Talking Out Your Glass Podcast

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

Susie J. Silbert, curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, is trained in glass working and design history. Prior to joining the Museum in 2016, Silbert was an independent curator and writer motivated by the complex and intertwined histories of material, making, and makers. Silbert earned her MA in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture from the Bard Graduate Center and taught History of Glass at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her most recent exhibition New Glass Now, is a groundbreaking survey of the landscape of contemporary glass.   The first exhibition of its kind organized by the Museum in 40 years, New Glass Now represents artists of 32 nationalities working in 25 countries ranging in ages from 23 to 84.  On view from May 12, 2019, through January 5, 2020, the show includes large-scale installations and delicate miniatures, video and experiments in glass chemistry, all of which demonstrate the vitality and versatility of this dynamic material.   New Glas

Founded in 2001 in Beltsville, Maryland, Vitrum Studio provided kilnforming education as well as a wide range of Bullseye fusible glass and supplies to thousands of students from all over the globe. The first exclusive Bullseye Fusing Compatible Glass retail studio and teaching facility in the country, Vitrum Studio grew rapidly into an internationally recognized teaching institution. Though the brick and mortar studio closed two years ago, owners Judith Finn Conway and Kevin O’Toole continue to share their kilnforming experience and expertise in a series of five available eBooks, with more on the horizon.    A friendship that began when O’Toole took a class from Conway served as the cornerstone of Vitrum Studio. For the first many years, while teaching classes and retailing Bullseye glass and supplies, both artists somehow managed to design and fabricate their own individual artworks in kilnformed glass. Conway began her Chesapeake Waters series in the summer of 2004, marking a new direction in her work. Th

With a spiritual outlook, Jen Fuller explores large-scale glass making and multi component site-specific installations. As her career evolves, the artist views glass as a material capable of capturing ephemeral fleeting moments and outlining emotion. She says, “I’m in a relationship with glass as a mutual collaborator. It does what it wants and is more than merely a tool. It is a living entity.”   In 2009, Fuller attended the Glass Art Society conference in her hometown of Portland and later that year met Warren Carther of Winnipeg's Carther Studios. Both events inspired her to explore glass as a medium. As Carther’s apprentice for three months in 2010, Fuller assisted the artist in building his Aperturecommission for the Winnipeg airport. This introduction to site specific, large-scale work provided the young artist with the emotional fortitude necessary to pursue her own visions in large-scale glass.   Upon return to Portland from Carther’s studio, Fuller was awarded an Emerging Artist grant from the Willia

Aaron Golbert a.k.a. Marble Slinger, chronicled and in some ways changed the history of functional glass through the popularity and widespread distribution of his 2012 documentary film, Degenerate Art. In keeping with his goal to document the history of the glass pipe scene in America,Slinger will present an exhibition titled True OGs, which opens this Friday, April 19, 2019, at Fiore Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show presents the work of more than 65 artists who began their pipe making careers prior to 2000. On his Instagram, Slinger wrote: “Before social media, before the Internet, before digital cameras, before cell phones, and before legal and medical cannabis there were True OGs. My concept for this show was to highlight a group of folks who have endured 20 plus years of making glass pipes for a living. We’ve seen so much change since the ‘90s - the colored glass, the equipment, the online revolution, from Operation Pipe Dreams to legalized recreational weed. I remember not being able to us

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 Glassroot

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 an

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

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

Lucio Bubacco travels around Murano and frequently to Venice in his gondola, rowing a la valesanato power himself across the lagoon. A favorite pastime since childhood, journeying along the canals recharges his creativity and provides “vitamins” for his soul. Movement also defines his energetic flameworked sculpture, alive in terms of frozen action, but also anatomical perfection.   Born on the Italian island of Murano in 1957, Bubacco has been flameworking glass since he was a boy, beginning with small animals and beads. A fascination with equine and human anatomy inspired him to push beyond the perceived technical limitations of his craft to combine the anatomic perfection of Greek sculpture with the Byzantine gothic architecture of Venice. “Seductive motifs such as metamorphosis and transformation echo themes from our mythological past when sexuality was spiritual, not political.”   Bubacco’s large freestanding sculptures, worked hot and annealed during the process, are unique in lampworking. They are made

