bob heath
BOB HEATH
Aloha Oregon-based artist, Bob Heath, creates beautiful glass art that is both decorative and functional using a variety of techniques including fusing and sand carving.
Bob has been working with glass for over 20 years. During that time, he has been privileged to work with and learn from many of the leading artists in the Art Glass field. He served for over 10 years on the board of directors of the Oregon Glass Guild, including two years as the organization's president. In 2014 he was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Bullseye Emerge Glass Competition which is a bi-annual, international event to recognize and reward emerging glass artists. His artwork is part of many private collections throughout the US and has been featured in exhibitions at many galleries. Bob credits his 35-year career as an engineer for the attention to detail evident in his work and for his love of the process of making art glass.
His primary technique for creating glass art is known as "Fusing". At the most basic level, that means taking multiple pieces of glass and heating them in a kiln to approximately 1480 degrees Fahrenheit to cause them to "fuse" together. This is often followed by a second kiln firing where the fused glass is heated to about 1200 degrees to soften it and allow it to be shaped into a functional or decorative object. Fine Art Glass will also usually include a step known as "Cold Working" which involves things like sawing, sandblasting, grinding, and polishing. Within that simple framework, however, are an unlimited number of possibilities and that's where the fun and creativity exist.
To achieve the detail and complex patterns characteristic of his work, Bob often starts by creating multiple component pieces that are fused separately then subsequently cut, shaped, and fused together to create the whole. It's not unusual for one of Bob's pieces to require five or more kiln firings. This multi-step process is time-consuming and labor-intensive but is the only way to create such designs as the Radiant Bowls and Geometric Pattern works for which he is known. His works are also, almost always, cold-worked as a final step to give them a professional finish such as a ground and polished edge or imagery etched into the surface.
"I love pushing the boundaries of the fusing processes to find new ways to bring out the inherent beauty of glass. I often lay awake at night while mentally designing a new way to exploit a particular technique or to combine techniques to achieve a specific look I have in mind. These don't always work out the way I intend, but I almost always learn something new in the process and sometimes that can lead to a whole new series of work."
-Bob Heath
