Allison Glassworks

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Arthur Allison

Background:
Born: April 20, 1960: Gallipolis, Ohio
Education:
1976-1978 Rio Grande College, Ohio
1978-1979 Art Institute Of Atlanta, Georgia
1979-1981 Kent State University, Ohio (BFA Magna Cum Laude)

In 1966 my family was involved in a severe car accident. The guy that hit us was a glassblower. That left me with a simmering interest in glassworking. It also left the members of my family pretty well bunged up. I went through the windshield face first, and have been picking glass out of various parts of my anatomy ever since. For a couple of years, I walked around looking like Frankenstein's Monster, and all the other kids wouldn't let me join in reindeer games. So... I became kind of antisocial, and just went off and drew pictures for a while. In a couple of years, the scars healed up pretty good, and I looked pretty much like the rest of the other varmints. However, the damage was done. I no longer wanted to be the world's best Brain Surgeon/Professional Baseball Player/Part Time Trial Lawyer. I wanted to grow up to be an ARTIST. So, I did.

I started working with glass in 1979 at Kent State University and have been working with it ever since. For the past ten years, I have maintained a studio in Texas. I have 4 Dogs, a beat up pickup truck, and a mountain bike.

In the Studio

Arthur Allison's glasswork is created entirely by hand in his North Texas studio. Starting with 2,000 F. molten glass taken from a roaring furnace, he adds chunks and bits of color- then the liquid glass is manipulated through a series of steps of heating and shaping. The glass is blown and pushed and prodded and coaxed and teased into the final stage. It literally becomes a frozen record of the artists actions. A moment quickly and permanently frozen in time.

Artist Statement

"My glass is a natural outgrowth of my painting background. The glass becomes to me a three dimensional painting, sort of a transparent canvas upon which to make my marks.

The process of "Blowing Glass" never ceases to excite me! it becomes a cooperative effort, really, between the glass, the flames, God and myself. Some say the glass has a mind of its own. I don't agree. The glass is stupid - all it wants to do is drip to the floor. However, sometimes when the day is going good and you are really connected; unusual and beautiful things can happen. I guess my most important job as an artist is to recognize this when it happens and simply not screw it up.

I really enjoy making beautiful glass. Sometimes it is done in a quiet studio fashion, with only an occasional smile, or curse thrown in for punctuation. Often, however, I create in a frenzy of dancing about my studio. Loud music plays. I dance. The dog dances. Sometimes the glass dances. It simply doesn't get any better than that."

Art Allison