Jay Macdonell is no stranger to the Museum, having been a Guest Artist in the Hot Shop, and his work is regularly shown at William Traver Gallery in both Seattle and Tacoma.

Jay has been blowing glass since 1992. He completed a traditional apprenticeship at Robert Held Art Glass in 1996 and studied with maestro Daniel Vargas his first few years there. In 2000 Jay received the Tiffany Glass Scholarship to attend Pilchuck Glass School and subsequently worked there as a TA for artists Randy Walker, Preston Singletary and Katherine Gray. This summer Jay co-taught a class in creative design with Ann Wahlstrom.

Jay is currently working on a sculptural vessel series he calls “Formulations” exploring the relationship between form, tension and balance.

“I choose to resolve these issues by connecting three separate forms together. This allows me to play with the proportion not only of the forms themselves but of the piece as a whole. The cane on the surface gives a lineal quality to the pieces, supporting the form.”

Jay plans to continue his work on the “Formulations” series during his residency this week.

See you in the Hot Shop.