donald carlson

Donald was among the first artists we purchased from in the earliest days of Seekers. Since then he has consistently been one of our leading artists, someone whose work we enthusiastically recommend to collectors. What we like so much about Carlson’s work is its depth of color, classic simplicity of line and consistent high quality.

Through these many years we’ve developed a close working relationship and friendship with Donald and his wife Karen, who now works as his glassblowing assistant. We know that the pieces we get from Donald are his very best.

Carlson’s original creations are included in major museum collections throughout the United States.

Assisted by his wife Karen, Donald continues to design and executes each piece himself, using classic glassblowing techniques that he has refined during more than three decades as an independent studio glass artist.

He has gained renown for his mastery of red glass, a color that eludes most glassblowers because of its complex chemistry and tendency to turn an unpleasant yellow/brown. Carlson’s red is based on a formulation of selenium and cadmium, which results in a spectacular color, unparalleled in its clarity and vibrancy.

To achieve the incredible depth of color that distinguishes his work, he blows each red piece in three layers; an opaque white layer is sandwiched between an inner and outer layer of transparent red glass.

He uses his red glass mainly to create simple, undecorated pieces that allow the shape and flawless surface to act as the primary design elements. Some pieces are decorated with the subtle application of 22K gold leaf or sterling silver leaf, applied in random patterns.

After years of development, he has recently begun working in other bright primary colors, creating footed bowls and tall vases in orange, yellow, blue and green.

Each piece is created by Carlson, then signed, dated, numbered and registered at his studio. He earned four university degrees between 1966 and 1971: a bachelor’s degree from California State University, San Jose; and bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from California State University, San Francisco. He maintains a small studio in a rural area of northern California and takes a three month sabbatical every year to ski. Since the late 1970s he’s built his own computers as a hobby.

Since beginning glassblowing in 1968, Carlson’s work has been in more than 200 exhibitions worldwide and is included in most major museum collections in the United States. Carlson’s work has been purchased for numerous private and public collections, including those of The Philadelphia Art Museum; The Chrysler Art Museum; Arizona State University; The Art Commission of San Francisco; The Philadelphia Art Alliance; The Zellerbach Collection, San Francisco; The Corning Museum of Glass; The Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.