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<font size="+1">Google News Alert for: <b>glassblower</b></font>
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<p style="width: 600px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true" style="color: blue;"
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For artist, glass is freedom</a><br>
<font size="-1"><font color="#666666">Lancaster Newspapers -
Lancaster,PA,USA</font><br>
<b>...</b> others with colored pencils or drawings made with pen and
ink — but for Lancaster <b>glassblower</b> Jason Ryner, the allure of
working with glass is that he's <b>...</b><br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/225682">http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/225682</a><br>
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<div id="articleHeadline">For artist, glass is freedom</div>
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<div id="masthead">Sunday News</div>
<div id="pubtime">Published: Aug 10, 2008<br>
00:06 EST</div>
<div id="location">Lancaster</div>
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<div id="byline" style="width: 300px; float: left;">By JAMES BUESCHER,
Correspondent</div>
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Some artists feel called to work with paint, others with colored
pencils or drawings made with pen and ink — but for Lancaster
glassblower Jason Ryner, the allure of working with glass is that he's
using one of the world's most fragile materials "to shape and capture
light.<br>
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<a href="http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/5/225682/vessel"
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title="A glass vessel by
Lancaster County artist Jason Ryner."><img
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alt="A glass vessel by
Lancaster County artist Jason Ryner." border="1">
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<div class="photoCaptionText">A glass vessel by
Lancaster County artist Jason Ryner.</div>
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"To me, working with glass represents total freedom,"
said Ryner, speaking in a recent interview from his Lancaster County
studio. "Glass may be delicate, but it's also incredibly flexible:
artists can make anything out of it, even chairs."<br>
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A 1993
graduate of Conestoga Valley High School, Ryner's arresting work with
commonplace objects like wineglasses, champagne flutes, candy dishes —
even marbles — has earned him high praise at regional art shows like
the upcoming Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show, where he'll be exhibiting
his works.<br>
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Ryner, when he's not spending his days dreaming up
new vessels to showcase his unique talents, offers the public ongoing
classes and workshops in the art of glassblowing with his wife and
business partner, Keysha Whitsel.<br>
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"Some people ask me what
influences my designs, and I'm afraid the answer is nothing. I'll just
get this calling, and it's like the piece designs itself," he said.<br>
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Rather than heading off to college directly after his
graduation from high school, Ryner said he elected to travel the
American West, supporting himself by working at hotels and ski resorts
until he figured out what he wanted to do with his life.<br>
<br>
It was
while living in Colorado, Ryner said, that he found himself walking
down the street in the college town of Boulder, just north of Denver,
where he came across a display of art glass and knew he'd just spotted
his future.<br>
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"You can't really go to art school to learn
glassblowing. You have to apprentice, and it took me four years of
trying before I finally found someone who was willing to take me on,"
said Ryner.<br>
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That glassblower was Colorado artist Bruce Breslau,
particularly known in the West for his work with hand-blown vases and
lamps, who taught Ryner not only about the art of glassblowing, but
also how to run a businesses. It was during this time, however, that
Ryner's wife was expecting their first child, Ryner said, so after he
finished his apprenticeship he decided to move back to Lancaster to be
closer to his family.<br>
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"My wife and I are incredibly blessed that we're able to do
this ... Luckily, though, we've been able to make our dream work,"
Ryner said.<br>
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Though Ryner makes delicate goblets, wineglasses,
and glass cups for his clients, he said he'll always have a soft spot
in his heart for marbles.<br>
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"They're so small, but yet the possibilities of working with them are
endless," he said.<br>
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"And who doesn't love marbles?" <br>
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