Art Glass by Christopher Sherwin

Art has been an integral part of my life for more than 15 years. In addition to glassblowing, I've also enjoyed exploring a variety of media and materials, such as music, ceramics, drawing, painting, and woodturning/wood burning. I first encountered glassblowing in 1991, as an "elective" in my senior year at SCSU, in New Haven, CT, while earning a B.S. in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Special Education. After two years of working in Maryland as a residential direct-care worker for individuals with Developmental Disabilities, I returned to my home state of Vermont to begin my 'life path' as a glassblower.

In 1993, I became an apprentice with Simon Pearce, Inc., a prestigious glass facility in Windsor & Quechee, VT, known for their high-quality production of functional crystal. I eventually became a journeyman glassblower and team leader there, and my team's particular concentration was in stemware and handled pieces (pitchers, tankards, Irish coffee mugs, etc.) as well as various bowls and vases.

In 1997, my fiancee and I moved to Chico, California, where she pursued her BA/Masters degrees in Speech Pathology and I worked as a glassblower at Orient & Flume Art Glass, an internationally-renowned glass studio, known for their iridescent vases, intricate paperweights, and torchwork designs. For the next seven years, I watched and learned from some of the "masters of the trade," experimenting with new colors and techniques, developing and refining my own skills, and specializing in iridescent and torchwork design. I sold many solo and collaboratively-designed pieces on the "O & F" production line, and had my own successful retail section in the Orient & Flume showroom.

In 2004, after our respective educations, wonderful adventures and life experiences, we returned home to New England to raise our daughter in the same close-knit community setting we grew up in, closer to both our families. For the next year I worked to set up my glass studio, and on August 28, 2005, Sherwin Art Glass was officially recognized by the State of Vermont as a business, complete with a scenic location overlooking the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, VT.

I live about a mile from the studio with my wife, Cheryl, a Speech & Language Pathologist, and our daughter, Cassandra, a happy, healthy fourth-grader at the local elementary school. When not blowing glass, I enjoy many outdoor sports and activities (especially disc golf and hiking), playing guitar, and spending quality time with my family and friends.

“I work in the medium of glass and specialize in torchwork design and application.  Using hand-pulled canes of glass made specifically for each design, and a hand-held oxy-propane torch, I melt and shape the tips of the glass canes and apply them to the glass form being created, to achieve the desired design. It is best described as ‘Painting with Glass.’  After the decoration is complete, all of my work is hand shaped with wet newspaper.  I like to get as close to the glass as possible and using newspaper allows me to feel how the glass is moving with my hand.  Some of the pieces are formed into paperweights, others blown into various vessels.  Design ideas come from friends, family and the beauty I see in Nature. When designing a piece, I try to allow the decoration or floral pattern dictate the form of the piece so as to provide harmony between the two. The torchwork process is intensive; all of my work is done ‘on the pipe’ and once started, a piece demands concentration and attention to detail and form through to the end. The pieces vary in length from fifteen minutes to almost three hours.

After spending a combined almost twelve years at two renowned glass studios, with unique, but very different styles of glassblowing, I returned home to New England and started Sherwin Art Glass to allow my own style and creativity to flourish.  Having a wonderful, supportive and loving network of family and friends in my life allows me to focus on this exciting stage in my career.  My goal is to bring the creative and technical aspects of torchwork design and application together with the freedom and elegance of hand-shaped forms to create harmonious, high quality, collectible pieces of glass art.

Currently, I am focusing on flora and fauna found specifically in New England.  I am creating a series of surface-decorated glass egg paperweights with various backgrounds and floral patterns.  I also make a series of multi-dimensional vases, clear encased orb paperweights, and have now expanded into lamps, bowls and stemware.  In addition, I create torchwork-decorated free-blown eggs and freeform sculpture designed specifically to use in conjunction with illuminating light bases.”