Stephen Fellerman

Stephen Fellerman grew up in New York with plans to go into the family restaurant equipment business. He instead decided to enroll in college at Pratt where he took a ceramics class and experienced for the first time working with his hands. Upon graduation, he wanted to realize a childhood dream to go to California, and in the summer of 1972 bought a VW microbus and headed west.

Stephen arrived in Sausalito to discover one of the most creative art centers in the country. Hanging out at a small glass studio (one of the few at the time), he watched others and absorbed a variety of techniques, then experimented during his allotted time. His first memorable piece was a little asymmetrical vase with a pushed in lip and gradated color.

After a year in California, he returned east to Kent, Connecticut to open his own studio, becoming one of the first studio glass artists to make a  living from glassblowing. At the time, there were no craft shows or galleries exhibiting this type of work. But 1975 saw the advent of the American Crafts Council which held its first show in Rhinebeck New York.   400 exhibitors - and only three of us were glass blowers," Stephen recalled. He quickly began to build a clientele.  Responding to a style resurgence, Stephen specialized in Art Nouveau inspired pieces, and his reputation grew.

By the early 80s, with increasingly more artisans blowing glass, he began to branch out into more personal and original work. He had a passion for the process, and spent years refining its expression to "push the envelope" of his medium. "Over time I fill up my bag with tricks and techniques and eventually I take the techniques and start to express myself, instead of just doing the techniques I learned." It requires a great amount of spontaneity which he has learned to embrace, acknowledging that when he takes a risk, it always pays off. "


Stephen says he hopes to blow glass until his last breath. "When I am in the studio, it is like I am in my own little kingdom. It is an incredible feeling. I can't think of anything else while I am doing it."


 

Short List of Awards and Exhibits

 

Corning Museum of Glass permanent collection, Corning N.Y.; The Chrysler Museum permanent collection, Norfolk, VA.; White House Collection, Washington D.C.; Master Craftsman Award, State of Connecticut; Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands, private collection.; "North American Glass" Gilford Handicraft center, Gilford Connecticut; Hartford Square North, Architectural Installation, Hartford CT; Castle Street, Interior Installation, Great Barrington, MA; NCAA Headquarters, Installation, Overland Park, Kansas; Bradley International Airport, Inaugural Exhibit, Bradley CT; Society of Art's & Crafts , Boston, MA.; Fragile Glass, Finalist, Glass Magazine; American Glass, Lever House, N.Y.C.; ITT, Limited Edition Vessel; Bruce Museum, Exhibit, Greenwich, CT; Tampa Museum, Exhibit, Tampa, Florida; Brookfield Craft Center, Exhibit, Brookfield, CT.