Glass is natural, ancient, and beautiful—a symphony of heat, earth, and creativity that has seduced us for centuries. As an art form, there are very few pursuits that can match the history of glassmaking and the ingenuity of glass artists. Generatlly speaking, artists work with glass in two realms: blown glass and cast glass.

Cast glass pieces are created when the artist pours molten glass into molds. There are several variations of this process, but there is at least one constant – unlimited possibilities to create beauty that will catch the light, hold the gaze, and last for lifetimes.

Brian Russell constantly seeks to stretch the boundaries of cast glass creativity. Whether through new processes, or through the creative use of new materials, his work represents the emotional power the medium holds over us. Russell’s &quotlWanganui 1 Vessel" is particularly striking. Created with the "lost wax" technique, it’s one of a limited series in the artist’s studio. The lost wax process refers to a casting technique in which a carved wax model is placed in a container that is then filled with plaster. After the plaster hardens, the container is super-heated to melt and evaporate the wax. The resulting mold is then ready for molten glass. Russell’s deeply resonant work has captured the attention of some well-known collectors like Al Pacino and Robin Wiliams.

Vincent Olmstead’s "The Scotty Goes to France" is another important example of materials and process working together. This one-of-a-kind, sand-cast glass sculpture epitomizes the versatility of both the artist and the medium. Jonathan Winfisky’s "Ming Vessel" is a vibrant marriage of blown and cast glass.

The Scotty Goes to France by Vincent Olmsted

All three of these wonderful pieces are quite durable, as are most works in glass, but a little but of sensible care will preserve your collection of art glass for generations.

When handling glass work, use care —and two hands! Make sure your hands are clean, but don’t wear gloves; your own skin does a much better job of holding onto the smooth surfaces of glass objects. Be sure to avoid lifting by handles, spouts, or other protruding elements.

Should it become necessary to clean pieces in your collection, a little goes along way. First carefully examine the piece (following the handling steps above) to make sure it remains in good condition. Your best bet for removing dirt or dust that may have accumulated is a soft brush. It’s best to avoid using cloth—even a soft one. Cloth can snag on some surfaces and edges.

With a small amount of proper care, your cast glass collection will assume its place in the centuries-old history of our fascination with glass, and remain there for generations.

While visiting Boston over the weekend, a friend and I got to spend time with artist Amy Nguyen at her live/work home/studio in Boston. The excuse for the visit was to review some pieces of wearable art we intend to show in the Fall 2010 Artful Home catalog, but the truth is that I always like seeing an artist in her own environment to get a better understanding of what makes her tick.

Amy provided us with a feast for both our eyes and stomachs, as she graciously created lunch salads perfectly composed on handmade plates. As we sat in her showroom/living room, we were surrounded by an abundance of colors, as Amy is a master dyer and textile designer, strongly influenced by Japanese textiles in her development of contemporary shibori designs.

Fashioned into modern shapes, Amy combines a painter’s eye with a perfectionist technique. It is staggering to understand the meticulous process she employs to create her designs. Each fold and pleat is calculated to create a specific effect, repeatable though slightly differing every time Amy hand-dips each piece in the vat of dye. Often, shibori garments are left in their pleated state, but Amy presses out her fabrics after pleating, folding, stitching, dyeing, re-pleating, and re-dyeing, revealing the full effect of all this work. There is no forgiveness of mistakes, so her master technique is critical to the final outcome. In her garments, she then pieces her textiles, referencing Japanese quilts as she develops bold graphic designs. The end results are elegant, classic, and powerful – and obviously I could not resist trying on almost every piece!

I was once again inspired by an artist’s passion for her work. As Amy explained her ideas for new work and showed me samples of experiments in the works, there was a visible fire in her eyes. “Look at this – and this!” she exclaimed, in her quiet way, pulling out swatches of inspiration and resulting new directions. She knows that she could probably make a lot more money through some version of mass production, but has no interest in that at all, preferring the thrill of creating by hand, from concept to experience to final work. I, for one, am most grateful for her passion!

Visiting Molly Stone and Michael Cohn at their studio in Richmond, California has been an occasion to which I’ve looked forward forever. I always seem to be out of town when they open their studio and gardens to the public, so I was very flattered when Molly allowed me to come by right after her major studio opening.

Situated in an industrial building, the Cohn-Stone studios are huge and light-filled, with furnaces and ample space for the meticulous precision of color and form in their glass. Not surprisingly, I was greeted by glass pumpkins of all colors and sizes at the entrance. But of just as much interest was the display of magnificent peaches which Molly and Michael are creating, just in time for peach season across the country. I had to take a picture of Molly with these peaches so that I could remember the scale of these sculptures. They are large, coming in sizes of large, extra large, and appropriately-named huge, all with delicate details and perfect blushes of color.

