A Glass Dance

As glassblower Trish Dalto says, “Glass is like nothing else; it is difficult and takes real commitment to do well, but it never gets boring. There is so much you can do with the colors.”

The new Kalish/Dalto “shard” vases are exactly that — colorful patterns created from shards of patterned glass, created in an earlier step. The broken pieces are arranged on a working surface and the molten vase is rolled in the shards. A quick revisit to the 900-degree glass furnace and they become one with the blown shape.

The lip and shoulders of the vase are created with wet newspapers in hand against the hot glass, while the other hand turns the piece on the end of the pipe. A touch of metallic powder adds additional glisten.

Collaborators Trish Dalto and Alex Kalish met as art students at Franklin Pierce College in the late ’80s, where they discovered the glass department and fell in love with all the possibilities. They now have their own studio in Washington (near Hillsborough), where Alex blows the shard vases, and Trish, the more ephemeral vases that feature clear glass with colorful swirls twirling up the sides. The pieces for the shards are created by both Trish and Alex for a real collaboration.

The artisans’ work is available at all League of New Hampshire Craftsmen stores and the Sharon Arts Gallery in Peterborough. In addition to vases, the couple creates stemware, ornaments, jewelry and sun catchers.

Look for a special lamp Alex has created for the Living with Crafts exhibit at the annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair running from August 1 -9, 2009, at the Mount Sunapee resort in Newbury.