Will Dexter co-founded Taylor Backes glass studio with his wife, Karla Trinkley. Their objective was to collaborate in the design of traditional and contemporary Art Glass. Together they wanted to create a unique line of work. Taylor Backes represents a wide variety of fine American crafts and art.

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Pakoh Belle was born and raised on Long Island, NY and has been creating art his whole life. He has received many awards and accommodations from as early as the 1st grade, and all throughout his primary education. His natural inclination towards art led him to the Rhode Island School of Design, one of the most prestigious art schools in the country, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Although he majored in painting, Pakoh studied a wide variety of mediums at different institutions across the country, inculding the San Francisco Art Institute and Pilchuck Glass School, where he ultimately discovered his love of glass. This became his focus and occupation after graduation in 1999. Pakoh worked out of Rhode Island until January, 2003, when he was fortunate enough to land a spot at Glass Works Park, a well known cooperative glass studio in Seattle, Washington. There, he was able to grow and learn from some of the "new school" leaders in the flameworking field. In September 2004, he moved to his current studio, a smaller Co-Op with underground glass guru, Max Polin.

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John Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1968 and immigrated to the United States in 1981, when he was 13. He attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design. In 1997, John was introduced to glassblowing and began apprenticing with several studio glass blowers. After working in glass for ten years, John began working independently in various studios and producing functional work and glass sculpture. He has gaffed for several artists, including Einar and James de la Tore, Megan Stevens, Joel Philip Myers, David Lepta and Melanie Guernsey. He has attended glassblowing classes around the world, including learning from Pine Signore, Karen Hillenbrand-Johnson, William Morris, Eliot Quails, Josiah MacClenny, Lion Tagliapietra, Dick Marquis, and Katherine Gray. John was also a teaching assistant for renowned artists such as Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Karen Willenbrink-Johnson, and Jose Chardiet. He has taught classes at Hot Soup Glass Studio in Philadelphia, and was a visiting artist at the University of the Arts. Among all of these activities, John has received scholarships to attend Haystack Mountain School, Penland School of Crafts, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, and a grant from Contemporary Glass Philadelphia. His exhibition list is also very impressive, including work at the American Craft Council Show, in Baltimore, Maryland, the Snyderman Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, UrbanGlass, in Brooklyn, New York, the Noyes Museum of Art, in Oceanville, New Jersey, and the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John is very enthusiastic about exploring and learning about glass to create very unique abstract glass sculpture and functional art.

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If life is a journey, then Charlene Foster has had one hell of an adventure. Foster was born on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines in May of 1980. In 1990, the military sent her and her family to Anchorage, Alaska . As a Gemini, Charlene, like others under that sun sign, had her hands in many things. With her rebellious nature and wild heart, she set out to prove her independence at a young age. Foster attended the University of Alaska in Anchorage for Fine Arts. The slow pace of mainstream American ideals clashed with Foster's creative vision. She wanted to expand her wings and explore life beyond her small home town. When wanderlust set in for our Alaskan vixen, she picked up everything on a whim to upgrade to big city life on the east coast in Boston. It was there that Foster was introduced to the world of glassblowing through classes at the Avon Place Glass in Cambridge and glass bead making at The Boston Center for Adult Education. But the itch to be on the go set in again and Foster was off to Seattle, where she honed her skills as a dynamic glass artist at the Pilchuck Glass School. Absorbing everything thrown at her like a sponge, she immersed herself in the medium, determined to be more than an artist, but a flame working extraordinaire. Once she got her fill, Foster took off again, traveling across the country; a girl alone with her backpack and a dream. Foster continued with intensive studies at the Penland School of Arts and Crafts in North Carolina and then found herself at The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. From there, there was only one place to go: NEW YORK CITY! With one foot in the gutter and one fist in the goal, Foster hit the pavement hard, because "honey if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." Foster began working at the Michael Davis Glass Studio in Long Island City, NY as an assistant glassblower and eventually led stained glass and glassblowing workshops with younger children. In August 2004, Foster assisted a fellowship at The Creative Glass Center of America at Wheaton Village, New Jersey. In September 2004, Foster's glass art was featured at The Body Archive Gallery in Chelsea. Her exhibit, titled "Discipline," was inspired by patterns of human nature: lust, self destruction and temptation. Selected pieces from Foster's "Glass Bondage Series" went on display at the Robert Lehman Gallery in downtown Brooklyn in April 2005. Her "Glass Bondage Series" is a metaphor for the psychology of relationships. B ondage is an anomaly. It represents strength, security and support, but also restraint, limitation and co-dependence. Bondage in the form of human relationships is a self-imposed state of being. In discovering the delicate balance between the tie that binds and the tie that restrains, Foster incorporated that irony into her pieces. These seemingly powerful connections are constructed of glass- reminding the viewer of the frail nature of relationships. Foster currently showcases her work in Gallery 908 at Philadelphia Glass Works. She works as an independent contractor for many artists such as Michael Schunke at Nine Iron Studios in Pennsylvania, and has taught classes at Urban Glass for various glass classes. She has recently built a flameworking studio in her loft in Brooklyn and is focusing on her new line of jewelry.

