T
H E IN G R E D IE N T S
they used were
as ancient as the
Earth: silica, ash,
and limestone.
The way they melded them
was nothing new: heating them
in a 2,350-degree furnace for six
to eight hours, until the solids
turned liquid. Then they shaped
the molten glass with tools -
paddles, tongs, long metal
blowpipes - like those used by
artisans around the globe for
three millennia.
But a half-century ago, the
founders of the American studio
glass movement added a new
element - something that would
release glass from the constraints
The crowd at the second
Toledo Museum of Art
glass workshop in June
1962. Front row, from
left: Rosemary Gulassa,
Harvey Leafgreen
(a retired Swedish glass-
blower recruited to help
teach), June Wilson,
Robert C. Florian, and
Harvey K. Littleton.
Back row, from left:
John Karrasch, Octavio
Medellin, Clayton Bailey,
Stanley Zielinski, Norm
Schulman, Diane Powell,
Edith Franklin, and
Erik Eriks on.
of function and factory, bring
it into the studios of artists,
transform it into a material for
self-expression. And change
the landscape of art worldwide.
What was that distinctly
American ingredient?
“The one-word answer is
‘freedom,’ ” says glass sculptor
Fritz Dreisbach, 70. He and
other artists felt free to experi-
ment, he recalls, to make mis-
takes and push the boundaries
of glass and themselves. Unlike
their European counterparts,
they didn’t feel bound by centu-
ries of tradition and technique.
And the cultural upheavals of
the 19 60s only amplified their
yearning to experiment.
Left:
Fritz Dreisbach
Rich Golden Amber
Mongo,
1989
14 x 12 in. dia.
Right:
Harvey K. Littleton
Gold and Green Implied
Movement,
1987
31.25 x 19 x 14 in.
044 american craft feb/mari2
W orkshop photo: Robert C. Florian /
G o ld
photo: Courtesy of Littleton Archives, collection of the Corning Museum of Glass
/ R i c h
photo: Courtesy of W exler Gallery
