Bring your figurative ideas to the table in this workshop. We will explore life casting, wax and clay sculpting and mold making for casting and/or blowing — choosing materials and processes that best support your vision within our time together. Think of this workshop as a guided deep dive into the human condition through glass: emotion, detail, gesture, distortion and fragility, all fueling a journey of visual language. I will help navigate technical hurdles and material possibilities, but you drive the ideas and direction. Come ready to experiment, problem-solve, and ride the tilt-a-whirl of figurative sculpture in glass.

This workshop will cover both solid and hollow hot sculpting with a focus on creating realistic objects. Students will learn the basics of solid sculpting, the hot torch and the use of color to create realistic components while building their own sculpting vocabulary, developing original techniques and problem solving. The workshop will also cover following a plan while making quick, in-the-moment decisions. Students will rely heavily on each other and learn to communicate with their partners, as most of the sculpting will be done from outside the bench. We will focus mainly on working technically, but during the course of the demonstrations we will discuss concept and inspiration.

Emphasizing experimentation, this workshop will explore the parallels between constructive and destructive drawing processes with fused glass. glass-cutting; fundamentals of fusing, sandblasting, stencils, cold working, enamels, traditional drawing sessions and more will be utilized to create a series of fused glass experiments with figures studies and portraits that push the limits of kiln-formed glass. The core of the workshop will focus on the concept of "drawing" as a record of observation and how that interacts with image-making techniques on glass.

This workshop will be an introduction and reinforcement of foundational skills, an exploration of paint mediums, dry versus wet applications, which brushes to choose and firing schedules for vitreous glass paint. The workshop's in-depth approach to flesh painting will cover reference materials, understanding the importance of line work, paint density and the relationship between mediums and brushes. Shaping natural hair brushes, care and maintenance are very important to the painting process and will also be covered. Experimentations with stencils, stamps and found objects are woven in throughout. Students will gain a number of new skills and a comprehensive understanding of glass painting techniques and tools to add to their stained glass repertoire.

In this workshop, students will learn the ins and outs of hollow sculpting in borosilicate glass in order to design plasma lighting. We will cover shaping, texture and proper seals to make simple and complex sculptures inspired by figurative forms. We will cover advanced topics like encasements and inclusions of phosphor and discuss design challenges presented by this method of working. Once students' glass vessels are complete and checked for leaks, we will put our pieces under vacuum and fill them with noble gasses. Class time will alternate between demonstration, discussion and plenty of work time. Students are encouraged to bring sketches, reference photos and ideas to class. On the last day, we will light up all of our work and have our own plasma show. Some experience working with hollow borosilicate is required; students should be comfortable making hollow straight seals prior to the start of class.