William & Kate Bernstein Works

"Our work pays tribute to glass rich, historic association with the vessel. I am drawn to the material of glass for the sensuous softness of hot glass, its speed and grace, and to the sheer joy of glassworking."

The imagery in Bernsteins' pieces uses a process known as hot cane drawing. The artist uses thin, colored glass rods known as cane, to apply the design to the molten glass. An assistant follows the artist with a high-temperature torch, fusing the rod into the glass much like a welder. When the drawing is complete, it is worked into the body of the glass and eventually expanded during the blowing process much like the printing on a child's balloon. Each piece is blown freeform without the use of molds or patterns, and incorporates their distinctive style and use of color.

Katherine and William Bernstein have been at the forefront of the modern art glass movement for more than forty years. They began their careers in the late 1960s at the Philadelphia College of Art and have been making original glass pieces ever since.