Artist Bio

Glass artist Garth Torvestad has combined the ancient art of glass bead making with the modern technique and technology of borosilicate glass to create marbleous, a revolution in jewelry, fashion, and art.

Garth is a recent graduate of CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, where he was an instructor in flameworked glass and manager of the flameworking facility. He began making simple beads from moretti, the traditional Italian bead glass. He soon switched to borosilicate glass, a material of unmatched clarity and durability, which had been primarily used for laboratory apparatus until the end of the last century. Receiving basic instruction from glassblowers JoshRodine and Eric Edner (1st place, 2003 flame-off), Garth began to modify blown glass technique for application in beads, and, more specifically, the glass pendant.

Garth continues to innovate in the technique and design of flameworked glass, creating jewelry unlike any available in the last millennium. Garth's unprecedented level of innovation and creativity is quickly earning him the nickname "The Chihuly of Jewelry".

Artist Statement

The Zen masters teach us to become present in the moment.

For me, that state is most easily achieved when I am working hot glass.

In fact, each piece captures a moment in time, for glass is liquid and the finished piece is simply a suspended animation of this fluid substance.

When we understand that a piece which has been allowed to cool is really just a snapshot of a fluid process, we begin to appreciate time for what it is; flowing, liquid.

I seek to bring a moment of my time, a snapshot of my vision, to the world.

-- Garth Torvestad