M ichael J. Schunke
Depth and breadth
Michael J. Schunke started his
art career with every intention of
becoming an illustrator and graphic
designer, but glass had other ideas.
In his second year at Tyler School
of Art at Temple University in Phila-
delphia, he took a required class in
three-dimensional art; "I wasn't that
interested in clay, so I tried glass,"
he says. Schunke can expand on
what attracted him to glass, but he
can also sum it up succinctly: "I just
knew it was what I wanted to do."
That was 23 years ago, and he's
never looked back. Working out of
his home studio in Pennsylvania with
his partner Josie Gluck, he describes
his goblets as the foundation of his
practice. He was drawn to them
early on as a student, another
instinctive choice, he says. Along
the way, however, he acquired
an enviable pedigree, studying
with Lino Tagliapietra, perhaps the
greatest living master of centuries-old
Venetian glassworking traditions.
The goblet form has remained a
touchstone for Schunke, and despite
the innumerable pieces he's turned
out, no two are exactly alike - the
touch of the hand remains: "I'm not
ever in a rush to produce."
Sheer volume, however, has
allowed him to acquire a depth
and breadth of technical facility that
has, in turn, expanded his choices;
he can decide whether to produce
a certain piece based on artistic
concerns rather than the confines
of technical ability. His tastes lean
toward the pared-down, perhaps
partially influenced by his years in the
late 1990s teaching at the Toyama
Institute of Glass in Japan. His quiet
aesthetic takes on varied forms, from
his just-barely bulbous Sweetie vases
(the lighthearted name, which fits the
