BIO
R Jason Howard is a progressive glass artist who specializes in borosilicate flameworking, a style of glassblowing that uses a powerful torch to create intricate, detailed, and colorful glass objects directly in the flame. He first began working with glass in 1997 as a senior studying ceramics at Hamilton College. Transfixed by its alluring qualities of light, and the sheer technical challenge, glass experimentation soon turned to obsession and total immersion. After a two year internship as Hamilton’s ceramic studio technician, and a scholarship to the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, he began studying both off-hand glassblowing, and flameworking with renowned artists such as Cesare Toffolo, Emilio Santini, William Gudenrath, Robert Mickelsen, James Nowack, Suellen Fowler, and Loren Stump. Jason then worked as a technical and artistic consultant for Northstar Glassworks, developing and reformulating colored borosilicate glasses, specifically including one of their more popular colors, “Onyx”. He currently resides in central New York with his wife and children, blowing glass full time as Cicada Glassworks. Jason’s current work draws on a unique combination of traditional Italian techniques and self invented processes to create large, organic, colorful forms, that push the boundaries of what flameworked glass can do.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My current work is an exploration of change, time, and process. I’ve always thought of glass as a matrix of the space-time-heat continuum. Its form is a record of a series of events that happened to it along its formation, like strata within the earth’s crust. The invisible strata within the glass all move as one, but at different rates depending on location and temperature. Sometimes they flow quickly, sometimes slowly, but always together like an orchestra following the conductor with heat as the tempo. I draw inspiration from the natural world, and try to capture the universal flow that binds everything. Using traditional Italian techniques, modern developments in flameworked borosilicate glass, and a mix of my own invented techniques, I’m trying to draw from and acknowledge the past, represent the present, and bridge the future in the flow of change.
EXHIBITIONS/SELECTED SHOWS
2007 “Cheers! A MAD collection of Goblets” Museum of Art and Design, NY, NY
“Glass and Abstracts” (group show) Delavan Gallery, Syracuse, NY
Paradise City Arts Festivals, exhibitor, Northampton MA
9th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
13th Annual Goblet Show, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
Aquavino Goblet Exhibition, Vespermann Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“Gallerie of Glass” Carlyn Gallerie, Dallas, TX
“Annual Goblet Show” Glasshouse Studio, Seattle WA
2006 12th Annual Goblet Show, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
8th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
“Gallerie of Glass” Carlyn Gallerie, Dallas, TX
“Annual Goblet Show” Glasshouse Studio, Seattle WA
2005 11th Annual Goblet Show, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
7th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
4th Annual Marble Weekend, (demonstrating artist) Wheaton Village Milleville, NJ
“Annual Goblet Show” Glasshouse Studio, Seattle WA
2004 10th Annual Goblet Show, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
3rd Annual Marble Weekend, (demonstrating artist) Wheaton Village Milleville, NJ
6th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
“Gallerie of Glass” Carlyn Gallerie, Dallas, TX
2003 5th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
9th Annual Goblet Show, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
2nd Annual Marble Weekend, Wheaton Village Milleville, NJ
“Glass Weekend” biannual, Wheaton Village Arts, Milleville, NJ
“Gallerie of Glass” Carlyn Gallerie, Dallas, TX
2002 4th Annual Goblet Show, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
8th Annual Goblet Invitational, Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, TX
“Made in New York”, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Museum, Auburn, NY
2000 “Made in New York”, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Museum, Auburn, NY
1997 Hamilton College Senior Art Show, Emerson Gallery, Clinton, NY
AWARDS
2003 Niche Awards finalist in Glass: “Dragonfly Goblet”
Niche Awards finalist in Glass: “Dragonfly Cage Cup”
2008 Niche Awards finalist in Flameworking: “Orchid Cage Cup” Niche Awards finalist in Goblets: “Tying the Knot”
EDUCATION
1997 B.A. Studio Art, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
1997-1999 Post graduate internship under Robert C. Palusky. Trained in many aspects of ceramic art, kiln formed glass, and blown glass.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
1996 National Council on the Education of Ceramic Arts symposium, Rochester, NY
1998 National Council on the Education of Ceramic Arts symposium, Columbus, OH
“Introduction to Flameworking” with Kari Russel-Poole, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
1999 “It’s Pointless” (flameworking) with Roger Parramore, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Beginning Glassblowing” with Harry Seaman, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Continuing Glassblowing” with Harry Seaman, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
2000 “Continuing Glassblowing” with George Kennard, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Building Ideas in Glass” flameworking with Bandhu Scott Dunham, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
2001 “Intermediate Glassblowing” with Elin Christopherson, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Introduction to Venetian Techniques” with William Gudenrath, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
Glass Art Society conference, Corning, NY
1st annual Art Glass Invitational conference
“Advanced Flameworking” with Robert Mickelsen, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Glassblowing” with Chris Steffens, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Continuing Glassblowing” with George Kennard, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
2002 “In-Depth Study of Venetian Techniques” with William Gudenrath, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Ultimate Details” (flameworking) with Loren Stump, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
Teacher’s Assistant for Eric Goldschmidt’s, “Introduction to Lampworking” The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Continuing Glassblowing” with George Kennard, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Advanced Flameworking” with Cesare Toffolo, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
“Glassblowing with Plasm Neon” with James Nowak, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
2003 Glass Art Society conference exhibitor (Northstar Glassworks), Seattle, WA
3rd annual Art Glass Invitational, demonstrating artist, Hilliards PA
3rd annual International Flameworking Conference, Carneys Pt, NJ
2004 “Large Scale Flameworking” with Marcel Braun, Butter Milk Studios, Ithaca, NY
4th annual International Flameworking Conference, Carneys Pt, NJ
2005 “Venetian goblet making” with Emilio Santini, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
5th annual International Flameworking Conference, Carneys Pt, NJ
2006 Glass Art Society conference, St Louis, MO
6th annual International Flameworking Conference, Carneys Pt, NJ
2007 Glass Art Society conference, Pittsburg, PA
7th annual International Flameworking Conference, Carneys Pt, NJ
