Artist Finder
Dean Bensen
Description:
The art we create together reflects our mutual love of nature and the intricacy of color patterns we see, and often overlook, in the world around us. While the glass is hot, we use numerous glass powders and precious metals, in a meticulous process to create the initial design. This canvas is then blown and manipulated through the use of various tools, including ones made of wood and even paper. Techniques such as sandblasting, acid etching, and cold working are then used after the pieces are made, to further introduce dimension and texture to the piece.
Glassblowing is the closest one can get to actually experiencing what the temperature would be like if they stood next to a lava flow spewing lava from a volcano. This extreme temperature makes the work we do highly labor intensive and very challenging. Some of our pieces have an extremely detailed color process that is done in a painterly fashion. The color alone on these pieces can take 1- 1.5 hours to apply because the color is literally hand applied versus the more traditional way of applying color - rolling over frit, sifting powder, or using bar for an overlay. The resulting color characteristics of these pieces require the piece to be a little heavier, so the appropriate optics and color density is achieved. Therefore, we choose forms that best showcase the emotion and texture of the piece, so mood, color, and surface come together in a harmonious fashion.
