, which lead to selling and repairing stain glass for customers.

It was the enjoyment of working with glass that lead her to making lampwork beads. The challenge of working with the glass and also being able to create one of a kind creations has become a full time enjoyment for her.

Dorothy lives in North Texas and mostly sells her creations by word of mouth, but you can purchase her jewelry at Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery in Grapevine, Tx.

Afro Celotto

Afro Celotto was born in Venice on August 24, 1963. He started working with glass when he was only 14 years old, apprenticing with the legendary Lino Tagliapietra. During his 12 years as first assistant to Lino Tagliapietra, Afro had the opportunity to learn from one of the greatest living glass masters. Since these early years Afro has been producing some of the world’s most beautiful art glass. Even though he is considered a “youngster” in the world of glass blowing at just 40 years of age, Afro is quickly becoming recognized by collectors for his technical ability and artistic expression.

After many years at “Effetre International”, Afro took his skills to “La Murrina” where he filled the position of “First Master”. Here he specialized in two of the oldest techniques: filigrana and murrhine. Four years later, Afro returned to “Effetre International” after being asked to replace Lino Tagliapietra, who had moved to the United States to open his own studio. Lino now often collaborates with Dale Chihuly, who has also had the opportunity to study under the famous Murano master.

More recently, Afro, with two talented friends, Luca and Carlo, has opened his own studio. For many years previously, Afro worked within the old tradition where great glass masters executed the designs of others. In this new century, he has moved beyond excellence in execution and now finally feels free to devote his attention and focus to his own artistic expression and unique works. This last year has been an immensely creative period for him.

The graphic sign that you see under each piece, “Afro Murano”, is the actual signature of the artist, Maestro Afro Celotto. He uses a special diamond point wheel to handwrite it under every piece that is made by him. This is your guarantee of the authenticity and the uniqueness of each art glass piece.

The principal components of glass are silica sand, soda and potassium which, when joined with other particular ingredients, fuse and become glass at a temperature of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. From the incandescent magma, blown and forged by expert hands, the world famous and renowned Murano glass objects are born. In the specific case of Afro, he uses an even more complex and difficult technique called “tociar piera” or “filigree”. Afro prepares the rods of colored glass then lets them cool down slowly. He cuts them to the size he requires to make the piece, joins them all together, reheats them and begins to give them form by means of blowing and shaping.

Afro also has the privilege of an important artistic relationship with Pino Signoretto, generally considered the greatest master for heavy glass sculptures on Murano Island and also a member of Dale Chihuly’s team. The hands of the Maestros, although working with incredible technical and artistic ability, cannot match mechanical precision. Therefore tiny bubbles of air and small impurities (such as some “rare earths” not perfectly fused) are thus unavoidable in an original Murano work of art.

In the case of Maestro Afro Celotto his skill is most evident in the very complex and particularly difficult techniques he uses; techniques that have been mastered by only a few glass blowers in the world; techniques taught to Afro by his mentor, Maestro Lino Tagliapietra.

Donna Felkner

Donna Felkner has been doing arts & crafts since high school so her knowledge comes from a lifetime of experience and experiments.

The early years were spent in a verity of fiber arts and tooling leather. In 1984, she took a stained glass class and was soon making windows, doors and sidelights, lampshades and other 3D forms, but it was her Kaleidoscopes that gave her the greatest lessons in color, form, symmetry, order and chaos. She learned how to balance them all and how these elements interacted with each other.

It was when she decided to make her ‘scopes’ completely from scratch, instead of using broken glass and hobby store beads in the object chambers, that launched her into lampwork. A lampwork class at Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass in Dallas, taught her to make her bobbles. She realized it was more fun to just make the beads and her career was born.