Cheyenne Malcolm manages a delicate balancing act between blowing glass for his personal line of sculptural vessels and building hot shop furnaces, annealers, and glory holesfor other studios, which finances his artwork. By founding Canned Heat Glass Studios, Milwaukie, Oregon, the artist discovered that developing and fabricating state-of-the-art equipment for other glassblowers is an art unto itself.   An accomplished glassblower with over two decades of experience, Malcolm’s involvement with the molten medium runs the gamut from production blowing for Robert Held Art Glass in Vancouver to assisting Richard Jolley in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his massive figurative hot glass Subsequent studies with artists such as Karen Willenbrink Johnsen and Martin Janecký,  plus work with Lynn Read at Vitreluxe, Portland, Oregon, helps to form Malcolm’s informal but incomparable education in glass.   “I am a process driven artist. My career in glass has always been studio based. Learning different techniques and styles

It’s interesting to contemplate why Claire Kelly’s colorful and expertly patterned toy-like animals are so appealing, but perhaps more curious to imagine is what theywould see in us. Much of her recent work centers on elephants because of their unique role as a beloved childhood toy, a popular decorative figure with a strong history in glassmaking, and a perilously threatened species.   In work that examines the connections humanity has with animals and our larger relationship to the world, the artist has created a series of fantastic microcosms that bring a consciousness to their decorative status. As a story about the fragility and conservation of these small worlds is told, their role in a grander scheme is revealed.   “We live in a time when our smallest decisions can affect our environment in unpredictable ways. As a conscientious inhabitant, I am constantly weighing my choices and attempting to choose the lesser evil. My works are a gentle mirror allowing us to examine our contradictory world.”   Gradua

The modern masterpieces of Lacey St. George, a.k.a LaceFace, exemplify the power and spirit of women while speaking volumes about the artist’s determination to succeed in the male dominated functional glass world.From her studio in Ashland, Oregon, LaceFace pushes the limitations of glass while serving as a motivated community leader. “Most of the women in my work are looking towards heaven, reaching upwards in reverence and gratitude. The spiritualistic and ritualistic quality of pipes has always inspired me to create a higher form of functional art that can be portrayed as sacred, statuesque, or shamanic. The medium of glass, in combination with ancient sacraments, has given our society a way to reach a higher consciousness. Smoking provides communion with one another by bringing people together to perform a ritual as old as human history itself.”   The daughter of functional artists, LaceFace became involved in the expanding glass art pipe movement at an early age. As a flameworker, she put herself through

Shane Fero’s legendary avian forms in hot glass have been sought after and cherished by collectors worldwide for nearly five decades. On the wings of his ever-inquisitive mind and an imagination fueled by nature, anthropology, astrology, and Surrealism, Fero’s work soars above and beyond its natural form, relying upon humor and thought provoking elements to attract and hold the attention of viewers.   If there has been criticism of Fero’s work it’s that bird imagery makes no statement, has no narrative. Not so to its creator. “Some beautiful and spiritual birds have always held a deeper connotation throughout history. This can only be understood by paying attention to them and contemplating both their place in the world and our affect on that.”   In fact, Fero’s focus on bird imagery has sharpened in the last 16 years with his blown bird series based on German flameworking techniques. Though these processes were learned as a young apprentice, the artist brings them into contemporary context in his sculp