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Kim Fraczek's jewelry characterizes her love for movements and color in the organic world. Kim works out of Brooklyn, New York.

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Ayako Ikeda was born in Kumamoto, Japan. Ayako received her BFA and MA degrees in living design and architecture from The University of Shiga Prefecture in Japan. Ayako's glass art studies began in 2001 at the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art, the first public institution in Japan specializing in the field of glass art. After completing her studies in 2003, Ayako traveled extensively and worked with many glass artists from all over the world. Her work is shown internationally in Japan and the United States, and has been in a number of group exhibitions, including at the Enomoto Gallery in Osaka and the Milestone Gallery in Toyama. In 2004, Ayako moved to the United States to pursue her career as a glass artist. As a studio glassblowing artist she has worked in many glass studios and has been an assistant and instructor of intermediate and advanced glassblowing at Philadelphia's Hot Soup Studio and Gallery. Ayako was the recipient of a grant from Contemporary Glass Philadelphia in 2005, and the Wheaton Village CGCA Fellowship 2006. In 2004, together with the Christopher Lydon, Ayako co-founded Glassboss Studios, a limited production company creating contemporary blown glass objects. Ayako now resides in Philadelphia where she continues to further her studio and business, and strives to develop her own personal work.

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Historically, one of the roles of the artist was to document and comment on their society and the world around them. Much of what we know about Egypt and other ancient civilizations we learned from their art. What will people know about us in two thousand years? While they will have the benefit of enormous amounts of written word and recorded information, they will have a better sense of who we are by our art. Art from the twentieth and early twenty first centuries will show our diversity and our freedom to explore. Never before has art gone in so many directions and pushed so many boundaries. Blown art glass, on the other hand, is relatively in its infancy. It has really become a force in the last forty or so years. And yet there is so much to be explored. It has gained the respect as a legitimate art form, but I sense that there is a clear division between art collectors and glass collectors. I feel that my work helps to bridge the division. My training was in painting and drawing, but my passion has always been for furnace worked glass. The process is as exciting to me now as it was twenty years ago. But my work doesn’t seem to fit into the general glass art market. That seems to be saturated with artists who are pre-occupied with perfect technique. The results are some amazingly beautiful pieces, but not a great deal of meaning or depth. I like that my art has something to say. The ceramicist Peter Voulkos said “Technique is probably the most difficult tool to master, because it is a necessity, but so easily becomes an obsession. Nothing can drown out new ideas as fast as an obsession with technique. Technique is nothing if you have nothing to say.” (Voulkos 1982) I’ve always struggled with having something to say, but not wanting to hit my audience over the head with it. In the past, I was limited to trying to express myself with symbolic meaning in my glass. I’m not sure you got it unless I explained it. I recently learned this technique that enables me to put images on my glass. The floodgates have opened, and I’m having a difficult time keeping up with my ideas. Now my challenge is to marry the images to the form. Sometimes the answer is apparent and sometimes very evasive. But it is very exciting, and I’m amazed every time I see an image emerge. Perfect technique will probably avoid me forever, but I’m thrilled to be able to do what I’m doing. I hope you enjoy the work. My work has recently been exhibited at the Schuylkill Gallery, Bryn Mawr Trust, Fine Art Liaisons and other Philadelphia area galleries.

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Ian Kerr makes unique light fixtures at Philadelphia Glass Works. These works can only be seen at Gallery 908.

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For Mark Leputa, the greatest sense of self-satisfaction and pride are found in the creation process. Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 with a BA in Communications, Mark always felt his imagination was being suppressed. Throughout his studies Mark continuously turned to art to liberate the ideas boiling within. Not until a short holiday to New Zealand in 2004 did Mark finally submit to his longing of being a full-time artist when he discovered the medium he had long been seeking - glass. The heat, the fire, the seemingly liquid state that this material is worked at entranced him. This period of his life marked a turning point and nothing has been the same since. The short holiday turned into a three-year apprenticeship. During this time he was able to define a body of work where simplicity, purity of form, and negative space is merged to meet harmony. Being his own harshest critic, Leputa's approach to the creation of his art is relentless and uncompromising. Demanding precision and a close attention to detail he is able to bring his abstract visions to life. Every touch to the glass has significant and deliberate meaning. The final naming of the title is his finishing touch thus creating a marriage between the work itself and the passion that went into its completion. In 2007 Mark returned to the United States to further his knowledge and skills of the material. He now resides in Alabama where he continues to focus on achieving a clean, crisp body of work.