Donna’s jewelry can be purchased at Vetro Art Glass in Grapevine, Tx and The Artful Hand in Ft. Worth, and her loose beads at Kittrell/Riffkind in Dallas, Fusion Beads in Seattle and Naturally Jennifer’s Beads & Gallery in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Katy Fenley

Katy Fenley has been a glass artist since 1999. Born and raised in rural East Texas , Katy has always been involved in the arts in some way. When she moved to Dallas/Fort Worth in 1996, she played the local music scene as a talented musician and singer. Although music will always be her first love, she is now pursuing her passion for the arts through glass. Her love affair with glass began shortly after the birth of her first son in 1999. She was hooked after her very first session on the torch. About two years later, Katy began experimenting with fused glass and recently began metalsmithing courses to take her creations to a new and even more exciting direction. She finds glass to be such a dynamic medium that the possibilities for expression really are endless. As a self-taught glass artist, Katy has developed a unique style all her own.

Bernadette Fuentes

As a child, Bernadette was introduced to beads by her father. Father and daughter worked with seed beads, ranging in sizes 12-18, creating traditional Native American designs with a contemporary feel. Bernadette had a passion for beads, although seed beading never advanced beyond a hobby.

Then in 1991 Bernadette attended an Art Show which introduced her to Hand Made Glass Beads. Bernadette’s life was forever changed.

At that time, there was a lack of readily available information and equipment for creating glass beads, as well as materials were scarce and very expensive. Because Bernadette’s desire to make beads was strong, she would work for many hours on experimentation, while still working full time. The hole on the bead and the dots were bigger than the beads she was use to working with and it took a few years for Bernadette to realize the potential of large beads. With much encouragement from her husband, Paul, Bernadette began to put her work for sale. At that time people would say, “What are these? How do you use them? You want how much?” Bernadette is always amazed at peoples’ love for beads and their desire to touch and own them, even when they did not know what they were going to do with them.

Then in 1995, Bernadette’s husband, Paul’s work place closed down, thus causing the family to move to Texas. After the move, Bernadette and Paul decided it was time for Bernadette to make beads full time.

In April of 1996, Bernadette was featured in Lapidary Journal and was featured on the cover of the Buyer’s Guide. In 1999 Bernadette’s glass art was featured in The Crafts Report. Bernadette was honored when chosen to create the commemorative bead for the Bead & Button Show, 2001. Bernadette’s beads were featured in Lapidary Journals Step by Step Magazine, 2004. Now her wedding series will be featured in Beads Unique in the spring of 2005 and was asked to be a demonstrator at the International Society of Glass Beads Makers Conference 2005.

Each bead is created individually using ancient old techniques. Using a stationary torch, fueled with propane and oxygen, glass rods are heated to the consistency of honey and manipulated to create each bead. Then they are put into a kiln to insure stability. Over the passed years she has worked with Moretti and Bulls Eye glass.

Bernadette is known for her unique color combinations done by mixing of colors, fuming with fine metals, such as fine silver and 24kt gold. Bernadette’s favorite techniques are clear encasing and building canes.

Beads can be purchased as individual pieces of art or in finished jewelry.

Over the years Bernadette has felt blessed to do what she loves best and can not imagine a life any different.

Valery Guignon

“Since my childhood, I’ve been enthralled with the idea of dressing things. I first remember dressing my bedposts with ribbons and fabric scraps from my mother’s sewing chest. Then I moved on to the cat…

My goal has always been to combine art and practicality. Majoring in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute taught me high ideals in the union of art and function. Now I’m pleased to produce a product that is a highly functional garment as well as an original painting. These pieces can be hung on the wall as well and used to enhance an outfit.

A few yeas ago, I became fascinated, as did most of the art loving population, with the brilliance of glass. I searched to find a way to incorporate it in my clothing and came up with the see through effect seen in my scarves, purses and shawls. I later took up welding in order to make the frames for table and hanging lamps I’d been dreaming of making.

When I was a child I spent hours on the beach collecting shells and beach glass and I can always remember my Mom asking ‘Do we really need to bring all this home?’ She’d always get a solemn ‘yes’ in reply. I think of her often as I stoop to collect shells in beaches from Florida to S.F. to Provincetown, Ma. ‘Yes, Mom. Some day I’m gonna need these.’ Seems I’m not the only one who loves shells and beach glass.

