Josh Bernbaum
In nearly twelve years of working with glass as a medium, I have explored various techniques and design styles. I am most interested in color, especially color relationships in the designs I create. In my glass work, made at my newly completed studio up on a hill in West Brattleboro, Vermont, I have utilized many methods of color application. All the coloration seen in my objects is done with glass, colored glass, applied in various methods.
Most recently I have been interested in exploring ways of making my work less “glassy,” that is to say stepping away from some of what we consider the traditional qualities of glass–mainly transparent or reflective. The opaque colors I have chosen for some of my new pieces, and especially the ones that have etched surfaces, help to achieve an appearance that the viewer has to maybe ponder for a second or two about the material used in the objects’ creation.
Since molten glass is such an unforgiving and challenging substance to tame and manipulate, it is a continual learning process for anyone who chooses to utilize it as a medium. I consider the pieces I make to be documents along the way of a (hopefully) life-long journey of developing the necessary skills and patience one needs in order to create with this captivating and mesmerizing molten goo.
