Recent Work

After studying philosophy at the University of Maine I became a vegetarian chef and an avid ceramics hobbyist. I was introduced to glass blowing in the mid 1990’s and then worked in various studios in Seattle Washington for a couple years. Eventually I decided to stay in New England, Cheffing in Maine in the summer and making glassware in Rhode Island in the winter.

I accumulated a variety of styles and techniques by working with several master glassblowers from different backgrounds and traditions. I have participated in intensive workshops with Master Glass Makers, at the Corning Museum and other institutions, including Paul Stankard, Bill Gudenrath, and Elio Quarisa.

Decorative glassware utilizes the organic fluid nature of the medium, and my work tends to be very colorful. I enjoy adding color elements to one another, like glass cane over a base color or encalmo style with bands of murrine. The pieces on display at Jala are the result of experimenting one afternoon by overlaying a marveled mixture of several colors from the same pallet. Initially I intended to stay with a nautical theme, but discovered that pallets of earth tones and sunrise shades also work quite nicely. - Tom Smith