Check Out Jon Wade’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Wade

Hi Jon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have been blowing glass for 15 years. The first decade of which was spent pursuing my personal exploration into the world of art. After several shows in Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, and being featured in “The Flow” magazine, I was invited for a month long residency teaching flame work and got hooked on teaching. Watching the fire dance in the students eyes as the worked on their first projects was just too addictive to let go. My immediate focus after that residency was on how to build a fun but yet informative class, touching on both art and science, introducing first time glassblowers to our art, and making that class accessible to the youth as well as adults. This is where the Glassblowing Experience was formed, Part participation and part demonstration, everyone is able to chose what they make from a long list of projects, including shot glasses, birds, ornaments, and plant holders, and tons more. Because an experienced teacher is there to assist in the shaping of the object, every object is as easy to make as another and everything comes out perfectly, With that help shaping, the student is able to play with over 40 colors, focusing on art and patterning.

We recently found a couple more amazing teachers and moved into a larger scale classroom where we opened the space to accommodate more students and larger team building activities. After the move we were featured on Denver Food and Scene and have had a great fall and winter season making pumpkins and ornaments alongside our already robust list of projects.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say the move to the new studio was probably the hardest obstacle we’ve had to overcome. With a fully packed schedule it was hard to make a seamless transition to the new classroom without having to cancel classes or reschedule people’s appointments. Luckily with an amazing crew we were able to pull it off without having to compromise our vision on the new space. It is clean and inviting, offering a safe but fun place to experience glassblowing. We love seeing our community grow as our students meet and share the knowledge they learned in their classes on our open community nights in the environment we have created.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My own body of work has consisted mostly of marbles ranging from 1-4″. Most of my marbles depict scenes from outer space using precious metal suspended in the glass. I was taught how to apply 24 karat gold and silver to the glass by one of my teachers whom had studied the effect most of his career. Recently i learned this application is called sputter deposition in the scientific community, though the achieve the effect through much different process. This use of gold in glass dates back to ancient Roman times where glass artifacts using these techniques have been found in archeological digs.

I also am very proficient in the encasement of ashes in glass. This leads to many memorial marbles containing people’s, as well as pets, ashes. It is one of the most sentimental projects i undertake. I am always more than honored when someone trusts me with a project of that caliper. To this day, I have made pendants. marbles, worry stones, and even a Broncos themed pipe with different people’s ashes.

I love combining techniques and materials. My most popular series of glass placed me in The Flow Magazine and consisted of marbles containing gold and silver, and then encased in copper. This process of adding the copper to the backs of the marbles often took longer than a week to build up the proper layering to make the copper stand out from the marble. They all set on custom made Manzanita burlwood stands bringing another element into the composition. These were by far my greatest achievement in the spherical realm and since then I have focused more on traditional Italian sculpture techniques in preparation for a trip to Murano Italy next year.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I believe my discipline in the arts was developed early, but not from artistic pursuits. Starting at the age of 6, I was trained in Martial Arts. The investment in time and training needed to obtain a higher degree of ranking was always a challenge and an immediate goal that required action or additional training. That, to this day, helps me identify a problem or an area we could improve as a school and develop a plan to do so. The glass however, teaches me that i need to be flexible in my approach and watch the movement of the issue even while making my own movements and applying the solutions. Life really is a balance of flexibility and rigidness, much like the glass itself.

Pricing:

• our classes start at $95 per person
• we also offer corporate team building events as well as private family classes

Contact Info:

• Website: https://GlassClassDenver.com
• Instagram: GlassClassDenver