I love Glass. I love to watch it move, to watch it glow. I have been watching it, working with it and thinking about it since 1998, and some days it feels like it's the very first time I have ever touched the stuff. It is enchanting, frustrating, difficult, engaging, consuming, and hypnotic. Working with this material can produce the greatest of highs and the most defeating of lows. The scope and spectrum of what can be created with glass is, for me, matched only by what can be felt while engaging and dancing with this material.

 

I love the technique and the process. One action folding into another, into another, into another. Growing ever more complicated while deepening the beauty that can come forth. 

I once heard a comparison between symphony musicians and athletes that resonated with me, particularly in the context of glass blowing.  The commentator suggested that a basketball player who consistently makes free throws at a 50% rate is considered a star.  A baseball player who hits 50% of the time has a 500 batting average and is considered a marvel, but if a symphony musician hits 99% of the notes, he is obviously out of a job.

 

I feel this connection to glass making, I am striving for better then 99%. Not for the control or perfection, but the symphony that is possible with this material allures me. If it takes me the rest of my life, I will happily show up to play some more.