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Seekers® Glass Gallery presents the work of Jim
and Connie Grant, who create handblown and etched glass vessels, perfume vials
and other work in a variety of vivid colors.
The Grants work as collaborators and
independent artists to create each piece. Working together they create unique
vessels and sculptures, using multiple layers of molten colored and clear
glasses on the end of a long steel blowpipe. They use ancient glassmaking
techniques, along with many of their own invention. They achieve their
distinctive color combinations through use of concentrated formulations of
metallic oxides such as gold, silver, cobalt and others, which they blend into
the molten glass. Some pieces are fluid in shape and contain trapped air bubble
patterns. They work independently on the etched designs.
The Grants have been glassblowing partners
since 1972, when they became fascinated by the process of blowing glass. They
describe themselves as self-taught.
"We were captivated by the molten state
— so fluid and dynamic, demanding intense concentration."
The etching process they use dates back to the
1870s and uses garnet granules under very high pressure to carve away and
engrave the glass. When completed, each piece is signed and dated by the artist.
The Grants both earned Bachelor of Fine Arts
degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Intrigued by the emergence
of glassblowing for individual artists, they subsequently toured major glass
factories and studios in Sweden, Germany, Italy and the U.S.
Their work has been shown worldwide and is
included in the permanent collections of the Kansas City Museum of Art, MO; the
Byer Museum of the Arts, IL; the Carnegie Cultural Arts Center, CA; the Wheaton
Village Museum, NJ; and, in Germany, at the Kusnsthausam Museum, the Glasmuseum
Wertheim and the Kestnermuseum. They were commissioned to create work for Star
Trek Voyager.
Among the many corporate and private
collections in which their work is included are those of Johnson & Johnson;
Este Lauder; Heather Locklear; Kirstie Alley and Elton John.
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