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

Kelly O’Dell’s hot glass sculpture speaks to the devastating impact of the human race on species in the wild and embodies the Latin phrase “memento mori,” meaning “remember death.”  Using the fragility and translucency of glass to create ghost-like animals in an homage to all that have been lost never to return, the artist endeavors to inspire environmentally-mindful changes in our daily routines while providing hope for a different future.      From October 5, 2018 through January 22, 2019, the Pittsburgh Glass Center’s Hodge Gallery presents All of a Suddens, an exhibition exploring existence and extinction, preservation and decay.The focal point of O’Dell’s solo show, “Critical Masse” features 13 endangered species mounted on the wall in clusters. Her “Ghost Animals” mimic hunting trophies displayed in a game room and highlight the 100 to 1,000 species that are lost per million per year primarily due to human-caused habitat destruction and climate change.   “My upbringing in the Hawaiian Islands inspired m

Marcel Braun and Project 33 West Coast glassblowing legend Marcel Braun and his team, "The Starship," have been working hard to blur the line between furnace worked and flame worked borosilicate glass. Currently, Braun specializes in producing glass coins also referred to as "Art Units," which are used as a trading currency in the functional glass world in an artistic and social experiment he calls Project 33. The artist’s goal is to return the benefits of his work to the pipe community.  Braun states: “There needs to be a catalyst for change in order to move forward, and we must wholeheartedly accept this as our mission and duty. The world has become a place of corporate greed and fabrication. Quality of craftsmanship has diminished steadily over the last 40 years as planned obsolescence has become a main factor in product design. People are accepting the accumulation of money alone as a good enough reason to expend community resources.” To properly broadcast Project 33’s message, Braun and his crew designed

An artist with 33 years of experience working in stained glass, NancyNicholson combines fine art sensibility with seasoned craftsmanship. Using Boston and New York City architecture as a backdrop of inspiration, in 1989 the artist introduced a successful series of autonomous panels that explored the layering of light, color, and dynamic forms of the urban environment. Eventually, the cityscape imagery and techniques Nicholson had mastered felt less compelling, signaling a need for change. But before those cues could be acted upon, routine knee surgery followed by back issues left the artist unable to walk for several months, much less work in the glass studio. During recuperation, life sized drawings of her body suspended in space replaced the physical work of glass. Upon full recovery, when Nicholson returned to the glass studio, she found her psychic landscape altered. The meditation on her body and its aging process, instigated by her injury, retained its urgency. Simultaneously, the cityscapes felt increa

    From the island of Murano, Italy, Davide Penso attempts to capture the look of water in motion through his anemone beads and more recently his flowing and elegant Seaweed sculptures. Surrounded by breathtaking lagoons inspiration surrounds him, and conversations with glass seem as infinite as the surrounding bayou. “Glass follows its own time. Sometimes we fight a little bit. I have the sense of color and design, and the glass uses me to be more beautiful.”   Born in 1965 in Venice, Penso grew up and established his studio onMurano, renowned for its long tradition of glassmaking. Beginning his career as a still life photographer, the artist turned to glass in 1992 and opened his atelier known for glass jewelry reflecting a contemporary and innovative style. The success of Penso’s work is reflected in numerous international group and solo exhibitions at prestigious venues such as Saint Mark’s Civic Museums Correr, Fortuny, and the Guggenheim, in Venice, Italy; the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), Corning,

Sally, a humanoid ragdoll created by Dr. Finkelstein in Tim Burton's 1993 stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas, provided the primary inspiration for Peter Muller’s groundbreaking functional glass. The furnace worker turned flameworker modeled his trademark glass “quilting” technique after the patchwork and stitching of Sally’s dress. Instantly embraced by the pipe community, this aesthetic along with the artist’s development and mastery of related techniques, led to the most successful work of his multifarious career.   Muller’s voodoo doll bubblers and button-eyed patchwork puppet pipes push the boundaries of functional glass and are easily recognizable in top-notch glass collections. “Pipes travel all around and get shared with different users. From a collector’s perspective, I can imagine it’s wonderful to have anyone using or viewing a piece know who made it based entirely on the strength of its aesthetic.”   In the hills of beautiful Southern Vermont where he resides with his wife and daughter