Blenko / Fenton Connection?

Yes! There is a connection...Perhaps most all glass in WVa is connected. Shorty Finley/ Dave Fetty are the Blenko/Fenton Connection. If you are familiar with www.blenkoproject.org you know the BLENKO PROJECT greatly admires Shorty Finley (retired Blenko glass blower/craftsperson). This week Shorty suggested we take a road trip during my December school break to Fenton Glass - seems he wants me to meet his friend Dave Fetty. I knew the name Dave Fetty from reading about Fenton Glass - also I know Dave Fetty designed and blew the beautiful 'COAL BOWL TROPHY ', I am very excited about the possibility of meeting Dave Fetty. As we talked Shorty told me about working with Fetty and their friendship.... the Blenko /Fenton Connection. I can hardly wait for my December break - an afternoon with two of the most talented glass workers in West Virginia... for me it will be a great Christmas gift.
We hope to have photos of the road trip and will post when we return! So you will have 6 weeks to anticipate the photos of Fetty glass and perhaps the two working together (Fetty-Finley - well a girl is allowed to dream....!
Who is Dave Fetty?
A skilled glassworker, Dave Fetty retired in 1999 after more than 40 years in the glass industry. Dave came to Fenton in 1964 after learning the trade in Milton, WV, at the Blenko Glass Company, where he began as a carrying-in boy when he was 19. Dave's mentor at Blenko was glassworker "Shorty" Finley, who taught Dave many of the skills needed to make glass off-hand (without moulds).
In the mid-1970s, Dave worked with glass artisan Robert Barber, helping to design and create some of Fenton's first limited edition pieces. In 1998, Dave taught a "pulled feather" technique to other glassworkers, and he supervised them as they produced this vase for the 1998 Connoisseur Collection.
Even after his "official" retirement, Dave has continued to contribute to Fenton. In addition to working closely with the glassworkers who produced a "Hanging Hearts" vase for the Connoisseur Collection, his contribution to the Collection in 2002 was this "Favrene Feathers Vase."
Dave also contributes pieces for the Collectors Room at the Fenton Collectors Convention held in August of each year.
The information about Dave Fetty was taken from Fenton Glass literature.