In
1995 a friend asked Richard Ross to help her blow glass when
her assistants failed show up at San Francisco State University.
This was the first time Richard touched a blow pipe to molten
glass and he took to the process like a fish to water.
Soon after enrolling in the S.F.S.U. glass program, Richard
was awarded a scholarship to Pilchuck Glass School where he
attended an intensive training program taught by Randy Walker.
He later served as a Teaching Assistant at Pilchuck for Einar
and Jamex De La Torre. Richard also studied at the Studio
at the Corning Museum of Glass under Jack Wax and Mark Petrovic.
Besides training sessions at renown glass institutions, Richard
has also worked with such notable glass artists as John Leighton,
Jeremy Cline, Joe Caraiti, the Bay Area Glass Institute and
Mexico's Jaime and Einar De La Torre.
Richard says that "Glass is the only medium in which I can
make a piece exactly as I see it in my head". His attraction
to graceful curves, and clean, flowing lines is evident in
his simple, primal forms and bold color usage, while his tongue
in cheek humor is evident in his sculptural work. Richard
imagines his sculptural glass and mixed media work "are what
archeologists would find if they excavated the laboratory
and storage rooms of a Scientist from the 1880's or 1920's".
In 1997 Richard founded and built a Glass Blowing Studio
in Alameda CA. In 1999, Richard sold his interest in the studio,
to persue artistic persuits. He now blows glass in Oakland
CA, at Charlie Jenkins glass studio, which he helped design
and build.
I imagine my sculptural glass and mixed media works are
what archeologists would find if they excavated the laboratory
and storage facility of a Scientist from the1930's. Much of
my work might have been created for a specific alchemical
purpose: to transform an element, awaken a god, or restore
to life some extinct species or person. For my work, I draw
from my life interests - early science, ancient gods, the
natural world, and slightly odd sense of humor.
One aspect of my work that seems to stand out for many people
is my bold color usage. I use the term bold somewhat facetiously.
Being partially color blind, I have learned to trust my own
eyes, and use colors that appeal to me, and I am told that
these choices seem strangely striking to people with normal
color vision.
In my opinion, glass is the perfect medium. Before I begin
working, I need to have completed both the image, and the
process of creating that image in my head. I often drift to
sleep trying to envision a way to create a particular shape,
only to wake with the details of the process completed by
my dreaming subconscious. The process of blowing and sculpting
glass is immediate; there is nothing between you and the 2000
degree material but a piece of wet newspaper or a slim metal
tool. Once the glass is touched it "remembers" what has been
done to it, so it pays to do it right the first time. I enjoy
working the glass, because the process necessitates the use
of my entire body, the full focus of my mind, and because
glass is the only medium in which I can make produce a work
exactly as I see it in my head.
Richard
Ross Glass Résumé
EDUCATION
2001
Public Glass, Boyd Sugiki, Goblet as Foundation, San Francisco,
CA
2000
Public Glass, Karen Willenbrink, Sculpting Hot Glass, San
Francisco, CA
1996
The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Jack Wax and
Marc Petrovic, Corning, New York
1995
Pilchuck Glass School, Awarded Scholarship, Randy Walker,
Stanwood, Washington
1994 - 1997 San Francisco State University, (Glass Program),
San Francisco, CA
1992
University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, Bachelor of
Arts, Philosophy
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2000 Teaching Assistant, Jamex and Einar De La TorrŽ, Pilchuck
Glass School, Stanwood, WA
Guest Lecturer San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
Instructor, Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, CA
1999
Instructor, Atomic Glass, Alameda, CA
Teaching Assistant, Jamex and Einar De La TorrŽ, Public
Glass, San Francisco, CA
Instructor, Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, CA
Guest Lecturer, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
1998
Teaching Assistant, John Leighton, San Francisco State University,
SF, CA.
Instructor, Atomic Glass, Alameda, CA
1997
Teaching Assistant, Joe Cariati, San Francisco State University,
SF, CA
Teaching Assistant, John Leighton, San Francisco State University,
SF, CA.
1997 Teaching Assistant, John Leighton, San Francisco State
University, SF, CA.
DEMONSTRATIONS
2000
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, CA
1999
Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, CA
Public Glass, San Francisco, CA
1998
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
1997
Glass Art Society Annual Conference, Tucson, AZ
ARTIST ASSISTANCE AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIANCE
2000 Ń Present
Built, Opened and Operate a Hot Glass Studio in Oakland,
CA
1999 - present
Gaffer, Bay Area Glass Institute, San Jose, CA
Jamex and Einar De La TorrŽ, Ensenada, Mexico
1997-1999
Built, Owned and Operated a Hot Glass Studio in Alameda,
CA
1996 - 1999
John Leighton, San Francisco, CA
1997-1999
Joe Cariati, San Francisco, CA
1997
Jeremy Cline, Incline Glass, San Francisco, CA
Jamex and Einar De La TorrŽ and Therman Statom, Tucson, AZ
& San Francisco, CA
John Leighton, Tucson, AZ
EXHIBITIONS
2001
2001, A Glass Oddesy, Art on the Cutting Edge, Salem OR
The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, Bay Area Glass Institute,
San Jose, CA
1999 Ń 2000
The Pilchuck Auction, Seattle WA
The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, Bay Area Glass Institute,
San Jose, CA
Itheo.com, On Line gallery
A toast to the New Century, Oakland Museum Collectors Gallery,
Oakland, CA
Bay Isle Presents, Group Show, San Francisco, CA
Annual Glass Show, Made to Match Gallery, San Jose, CA
Glasstastic 99, The In Sight Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Ongoing exhibition, Etctera Etcetra, Gurneville, CA
Ongoing exhibition, Fusion Art Glass, Seaside, FL
The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch, Bay Area Glass Institute,
San Jose, CA
Glass 99, Spirals, Palo Alto, CA
Pro Arts Group show, Oakland, CA
New Art, Total Travel Gallery, Alameda, CA
East Bay Open Studio Tour, Atomic Glass, Alameda, CA
1998
Stillwell Student Show, San Francisco State University, San
Francisco, CA
Atomic Glass Holiday Show, Alameda, CA
Palo Alto Medical: Glass Art, Palo Alto, CA
Atomic Glass Spring Show, Alameda, CA
New Glass, The Studio Gallery, Alameda, CA
1997
Glass Art Society Student Showcase, Tucson, AZ
Stillwell Student Show, San Francisco State University,
San Francisco, CA
Atomic Glass Boutique, Los Gatos, CA 1996
Stillwell Student Show, San Francisco State University,
San Francisco, CA Precognition, The Choice Space, San Francisco,
CA
In
1995 a friend asked Richard Ross to help her blow glass when
her assistants failed show up at San Francisco State University.
This was the first time Richard touched a blow pipe to molten
glass and he took to the process like a fish to water. 
