Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of Greater Kalamazoo.

So, are you literally all about glass?

We are, yeah, pretty much 100%.

Everything we do here is glass art related.

There are several types of glass art, but we focus on four types here.

So kiln fusing, cold working, torch working, and glass blowing.

So you’re making art with glass, right?

We are, yeah.

Yeah, it’s all art related.

Sometimes we get folks trying to get us to repair windshields and stuff like that, but, no, we’re all art related here.

So how’d you get started?

As an organization, we started in 2002 as kind of a loose collective of artists, local glass artists that just kind of wanted to have a community.

And then, when they first started, We were called West Michigan Glass Arts Society.

From there, they became a formal nonprofit and started to focus on teaching classes.

And then about 10 or 12 years ago, we went through a restructuring, rebranding, as Glass Ark Kalamazoo.

And so now we’re, you know, close to 25 years as an entity here.

So let’s zone in on a couple of your classes, including, you make jewelry with glass?

We do, yes.

We have several jewelry classes.

This evening, we have a class making necklace pendants and earrings.

And then most of our classes are kind of functional items.

So in our glass blowing studio.

We’re making things like drinking cups and vases, um, and paperweights, and stuff like that.

In our torch working studio, We making, like, necklace pendants as well.

Journey Beads.

So a big part of what we do is our special programming.

Journey beads being kind of one of our flagship programs here.

So it has been going since 2013.

So collaboration with Bronson Children’s Hospital locally here.

We train volunteers to make glass beads for kids that are undergoing treatment for cancer and other major illnesses at the hospital.

And the idea is our volunteers make beads a specific bead for each treatment that the patient has gone through.

So the idea is, as they’re going through their recovery, they’re building up this necklace, that allows them a way to process and kind of express and talk about what they’ve been through during their journey to recovery.

Yeah, nice.

Another class tonight.

All of a sudden, you have a pumpkin.

The pumpkin, the glass pumpkin, the mighty pumpkin.

So, glass pumpkins are a really fun thing we make here.

It’s a big season that we have, and really, glass blowers all over the United States, pretty much everyone knows about glass pumpkins and has some sort of glass pumpkin season.

I don’t know how to explain it.

I mean, it ends up being a pretty cool project.

It looks just like a pumpkin.

They’re super fun to make.

So we do them all during the fall season, offer classes through the fall season, and folks wait all year to sign up for them.

Yes.

So take me through how One builds a pumpkin.

What do we even start with?

Well, this was made in our glass blowing studio, also known as the hot shop, so the first thing to know is you’re working one on one with an artist, anytime you’re taking a class with us.

So, our artist is gonna show you the tools, the blowpipes, the ponties, the hand tools, and kind of give you a little demonstration of how it works, and then we jump right into it.

So, with this particular project, you start by dipping the blow pipe into our giant furnace.

The furnace is sort of the heart of our organization.

It is, there’s a giant, uh, bull, ceramic bowl inside of our furnace that’s filled with molten glass.

And so the first step to any glass blowing project is to gather molten glass out of there.

The fact that it is filled with molten glass is, is special, if it sits at 2,100 degrees, our furnace does, and it has to run 24 hours a day.

But yeah, you take that 1st gather and then from there, you’re shaping the glass with our hand tools, you’re blowing into the tube to inflate, inflate the pumpkin shape itself here.

Once you have the nice shape.

You’ve chosen your colors to add and your pattern.

Then we take it over and put on this cool, little, curly stem for you.

Yeah.

How do you work with colors?

So we start off clear that the furnace and the crucible that I was mentioning that it was filled with the molten glass?

That always is clear.

That way multiple people can use the studio, and they’re all kind of starting from that base?

And then there’s several ways to add color.

The main one that we use during our classes is called Fritz.

So it’s, like, crushed up, pieces of colored glass, and you basically take that real hot gather and dip it into this crushed up glass, and it picks it right up into there.

And then, from there, it sticks right into the glass and stays with it through the remainder of the project.

So this is actually, this part is a separate gather than this.

So that’s why we’re able to do two separate colors there.

Wonderful.

Who are your students in general?

Sure.

So our public classes are open to anyone.

Actually, they are open to anyone ages 12 and up.