I hope you’ve found a piece of my vision to take home and enhance your life and that this piece will be the first in a collection of delightful, wearable pieces of art in your closet and on your walls by the artist Valery Guignon.” -Valery Guignon

Ms. Guignon was featured on the cover of the Spring 2005 issue of Niche Magazine, the premier publication that connects progressive art galleries and craft retailers with the finest art products made in the USA and Canada. She was also featured on Home & Garden’s “Crafters Coast to Coast” on HGTV in April 2005.

Donna Hardin - Keepsake Kaleidoscopes

Even as a child, Donna was fascinated with glass and it’s myriad of rainbow colors. She is self-taught beginning with small stained glass panels, sun-catchers, and jewelry boxes. All of her early glass experience led to her final love: “kaleidoscopes”.

After developing her own Kaleidoscope style, Donna has turned her attention to preserving treasured memories by incorporating personal keepsakes into her work.

Her inspiration comes from the people for whom she makes kaleidoscopes. Nothing delights Donna more than designing a scope that keeps family history alive. She desires to create works of art that become family heirlooms.

In 2005, one of Donna’s kaleidoscopes was choosen to be on display at the Brewster Kaleidoscope Society’s “Kaleidoscope Reflections” which was an international jured exhibition dedicated to celebrating 20 years of kaleidoscope artistry. The scope was on display September 8 through October 15, at the Strathmore Hall Arts Center in Bethesda Maryland.

Anie Heynis

Anie S. Heynis has been a glass artist since she can remember. She spent her early childhood hanging around her mother’s Stained Glass shop after school. When her family lived in the Chicago area, Anie learned a lot of different glass techniques from classes her mother would teach. She was able to help out in the studio and experiment with stained glass, mosaics, and fusing. “My mom really helped encourage my creative side by making sure the house was stocked with art supplies- I always had fun crafts started all over the house”.

Assistant teaching for so many years has truly helped Anie develop as a teacher. She learned from two of the greatest lampworking teachers; Molly Heynis and Cindy Jenkins. Her favorite part of the job is still traveling to exhibit, demo, and help students. “So far, my favorite show has been an AGSA convention in Long Beach in 1999. I got to demo Glascolben in Ed Hoy’s booth for a weekend- it was a great show for me to meet a lot of business people that I still run into at shows.”

Anie has always been drawn to the flame. Her love of hot glass started so long ago, but she wasn’t sure she could be an artist for a living. She hadn’t thought about her own business in art until college. She was planning to focus on science and design, and hadn’t taken any art classes. She was only interested in glass, but hadn’t heard of a university with professors who would teach her something she didn’t already know about it. While attending classes in Italy, Anie saw so many people around her in awe of the glass art of Florence and Venice. “I kept telling everyone, ‘I could do that’, but when I saw how many people were purchasing these pieces … it turned into: ‘I should do that’. Shortly after I started selling my work at boutiques and shops around Dallas.” She met a few influential socialites and philantropists in Dallas that turned ‘selling her work’ into something more than a business.

Though she’s been given many opportunities to pursue a teaching and artist career, Anie’s heart lies in helping others like her. She started the ‘Art for Education’ organization in 2003. It benefits college students by selling their artwork for them. The students use their talents to pay for tuition, books, and living expenses. The program enables students to have another income that would not infringe on their time for school, studying, and homework. “Art is really relaxing, and most college students are under stress from working two jobs to afford being in school- I want to help them earn money doing something they love so they can get a better education”. You can make a donation or shop for things like jewelry, hand bags, photography, and paintings at www.art-for-education.org, to support a student.

Anie is also a glassblowing apprentice at Firehaus Studios in Dallas, TX. She attends University of Texas in Arlington where she is currently pursuing Glass Art and Biology degrees.

Kenji Ito

Internationally recognized and award-winning glass artist, Kenji Ito of Kawasaki, Japan will be traveling to the United States this coming November 2005. Glass artists Gary Hayes and David Gappa of Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery have invited Mr. Ito to perform his unique glassblowing demonstrations at their studio located in Grapevine Texas. After Mr. Ito enjoys a few days of receptions and exhibitions within the Vetro Gallery and the city of Grapevine itself, he will instruct two (2) intermediate-to-advanced level all-day glassblowing workshops.

