Born in San Francisco, California, he began working in glass as an apprentice at the Glass Head Stained Glass Studio in Nelson B.C in 1975. That same year he spent a semester at ACAD blowing glass. He came to Vancouver Island and opened Glaskrafter Art Glass in 1977. He exhibited at the 1983, B.C. Festival of the Arts showcase gallery. 2008 saw him studying warm glass with Brock Craig and glass casting with Erik Whittmore at Bullseye Glass. His present focus is in kiln cast glass, notably glass salmon and trout. Working with prominent mid island artists he has created 3 art installation projects highlighting the local environment and watersheds. Soft Shore in 2019, Tale of One Urban Creek 2021 and in 2024 X’pey, for the love of our wetlands all held at the McMillian Art Centre, Parksville. In 2019 Chris joined the board of the Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society working on the restoration and protection of the Kw’a’luwx (Englishman River) watershed.
The process:
Each fish is unique, one of a kind. I begin by carving a clay Salmon. I give this clay fish as much character and detail as I can, and I create them life sized. When I am happy with my clay fish, I coat them in a 2-part plaster-refractory mix. When that sets, I will weed the clay from the mold. In the meantime, I will have fused a glass fish skin, giving it the colouration and surface iridescence that I want. The mold is cleaned, volume determined and loaded with glass for eye, fins, and other detail elements, then glass skins and finally clear glass and glass billet to weight. Each Glass Salmon can weigh as much as 25 pounds. Depending on the size of the finished casting, it is then fired for as many as 7 days. When cool the glass filled mold will come out of the kiln, the plaster/refractory is broken away, leaving a Glass Salmon. Some finishing and cold working of the glass maybe required. Then they are returned to the kiln for the ‘swim’ or bend firing. Then I decide how the Glass Salmon will be presented. Bending and welding steel flat bar ‘river grass’ and creating a riverbed. Maybe swimming through river wood or softly undulating rusted steel bull kelp. Each mounting is a unique expression, “Glass with Salmon appearing”.
