"Most glassblowers aren't born artists," says Caleb Siemon. "They're born
pyromaniacs." Son of a jeweler, he grew up making things with his hands, got
hooked on glass in high school, and honed his craft at the Rhode Island School
of Design. He then set out for Murano, Italy, with a backpack, a few words of
Italian, and the hope of an apprenticeship with renowned master glass sculptor
Pino Signoretto. The maestro ignored him for a month, while Caleb attentively
sketched his work and tried not to get in the way. Eventually an apprenticeship
evolved. Caleb spent two years in the Muranese studio with the glassmaker
versatile enough to produce both enormous sculptures and delicate goblets.
Here, he was encouraged to "steal with his eyes." Caleb's style shows the
influence of his early tutor, and an unabashed passion for the medium. " The
transparency and fluidity of the material makes it unique," he says. "I always
start with an idea, but have learned to remain flexible to allow for the
natural qualities of the glass".
Caleb returned to Southern California in 1999 and constructed his own
Italian-style studio. From
furnace heights and bench design, to a system where each piece is created
closely with a team of assistants, his methods reflect his Muranese immersion.
Loris Zanon, Pino Signoretto's master coldworker, traveled from Murano to guide
the construction of Caleb's coldshop and pass on the techniques of glass
carving and polishing. From the Scandinavian glass tradition, Caleb has
developed an affection for simple forms, taking advantage of gravity and
centrifugal force in design. By pairing these approaches to glassmaking, he has
developed a signature aesthetic that reflects the evolved detail of the
Muranese and balance and restraint of the Scandinavians. Caleb continues to
invite international glass workers to his studio to share their techniques with
the next generation of glass artists. His work exhibits internationally and is
featured in galleries around the world. Please see our press and
locator pages for more information.
While her husband has binged on glass with a singular focus, his wife and partner, Carmen Salazar, has sipped from many ponds. Sculptor, metalworker, architect, botanist, scavenger, conservationist. Carmen is a curious hybrid of urban and rural. She brings the influence of many streams to her work in the glass shop. She is a recipe that calls for equal parts concrete and pasture, glass and steel and rough-hewn beams. Carmen grew up shuttling between Washington DC and the family farm in Augusta, West Virginia. She came out of the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in sculpture and art history, but also a peripatetic interest in reshaping the larger natural world.
In the summer of 1997 Carmen drove to San Francisco where she spent two years working for a land artist, a metal sculptor, horticulturalists, and glass blowers. The intersection of her diverse interests led her to the Southern California Institute of Architecture in 2001. After receiving her masters in architecture at SCIARC, Carmen worked for four years in the high end residential realm and then on the design team for a large scale public park. "I see architecture as sculpture you can inhabit, and my landscape architecture work as even larger scale sculpture," says Carmen. "So now it¹s come full circle and we are starting on a micro scale with the intention of broadening outward." Look closely at the new lighting products and one may see shades of both sea creatures and the insulator coils of power lines. Diverse streams. Carmen remains committed to reshaping spaces. "Neither Caleb nor I are limited to glass," she says. "We¹ve always talked about expanding into larger sculptural private and public works projects." It¹s been a decade since Carmen helped build the first United Glass shop in Costa Mesa, California, and now she has rejoined the mind meld. "I was helping other people execute their visions, amazing visions, but now I want to create my own," says Carmen. "Caleb and I have a shared vision for the future." Caleb says Carmen just wants a taste of the glory. Carmen says that motherhood has taught her a patience she has never known, particularly with her husband.