Mr. Ito desires to come to the United States “to show my works and the processes of making them to the people beyond my own country and beyond my own ethnicity. This idea fills me with appreciation and happiness.”

Kenji Ito has been invited to exhibit his artwork in the Glass Museums of various Japanese cities including Ishikawa, Toyama, Shizuoka and Nagano. His numerous awards include two Grand Prize winnings from the International Exhibition of Glass Craft as well as the Grand Prize for Young Glass Art. He has been an art glass instructor at the Musashino Art University and Tokyo Glass Art Institute, both located in Tokyo, Japan, for the past 6 years. Mr. Ito currently creates his masterpieces within his independently owned and private studio in Kawasaki, Japan.

In 2004, Mr. Ito granted Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery the exclusive rights to represent his artwork within the United States. Vetro is hosting this trip and the workshops as a thank-you for such an exquisite honor. The City of Grapevine and its officials will also be participating in the reception of Kenji Ito. The grand reception will be open to the public and the workshops will be available to any glass artist meeting the prerequisite skill-level needed to participate.

About his history…

Kenji Ito was born on February 14, 1960 in Himi City located in the Toyama Prefecture of Japan. He is the youngest of three with one older brother who is now an architect and one older sister who is now a housewife. His father was greatly involved in various forms of art from education to lectures to art events planning. He eventually even established a glass vocational college in the Toyama Prefecture. It was his father’s lifelong dream for his younger son to follow in his footsteps, a career to which Kenji has wholeheartedly dedicated himself!

Kenji Ito considers the creation of his glass blown art to be a “very delightful thing. To take an idea and put it to form is so technically challenging.” He claims his greatest artistic expressions are due to unexpected new ideas being born from trial and error. “My works are just processes of challenges.”

Trudy Jauquet

Trudy Jauquet, born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, has been a glass artist since 2003. Trudy earned her Liberal Arts Degree from the University of Minnesota and spent her first career as a Human Resources executive. Trudy relocated to Texas for a business opportunity and soon discovered jewelry making. While attending a bead show in Grapevine, she observed a lampworking demo and was captivated by the simple beauty of the glass. From that moment on she knew she was destined to work with glass. Her new passion for glass led to her second career as President of Wubbers, L.L.C., a jewelry tool, supply and teaching business, where she is inspired and encouraged to devote her creative energies to her glass jewelry designs.

Her passion for color is evident in her work. She loves to experiment with glass combinations to see what unique colors can be achieved through chemical reactions. Her beads have an “organic” look and she uses simple designs to showcase her unusual use of color. Trudy’s inspiration comes from nature, paintings and textiles. She combines her beads with hand made silver pieces and chain maille work to add another dimension to the designs. Trudy is currently President of the Grapevine Beadmakers’ Society, a chapter of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. She is also actively involved in the Texas Glass Artists Association.

Trudy instills a lot of love of her craft into the design and creation of each “one-of-a-kind” lampworked jewelry piece. All of Trudy’s lampworked beads are crafted from premium Italian or German glass and are fully kiln-annealed to ensure a lifetime of enjoyment. Trudy’s artwork can be seen at The Artful Hand Gallery in Fort Worth, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass in Dallas, Vetro Glass Blowing Studio and Gallery in Grapevine and Wired Up Beads in Southlake, Texas.

Christian Luginger

In 1999 Christian Luginger moved from Amarillo, Texas to Boulder, Colorado in order to study offhand and lamp worked glass. While apprenticing in studios and taking classes, he developed a deep interest and respect for European, Venetian, Japanese and other historic vessels and art glass.

Since 2000 Christian has been very fortunate to learn first hand from noted figures in the glass world, such as Robert Mickelson, Roger Paramore, Don Niblack, Milon Townsend, Doug Remschnider, Emilio Santini, and Caesare Toffolo. He has attended the Pittsburgh Glass School, Glasscraft, Coastal Bend College, and the Eugene Glass School. He is a member of the Glass Art Society, Texas Contemporary Glass Artists; he has been featured in the National Liberty Museum, PBS, The Flow Magazine, Artful Home 3, American Art Collector, and is one of the artists featured by Glass Art Collector Cards. In 2006 Christian Luginger took an opportunity to live in Murano Italy for a month and study with Cesare Toffolo, also spending another month with Milon Townsend as a intern learning sculpture and glass casting.

