Craig & Anny Zweifel Works

Craig Zweifel was born in 1944 in San Diego, and raised in Oakland, California. He began working with glass under Dr. Robert Fritz at San Jose State University in 1966, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. That summer, Zweifel built his first studio in Jackson, Wyoming. In 1972, he returned to California for graduate studies, receiving his Master’s degree in Glass Design at UCLA in 1974. Returning to the Rockies, he lived and worked at his studio near Ketchum, Idaho for 30 years, then moved to Southern Oregon in 2004. His first priority on arrival there was completing his new glass studio.

Craig met his wife Anny, a former jewelry artist, at a craft fair, and, in 1986, she moved from the Chesapeake Bay to the Rocky Mountains to marry him. She became an important addition to the studio.  Intending to take a short break from jewelry design, Anny got involved in the design and creation of glass – first the faceting and polishing; more recently assisting with the hot work – and has been an integral part of Zweifel Art Glass ever since.

Craig Zweifel’s glass work can be recognized by its distinctive iridescent colors – the result of his signature process, which fuses silver to the molten glass at 2100 degrees, adds overlays of glass to create patterns, then crystallizes the surface. As the surface crystallizes, colors bloom into being – covering each piece with its own singular array of hues. Each piece is signed and dated on completion.

Artist Statement – Craig Zweifel

At my very first glimpse of a hot glass studio in 1965, I was mesmerized by the glow of the molten glass; the roar of the furnaces; the fire and the heat. And by the rhythm, the dance of the process. Glass blowing is an intensely physical act. The hot glass is so immediately responsive to every movement, and my whole body is involved in that process. Over 40 years later, I’m still dancing that glass dance.

Working with glass has been perfect for me - I get to create my art - and play with fire in the bargain! The entire process of the glass dance is, and will continue to be, the driving force of my life.

Artist Statement – Anny Zweifel

I have always been fascinated by glass. For years, when I was a jeweler and gallery owner, I collected hand-blown pieces. When I married Craig in 1987, I became involved in the design and creation of the glass. Particularly in the faceting of glass – like faceted gemstones, on a larger scale, incorporated into our blown glass pieces.