Art Glass by Robert Coleman

To describe his feelings toward working with hot glass, Coleman is fond of referring to music and dance. He thinks of himself as a conductor with the blowpipe, or pontil, being the baton, and the glass the music. In addition, he thinks of himself as a musician and the tools in the glass shop as the instruments -- the music being formed through playing those instruments on the glass. Lastly, he thinks of himself as a dancer in that his movements from instrument to instrument are choreographed as any dance might be.

Coleman's hot glass facility, called the "Farmacy", is used both for making unique pieces and the research and development of designs for later production under the name "Patient Medicines Blown Glass". The studio includes three day tanks, the largest of which contains clear or crystal glass. The two smaller tanks hold any of four colored glasses. With a "casing" process, Coleman has expanded the five "through and through" colors to a total of twenty-six color possibilities. Besides the furnaces, there is a "glory hole" for re-heating purposes, a fumer for applying iridescence or luster, the "gaffer's" bench, and an annealing oven where the glass is cooled slowly.

Coleman's work tends to ask more questions than provide answers except in the case of classical and functional forms in which history always seems to provide the answers, or at least a comparison. Coleman works with practical forms, sculptural fantasy, geometric pieces, and abstractions. His concerns are with color, the balancing of negative and positive space, and the distortion of perfection. In addition to his individual pieces, Coleman produces glass drawings in collaboration with his wife and graphic artist, Vicki Herrick. This work can be described as the blending of both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional elements resulting in a unique visual experience.

Since 1970, Coleman has exhibited and received awards in more than 100 individual, juried, one-person and group shows in the USA and Europe. He has done free-lance designing for the glass industry and lectured on American glass in the USA and Europe. Entire contents © Copyright NJM Gallery, Portsmouth NH (603) 433-4120.