Growing up in the heart of the city brought tough times and real experiences for Christian. Always interested in art, he felt a calling but challenged by the world and did not know who he was artistically. After seeing Dale Chihuly on PBS it clicked with him that glass is what he wanted to do. Soon after he moved to BC to learn more about the art and bring it back to Amarillo to help share and educate others in need of art expression and joy.

“Life, good and bad times, God, nature, fascination and the love of glass motivates me to use this medium and talent to express myself and to make a career for me and others. My vision is art healing and therapy to make a connection with people on different levels and help them relate, appreciate, or express themselves to heal or share. God and the spiritual path help me to realize that everyone and myself has a light to shine in some way. We’re all created of sand and breath, we’re all hollow vessels at times that are cracked and need healing and fire.

This medium is challenging not only as a live and moving artform, but also keeping up to date and on top business wise. It is always tough from rising costs on everything to creativity, organization, and systems to keep things flowing. It’s blood, sweat, and tears with only one shot at it you really can’t erase or comeback to it like a drawing. You can work all day and have one thing go wrong and lose it and take losses. I mainly use borosilicate, colored tubes and rods, traditional techniques and hand tools, with and oxygen propane mixed torch to use encalmo seals, dichroic, filigrana, with the glass itself. Also practicing cold working techniques to make jewelry and art as well.

Glass as a medium is a balance for me and our world in so many ways. Glass helps me to be balanced mind, body, and spirit. It also helps our world balance and make things easier from art, history, science, and so on. Also the time period that we are in is such a gateway from old to new, from renaissance to advanced technology like fiber optics, telecom…I could go on and on about the positivity of glass in our world. Also organizations such as G.A.S and all the people I have met help the iron curtain of glass to be lifted so people such as me can learn more and more everyday. So many people I have met in the glass community are too talented and helpful that honestly it’s a blessing. In my work I show how objects from 500 years ago can still be made today by the technologies we have available such as torches, kilns, and materials. Soon dreams and careers like mine can come true with glass gateways and mediums like glass and the circle of people that support it.

Matt Marchand

Matthew Marchand was born on July 22, 1981 in Marshall, TX. From a young age, Matt has been involved in the arts in one form or another. Growing up, Matt enjoyed drawing and building new things out of whatever he could find. His parents were very supportive of him and his artistic abilities as a child. After graduating high school in 2000, Matt spent a few years jumping around to different majors until finally focusing on a BFA in Studio Sculpture from the University of North Texas. It was during his undergraduate schooling when he met an artist by the name of Travis Reid. Travis was working at Vetro Glassblowing Studio in Grapevine, Texas. He began to encourage Matt to become involved in the glass scene. From the very first time Matt walked into the studio, Matt fell in love with glass and its possibilities. Matt started working with the staff from Vetro on the weekends and working independently on his torch during the rest of the week. Matt began trying to learn as much as he could from Vetro, various studio classes, and a trip to Europe with Travis Reid, where he worked in Berlin for a short period of time and then in Murano, Italy. Currently Matt is pursuing his Masters degree at the University of North Texas in Art Education, as well as continually learning new processes and techniques in the glass world.

Josh, Eli & Tim Mazet - Mazet Studios

Mazet Studios is the work of the three Mazet brothers: Joshua, Eli and Tim from Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is recognized as a national center for lamp work glass, and home of the Eugene Public Glass School.

Joshua Mazet received his BFA in Ceramics from the University of Oregon in 1999. After graduating, he was invited into the Fine Arts Department as a resident artiest. For three years he held a studio at the U of O, instructing 25 students and community members year round in the art of wood fired ceramics.

It was during this time Josh was introduced to lamp working. With his degree in ceramics behind him, Josh had a natural understanding and comfort with flame atmospheres, kilns, and the chemistry of glass. This compounded with similarities of the materials, allowed for a smooth and rapid learning of the new medium.

