TW:  When did you start blowing glass?
JM:  I started about ten years ago. I also had a small career in graphic design which is what I went to school for. I worked with Surfer Magazine and Clairol and a few other companies, mostly freelance work and then turned to the medium of glass and how it worked.

TW:  How did you get turned on to glass?
JM:  I saw glass blowing when I was over in Hawaii at the UH campus visiting a ceramicist friend working on his graduate degree. I played around with a little bit of glass and it was really cool. When I met Nicole about 10 years ago, she was making little glass beads and I decided to try it out. I really liked the medium and decided to go larger.

TW:  What shows do you have going on?
JM:  We have a few good shows coming up. We just finished a pretty big show in Tempe AZ. We have the Indian Wells Art Festival this month and will be heading up to Marin County in June and then after that, the Sawdust rolls around again. Of course, we do commissions and smaller craft shows in between.

TW:  What artists do you appreciate?
JM:  I am really into sculpture, wild abstract sculpture and a variety of artists. I am pretty impressed with Lillian Morris, a glass blower up in Seattle.

TW:  Where do you get your inspiration?
JM:  With my design background, I try to combine really cool colors and mix sculpture into the blown glass scallop bits flowing down the side on vases.

TW:  How does your day go when you are not on the road?
JM:  Nowadays it is more work than surf, but when there's a good swell I've got to incorporate that in. I try to drop in to Tressels before I leave for a desert show. A typical workday is getting up early to start the coffee, get the kids to school, and get the kilns lit early in the morning. The day begins around 8am, blowing glass. I work until 2:30 everyday. If the waves are up, I go for an afternoon surf, if the schedule allows. A lot of the other half of the business day is computer time and scheduling appointments. I'm busy 7 days a week - blowing glass Monday through Friday and then shows almost every weekend.

TW:  So now you have an apprentice, how does that work?
JM:  Mike, yeah, he's been helping out, assisting me with larger pieces that are really difficult to do alone, as well as the sculpture pieces when I need an assistant.

TW:  Do you consider yourself an artist or a craftsman?
JM:  I consider myself both. I work in a fine craft, sculpting and blowing the glass. I like to create designs from traditional to the avant-garde, and do some wild stuff. We are using the torch a lot nowadays, torching holes in pieces and creating some wild glass work.

Jason McQuaid can be reached at: (949) 497-8793