I emphasize the perfection, because I was strongly impressed by the attention to perfection the Cohn-Stones insist upon. Around the studio were several “seconds”, peaches which Molly would not allow into the hands or homes of customers as the details were not “quite right”. My lay-person’s eye could not easily detect the minor flaws, but to Molly’s artist’s eye, they made all the difference between right, and not! As I watched Michael blow new peaches at the furnace, it was evident that all the trial and error that went into those “seconds” contributed to his mastery on display, to his ability to take a molten blob and rapidly create a perfect – to his eye and mine – a perfect peach.

This type of artistry and craftsmanship is at the heart of American craft. Perfection co-exists with soul, as well as with evidence of the artists’ hands in each piece that is created. While I am an admirer of much design which is mass-produced, nothing – nothing! – can ever replace the complete experience of the handmade.

For 3,500 years, glass vessels have been a hallmark of human civilization. When the ancient Syrians began blowing molten glass around 50 BC, they took the medium to a whole new level of delicacy and translucency. Glass-blowing technology, using a long thing rod, has changed very little since then.

When building a collection of blown glass, it helps to choose a theme to guide your acquisitions. Affordable and small in scale, goblets offer an excellent starting point for would-be glass collectors. They possess a recognizable form and function that can be reinvented endlessly. You may use your goblets to toast life’s milestones, if you like or reserve them for strictly decorative purposes.

There are myriad niches for the glass goblet collector, and today the market for these pieces is hotter than ever. Those with a taste for history may favor Depression-are pressed glass, engraved Bohemian glass, or Art Nouveau glass from the design houses of Tiffany and Lalique. Collectors who thirst for new work can find astonishing goblets in the studios of living, breathing masters of glass. These artists typically blow each piece freehand rather than into a mold—thus, even their production pieces possess a compelling and desirable individuality.

Cobalt Martini Goblet by Laurie Thal

Many of the artist who have been reigniting the art of glass blowing in America since the 1960s have found inspiration in the vivid colors and intricate designs fo the Venetian glassmaking tradition. Robert Dane uses Venetian techniques to embody the shapes of his fertile imagination. Each goblet is a unique gem, made with multiple techniques of hot-forming glass. Fanciful stems sprout unexpected appendages, spiral up to slim flutes, or curve like graceful sea creatures.

Colors in glass are produced by adding metal or metal oxides to the basic ingredients of sand, soda, and lime. In ancient times, red glass, made with copper or gold dust, was prized above all. The opulent crimson of Kenny Pieper’s goblets, set off so beautifully by subtly faceted surfaces, is the product of experimentation with a variety of chemicals.

In most cases, the three parts of a goblet—foot, stem, and bowl—are blown or formed separately and fused together while they are extremely hot.

To keep your collection at its toast-worthy best, wash goblets carefully by hand. Raise the temperature of the water slowly—sudden changes of temperature may cause glass to shatter.

Born to an artist and an engineer in Florence, AL, Cal Breed has spent his life trying to reconcile the dichotomy. He started down the path toward a degree in marine biology, but eventually felt the calling to do something expressive with his hands. In 1994, he discovered the medium of glass—initially assembling stained glass windows, which ultimately lead him to glassblowing.

Cal first apprenticed under Cam Langley, one of the South’s leading hot glass artists. He went on to earn his BFA at Ohio State University. Cal received scholarships at both Haystack and Pilchuck Glass Schools where he studied with Dante Marioni, Dick Marquis, Lino Tagliapietra, and Benjamin Moore.

In 2002, Cal returned to his roots, opening his own studio, Orbix Hot Glass, in Fort Payne, AL, near Little River Canyon National Preserve. His work is both functional and beautiful, technically proficient and expressive, marrying the engineer and the artist within. His Radiance Series, incalmo bands reminiscent of ripples on water, call to mind his earlier ties to the water

Now Cal is heading in a new direction—vertical. He is doing cane work that enables him to create vertical versus horizontal bands. He is also experimenting with a few new forms and adding some playful opaque colors that express his current forms differently.

Raisen Cane Bottle by Cal Breed

The art of the perfume bottle is as old as perfume itself. The ancient Egyptians used a variety of materials including gold, colored glass, stone, and alabaster to contain their precious fragrances. Some perfumes were also stored in clay pots in the shapes of people and animals. Most of the vessels were simple, but some, such as those found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, were true works of art.

