CHRIS SMITH GLASS ARTIST

Born October 1953 in San Francisco, Christopher Smith moved to British Columbia in 1970. He began working in glass in 1975, employed as an apprentice in the Glass Head Studio in Nelson B.C. This studio was primarily concerned with religious stained glass restoration and residential stained glass design and fabrication.

In 1975 Chris spent a semester at the Alberta College of Art, studying glass blowing under the direction of Norman Faulkner. He moved to Nanaimo in 1976, and studied art history at Malaspina College.

Chris opened the original Glaskrafter Art Glass Studio in Nanaimo in 1977. The Studio moved to Lantzville in 1986 and in 1991 it was moved to its present location behind Chris' home on the edge of Nanoose Bay. Glaskrafter Art Glass is one of the oldest established art glass studios on Vancouver Island and provides a full range of services, from repairing broken French doors to complete design and consultation work with clients, interior designers and architects, resulting in glass work very specific to site and client.

Chris has taught many classes in both stained glass and sandblasting techniques. He has instructed at Malaspina College, North Island College, the Nelson School District, and holds private classes and workshops at his studio. He spent 10 years working with Grade 12 students at Nanaimo District Secondary, helping them design and build stained glass windows for their new library and scattering stained glass windows and fused glass panels throughout the school.

Exhibited widely in the past, Chris rarely exhibits work now as the commissioned work keeps him pretty busy. He does show new work in his own gallery and periodically will have work out at ‘the Old School House' Gallery in Qualicum Beach and the Nanaimo Art Gallery, downtown Nanaimo B.C. The Glaskrafter's commissioned work can also be found in places as distant and diverse as Singapore, Malta, Denmark, Osaka, the Yukon, England, and Cumberland.

Since 1975, Chris has been learning new ways to manipulate glass as well as constantly improving and refining his craft. With this growth in technique has come a growing
understanding of glass as art. Beginning with traditional stained and leaded glass, Christopher has been doing serious work with plate glass, creating his unique Light Sculptures. Sand carving and bending plate glass salmon and mounting the glass on lacquered river rock and creating mixed media sculpture using glass, steel, wood and beach aggregate. He\'s also creating sandblasted heron and salmon sconce lamps and fused glass platters, bowls and sculpture.

Creative development and the art of learning Art go on forever.