The majority of our classes are beginner level, so you don’t have to have ever tried it before.

Um, I would say a majority of the people that take classes with us, it’s sort of like a fun night out.

You know, they’ll sign up with a friend.

They’ll come down.

They have a great time in the studios.

It’s something new.

For some folks, it’s like a bucket list activity, you know, especially the glass blowing.

It’s something that people have wanted to try for a long time.

So they’ll come in for a fun night out.

But then actually, you get a cool thing to see and show off afterwards, too.

So once you get the final project.

So, um, it’s really open to anyone, we see all sorts of folks coming in for classes from the local Kalamazoo area here, but also, you know, this is a unique resource.

So we have folks coming down from Holland and Lansing and, you know, the east side of the state, just to experience it.

What makes this unique?

Obviously, you’ve got Kalamazoo, but what makes you the destination?

Well, there aren’t very many glass art centers around Michigan and around the country, honestly.

The glass community is kind of small as is.

There are glass artists spread, kind of, throughout the state, but a lot of them just have their own working studios that they’re producing their own work.

We are fully focused on teaching classes, you know, from beginner through advanced levels.

So that’s what’s really unique, the fact that there is a resource for local folks to come and take classes.

What’s it like to see one of your, that takes your classes, finish his or her art, and be proud of it?

It’s awesome.

I mean, that’s really what it’s all about.

You know, there are some folks that take classes, and it’s fun, and then we don’t hear from them for, you know, for a while after that or ever again.

It was a fun night out for them.

Other folks, you can see it, take hold of them.

You could see the spark hit him.

How do you not burn yourself?

Oh... I try my best.

One.

Two.

Three.

Yeah, yeah.

Foster glass blowing.

I understand you owe this all to your mom.

She did get me started, you know, bought my first lessons.

Said I had to go to college or learn a trade.

So she got me set up with that here in this building, Park Trade Center.

Started taking lessons, and, uh, just never stopped.

You also credit PBS to some of your start.

That was my first introduction to glass blowing, was a... program.

I have no idea what it was, but I saw a man making a glass dragon and swirling the tail around him, and it was, I was like, Wow, you can just do that.

So... I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was about finishing up with high school, and I’m like, well, I saw that, and it looks really fun.

So yeah, there we go.

That’s what my first intro to.

I’d never seen it in person, just TV.

What is this art of blowing glass?

It’s just heating up glass and shaping it into whatever you can imagine.

But not everybody can do this, so it’s more than just, just, just.

Yeah, a lot of people say it takes at least 3 years until you can make anything decent.

Generally, you know, it takes about 50 tries.

of each thing until you get it down.

Perfectly.

So, yeah, lamp working is working on a torch like we’re doing here today.

kind of the old fashioned way of talking about this style of glass blowing.

Originally, it was oil lamps with foot bellows.

They would pump air into the oil lamp to create a little flame, and then they’d heat up the glass in that.

So it’s just an old term.

More people say flame working now, I guess.

You can get a lot more detail into smaller items.

Rather than the furnace style glass barn, you got a big pipe you’re working on, big tools, huge equipment.

This one, you can kind of just do your own thing.

You’t have to have a team of people.

get the desired outcome.

All right.

So I’m going to be putting this piece of color tubing, blowing it inside of the other tubing to make a large section.

This type of glass blowing, I use bore silicate glass.

So it comes in tubing and rod form, rather than a big pool of molten glass, which is the other style.

So I, you know, heat up the tubes and rods, shape them.

And then blow into it to expand it.

Tool them into whatever is needed.

You know, you can use molds, or most of it’s just free hand.

Splash one.

Describe your studio.

Well, it’s all kilns, torches, and lathes.

We got a nice big glass blowing lay behind us.

It’s kind of like a wood lathe, but both ends spin and sink so you can hold glass from two ends, and it spins it for you, and then I’ll go and put a torch on the glass to heat it up, expand it out like that.

You know, lots of glass, of course, stacks and stacks of clear glass and color glass.

We got, you know, big fancy torches here for heating the glass, and then kilns, which anneal the glass.

It takes all the stress out of it, and slowly cools it down to room temperature.

This one’s big enough.

