Thursday, October 06, 2016

Pumpkin Patch

We have some beautiful pumpkins in from our gallery artists!
If there is one thing Luke Adams knew about himself growing up, it’s that he was destined to be an artist. Now, in his thirties, Adams runs his own studio where, he and his staff create glass art like mini starfish, heart sun catchers and small vases using 2,200 °F ovens. One of Carolina Creations favorites are his glass pumpkins.

Luke has been blowing glass since 1998. He states that at the age of 5 he knew he wanted to be an artists. He says, “It was the first thing that I ever knew about myself. I never wanted to grow up and be anything else.”

Luke originally went to school for industrial design, which he liked a lot, but after trying glass once, he knew that he had found what he loved. “I never looked back since trying glass for the first time. Anything is possible in glass, any color, any shape, the possibilities are wide open. That’s how I feel about life in general and it’s great to work in a medium that reflects that.”

"Glass is very personal to me, being a medium that requires talent, time, and persistence to accomplish works that relate natural elegance." - Paul Lockwood

Glass has always been mysteriously captivating for Paul. His physics professor made several attempts to speak with the art department about getting him to spend more time in the science lab. It's no wonder that his senior thesis physics project won the all student art show. Glass has given Paul an outlet to speak artistically while allowing him to challenge himself with the ancient techniques of glass blowing.

Sand, soda and a twist of lime. It's not a martini, but at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit you have glass. Gathering glass from a furnace filled with molten glass is a lot like gathering honey out of a pot. Each time Paul gathers a new layer,he has the opportunity to add colors, textures and reshape the design of the final form. Once he is happy with his creation, it goes into an annealing oven to gradually bring the glass to room temperature, ready to find a home.

Paul first learned the art of glass blowing at Hastings College in Nebraska. His instructors, John Elias, Tom Kreager, Lino Tagliapietra, Elio Quarisa, and Dino Rosin have inspired and encouraged Paul through out his career as a glass blower. He has traveled to many studios throughout the nation and continues to take courses at "The Studio" in Corning, New York.

And Drew Hines
Drews passion for glass began 18 years ago when he took his first glassblowing class. From there he went on to receive his BFA in glass from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, MI, graduating in 2001. 
He traveled, studied abroad, and worked for master artists such as Dale Chihuly, Jim Mongrain, Martin Blank, GInny Ruffner, and Nadege Desgenetez just to name a few. 

Ten years ago he purchased a building and began the construction of his own studio with his wife, Jeannine. He has been working professionally year round on his own work since. 

AND
We even have a limited selection of our velvet pumpkins
From unintentional cottage business, to international couture company

Every business adventure and artistic inspiration has a story. Most entrepreneurs set out to build a business. “I didn’t”, chuckles Daria Knowles. “I was looking for something to feed my creative appetite and contribute financially to my family in a way that still allowed me to be a present and active Mom.” 

As a mother with young children Daria was always sewing drapes, making pillows or knitting something for the kids.  She was a busy mommy, active in the community and volunteering at school.  It was around this time that Daria came across the pumpkin idea while shopping.  She found a fabric pumpkin with a crude, natural stem and knew that it could be turned into something very special.  

She began to play with the idea of selling some of her crafts to friends and family. This would allow her to stay home with the kids and earn a little money. The community quickly supported the idea and the “home shows” began. She now sells her pumpkins through galleries like ours!


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