Although he is working at the top of a competitive glass field and has exhibited widely around the world, Stephan Cox prefers to keep his studio small. “I personally design and make every piece of glass. My wife runs the business end of our studio, which is at our home outside of River Falls , Wisconsin . This scale operation has been successful for us and suits what I am trying to do.”

Cox began blowing glass in the late 1970s. “I'd attended the University of Minnesota off and on and had worked a series of nasty jobs. Eventually I found my way to the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, where I gravitated toward painting and printmaking, spending most of my time working in the basement print shop. The glass shop was next door, and I found myself drawn to that hot, high-energy environment. The tricky molten material took over my life in 1979, and since then it's been all glass.

“When I began to master some of the techniques, I realized that an obsession with the craft itself can become a trap. When you are single-mindedly trying to reproduce something that is merely mechanically challenging, the emphasis on method can kill your creativity. Craft is vitally important, but it has its place within any art form.” Cox's work is an ongoing study of the interplay between form, color, texture and light. After deciding on the overall form or shape of a piece, Cox chooses his colors. When the form and color are realized, he often adds texture and alters the reflective properties of the piece by carving the blown and cooled glass with various abrasive tools.

“Above all, I love the ‘frozen moment' I can achieve with molten glass. Managing that graceful fluidity is a challenge that continues to fascinate me.”



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Black Hat Teapot
33 x 16"
Blown and sculpted glass
w/Black legs $6800. - w/Salmon legs $7800.