I’m gonna move to the lathe.

Let’s cut to the end range.

How do you make your living as a glass blower?

Well, I do a lot of different things.

You know, I sell glass art, jewelry, sculptures, whatnot.

I also do scientific glass blowing.

Which is a lot of repairing laboratory apparatus.

and some fabrications well when they need it.

Mostly repairs.

Everybody, you know, they got big three, $4,000 glass reactors, and they snap one little part off.

It’s like, replace the whole thing or bring it here, and I’ll fix it up for them.

Generally, when they come to me, it’s something they can’t buy off the shelf.

So.

It can get pretty tough.

Right now, I’m working on something that has to be down to 0.08th of an inch hole, perfectly straight through this tube, and it’s quite the process.

But yeah, lots of different stuff.

A lot of repairs.

They’re always breaking glass.

Does it take patience, creativity, strength, practice, practice, practice?

Practice, practice, practice, yes.

A lot of, a lot of failure until you are confident you’re not going to fail because... say you put 10 hours into a piece, and then it... It accidentally gets a little too cold and cracks and breaks, and it’s, you just lost a day or two of work in an instant.

So it can be disappointing, but when you get it done, it’s very rewarding.

And we can start shaping this into a make a nice cup today.

Is there a piece of dream work that you’re thinking of, or is there still a big project that is in your future?

Yes.

I’ve been working on doing some larger marbles.

When you go up in size and marbles, it’s... It’s incredibly different.

So, I mean, a one inch marble.

I want to say it’s 34, one inch marbles to fit into a 4 inch marble.

to give you a perspective of how, you know, much.

More work it is to make large marbles.

It gets intense.

This place gets burning hot.

So I’m working on going bigger and bigger with those.

I want to be able to make some really nice large ones.

I want to get even more intricate.

There are things inside of glass.

What’s the secret here?

different techniques and layering.

So.

Maybe I’ll start with a big glob of clear glass, and then push some colors into it, manipulate it in certain ways, and then take a piece of tubing and melt that over it for another layer, add some design, more clear glass over that, add some design, stretch it out, twist it.

A lot of different techniques to explore and try and master.

How does lattice work?

So those ones, I get a nice, big piece of tubing hot and blow it into a shape.

atmosphere, egg, or whatever.

One breath, blow it out, super thin.

And then I use a small torch, pop each hole, melt the connection back, pop the next hole, melt the glass back a little bit.

The biggest one I’ve done was 16 hours of that.

Straight.

Well, okay, I spent... took a break to sleep.

Yep.

Do you have a favorite part of the process?

Pulling it out of the kiln the next day, because, you know, you make it, and it’s hot, it’s got to go right into the kiln, and you can’t... Look at it.

Or even the colors are different when it’s hot, so you’re not even sure what it’s gonna look like.

So, coming in the next day and pulling your piece out of the kiln, it’s definitely the best.

Where do we see your art in Kalamazoo?

Well, everybody’s welcome to come here to the Park Trade Center, and look at my stuff.

I have some stuff at Glass Art Kalamazoo, as well, in their gallery.

And locally, it’s about it right now.

If you show up and you’re present, Things come to you, you know, and I’ll be fighting with some... I know how to solve this puzzle, and all of a sudden, well, it’s like, yeah, there it is.

That excitement can’t... I can’t find that anywhere else.

I don’t really make a living here.

This is where I stay grounded and learn stuff, I hope.

Yes, tattoos, sculptures, jewelry, and more.

How would you describe Raven?

Oh.

Mm, slightly obsessed with, uh, a lot of... what I like to do is take something that’s been discarded and give it a new life.

You know, whether it be a piece of wood that somebody once loved, or that little guy sitting next to you, the cameras probably can’t see them, but he’s a little guy I built out.

He just scrap rods.

I love doing that.

Masks are also part of you.

What’s this concept?

It was a really interesting way to bring in different mediums, you know?

I started with the first mold.

And that’s made of corrugated paper, as they say.

and plaster, and whatever I had laying around to build the main form.

And I had the plaster over that, and then I would take the scrap metal from over next door, and I would cut those up, and then place them around that, weld them all together, When you pull it up, you’ve got the mask.

