Today we’d like to introduce you to Quen Wallace.
Hi Quen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I first had the opportunity to see glass being worked in a hot shop in Stone Mountain, GA I must have been about seven or eight years old at the time. I can remember seeing this thing being collected on the end of a big tube and it looked like lava, minutes later a vessel had been shaped and the artist was switching sides that the handle was attached to. What I had just seen moments ago as a molten liquid ball of glowing goo, had been shaped and worked into a big hollow and SOLID thing right in front of my eyes! I was absolutely captivated by the whole thing. I knew I wanted to play with this seemingly magical material.
Life carried 0n as it does and I played keep up, in school, in life, it seemed just about everywhere I went from the Navy, the police department, working for Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL all these places something was missing. I felt as if I had collected all of these experiences and had no idea where I belonged yet had no trouble fitting in anywhere. The idea of melting glass sat buried in the back of my mind while everything else took over what I felt was priority at the time.
I was living in Austin, TX in the fall of 2019 and working at a smoke shop that specialized in purely American made glassware. I was surrounded by amazing work and what felt like an endless list of techniques and styles. One of the local artists that the shop owners would buy basic production ware from had come in to sell some work, the boys who owned the shop suggest I talk to him about going over to his shop and watching him blow glass. After agreeing on a good time to stop by his shop I thought to myself, this is it! My opportunity has finally come, someone is going to teach me how to do this thing! This artists shop was located on a college campus and also served as the local smoke shop for the kids on campus. I was talked into running this little shop after being shown how to turn the torch on and off safely. Then it was trial by fire, literally I was left alone in the shop trying to run sales and convince myself to try turning a piece of glass in the flame. Plenty of days went by and sat looking at the torch and trying to think of what all I wanted to try and make, but never putting anything in the flame. I took a few years away from it and when I stepped back behind the torch in the summer of 2023 my perspective had completely shifted and I was so ready to be let loose. I got the opportunity and was so eager to try and make something that I ran into another problem. There are so many directions glass can take you and so many different techniques out there I now had analysis paralysis! too many options to pick from and not enough discipline to stick to just trying and failing until success finally bleeds through… But this time I would not be stopped. I refused to believe failure was even a possibility. I have since taken one class as an observation style class over the course of three days in Tucson, AZ taught by the incredibly talented Phil Siegel. I have been able to apply quite a few of the techniques I learned in his class to my work as well as expand on my own personal tool belt through the process of creating collaborative work with a number of other artists.
I am still very much learning every day that I have behind the torch. I feel as if there are lessons in glass that help in my day to day life all the time. it is the ultimate teacher of patients and perseverance.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I am sure we can all relate to life having its fair share of ups and downs. The road I have traveled to make it to where I am now has definitely taught me what it means to work hard and to just keep trying. I did not pick an easy “make money and relax” kind of career path in life. I tried to follow my heart which had its fair share of drawbacks. I found it difficult to know exactly what I wanted to do until I was actively trying it out. Even when I found a job I enjoyed it was always just a matter of time until I got bored with it or did not feel like I was getting the challenge or satisfaction I was looking for to be able to do something potentially for the rest of my life. Glass was the first thing I ever picked up and walked away from without being able to stop thinking about it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work as a borosilicate glass artist using a bench mounted torch as a practice referred to as “Lampworking”
I am known for making small face jug type vessels that can function as a actual jug or be worn as a pendant or just free standing ornamental pieces. I work often times with 24k gold and .999 fine silver in a process we call fume in which, the metals are melted into the tip of a glass rod and introduced into the flame in front of the piece of glass you intend to apply the fumed metals on, and then vaporized onto the surface of the glass. This process can give a color changing type effect depending on the background in which the glass is placed in front of and the lighting. I take pride in the versatility of my skill set behind the torch. I feel as though in the short amount of time I have been working with glass I have learned a significant amount about the medium itself as well as the chemistry of the flame. I have a great attention to detail that can be seen in the small faces that I have been sculpting lately. I sculpt on hollow work that is a much lighter wall thickness than I find many of my peers prefer to work with.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I feel very fortunate to have been able to start the way I did. I was able to utilize someone else’s torch, kiln, tools and glass. The startup costs are pretty significant when you add up everything you need to be able to make something complex in borosilicate. Make due with what you can. Save everything you can scraps are gold. Practice, practice, practice and do it some more, you have to absolutely love glass if you want it to work out for you and be willing to fail over and over and over again before you get some things right. as long as you can be the eternal student you will be ok!
Last bit of advice, talk to and spend as much time with as many other artists as you possibly can!
Pricing:
- Pendants $30+
- Memorials (cremation remains) $60+
- Drinkware singles and sets $20+
- Custom books are open, minimum $100
- Home & Garden decor $40+
Contact Info:
