Daniel Staples, President

A computer consultant by day, Daniel's background is in electronics and computers.  Daniel has been fascinated by hot glass since the age of seven when he saw a glassblower working at a theme park doing demos & selling glass. His first experiences with glass were lab glasswork in school.   Daniel has worked in various physical media including wood, stone and metal as well as computer based art forms.   He also creates and sells jewelry from glass, metals and resins.   Daniel took his first offhand glassblowing classes at Talisman Glass in Chicago and has worked with Peter Patterson Glassworks as both an assistant and engineer.

Steven Webber

Brad Braun

Graduated with a dual BA in 1991 in History and Anthropology from Southern Illinois University and continued with one year of masters studies towards a degree in Salvage Archaeology.   His academic work focused on Classical Civilizations and the transition of Roman Europe into the Middle Ages.   Brad has worked for Systems & Electronics, Inc. (SEI) for the past sixteen years as an employee and officer for the corporation competing in the aircraft industry.   Brad is a collector of Classical Roman glass, an amateur numismatist and does research on ancient glass manufacturing techniques. Brad has attended the annual glass blowing classes offered by the Continuing Education Department of the Illinois Art Institute two years running.   He has also built and operated a private glass blowing and lampworking studio for a few months each winter over the past three years.

Jeremy Scidmore

Jeremy, started as an intern with CHG while in his senior year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Jeremy graduated with a BFA in art and technology in Spring of 2003 and has since become a Co-owner of Chicago Hot Glass . Enamored by light and movement, Jeremy works full time developing his art in our hot shop while he is not maintaining the studio. On the rare occasions when Jeremy is not in the studio he is either producing experimental electronic music with Gashoagie http://www.gashoagie.com in his home sound studio or is collaborating with the not for profiteers The Cooperative Image Group http://www.coopimage.org

Instructor Bios

Pearl Jacqueline Dick

Pearl received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the NYSCC at Alfred University in 1998. She has been working with glass for eight years, using this challenging medium in her artwork as well as to make her living as a production glassblower. She realized her natural inclination for teaching while working for a production glass studio in Portland, OR, where she was responsible for the hiring and training of new employees. Pearl believes that the best way to learn is to teach and when working with beginners in a medium as foreign as glass, she is reminded to take nothing for granted except for the fact that nothing worth doing is ever easy.

Samantha Lipscomb

MC Richardson

James James Riviello III has a BFA in Glass from Tyler School of Art, and an MFA in Glass from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He has been blowing glass since 1992, built and maintained glass equipment almost as long, worked at several production glass studios, and has been teaching since 1996. His work can be seen at the Andres Institute sculpture garden NH and in various collections across the country.

Ian Duncan

Keith Mendack

Nick Paul

Kristen Horst

Rick Bell

Danny Ellis

Sydney Ferguson-Biney