During Grapefest, Vetro Glassblowing Studio will be featuring two exceptional glass artisians… Owen Pach and Matthew Marchand.
Owen Pach will be demonstrating sandblown cast vessels throughout the day on Saturday September 18,2010.
Matthew Marchand will be composing a Flameworked assembled piece September 16-17 from 5pm-9pm and September 19 from 12pm-5pm.
Owen Pach - Glassblower
Since Owen Pach was first introduced to glass in 1985, a burning passion for the medium has driven Owen Pach on a quest to master the art. Now a widely collected glass artist, he has earned numerous top awards at some of the best art shows around the country. These include back-to-back “Best of Show” awards at Spoletto in Charleston, the top sculpture prize at Virginia Beach, and the top glass prize at St. Louis. He has trained with, worked for and taught with such notable glass artists as Stephan Dee Edwards, Harvey Littleton, Bill Persig, Leon Applebaum, Richard Ritter, Jan Williams, Paul Stankard, Mark Peiser, Herb Babcock, John Littleton, Kate Vogal and Vince Olmstead.
Recently, Owens work has been exhibited at the Ormond Museum, the Morean Art Center and will be displayed at Tampa International Airport for a six month retrospective opening October 7th. He is currently based in the art village of Gulfport, Florida where he is an active member of the Merchants Association. Some permanent collections of Owen’s work can be seen at Virginia Tech, the DeLand Museum, the Asheville Museum, the City of Charleston, the City of Orlando, Smith Barney, Bell South and AAMCO.
Sand Cast Blown Vessel by Owen Pach
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.
Matthew Marchand - Flameworker / Glassblower
Glass Sculptures by Matthew Marchand
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