Chris Sherwin
Hand-Sculpted and Blown Glass
Glass has been an integral part of Chris Sherwin’s life for more than 24 years. In addition to glassblowing, he has also enjoyed exploring a variety of other media and materials, including music, ceramics, drawing, painting, and woodturning/wood burning. Chris first encountered glassblowing in 1991, as an “elective” in his senior year at SCSU, in New Haven, CT, while earning a B.S. in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Special Education. After two years of working in Maryland as a residential direct-care worker for individuals with Developmental Disabilities, he returned home to Vermont to begin his ‘life path’ as a glassblower.
In 1993, he became an apprentice with Simon Pearce, Inc., a prestigious glass facility in Windsor & Quechee, VT, known for their high-quality production of functional crystal. Chris eventually became a journeyman glassblower and team leader there, and his team’s particular concentration was in stemware and handled pieces (pitchers, tankards, Irish coffee mugs, etc.) as well as various bowls and vases.
In 1997, Chris and his fiancé moved to Chico, California, where she pursued her BS/Masters degrees in Speech Pathology and he worked as a glassblower at Orient & Flume Art Glass, an internationally-renowned glass studio, known for their iridescent vases, intricate paperweights, and torch-work designs. For the next seven years, Chris watched and learned from some of the “masters of the trade,” experimenting with new colors and techniques, developing and refining my own skills, and specializing in iridescent and torch-work design. Chris sold many solo and collaboratively-designed pieces on the “O&F” production line, and had his own successful retail section in the Orient & Flume showroom.
In 2004, after their respective educations, wonderful adventures and life experiences, they returned home to New England to raise their daughter in the same close-knit community setting they grew up in, closer to both of their families. For the next year Chris worked to set up his glass studio, and in August, 2005, Sherwin Art Glass was officially recognized by the State of Vermont as a business, complete with a scenic location overlooking the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, VT.
Chris now lives about a mile from the studio with his wife, Cheryl, a Speech & Language Pathologist for the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union. Their daughter is currently in college back in CA, also studying Speech & Language Pathology. When not blowing glass, Chris enjoys many outdoor sports and activities (especially disc golf, hiking, and fishing), playing guitar, and spending quality time with family and friends. In addition, Chris has coached soccer at his daughter’s middle school, chaperoned/instructed snowboarding, and is a “Big Brother” with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America.
Chris continues to specialize in the unique art of torch work in/on hand-sculpted and blown glass, striving to capture the beauty he sees in Nature, especially here in New England.
Chris Sherwin
Sherwin Art Glass
33 Bridge Street, PO Box 168
Bellows Falls, VT 05101802-376-5744
sherwinartglass@comcast.net
www.sherwinartglasss.com
www.instagram.com/SherwinArtGlass/www.facebook.com/sherwinartglass