Timothy Mazet is the youngest of the Mazet brothers, and the most naturally gifted artist. He has a great eye for detail and precision, which can be seen in his Dichroic Vortex marbles. He had always enjoyed drawing, and is a self taught tattoo artist. In 2000, Tim expressed his interest in glass to Josh and together they quickly set up a small glass studio.

Eli Mazet might be the most passionate glass artist you could ever meet. Setting up his own studio space within months of Tim, Eli was on his torch 30-40 hours a week. In a few years Eli accomplished a level of skill that would take most people a lifetime. Eli’s enthusiasm for glass is contagious, and he soon found outlets for his glass on the Oregon Coast. Recently Eli has begun painting. Using the subject matters he has made in glass, he brings his frogs, whales and the joy of making art to the canvas.

Three brothers working together allows for a great range of expression, and unlimited potential. Their sources of inspiration are varied, as are their personalities. Ultimately, they seek to make beautiful objects for people to enjoy and cherish for lifetimes. They all love what they do!

Their work has received recognition and awards, most proudly the Eugene Public Glass School’s 2006 People’s Choice Award. I addition to their studio work, Joshua and Eli regularly instruct lamp working form their private studio and at various schools throughout the U.S. Presently their work can be found in private and public collections, fine galleries and museums, across the country and internationally.

William McElmurry - Fire Factory Glass

William McElmurry has been lampworking for ten years. In Southem Oregon he
began a two year apprenticeship with an expert lampworker and decided that this
was what he wanted to spend his life doing. Living in Louisiana for 6 years
thereafter, William became involved in fundraising events for hurricane victims by
auctioning his artwork for donation. In 2008 William moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he has joined the Texas Glass Artists Association and is currently establishing himself as an artist in the area. William has an ability to create beautiful glass sculptures in solid and hollow forms with amazing shapes and colors. His glass creations encompass realistic as well as abstract ideas and are praised by audiences everywhere. Although he creates many types of art, he is especially recognized for his sea life sculptures, which capture the beauty of the ocean and the imaginations of many.

Leonie Moger - Blue Moon Glass Art

Leonie Moger Lives in Fairview, Texas, a small town adjacent to McKinney. She has worked in art and design for over 20 years and currently dedicates her time to her love of all things glass. Leonie makes hanging designs, bowls, decorations and jewelry. She also creates custom pieces for individuals as well as art sold for fundraising.

Patricia Scoggins - Sacred Art Beads

Patricia Scoggins is originally from sunny Southern California. She moved to Texas in 1977 because she loved the friendly people and the rugged scenery. After working many years of office work she realized her father was right all those years ago, she really was an artist at heart. She started by making her own jewelry. In 2003 she decided to learn to make her own glass beads to incorporate into her own jewelry designs. That’s when her obsession with glass began. She began focusing on glass as a medium because she found it allowed her to express herself artistically like no other medium had. Patricia has worked over the last few years to develop her own recognizable style and has tried to incorporate all she has learned into her finished jewelry pieces. Most of her jewelry techniques have been self-taught with the exception of a few lampwork classes from some amazing glass artists. Patricia’s style is mostly organic and she loves to incorporate lots of fine silver detail into her designs. She would like to think that each of her pieces is a one of a kind piece of art. Patricia is a member of several artists’ groups including GlassArtists.org, BeadArtists.org, Grapevine Beadmakers and the International Society of Glass Beadmakers.

Randy Strait

Randall Strait was born in 1983 in Dallas, TX. After seeing a glassblowing demonstration as a young boy he developed a passion for fire and glass. He worked and studied various art mediums until he started flame-working in 2000. He continued to work on the torch when an opportunity arose to learn furnace techniques at Vetro Glassblowing Studio. Randall continued to learn from his mentors and peers at Vetro until a move took him from Grapevine, TX to San Marcos, California in 2007. He is currently enrolled at Palomar College in San Marcos, CA where he is studying off-hand glassblowing. Randall’s work can currently be seen at Vetro Glassblowing Studio in Grapevine, TX and various art shows around the southern CA area. He continues to push the boundaries of glass art while developing a unique style all his own.