So I’ve done a couple metal ones.

The big wood one, which was made from a piece of wood I found down the dock.

Somebody had it in their studio, and they probably had jewelry, and necklaces and stuff hanging from it.

What about your jewelry?

Talk to us about this?

Much of this I got from a guy, Scott Knight, but this one, I really love this one.

I showed you this one, right?

So this one was made... I made this one about.

Actually, about 25 years ago.

In class?

Yep, sure is.

Kalamazoo Glass Arts Kalamazoo.

Um, I’ve been doing a little bit of the journey bead work with them.

Boy, that’s something else again.

They do that for the kids, you know.

It’s exciting to see an experienced artist get excited about art.

More show and tell.

What’s this?

So this is my little stash of pens that I’ve been making.

This is Fordite So this is considered a man made mineral.

These were produced from the Ford manufacturing plant.

So when they put the vehicles on these big carts and put them through the spray booth, they wind up with this all over the carts.

So then the workers break it off, and sometimes they throw it away, but a lot of times, they will collect them and keep us for artists.

So I’ve got this whole stash of them.

So what I do is I cut these up and I... put them in a mold, and then I pour epoxy on them, and then I can make something like this.

I am extremely thankful for part trades.

I love being able to come here anytime, day or night, and grind or plasma and cut.

I couldn’t do that in my house.

I had a big sculpture contest coming up that, right there, in portage, and whoever came up with that, I love them, too, because I got to win a contest with sculpture.

That was like... It’s like you have this little part of you that goes, Don’t do that.

You’re wasting, you’re wasting money on that.

You’re wasting time.

You should be going and doing the kids.

You should be with the grandkids.

You should be doing... Sometimes you just have to take that time for yourself, though, you know?

When I got this place, that little doubting voice that said, No, you should be going, go do something more productive, that got squelched.

That critic got killed, and I was able to do so much more.

I love her trades.

That’s what I wanted to say.

Are you constantly trying to find new things?

I mean, with all that you were doing?

I am.

Sometimes it’s plants.

Sometimes it’s welding, sometimes it’s painting, sometimes it’s epoxy.

And then I sometimes I want to mix them all up, and yeah.

Apparently, it’s actually kind of just play, really.

Um, I know a lot of people will stay on one, one thing and just master that, and I really respect that.

I just, I like to experiment.

Try different things.

My dad always said.

He said, The day you stop learning is the day you start dying.

So I just want to keep learning.

Other talents that you have, sculpting.

Let’s go into this world.

What are you sculpting these days?

Oh, good question.

I’ve been working on an image of like... I started it when my mentor was fighting with brain cancer, and we were losing him, and we did lose him.

So I’ve been working on a large masculine, just a feeling of, like, wisdom and time, and the elder, you know?

The sacred masculine, is that a thing?

I’m sure it is.

Tattoo artist is the tattoo a piece of art.

Oh, I hope so.

Somebody asked me that yesterday.

And I was like, Oh, you break my heart.

I think Archer, but they had brought me something, they’d already had it all planned out.

It was a memorial for a loved one.

So it was still very, very important.

Is it high art?

No, but it’s in a lot of ways, it’s more important.

You, we call you a tattoo artist, but look, we’re talking about the murals, the paintings, the jewelry.

Is it unique to be a raven?

Oh, my, I love that.

I am gonna write that down.

I’m gonna write that down.

No, but I know exactly what you’re saying.

Well, no, I don’t.

I’ve been told it’s unusual.

I work in a lot of different mediums.

I kind of get bored if I only work in one.

Um, and there’s a lot of overlap, you know, like the sander over there.

I can use that on wood, I can use it on metal.

I can use it on, if I’m doing knife blade handles for the forge.

It’s just hard, you know, I’ll be sitting there and I’ll come... That is the thing about being present.

If you show up and you’re present, things come to you, you know, and I’ll be fighting with some... I know how to solve this puzzle, and all of a sudden, well, it’s like, Yeah, there it is.

That excitement can’t, I can’t find that anywhere else.

Be sure to find us on YouTube and Instagram.

Exclusive videos extended content, and behind the scenes pictures.

Just search Kalamazoo Lively Arts.

Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of Greater Kalamazoo.