Elias Glass Studio, John and Jennie Elias

Westport, MA

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Elias Studios is a hot glass studio located in the coastal village of Westport, Massachusetts.  John and Jennie Elias, a husband and wife team, have worked together since 1991 to create a line of colorful, functional, blown glass items that bring art to everyday life!  John does all the blowing and Jennie handles all aspects of running a busy production glass studio without standing in front of a two thousand degree furnace!

Their specialty is unique color combinations. John patterns the glass using small chips of colored glass called “frit” and each one is individually blown using traditional glass techniques. “I enjoy playing with unique color combinations combined with layering which can evoke a remembered visual experience: a garden, a Tiffany window, a Monet painting, a bird…each piece bringing a surprise of unexpected, personal visual imagery to the viewer.  Unlike my work in clay, I appreciate the immediacy of glass and the demands of being completely focused on each step in the blowing process.”

John Elias discovered glass after years as a potter.  He was immediately intrigued by the similarities between throwing pots on a wheel and shaping glass on a blow pipe. This initial encounter has endured into a thirty plus years exploration, inspired by the challenging fluidity and limitless potential of glass to use color.  The frit flows across the surface creating movement and rhythms, making each piece unique and allowing the viewer to find their own personal imagery within.

John, a former college professor, holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Glass from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.  Prior to starting the Studio, John was an assistant professor of glass and ceramics at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, for six years.  As a production glass artist, John’s work has been carried by numerous fine craft galleries, museums, and botanical garden shops.  Jennie, also a former teacher, holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Rhode Island School of Design and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from University of Massachusetts. 

Together, they strive to bring their love of glass, color and light to each piece, and sincerely hope you will share their enthusiasm.