Sam Blatchely

My business career has been in the heating and air conditioning industry. While living in Central Texas I was captivated by the skill and creativity of several glass artist as they, either blew glass, fused or chipped glass to create beautiful works of art. I had to somehow get involved. I was able to locate an artist that taught the basic skills of blowing glass. It was easy to become “hooked” on this wonderful media. Glass unlike other forms of art has very few “rules” as with painting or other art forms. There are several technical requirements, other than that creativity is almost unlimited. A couple of career moves brought me here to the Ruidoso area. This area with it’s emphasis on the arts has given me the opportunity to further explore and develop a unique form of art. Glass fusing and slumping has been primarily a self taught skill that I’ve had success with. The basic technique is relatively simple. I take glass pieces or sheets, cut them into some basic shapes, than “cook’em“. Sometimes it’s a two step process, one to fuse the glass, another to “slump” or form it. Sounds easy but it’s taken months and many trial and error pieces to get where I’m at today. My yard is decorated with what I call “yard art”, pieces that didn’t turn out to good or that just fell apart. My real passion is glass blowing.

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