In 13th century Europe, artists, jewelers, and goldsmiths handcrafted highly decorative perfume bottles, though the perfumes themselves were often sold in plain bottles then transferred to the ornamental containers in the home.

By the 18th century, wealthy individuals were commissioning artists to create one-of-a-kind bottles in which to store their perfumes.

In 1906, Francois Coty hired the glassblower René Lalique to create a beautiful, affordable commercial perfume bottle. Lalique’s resulting work, a sculptural form made from pressed glass, revolutionized the way perfumes were packaged as other perfumers began hiring artists to create special bottles for their fragrances.

Fern by Mary Angus

The first "designer" fragrance came about in 1919 when the fashion designer Paul Poiret created a perfume to serve as an entry point to his brand for women who couldn’t afford his clothes and a finishing touch for those who could. More designers followed him into the industry, bringing their style expertise along with them, and the commercial perfume bottle was elevated to a true art form. Fine artists, including Salvador Dali, began to work in the genre.

No longer made of crystal, the mass-produced perfume bottles of today are primarily driven by the bottom line. But fine artists in several media are still attracted to the genre. Glass artists such as Mary Ellen Buxton and Kevin Kutch consider them "gem-like sculptures." Another glass artist, Mary Angus, finds them to be "a very sensual form."

Collectors love them as well for their small sizes and relatively small prices. Prices for artist-made perfume bottles can start as low as $50 and reach into the thousands, but many can be had for $100 to $300. They are an excellent entry point for beginning a collection in art glass as well as a way to own a small example of a particular artist’s work.

Like many glass artists, Chris Mosey started out in ceramics. At Tennessee’s Appalachian Center for Crafts, he spent his early student years throwing pots. Stepping into the glassblowing studio to fulfill a graduation requirement, Mosey suddenly found himself stoked with a new passion for glass. "I got totally sucked in right away," he recalls, "the process just grabbed me. I love the fluid nature of hot glass, and the way you can move it. It’s exciting, fast-paced, and so immediate. Glass is also a humbling material—it’ll take your confidence away in a moment."

Mosey’s confidence is pretty resilient. He opened Ignis Glass Studio in downtown Chattanooga in 2001, just over a year after receiving his B.F.A. Working with one assistant and a studio manager, Mosey creates a broad range of exciting vessels and sculptural pieces, and has made Ignis Glass a success from the start. Although his focus is designing for Ignis Glass, Mosey also produces one-of-a-kind pieces and the occasional commission, from custom lamps and sconces to awards for local businesses.

With its creative outreach efforts, the studio has also established a real presence in the city’s revitalization arts district. Ignis Glass regularly hosts school groups, letting kids choose colors and take turns blowing into the pipe to help create their own ornaments. The kids eat it up, of course, and so do adults; they’ve booked the studio for plenty of grownup events as well.

That versatility is clearly evident in Mosey’s own work, which encompasses natural forms, sculptural vessels, dramatically crackled bowls, and simple cylinders or cones wrapped with colorful threads. His bold sense of color results in surprising combinations. You might not think burgundy, sage green, and bright orange would work together, but Mosey makes it happen. Grounded in traditional Italian glassblowing technique, an eye for dramatic proportion, and his own strong work ethic, Mosey creates art glass that sparkles with energy and light.

Threaded Cylinder 16 by Chris Mosey

In the past decade, art glass has enjoyed growing interest from artists, galleries, dealers, museums, and collectors in the United States. The momentum has continued as its popularity has expanded to audiences in Japan, Korea, and Australia.

The many unique and contradictory properties of glass as a medium have captured the imagination of artists. (It’s pliable in liquid form, but hard when it cools. It can be opaque or transparent. It can capture or reflect light. It can be clear or colored.) Advancements in glassmaking technology sine the 1980’s have expanded its possibilities even further. Ancient formulas have been replaced by contemporary ones that make glass more malleable and enable artists to blow glass larger and thinner. The introduction of dichroic colors, which refract light in amazing ways, have given artists an iridescent color palette to work with. The development of computer-controlled kilns and furnaces have freed artists from focusing on the temperature of the glass at various stages in the process, enabling them to concentrate more fully on the art itself. Equipment has also become smaller and easier to manage, making it easier for new artists to enter the field.

There are increased opportunities for training as well. A growing number of colleges have added glass departments, introducing new artists to the medium. Meanwhile, fine artists who began their careers working in other media, have discovered glass as a means of expressing themselves.

