Blenko Connections -

A reader sent this link and information, it was of interest to me in that SHORTY FINLEY and FRITZ DREISBACH ( BLENKO CONNECTION BOTH) are mentioned.
Shorty is a retired glass blower from Blenko, with no formal glass / art training. The designers (Fritz, Henry Halem, Joel Myers, Marvin Liposky) he worked with served as role models, recognizing his natural ability to manipulate glass.
Fritz Dreisbach is one of the dozen or so American Artist whose work I desperately want to own.
Click here: Fritz Dreisbach

VanderLaan & Bliss Gradalupe Glass Corporation Contemporary GlassPeter VanderLaan says, "I've been hopelessly addicted to glass for the last twenty-eight years. I have rolled up crushed car windshields and melted them, stripped putty and aluminum siding from salvage windows and melted them, screened arroyo sand and melted that, derived sophisticated formulae using food grade lime in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and melted that. I’ve thrown snowballs into my furnace for hours. I’ve done foundation research on batch formulae for independent studio use. I am as fascinated with the chemistry of glass color as I am with making beautiful things out of it."Peter attended Saint John's College, Santa Fe, NM. His professional experience has included working as teaching assistant to Dale Chihuly and Dan Daily, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA; teaching glass with Fritz Dreisbach, Shorty Finley and Mary Beth Bliss at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX, and co-founding Guadalupe Glass Corporation, an open-air demonstration glass works and showroom in Santa Fe, NM.

Click here: Panche Gallery Fine Art Glass Artist Biographies

www.blenkoproject.org
http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blenko/blog/