Meet Matthew Stern | Glassblower & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Stern and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My initial passion for working with my hands started in high school during ceramics classes. I had an amazing teacher, Jeff Pabotoy who inspired me to invest myself into the project I was working on. I ended up spending a lot of my spare time working with clay and trying to craft my works in the way I envisioned them. When it came time to figure out what I was going to do after high school, Jeff had encouraged me to apply to Virginia Commonwealth University because they had a very highly ranked program for the arts. Despite having doubts about pursuing a career in the arts I applied to VCU’s art school, and to my surprise, I was accepted!

While I was in the Craft and Material Studies Department at VCU I had the opportunity to work with a variety of mediums, focusing mainly on glass, ceramics, and wood. Once I took my first glass blowing class and discovered how the molten glass in the furnace could be manipulated and blown into a vessel, I became obsessed.

I entered art school feeling some pressure and doubts about what I would be able to do with my art degree. Once I discovered glass blowing, a lot of those doubts seemed to ease as I was so enthralled with this new material. I was constantly thinking about new things I could try with glass and new projects I could try to make. The challenge and immediacy of working glass at 2100 degrees Fahrenheit required my mind and body to unite and focus in a way that allowed the chatter of life to fade away temporarily.

As my skills grew in the glass and ceramics studios, I started to sell some of my work- initially to mostly friends and family. Regardless of who it was, the feeling of having other people see and recognize the value of my work fueled my passion. I was determined to figure out if I could make a career out of the skillset I developed in the Craft and Material Studies Department.
When I graduated from VCU in 2019, I was accepted to take a class at the world-renown Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. Knowing that Seattle was a hub for glassblowing, I purchased a one-way ticket out west. I made a friend in that class that lived in Seattle and let me crash on his couch for a couple weeks while I searched for a place to live and enough glassblowing work to support myself.

The life of an artist can often be full of challenges and doubts. The friends and community I have met along my journey with this material have had such an impact on continuing to believe in my dreams. Often, the curiosity and wonder that is formed from creating with such an instantaneous and malleable material is enough to put aside many hindering doubts. The urge to explore and answer new questions that arise from working with glass reminds me why I decided to pursue a creative career in the first place.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I find that making artwork is a way to hold moments of time and preserve precious memories in the form of objects. The series I have been working on the longest is my InnerBloom series. I started making these pieces after my good friend Neil took his life. When dealing with loss, I find it helpful to focus on the beautiful moments that are captured in your mind. I wanted these vessels to express those feelings of depicting something beautiful and making it timeless.

The journey of being an artist has been filled with challenges. Glass can be a very unforgiving material. Hot glass can be a very immediate material to work with; if you are not giving your full attention to the material, mistakes can happen quickly. Every small variable of timing and temperature will affect the piece you are working on. It never becomes easy and there is more to be learned. My knowledge and understanding of glass will grow and so will the questions I have about creating. Everything I create can inform the next direction I take with my work.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are some beautiful parks and beaches in Seattle! I would recommend checking out Discovery park, Centennial Park and Golden Gardens. The Mountaineering Club is a great place to grab a drink with a view of the beautiful mountains around Seattle. Chinooks is a tasty place to eat for Seafood. They have a great fish and chips and clam chowder!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think that Jeff Pabotoy, my first ceramics teacher in high school, deserves some credit and recognition. After teaching in Virginia public schools and inspiring myself and many other students he went on to teach internationally. He is an incredibly skilled ceramicist and painter, and his teaching skills are phenomenal. I have learned from many incredible glassblowers on this journey, but if I hadn’t found my passion for working with my hands in Jeff’s classes, I doubt I would have discovered glassblowing and been part of VCU’s Craft and Material Studies Department. His encouragement in Highschool has set me on a life long journey with glass.

Website: www.matthewsterncraft.com

Instagram: stern_craft

Facebook: Matthew Stern