Artwork
Local Artists
Seascapes
Landscapes
European
Floral
Abstracts
Figural
American Crafts
Glass
Ceramic
Sculptural
Home Accents
3-D
Wall Art
Gemstone Glass
by Larry C. Roff
Artist's Statement
Perhaps I was destined by birth to create Art Glass objects. I was born and raised in the luscious, green Chemung Valley area of Southern New York State, about 25 miles East of the Corning Glass Works and the Steuben factory. I believe that a 6th grade field trip to the Steuben factory weighted heavily on sealing my fate.
At the time, I was completely captivated as I watched the [masters] work their magic with what seemed like liquid fire on the end of a long metal rod. Today, I can still replay that experience in my mind. It did, however, take decades before I could make the decision to pursue glassblowing as a career. My first training came at a public access studio located a few blocks from the Steuben factory. There I learned some basics from Steuben trained people including retired masters, active ones, and some designers, all of whom frequented the studio out of their love and passion for glass. From that point forward everything else has been self taught, trial and error, practice, practice, practice. I'm still learning every day. I have also learned that it takes a great deal of dedication, desire, and determination to continue. Somehow the fascination, thrill and shear awe of what I experienced as a child never fades, and only seems to intensify. Every time I gather molten glass from my furnace my heart beats a little faster...2100 degrees F will do that to you!
My passion for glass is fed by this fascination and my inspiration often comes from a blend of nature and man that comes to being with a proper mix of respect, concentration, and skill. I am grateful for the opportunity to create at every day and dedicated to bringing joy to those who collect my work and the galleries that represent it.
Artist's Biography
All work is created by Larry C. Roff in his Florida studio. Each piece in this collection of Art Glass is all offhand/freeblown, without assistance. The addition of his custom hand wrought metal work provides added dimension with the delicate balance of combining symmetry and asymmetry, taking artistry to a highly sculptural level of presentation. These objects clearly demonstrate his passion for glass and are excellent choices for elegant and sophisticated experiences in any environment.
Offhand/freeblown glass is the term that denotes that the process lacks any use of mechanical device, that the pieces are strictly made by hand, one at a time using a small variety of hand tools such as blowpipes, pontils (punties), hand-held wooden blocks, jacks, sheers, tweezers, etc.
His pieces are made by gathering molten glass at about 2100*F onto a blowpipe, blocking that gather with a hand-held block to gain some shape and symmetry. Next, mouth-blown air is introduced into the blowpipe, trapped there, and as it is warmed from the heat to the glass, it expands to form a bubble within the gather. From this point creativity goes into high gear as more glass may be added along with more blocking, hand-tooling, blowing, reheating, shaping, and reshaping. Eventually the piece is transferred from the blowpipe to a pontil so that the open end can be worked, requiring more reheating, shaping, etc. Once hot working the piece is finished, it is separated from the pontil and placed in an annealing oven to cool very slowly. The cooling involves no less then 16 hours. The cooled pieces can be finished by grinding and polishing before they are signed.