Aaron Tate

After a youthful epiphany in the Sonoran desert revealed a life of glassmaking, Aaron Thane Tate eschewed formal training and rapidly displayed an unusual facility with techniques and with his personal compositions. However, he did not ignore the ascending influences of prominent American glassblowers of the 1970’s.

During his early and professional years, Tate produced volumes of prevailing fashionable and popular decorative art pieces, interior design fixtures, and functional ware with notable versatility, all of which contributed to his success as a sculptor in solid worked and blown and cast glass.

Aaron Tate forms his sculptures in recognizable images of humans and animals, including natural subjects, made objects, and landscapes. He has developed a style in which the juxtaposition of images is often jarring, beautiful or classic and yet enigmatic. By the use of a repetitive light and dark technique superimposed on the surface color, he is able to effect an atmospheric quality to sculptures already suffused with symbolic purport and historic connections. The return of the overall structure and intricate detail is the viewer’s interpretation of the work and to link the art, the artist, and the viewer’s self.

Aaron said in part, ”Some of my pieces are happy and uplifting and others make one pensive and thoughtful. That is what the artist strives for, a personal response to a sculpture, an object, that evokes something from one’s personal experiences in this space-time. It’s so…personal – the viewing.”

Scott Young - Young Designs

Scott’s childhood was spent in and around Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has always been interested in art and pursued this whenever opportunities arose. His high school years were spent “dabbling” in various art forms such as sketching, painting, pottery, and jewelry. He was also fortunate enough to attend a large school that provided instruction in graphic arts (printing presses), mechanical drafting, and architectural drafting. At the ripe old age of 17, Scott graduated and, looking for greater challenges, joined the United States Marine Corps.

At the time, the Marine Corps provided Scott with exactly what he needed. Motivation, drive, determination, and most of all, discipline. He was taught mainframe computer operations and sent to Okinawa, Japan. After 6 years overseas (with short trips back to the US), Scott was transferred to the North Carolina coast where he became a data communications technician. After 2 years, Scott left the Marine Corps for a position with the Federal Government as a computer specialist. It was at this time that he “rekindled” his affair with art. He attended a local class in stained glass and utilized this medium as his creative outlet. After 5 years in the Federal Government, Scott and his significant other (Martha) decided to pursue careers outside of government service. Scott was offered a position in Richmond, VA and accepted. Martha found employment in Richmond and soon joined him. While in Virginia, Scott became a network engineer and then studied software development (again searching for something to keep his interest and satisfy his creativity). During this time, Scott underwent routine surgery to remove part of a herniated disc in his spine, and thus began his “life altering” experience. After being hospitalized multiple times over the next 4-5 months and recovering from life-threatening surgical complications, Scott & Martha decided that they needed a change. Martha applied for, and received, a promotion to a position in Dallas, Texas and Scott heartily agreed to move.

After moving to Dallas, Scott became a “contractor”, or software developer for hire. He accepted various contracts, but none were that interesting. He decided to look into art once again and found the Creative Arts Center in Dallas. There, he took some classes in glass mosaics. Again, he loved the glass but not the techniques. Shortly after that, Scott discovered a glassblowing studio that offered paperweight classes. Martha gave him a few classes as a Christmas gift and Scott loved them. However, the expense of “building” a hotglass shop at home couldn’t be justified for a hobby. In the summer of 2003, Scott saw a class for “marble making” by George O’Grady and he decided to attend. This was it!! He found it. Lampworking was exactly what he was looking for. The three dimensional aspects of working with glass and the ability to do so in a relatively inexpensive setup at home.

Since then, Scott has bought numerous volumes and instructional videos, obtained individual instruction, and basically devoured any information he could obtain regarding hot glass. In December of 2003 he started “Young Designs” and will be attending his first “official” show in Wheaton Village on June 24th. Scott’s work can currently be found in the Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery in Grapevine, Texas and Kittrell Riffkind’s Glass Studio & Gallery in Dallas, TX.