SARITA @saritaglass
Ashland, OR
14 years on the torch

How many years on the torch, and how did you get started?
My journey with glass began around 14 years ago. I was finishing my degrees in Painting and Art Education with the aspiration of becoming an art teacher. A good friend in Texas, my home state, asked me if I would like to apprentice with him and learn to make pipes. He jokingly encouraged, “anything you press a bowl and blow a carb in will sell eventually”. He was certainly correct. It was enticing to imagine a life in which my creativity could support me and my young son.

Once I began the apprenticeship, I was quickly sucked into the fringe art movement of pipe making. My mind was blown by the incredible art being made, and how the envelope was being pushed at a rapid rate by the pipe artists. Glassblowing became a lifestyle.

How many years on the torch, and how did you get started?
For the first several years of my career, I hadn’t quite found my voice within the pipe scene. I was making what I thought people wanted. This wasn’t a sustainable approach, as it began to feel inauthentic and draining.

One day, while working in my studio in Southern Oregon, I decided to try and paint with glass on glass. I had longed to combine my love of glass with my background as a painter, and once I finally developed a technique, my work took off.  I found my voice, and in doing so found an audience for my work.

I achieve the painterly look by pulling rods of colored glass into thin glass “stringers”, which I then directly flame onto the glass so that I am essentially painting with glass. I layer multiple layers of opaque and transparent color to achieve depth. Most of my work focuses on floral & botanical motifs and is heavily influenced by my love of all things vintage and antique.

What’s your favorite part of glass blowing?  
It’s mesmerizing. It demands your full presence of mind, which is a beautiful daily practice in a world full distraction.

What drew you to build on the Puffco platform?  
I’ve watched the evolution of smoking methods and devices over the past couple of decades, and have personally witnessed the effect on the traditional glass pipe market. Puffco seems to constantly find ways to include the pipe artist which I find to be incredibly inclusive and respectful.

What’s one of your favorite pieces you’ve made?  
My favorite piece I have ever made was last year for the Champs Glass Games in Las Vegas. It was a sculptural painting of orchids with a functional piece at the center. I’m honored that it is now in the personal collection of an incredible glass artist and one of my best friends, LaceFace Glass.