San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Glassblowers embody soul of local art community
Blown glass has a way of igniting a creative spirit. With origins dating back as early as 27 B.C., the craft has evolved in style and design through the centuries, and the studio glass movement in the early 1960s sparked today’s practice of melting glass in small furnaces in individual artists’ studios.
Perhaps it’s the region’s embrace of creativity or even the influence of the natural landscape that’s helped nourish glassblowing artists in Santa Cruz and the surrounding area. Their expertise gives residents and visitors alike the opportunity to find a wide variety of delicately beautiful art and homeware, from classically monochrome to wildly colorful.
Glass items aren’t only limited to old-school utility. There are sculptured bowls that look like the cool splash of a wave, serving dishes shaped like a long banana leaf, uniquely crafted marbles with intricate designs and even sculptures you can personally create with a beloved’s memorial ash included.
Budding glass artists can even try their steady hand in a workshop or class, where they can make their own creations and perhaps start a new hobby. With the histories of these renowned local glass artists as stellar examples, who knows where a little inspiration can lead?
It took a magical introduction to glassblowing at the beach under a full moon for Annie Morhauser to make it a lifetime pursuit.
She trained in a range of glass techniques at the California College of the Arts, and her experience in developing her own version of slumping — an ancient process that uses gravity and heat from a kiln to shape sheet glass using a mold — is what led to Annieglass.
Morhauser founded the Annieglass studio in 1983 with her Roman Antique glassware, which are simple circles of thick, clear glass with hand-painted 24-karat gold rims. Some of her pieces have even been chosen by the Smithsonian American Art Museum for display in the Luce Foundation Center for American Art.
Morhauser’s creations are inspired by the natural beauty of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay region, as well as history, science and travel. She enjoys experimenting with materials and technologies, blending traditional handicraft and new innovations and introduces new collections twice a year.
Swing by the Annieglass retail store in Watsonville to view full collections and discounted seconds pieces. Starting June 2, Annieglass will resume studio tours at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. You can sign up at www.annieglass.com and masks will be required for the tour. Workshops will also be returning this summer and signups will be available on the website.
Chris Johnson trained for a career in digital arts but has always loved working with media that he can shape by hand. After experimenting with a variety of studio arts, he fell in love with glassblowing.
His designs range in style from abstract expressionist (with a technique he developed that allows him to “paint” directly onto hot glass), to sculpture (combining shapes found in the real world with abstract coloration schemes), to using several layers of manipulated color or intricate patterns and embracing interactions that are created when two glass colors touch and interact chemically. All are spectacular examples of the play of color and light
One of Johnson’s specialties is the creation of an object that includes memorial ash. Clients take a miniworkshop where they craft a beautiful memorial that’s unique in the universe, just like their loved one.
The glass studio is also open to interested artists. Hands-on experiences include a mini-workshop and introduction to working with hot glass, a five-class series on hot glass blowing, hands-on instruction in the basics of blown glass and glass sculpting and corporate team building events. At press time, all classes and workshops require COVID-19 vaccination and masks in the studio.
A glassblower for more than 40 years, David P. Salazar began his work in Davenport in 1972, as an apprentice at Lundberg Studios. His passion for decorating glass and championing new techniques led him to become their chief designer, before he opened his own studio to develop new designs that include minute details of nature.
Salazar uses the techniques of torchwork, lampwork and millefiori to create his work, which is in galleries and collections across the U.S., including at Made in Santa Cruz on the Municipal Wharf. Some of his pieces have been exhibited at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York (where his work is represented in the permanent collection) and the Museum of Art in Chicago.
Salazar specializes in glass marbles, paperweights, perfume bottles and vases. Marbles are some of his most popular items, and he carries more than 30 different designs. The marble sizes range
Director of Sales 415-777-6122 Antoinette.Santos@
sfchronicle.com from 3/4 inches to 2 inches and feature tiny scenes from sea life to night skies and flowers to seasonal favorites. Salazar’s studio in Santa Cruz is open by appointment to those who want to see his glass art for sale or watch him at work on his projects.
Editor mcreamer@sfchronicle.com
People visit the Santa Cruz Breakwater Lighthouse in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.
Photo by Laura Morton