Fields
& Fields Blown Glass
Fields &
Fields Blown Glass, located in Portland, Oregon, is a personal and
professional marriage of two unique and accomplished glassblowers.
By combining their talents, the dedicated couple creates a harmony
of style and form. Their singular and successful enterprise is the
result of merging two art glass studios into one.
John Fields became fascinated with glass in the early 1970’s
while studying business at the University of Arkansas. “I
took a stained glass course to alleviate some of the boredom. I
made a sun catcher and was hooked.” On his own, John studied
the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and fabricated reproduction stained
glass windows and lamps for a growing following. Realizing that
his future lay in an art form over 2000 years old, John took a glassblowing
class at Pratt in Seattle.
Heather graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University’s
School of the Arts in 1986. “I wandered into the glassblowing
studio one day and there was no turning back. I was fascinated with
molten glass.” After graduating, Heather worked at the Jamestown
Glass House in Colonial National Historical Park, demonstrating
off- hand glass blowing to park visitors.
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“I
stayed at Jamestown long enough to build a foundation in the basics
of my craft, then set a goal to move to the Northwest, the site
of the most innovative glass-work in the country.”
Heather and John met in Portland and began working together in 1995.
“ While assisting John, I had a chance to develop my own body
of work, quite different than his. John’s work is a more painterly
representation of nature. His floral landscapes and motifs are influenced
by his admiration of Tiffany and long time immersion in stained
glass. I also draw from the natural world, but in a less literal
way. I refine and reflect natural images by using organic patterns
and luminous colors.”
Because Heather and John shared a workspace their individual ways
of seeing things began to show the influence of one another’s
work. A harmonious product line emerged. “We were more successful
as a team than as individual studios”, relates Heather. Our
relationship evolved, creating Fields & Fields Blown Glass,
as well as two wonderful children. |
