Shining Light on Creativity: An Interview with Artist & Collector Joe Tsoulfas
Banjo. Darkness Motorcycle, 2006. Blown and sculpted borosilicate glass. 5 × 15 x 5 in. (12.7 × 38.1 × 12.7 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
The Pacific Northwest is an epicenter of innovation in glass art. Joint Venture aims to shine a spotlight on the flameworkers who are pushing the boundaries of functional glass – more commonly known as pipes.
Adapting hot-glass techniques used in scientific glassmaking to create pipes began in the 1980s, when flameworker Bob Snodgrass (American, born 1946) began making small pieces to sell at Grateful Dead concerts. This community of makers has developed largely underground for the last forty years, often operating under pseudonyms, not unlike some street and graffiti artists.
Over the last decade an increase in commercial interest has helped push past the stigma attached to the functional glass scene. These makers join the arena with other torch-based sculptors who use the same tools to create paperweights and marbles.
Joe Tsoulfas’s collection, displayed in the Joint Venture Exhibition, shows how this complex and once taboo artform has evolved thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of this community. These contemporary flameworkers are bridging the gap between form and function, creating works that honor pipemaking’s psychedelic origins, while simultaneously creating complex sculptures with substantial technical merit. We recently caught up with Tsoulfas about this installation and Joint Venture 2025.
Niko Cray and Cowboy. Rainbow Snake, 2019. Blown and sculpted borosilicate glass. 6 × 2 ½ x 3 ½ in. (15.2 × 6.4 × 8.9 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Niko Cray. Snake, 2019. Blown and sculpted borosilicate glass. 7 ½ x 3 × 5 in. (19.1 × 7.6 × 12.7 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Museum of Glass: What began your journey in glass, and in functional glass specifically?
Joe Tsoulfas: My journey in glass started in 1993 when I saw my first “color-changing” glass pipe by Bob Snodgrass at my first Grateful Dead show! It took until 1999 for me to get set up and start melting glass, due to the secrecy around techniques and limited resources available at the time. Information around glass, and the pipe scene specifically, was very hard to come by. The knowledge was held tightly by those who had it.
MOG: What do you wish more people who visit Museum of Glass knew about creating functional glass?
JT: The great thing about flameworking and functional glass is that, for the most part, it’s very accessible. You don’t need very much equipment or space to get started! Nowadays, there is so much free information to get you started, and classes available on any variety of techniques if you want to dive in deeper.
MOG: How does the approach to these art works differ when using soft glass and hard glass? What are the advantages of each?
JT: The main difference between blowing soft glass and flameworking borosilicate is the accessibility! Soft glassblowing costs significantly more per hour to run than flameworking. Also, when in the hot shop, you generally need an assistant or two. When flameworking, it’s all on you. Another benefit to flameworking is the ability to start a piece, set it down, and come back to it when you want. When working in the hot shop, it’s generally renting by the hour. Once you start your piece, you have to work until it’s finished. Although, the advantages of working in the hot shop is the ability to scale up the size of your work.
Left: Ethan Windy. The Lover, 2023. Blown and sculpted borosilicate glass. 7 × 4 × 6 in. (17.8 × 10.2 × 15.2 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Right: Ethan Windy. The Fighter, 2022. Blown and sculpted borosilicate glass. 7 ½ x 3 × 5 in. (19.1 × 7.6 × 12.7 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
MOG: What is your favorite memory from Joint Venture 2024 (Chronic Heat)? What are you most excited about for the event this year?
JT: My favorite memory of Joint Venture last year was working with friends who had never worked at the Museum of Glass before. Also, the opportunity to give pipemakers a platform to help elevate and share knowledge about our community of makers, and help clear any misconceptions visitors may have held about the scene.
MOG: What inspired the Joint Venture Exhibition at Museum of Glass? What do you hope people take away from this show, and what does it mean to exhibit this work at the Museum?
JT: What I hope people take away from the show is the passion and skill these artists have for the medium. I hope the Joint Venture Exhibition helps to break down any negative connotations to the art form of pipemaking, and to shine the light on the creativity and forward-thinking pipemakers possess as glass artists.
Left to right:
Brian Padilla. Classic Sherlock, 1998. Blown-borosilicate glass. 3 x 2 x 6 1/2 in. (7.6 x 5.1 x 16.5 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Cam Tower. Classic Side-Car, 1995. Blown-borosilicate glass. 2 1/2 x 6 x 3 1.2 in. (6.4 x 15.2 x 8.9 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Banjo and Cowboy. Sherlock, 2019. Blown-borosilicate glass. 3 1/2 x 5 x 3 1/2 in. (8.9 x 12.7 x 8.9 cm.). Collection of Joe Tsoulfas.
Joe Tsoulfas (left) working with Jeff Ballard (right) during Chronic Heat: A Joint Venture 2024. Photo by Jamie Zill Photography.
About Joe Tsoulfas
Joe Tsoulfas embarked on his path within the glass industry by apprenticing under esteemed flameworkers in Oregon during the mid-90s. Simultaneously, he earned a degree in Environmental Ecology with the emphasis in Botany from Southern Oregon University, all while honing his glass skills behind the torch. Around 2005, Joe's fascination with furnace working, also known as soft glass, took root and became an obsession. Developing his skills in glassmaking, he attended glass schools such as: Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and Corning Museum of Glass as a student and instructor. Ten years later, Tsoulfas established Big Spin Glass studio, which has evolved into the headquarters for Bright Block Studios, the lighting studio he developed with Jeff Ballard (Soft Serve Glass).
Bio from brightblockstudio.com.