We talked to glass artist Dawg House Glass about his career and his love for glassblowing. Dawg House Glass started blowing glass after he almost lost one of his legs in a motorcycle accident. The injury was devastating and he spent months relearning how to walk and function. During this time Dawg House Glass began to think about what direction his life was heading: he had been doing construction and plumbing work for around twenty years, but he thought that he would find more satisfaction in pursuing a creative effort, so he began to think about ways that he could achieve this goal as he continued to heal.
It was around this time that Dawg House Glass discovered that a friend was operating a small personal glassblowing studio out of his garage, making pipes and other small items. Dawg House Glass was intrigued and asked his friend to teach him. The friend taught Dawg House Glass everything he could, and Dawg "got bit," as he said. He was instantly hooked on the art of glassblowing and began to learn everything that he could. He found a mentor in Jason Lennon, a borosilicate glassblower who worked at Burnt Knuckle Glass in Reno, Nevada. Dawg House Glass also took classes from Eusheen and Darby Holm, and throughout his career has been honored to have met with other amazing blowers like Dustin Revere, Ryan Fitt, Cool Hand Sooze, and Loren Stump, all of whom have taught him various techniques that he continues to utilize in his own art.
As Dawg House Glass' abilities grew and expanded, his art became more complex, and he began to make a name for himself in the glass industry. Dawg House Glass at this time was interested in collaborating with other artists, but discovered that collaboration was more difficult than he had initially imagined. He sometimes found that he just couldn't "click" with other artists, and he believes that it's because artistic collaboration is a much more intimate activity than most people realize. "It's like dancing... [s]ome people suck at dancing, but if you put in the work you will get better." Dawg House Glass found something different in close friend Gauge Hamilton, owner of Modified Creations Glass. Dawg House Glass "clicked" with Modified Creations Glass in a way that he never could with any other glassblowers. This would mark the beginning of a beautiful working relationship and personal friendship.
Nowadays Dawg House Glass produces more collaborative pieces with Modified Creations Glass than he does solo production, so much so that Dawg House Glass and Modified Creations Glass have joined forces to form a new company called Role Model Glass, and they are both devoting all of their resources and energy towards this new brand. Both blowers have a distinctive style, Dawg House leans more towards monster-like pieces with an affinity for the grotesque, signature traits being the use of realistic glass teeth, eyes, and horns. Gauge's style is marked by more traditional forms with insanely clean linework techniques like reticellos and wig wags. In Role Model Glass these two artists are creating something that is much greater than the sum of its parts.
In the future Dawg House Glass plans to continue putting all of his time and energy into the Role Model Glass brand, and he has produced very few solo works in the last few months. You likely won't see him participating in any glass competitions since he's not a fan of the social aspects of competition and judging, but be sure to keep an eye on Role Model Glass, we'll be publishing a full profile of Role Model Glass here in the coming weeks. Go check out more of Dawg House Glass' work over on his Instagram page. (@dawghouseglass)
