Jennifer Umphress

Glass to me is the ideal medium because it has it all; color, dimension, clarity and reflection. This medium enables me to express my thoughts and or feelings in the moment. 

I have worked with cold glass and other mediums besides [1]Lampworking. But once I discovered the rush of creating with constant motion and having no time to think but instead feel my piece I was completely captivated. Although my inspiration comes from the ocean, I am most intrigued by capturing movement. I try to emulate the movement of sea life in a simple contemporary form.

I was born and raised in California, in 1991 after visiting Hawaii and falling in love with its beauty it became my home. I began my career in glass in 2000 working and apprenticing in a small studio retail shop in the islands. Continuing to grow as an artist I expanded my knowledge by attending Sundance Art Center in Santa Cruz, California (December 2002). Wanting to learn traditional concepts of glass. I spent one month in Murano, Italy (November 2005) studying under Cesare Toffolo. Since then I have had the opportunity to take workshops from Robert Mickelsen, Janis Miltenberger and Richard LaLonde. In 2006 I relocated to Kingston Washington hoping that the Northwest will provide as much influence for me as Hawaii did. My work is constantly changing and evolving, but I still draw my biggest influence from the Islands and Ocean that surrounded me for so long.

[1] "Lampworking" (also sometimes called "flameworking") is the technique of shaping glass rods and tubes in a torch flame. In ancient times, the glass was melted over the flame of an oil or paraffin lamp, hence the traditional name.

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