Art Glass by Robert Burch

Education and Work Experience:

1969

Scholarship in sculpture, Summer Art Project, Plainfield, VT

1969-1970

Apprenticeship to Philip Holmes, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT; Ceramics and Glass

1970-1971

Instructor, Adult Degree Program, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT; Glass

1971-1973

Co-founder of Burnt Mountain Glassworks, Plainfield, VT

1974-Present

Owner, Brandywine Glassworks, Putney, VT

About the Artist:

Robert has been working in blown glass for over 30 years, and while maintaining a broad production line is presently increasing his focus on one-of-a-kind and commission work. His glasswork consists of vases, perfume bottles, paperweights and sculptural pieces, with his specialty currently being works that incorporate veiled silver glass with delicate bubble patterns. Since 1977 Robert's works have been shown in numerous shows across the country. Says Robert, "Most of my inspiration comes from my natural surroundings, and is further enhanced by the beauty of the glass in its molten state. l am fortunate to have found work that I love and that allows me to be creative."

I don't know if I chose glass, or it chose me," Robert Burch muses. The two met dramatically in the late 1960s when glassblowing was still new as a re-emerging craft. While visiting at Penland School of Arts and Crafts, Burch ventured out for an evening walk in the surrounding North Carolina woods. "I came upon a little cabin with a roar coming out of it and a strange glow in its windows," he almost whispers, remembering. "I looked in the door, and there was this guy blowing glass, I was stunned! The magic, the sensuality, the energy of that moving, molten glass! From that moment on, my purpose was to get as close to glass as I could."

And so he has. A chance opportunity to simultaneously learn and teach glassblowing at Goddard College led the former production potter from clay to glass. By 1978, Burch had moved his first glassblowing studio in Plainfield, Vermont to its current home in a 200-year-old Putney barn.

The above information was excerpted from information supplied by Robert Burch and written by Barbara Conn, a freelance writer from South Deerfield, MA.