Under the 3,000-degree-Fahrenheit flame, colors fuse, blend and begin to take shape. The rough orb that later emerges from the kiln is cut and polished to reveal a glass confection resembling an otherworldly geode.
Under the talented hands of Savannah College of Art and Design alumni Andrew Brown and Bryan Kitson, rods of colored glass become intricately designed paperweights, marbles, beads and art pieces.
After graduating from SCAD in 1998 with degrees in illustration, Brown and Kitson each left Savannah, Ga., to pursue individual interests. Kitson picked up an illustration job for a magazine in his hometown of Blissfield, Mich., while Brown headed to Albuquerque, N.M., where he worked in a digital photo lab restoring and retouching photos.
While exploring other means of creating art, Brown enrolled in a two-day continuing education course at a community college to learn about soft-glass bead making. His interest in glass art grew, but he was unsure how to start and what equipment to use. His answer came one day at the photo lab in the form of a customer with some poorly taken photographs of Pyrex body jewelry. "I offered to retake his photos and teach him how to make his digital files better," said Brown. "In trade, he taught me glass for a few nights and set me up with a small studio."
Brown realized the potential of his newly discovered medium, and called on Kitson to join him in Albuquerque. "I was intrigued," said Kitson. "We formulated a plan to start our own business, and I bought a 1979 box truck and moved out west to collaborate with an old friend."
KBGlassworks began as a partnership in experimenting with borosilicate (Pyrex) glass art, and Brown and Kitson were dedicated to learning their art. "Long hours at the torch and endless peanut butter sandwiches were the norm," said Kitson. "We were perpetually broke and often hungry, yet satisfied and excited about our present and our future."
After being refused for their first bead show, the duo decided they needed to create something unique to be considered for the Best Bead Show in Tucson, Ariz. They developed innovative methods of creating glass pieces, including using a lapidary wheel to cut and facet pendants and stumbling upon a unique product: the Southwest Glass Geode. The geode was created as the result of a grinding accident, and actually resembles a cut and polished geode found in the desert. Using nature as inspiration, KBGlassworks perfected their lampworking to replicate the rocks, minerals, plants and colors of the Southwest.
Their creativity earned them a table at the 2002 Best Bead Show, and Brown walked away the winner of the bead category in the Albuquerque Flame Off, a four-day flame-working competition. Kitson received an honorable recognition in the marble competition, and his marble now is displayed at the Corning Museum of Glass. KBGlassworks began to garner recognition throughout the United States, as Brown and Kitson showcased their pieces in a variety of venues, including the National Marble Museum and the International Society of Glass Beadmakers Show. Their pieces have been featured in Glass Art magazine, and they were asked to test new products, including a powdered glass called frit, for Glass Alchemy.
Kitson and Brown collaborated under KBGlassworks for three years, and as each artist evolved, their visions and directions became more independent. They split the business in 2004 and moved on to expand their art independently, though they continue to share tables at many shows. "We’re continuing down parallel but separate paths," said Kitson, "occasionally collaborating and always critiquing and supporting each others’ endeavors."
Now based in Cedar Crest, N.M., Kitson continues to melt, shape and form Pyrex glass into "wearable art and sculpture." His pieces involve various stages of hot and cold work — hot work being lampworking with a torch and annealing in a kiln, and cold work being cutting, grinding and polishing on a lapidary wheel.
The creation process varies by piece, and often involves immersing clear and colored rods of glass in fumes of silver and gold using an oxygen and propane torch. The glass is heated to a molten state where it is formed and shaped, then colors are layered and synthetic opals are often encapsulated in the center of the piece. Kitson then places the finished piece in the kiln to allow it to cool and adjust to a normal state.
He utilizes color theory, art history, the art of critiquing, and plenty of hard work in his art. "Glass is probably the hardest medium in the art world to get used to," said Kitson. "You have to be very patient and let the glass flow instead of forcing it."
Kitson is sharing his enthusiasm for glass with others through teaching, and has had two apprentices in the last two years. He recalls one of his favorite SCAD professors, Stefani Joseph, who demonstrated that art was beyond simple activity, that a person could live art. "With glass, I can work for myself and I have a much greater artistic freedom and creativity," said Kitson. "Glass will always be in my future and my life. It will always be my artistic 'home.'"
Brown returned to Albuquerque in January after establishing a gallery and flame working school, Bell St. Glass, in Kansas City, Mo., with a friend. The six-month project involved installing vents and workspaces, arranging wholesale accounts with glass supply companies, and filling classes with students.
Many of Brown’s pieces are electroformed, making use of a copper-plating technique, and various colored rods are manipulated under the fire of the torch with tweezers, shears, twist motions and blowing into the glass. His paperweight creation process is similar to making a rock, then cutting and polishing it to reveal the colors and layers. He layers various hues of frit, then after cooling, he cuts, grinds and facets the piece. He prefers to work with Pyrex glass because he can continually rework the piece. Unlike studio furnace glass, Pyrex can be put aside for a week if he is unsure how to finish the piece, then be reheated and reworked.
"Colors react differently to the flame, atmosphere, heat and how long you keep it in the kiln," said Brown. "You almost never know how something’s going to come out. But that’s what I like about glass — the fluidity — it changes quickly."
Many glass companies, particularly Glass Alchemy, rely on Brown to test new products and colors. He accompanies Henry Grimmett, owner and chemist of Glass Alchemy, to various events, including the annual Art Glass Invitational in Pennsylvania, where he demonstrates color techniques while Grimmett delivers technical lectures.
Brown has been teaching workshops at several schools, including Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada, Carlisle School of Glass Art in Millville, N.J., and marble weekend at Wheaton Village Glass Studio in Millville, N.J. "At first I didn’t realize my art degree would help me out," said Brown. "But I can see form, function and color theory come naturally because of what I learned.
"There isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t learn something behind the torch," said Brown. "Glass is a mesmerizing material to work with. Some projects are hours and hours of work, but everything’s worth it to see what you can do with the medium."
To see more work by Bryan Kitson or Andrew Brown, visit
Article by Amanda Tower. Photos courtesy of Andrew Brown (top) and Bryan Kitson.