As fine artists and changing technology push the medium to new heights, a growing number of galleries have begun to include and exhibit glass. The resale market for art glass has increased over the last decade as well. Museums have been more active in collecting contemporary art glass and in staging exhibitions focused on the medium. According to the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass website, at least 84 museums in the United States now have contemporary glass collections. All of these developments, and the greater exposure contemporary glass has enjoyed as a resulte, have led to increased interest in collectors.

Happy Pills by Tommie Rush

If all of the growing interest in glass has fired your enthusiasm for collecting it, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Learn as much as you can about glassmaking history and techniques to develop a greater appreciation for the medium.
• Take a glassmaking class or workshop to enhance your appreciation even more.
• See as much glass as you can; visit glass galleries and museum exhibitions.
• Depending on your interests, consider the concept behind the pieces or the technique itself as a focus for your collection.
• If collecting works by a well-known artist, consider the artists’ entire range of work, and select a piece based on either its originality in relation to the body of work as a whole or as the finest example of that artists’ output.
• But most importantly, as with all collecting, buy only what you love!

Are you sitting down? It’s hard to imagine, but chairs are not as common everywhere as they are in our culture of office work and television watching. A life without chairs is not a question of money—in some places even the elite sit smack dab on the ground. In Western cultures, however, chairs figure in just about every room in our homes. Some, like the chairs around the kitchen table, are pulled out and used so often they wear grooves in the floor. Ask your family members— chances are, each has a favorite chair for relaxing or setting in with a book.

Some classic shapes have become American icons—the Adirondack chair is out national hieroglyph for summer vacation; the ladder-back chair embodies Yankee rectitude. Any history of modern design includes chairs by architects Frank LLoyd Wright, Mile van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier, each an essay on form and function written in elegant shorthand.

Many chairs created by artists are best understood as functional sculpture: Their primary purpose is to activate space and interact with their surroundings.

The human body is the point of departure for any piece of furniture, even those that overturn expectations or seem impractical. A vocabulary of conventional forms linked to a given function becomes a springboard for invention. Consider the chair. Just as poets may embrace the limitations of a form (sonnet, villanelle, iambic pentameter), furniture artists start with the fundamentals (legs, a seat, perhaps a back) and make a series of decisions about materials and embellishment.

These days many of us are plagued by bad posture and bad backs, and some would argue that standard-issue chairs exacerbate the problem. In response, some artists use their mastery of craft to solve ergonomic problems. However, another specimen of contemporary seating, equally beautiful and well crafted, may be scorned for its uncomfortable or impractical shape. To which the chair’s quick-on-her-feet creator might reply, “People are born to move. They ought to spend less time sitting in the first place.” The notion that all chairs are meant to offer comfort betrays a certain philosophical bias. As artifacts of culture, chairs play many parts: markers of social status, seats of punishment, places to wait. Unlike the makers and purveyors of mass-market furniture, artists often explore the subtler permutations of a form in order to challenge our unexamined habits of mind and body. This is one reason why some chairs enter our lives as sculpture, and others are simply places to sit.

A garden tended by a green and patient thumb is never ordinary, but artful touches large or small can make it extraordinary. Cast aside the notion that art should only hang on a wall or sit on a shelf awaiting routine encounters with the feather duster. Artwork intended for the elements can be a graceful extension of your home’s personality as well as an imaginative foil for natural beauty. Give these pieces a chance to take root, and watch them reveal their magic through the passing seasons.

Create a focal point.
A large work of art, such as a sculpture or a water feature, can give your garden a clearly defined point of view. Modern, formal, whimsical—that’s entirely up to you. An imposing piece is sure to attract attention wherever you place it, so approach the opportunity strategically. If you wish to draw eyes toward a favorite tree or flowerbed, site the artwork nearby. By the same token, you can use artwork to direct eyes away from a less desirable view.

Treat your garden to a secret.
If your garden has a hidden space—a wooded path, for example, or a leafy niche—try tucking away something beautiful to surprise passers-by. Squirrel away a statue. Or add works of art that possess a hidden twist, like the ceramic piece shown here.

Keep it functional.
All aspirations aside, you know your yard will never be a sculpture park with large-scale works of art around every twist in the path. But that’s no reason not to pursue other possibilities for incorporating art in your outdoor living space. Detailed metalwork is a natural choice—try lanterns, trellises, pland stands, or even garden gates. Or go the mosaic route and use bits of brilliantly colored tile or glass to add joyful pizazz to benches, grill surrounds, or paving stones.

The Great Bowl O’ Fire by John T. Unger