I began working in glass in 1972 as a part of the experimental beginnings of the Pilchuck Workshop Glass School in Washington State. I was accepted to be one of 30 students that summer to work and study glass under the direction of Dale Chihuly and Fritz Dreisbach. In 1985 I started the Ox-Bow Glass Studio and in 1991 I opened my own studio in nearby Glenn, Michigan, until 2004, when I moved the studio to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and started Water Street Glassworks – a not-for-profit school of the glass arts. As for most people, I am enlivened by the medium of glass – both in its glowing molten state and its striking optical splendor. The blowing and sandcasting processes inspire my creative process. The very physical process of blowing and casting fit my creative concepts and energetic temperament – forcing me to be more intuitive and react more spontaneously. Glass as a material takes on a meaning beyond its optical beauty. Its reflections, distortions, and “solid yet transparent” properties – for me, are metaphors for illusion, paradox, insight, allusion and deception. It can represent a vision, a spirit, an illusion, a memory, a mirage, or an ephemeral moment in time.—Jerry Catania
Catania received his BFA from Michigan State University in 1969, MA from Western Michigan University in 1985, and post-graduate work at Michigan State 1985–1990.—ox-bow.org
