Michelle Kaptur Works

Biography

Michelle Kaptur has been blowing glass since 1975.  She came to glass after completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Pacific North West College of Arts in Portland OR.   Michelle worked for ten years learning the basics of glass blowing and then went on to paint for several years.  “Painting is where I put together all the composition, color and design stuff that I learned about in school.  When I came back to glass I had a much stronger sense of what kinds of design choices I wanted to make and why.  I feel my work was my work and was much stronger after this.”

Michelle has owned and operated her own glass studio, Glass Dancing, in Bend Oregon since 1994 and worked with Ice Fire Glassworks for several years prior to that.

Artists's Statement

“Deserts, mountains, water, wildlife, prehistoric art, color and organic forms are what come to mind first when I think about where to look for inspiration for my art glass. The glass itself has a big influence on me. It is always whispering something. New ideas generally come when I hear what the glass is saying.  I go to nature for color inspiration and guidance. I look in the garden or along a creek for ideas about form. I am generally more interested in organic form then in symmetry. But then I am astounded by the symmetry that is created in nature by organic forms.

I love to travel. Looking through the camera lens and composing in a two dimensional format give me a fresh perspective in the glass studio.

Prehistoric art makes me slow down and wonder. Wonder is so childlike and refreshing. When I wonder I don’t know all the answers and it is like throwing the doors open and letting the wind blow through.

I do my best problem solving and creative preparing when I’m asleep. Sleeping outside is the best place to let new energy flow through me. I usually have no idea what I am going to make in a day till I get up and stand in front of my colors with a cup of coffee.”

The wave vase grew out of an encounter I had several years ago with a client in his forties.  I asked him what he wanted at that time in his life and he said PASSION.  Well I had plenty at that time in my life so explored what that looked like to me.

I wanted to utilize the magical properties that only glass has, transparency and fluidity.  The first wave vase was a deep fuchsia and violet.   I had seen the bridging technique before and thought that it was a nice metaphor for the passion in my life at that time, which involved two energies twisting together creating a new whole.

The form since then has allowed me to explore color both intense and subtle.  I find it a challenge to put only two colors together and have them be intense and dynamic, yet relating to each other.  I love the value changes in the colors that the wave form offers.  To me this form is all about fluid grace and color now.  It has grown into the wave bowl or platter and I sometimes think of it as a flower that reaches full bloom in the bowl form.

As it turns out this form is also about division and boundaries and how they can flow together in harmony.