Egg-Stravaganza on Keuka Lake APril 1-8, 2023

Elijiah Smith grew up in a family of small business  owners and entrepreneurs in Wayland, NY. 

His interest  in glass was sparked in 2003 and he began taking classes at The Studio. In 2007 he became a gaffer for The Hot Glass Show and taught classes at The Studio  of The Corning Museum of Glass. Elijiah has since  become an independent artist who enjoys playing with  different colors and techniques to create unique, and  often whimsical, handcrafted pieces of glass. 

Hometown: Wayland, NY 

City currently reside: Kanona, NY 

The process and material was just  so amazing to work with. Classes at Corning Museum. Contact information/website: glass.esmith@gmail.com @elijiahsmithglass Awards/Recognition? Various best in shows and first place at many festivals over the past 13 year. 

Well-known for his fantastically large sculptures, George Kennard appreciates the limitless opportunities of manipulating molten glass. He prefers to create massive incalmo works by joining two blown glass bubbles to make different bands of color, and has worked with teams of up to 10 glassblowers to create some of his most notable large-scale works. 

“As a glass artist, I enjoy making large-scale pieces because it's a challenge and you really need to rely on a team for the effort,” said Kennard. Some of his works include a life-sized snow family and the world’s largest glass pumpkin.

After spending eight years working in private studios, Kennard began his tenure at the Museum in 2001 as an instructor in The Studio, teaching beginning and intermediate classes in glassblowing. His role at the Museum expanded to being part of the Hot Glass Team, where he assists glassmaking demonstrations both onsite and abroad through the Mobile Hot Shop.

Having blown glass since 1990, Kennard values the Museum’s extensive resources to further his adventures in glassmaking: “The Museum is a great source of inspiration with the vast collection it has and the resources at the Studio.

 Glass Artist Name: Aubergine Glass & Jewelry

Hometown: Pocono Mountains 

City currently reside: Corning, NY 

Glass beckons me with its candy-colored hues and transparency. No other media captures light quite like  glass. I have been working with glass sporadically for nearly 20 years. Many creative avenues call my  attention, but glass overrides my aesthetic. My husband inspired my interest in the medium when we  were in college and I ventured into fusing and stained glass to compliment his hot glass work. I  established Aubergine Glass & Jewelry in 2022 to market our talents as a pop-up small business based in  the Finger Lakes.  

Contact information/website: www.aubergineglass.com, 

email info@aubergineglass.com 

Awards/Recognition- Visiting lecturer in ceramics at Corning Community College What is unique about your glass art or your profession: I am intuitive in my art career and follow my interests like the flutter of hummingbird wings. Stained  glass and hot glass designs are my product base, but I also love to play with clay. I create natural  products for the body and home. You can even find me teaching yoga in the region or designing natural  landscape installations. I am UnterWoman, opposed to labels or titles that create boundaries 

Joe Rotsell -

A Corning area native. interested in art from an early age, everything from drawing, painting and anything in between. 

Joe had been a chef in the region for 40+ years incorporating his artwork into the culinary field with garnishing and ice sculpting. While working in culinary for a local corporation and catering at the Corning Museum of Glass, he saw the flame workers and immediately knew he had to get his hand into that medium! That happened in the mid-1990s and he has been doing it ever since. Sculpting everything from wildlife to flowers to jewelry, reusable glass straws and memorial glass. Joe was assisted in glass blowing by Nico, A gentleman from France who is training in the area. Some of this blown glass was produced at "Hands on Glass" in Corning.

Glass Artist Name: Jeremiah Unterman/ Glass Made Hot 

Hometown: Corning, NY 

City currently reside: Corning, NY 

 I chose glass for the seemingly endless possibilities with the amorphous material. I started working with  the medium at Urban Glass in Brooklyn, NY in 1999 during a two week internship. 

Contact information/website: jeremiahiunterman@gmail.com, no website   

When it comes to functional, handmade glass and the craftsmanship involved in its creation, there is  something special about using handmade objects in your daily routine. It always feels better to me than  a machine-made, mass-produced item. When it comes to artistic, sculptural glass making, the wonders  of glass lie within the material’s ability to take on any form you can imagine. I enjoy the challenge of  utilizing glass for both its functional and artistic potential. I find fulfillment in sharing my creations with  the world.  

Glass Artist Name: GIOSTUDIO Glass ( Chris Giordano)

Hometown: Easton, CT

City currently reside: Corning, NY

Why did you choose Glass? How did you get started?:

Glass came into my life in college and was love at first sight. I choose to work with glass because it never seems to stop challenging me to push myself. After 16 years I am still mesmerized by the process. 

Contact information/website : www.giostudio.com

Instagram : giostudioglass

Email : Chrsgiordano@gmail.com

As an Italian American, I strive to create works that hold the unique traditional techniques that hail from the Island of Murano, Italy with a modern minimalist approach to design and color. My forms are simple to capture the viewer's eye on line pattern, color and texture. 

ROSS A. DELANO is a glass maker who has been working with the medium since 2005 when he was  introduced to it during glassblowing classes at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. Shortly after  earning his Business Degree in Management Ross moved out to Corning, New York to pursue a career in  glassblowing.  

In addition to creating and selling his own work, Ross has assisted numerous glass artists throughout the  northeast in their creation of production and fine art glass pieces. 

At the Studio of the Corning Museum  of Glass (CMOG) since 2010 he has worked as a gaffer and an assistant to many international artists-inresidence. Ross has also been an instructor and teaching assistant at the CMOG Studio for over a  decade. 

In 2015 he received his Master of Design Management from Pratt Institute and currently  designs and creates handmade products for small business as well as his own craftware line and lighting  company. 

City currently reside: Corning, NY