GlassBlowing

Mel Douglas & Nancy Callan

Mel Douglas has worked as an independent studio artist since 2000. In 2020 Douglas was awarded her PhD from the Australian National University for practice-lead research investigating how studio glass can be understood through the aesthetics of drawing. In addition to winning the 2020 and 2014 Tom Malone Prize, a prestigious award through which a work is acquired each year into the collection of the National Gallery of Western Australia, Douglas has received several major awards including the Ranamok Glass Prize in 2002, the International Young Glass Award in 2007 from Ebeltolft and in 2022 she was a finalist in the Loewe Craft Prize.
In 2019 her work was the inaugural acquisition for the NGA’s Robert and Eugenie Bell Decorative Arts and Design Fund. Douglas’ work is held in the private collections and public institutions internationally, including the Corning Museum of Glass, New York, the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; the Ebeltoft Museum of Glass, Denmark, and National Gallery of Australia, Australia. Nancy Callan grew up near Boston, MA, working as a pizza-maker, band roadie and graphic designer before attending the Massachusetts College of Art (BFA 1996). A chance peek into the hot glass studio changed the trajectory of her life; she was entranced by the fluid, glowing material and the demanding choreography of working at the furnace. In 1996 she relocated to Seattle, WA to join maestro Lino Tagliapietra’s glassblowing team, rising to a key position as his assistant and travelling internationally to teach and demonstrate the craft. Through this nineteen-year apprenticeship, Callan mastered the traditional Venetian glassblowing techniques that are the foundation of her innovative work with line, pattern and color.

Nancy Callan has blazed a trail as an LGBTQ woman, helping to inspire, teach and mentor the next generation of diverse artists in glass. Residencies, workshops and collaborations continue to feed her practice and create space for experimentation. Callan’s work brings a contemporary sensibility to the material and processes of hot glass working.
Nancy Callan is represented by galleries throughout North America and her work is in the collections of the Museum of Glass (WA), Microsoft Collection, Chrysler Museum (VA), The Mint Museum (NC), Peabody-Essex Museum (MA), Barry Museum (VA), Corning Museum of Glass (NY) and the Shanghai Museum of Glass (China). A major solo exhibition, “Nancy Callan: Forces At Play”, took place at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA in October 2024.

FrameWorking

Roger Parramore

Roger Parramore’s passion for glass began forty-one years ago, captivated by lampworkers who transformed fire into life-like figurines. His early interest led to a formative apprenticeship in scientific glassblowing at the University of Florida, giving him a deep, technical mastery of the material rooted in chemistry and physics. After a brief period in academia where he earned degrees in Philosophy and English Literature and taught at Western Carolina University, he transitioned fully to a studio artist in 1995.
Parramore’s vessels are renowned for their Italian influence, characterized by light, fine, and impossibly thin forms that explore the material's inherent strengths and weaknesses. His work often utilizes clear borosilicate glass or the Venetian incalmo style with ceramic-like colors. Fellow master artist Robert Mickelsen calls Parramore the ‘human lathe’ due to his adeptness at forming large blown pieces with uncompromising design aesthetics. His scientifically-derived precision places him “squarely among the very best lampworkers in the world today.”
Driven by his deep curiosity about glass as a material, he founded the Parramore Color Company, an international entity recognized globally for the consistency and quality of its colored glass. As a highly respected artist, Parramore is committed to teaching, sharing his technical knowledge at respected facilities like the Pilchuck Glass School and traveling internationally to mentor the next generation.
Adding to his creative enterprises, Parramore founded the ParraTone Banjo Company in 2004. This custom shop allows him to work one-on-one with musicians, shaping instruments based on tone, color, and feel—a direct parallel to his glass artistry. His diverse roles, including his ongoing academic study of transformational leadership and his work on The Theology of Creativity, ultimately explore how the creative life is applied to community and social development. He continually presents who he is as a creative being, connected to a greater creative community..