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Christopher Lydon received his BFA from the Univeristy of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1999. His work is shown throughout the United States in numerous galleries and has been in a number of group exhibitions, including shows in the Philadelphia International Airport and Philadelphia Art in City Hall. He held the position of studio supervisor in the University of the Arts glass department. Christopher's involvement in glass education continued through his work at the Pilchuck Glass School as an artist assistant, teaching assistant, and staff member. He has been a demonstrating artist at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass and The Pittsburgh Glass Center, and has been a regular instructor of intermediate and advanced glassblowing at Hot Soup Studio and Gallery. Some of the honors he has received include being an Artist in Residence at The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, full scholarships to study at both The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass and Pilchuck Glass School, and twice received grants from Contemporary Glass Philadelphia to create his work. In 2001, Christopher moved to Los Angeles to particpate in an experimental project tilizing glass art techniques to transform recycled glass into design objects to be used in article, landscape and installation art. During that time he managed the hot soup, oversaw product development, and travelled to France, Italy, and Belgium to work on-site on project installations. Upon completion of the project in Los Angeles, Christopher returned to the east coast to pursue his career as an artist. As a freelance studio glassblower he has worked as gaffer and production coordinator in local studios and executed glass designs for some of New York City's leading fine artists and sculptors. In 2004, together with Ayako Ikeda, he co-founded Glassboss Studios, a limited production company creating unique blown glass designs. Christopher now resides in Philadelphia where he continues to teach, further his studio and business, and strive to develop his personal work.

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Matthew Metz began working with glass in 1998 at Philadelphia's Hot Soup. From there, he went on to lampworking. In 2000, Matthew decided to leave school, where he was studying Graphic Design, to pursue a career in glassblowing. In the years that followed, he worked with many established artists around the United States, as well as in commercial production studios. Currently, Matthew works for WIlliam Dexter at Taylor Backes Studio in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. He also teaches at R.K.S. Studio in Reading, Pennsylvania.

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Joshua Opdenaker began his art career by studying stone carving and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts in 2002. After using traditional stone carving methods to carve extensive pieces for four years, he decided to learn a more immediate medium. Glass sculpting was a natural progression for him and he began working with glass every day. He believes that the beauty in glass sculpting comes from the never ending struggle for perfection in theory and execution. For Joshua, the art is not in the finished piece itself, but in the process of physically making the work. His work has been exhibited all over the world, with a large body of work in Philaedlphia. He is a resident artist at Philadelphia Glass Works where he continues to express his ideas through glass and still finds time to teach classes.

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Philadelphia local, Zach Puchowitz, discovered glass through friends who attended The Crefeld School. He set up his first flameworking studio in 1999 as well as enrolling in the Tyler glass department, studying under professors Jon Clark and Dan Cutrone. Before graduating in 2003, Zach managed to study with a handful of glass artists at various schools. Following graduation, Zach spent a year in Burlington, Vermont, where he was a resident artist in Alan Goldfarb's studio. After traveling in Europe for the summer of 2004, Zach decided to return to Philadelphia and establish his own studio, where he currently lives and works.

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Nathan Purcell started his glass career in 1998 in Boulder, Colorado. In 1999, Purcell moved to Philadelphia where he started working with Jon Koutsouros in 2001 to 2003. He had his first workshop at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York in 2002. Then from 2002-2003 he took three workshops with Emilio Santini. After this series of workshops, he opened Philadelphia Glass Works with business partner Ian Kerr in West Philadelphia. After one year of having his own studio, he was featured in the Snyderman Works Gallery for the first time. In 2005, Nathan and Ian opened up the new 2100 square foot facility of Philadelphia Glass Works and Gallery 908 in Northern Liberties. The new location is the largest exclusive glass gallery in Philadelphia and a public access lampworking facility. Nathan is one of the resident artists and an instructor for advanced classes. After eight years of blowing glass, Nathan went to SOFA in New York in 2006 represented by Snyderman Works Gallery. At SOFA, he exhibited his lampworked glass, sterling silver, 24K gold, and diamond-filled bracelets. Currently, Nathan resides in Philadelphia. He will be teaching a class at The Revere School in November 2007.

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Brian Regan has been blowing glass for over ten years.

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Terri Stanley lives and maintains a studio in Southern New Jersey. She has studied with such luminaries as Kirstie Rea, Mark Abildgaard, Leslie Rowe-Isrealson, Melanie Rowe, Milon Townsend and Patty Gray. She has studied at Pilchuck Glass School and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass. Her work is shown throughout the United States and is held in private collections internationally.

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Peggy Pettigrew is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, who now resides in Arizona. From the water to the desert- she finds beauty in both. It was both a dream and a struggle to find her niche in glass. But she has found her groove, and her passion again. Pettigrew is the creator of Plasma Fusion Glass, a unique glassworking process and technique. She currently works in her studio, Desert GlassHopper Studio, in Arizona.

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