I spend probably 85% of my time working in collaboration with designers and artists, creating custom made glass. And I always enjoy meeting new prospective clients.
But it’s a real treat when I make some time to develop my own line of #lightingdesign & #artglass .
For more regular updates please follow me on social media: IG & FB: @JasonStropko
project brochure on Issue, a digital magazine platform
(please forgive any adverts that might be opening up before the brochure – you can click = skip)
• November starts off great! (Finally a great start to a month!) •
On view 3 days a week, only in November.
Please come by and enjoy some craft and company.
Pop-Up Gallery, 2162 Union St. , San Francisco, CA 94123
Google maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Uxxzv8DzqFDJ13XK9
Fri, Sat & Sun, 11am – 6pm
Check in with us ahead of time if you would like to chat with any of us in person.
Glass: www.JasonStropko.com
@JasonStropko
Ceramics: www.erinhuppceramics.com
@ErinHuppCeramics
Painting: www.jaimelovejoy.com
@JaimeLovejoyart
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• November starts off great! •
Erin and Jason join creative forces to share with you a collaboration inspired by a mutual appreciation for the culinary arts in marriage with high craftsmanship!
This collaboration began when Erin, on a search for a skilled glassmaker, discovered the one-of-a-kind art glass beetroot cloches that Jason recently created for Atelier Crenn, a 3 Star Michelin Restaurant in the heart of San Francisco.
During our first meeting Erin and Jason shared project concepts and work samples with one another and; on seeing a particularly nice glaze on one of Erin’s pieces; simultaneously had the idea to create glass caviar to harmonize with / accompany Erin’s glazed Caviar serving dishes.
With mutual enthusiasm it was agreed that this collaboration must go ahead.
Please tag me if you visit & make a post about it:
#JasonStropko
#JasonStropkoGlass
#thesoulofglass
Hi, it’s been a while since Birgit & I last made blog updates. It’s been far too quiet around here. Let’s change that.
Did you know that I make ‘Alice in Wonderland’ nuts and seeds out of hot blown and sculpted glass?
I am holding an Italian roasting chestnut baby in the picture below…
Jason’s chestnuts are already a complete product, available and made to custom order. But I would absolutely love to make the spiky outer husk out of glass as well. What do you think? Should I try it?
I make solid clear glass acorns like the ones below. But I also have a line of giant blown glass acorns. The difference is scale and that the smaller ones are solid and the giant acorns are hollow. The shapes are the same and can also be customised depending on your preference.
(By the way, if I don’t have an acorn waiting for you on the shelf then everything is available for custom order, turnover time can be around 2 weeks, but let me know if you are in a pickle and need an acorn to deliver to a squirrel with a tighter deadline, I will do what I can!)
Presenting Jason’s glasswork is always a challenge. We want to do it justice, make sure it sparkles and shows it’s best side. But not having our own studio we pack the glass treasures in and out of boxes, and each time we work on promotional photography it is a big deal to get everything we need in one place. But presentation is important. This is not a place to cut corners. Can you do it yourself!? YES you can. Is it incredibly helpful to delegate and focus everybody’s attention and time in a way that they do what they are best at: I don’t even need to ask, right!?
Perseverance. Sometimes getting the right photo can take a lot of shots and even multiple session tries. Then learning to do the photo editing, how to use software, which software to even use: all that takes perseverance. But it is worth it to honour and treasure the glass creations.
Yesterday we realised that we had misplaced the original edit of the image below, but we urgently need a specific file size of it. We have used this image on Jason’s business cards and now need it at a specific size for a residency application. So of course it needed editing immediately tonight, from the original file format, all over again. After an hour it looked like it does in image #1. I had touched up to reduce some odd reflections and a couple of too obvious fingerprints (what were we thinking not wearing gloves when photographing!!!) We were reasonably pleased but I just wasn’t sure it was all it could be. It looks a bit flat and the white was refusing to be white and it just had a bit of the ‘meh’ quality about it… I could have just leant right into the contrast, and thrown my weight around the curves but it didn’t feel like that would be enough by itself..
Fast forward another 2 or so hours, it is now 1:30am in the morning. Way too late, as I have other things to attend to besides Jason’s glassblowing career (i.e. my own career / an early morning language class to teach) but honestly I couldn’t leave it as it was before. It just didn’t look fresh enough! And Jason is such a hardworking and talented glassmaker, he needs better than average effort from me!
So.. I wrestled 2 photo editing softwares, created layers in Photoshop Elements; and with a combination of Lightroom > Photoshop Elements and back into Lightroom the end result is a fresh, fantastic, clear and exciting image that I have now saved in 3 different file sizes for Jason. We are now prepared for all eventualities! Don’t you agree that this is now a tasty eye candy, colour popping photograph of Jason Stopko’s Glass ?!
I know there is still room for a little more subtlety in the image but it is 1:30am.. there is no time to work on subtlety. But in the future I will try out working with more than 2 layers in photoshop and fine tune my overall approach with more thought before action..
If anybody would like to know how this was done let us know. I can add a description of the photo editing workflow for you to follow.
Signing off duty until the next time, Birgit Deubner. The woman for everything that is not glass in this little business of ours.
Good luck with your application Jason!
Just a super quick note to say that we just noticed that it isn’t immediately clear that Jason’s Date Night Glassblowing classes cost $345 and that the price is for 2 participants!
We just checked the Glassblowing Class tab on Jason’s website and it leads (as it should) to a booking calendar however doesn’t show until 2 clicks later that the price is $345 (which incidentally is a great value price, you will understand it when you arrive at the studio!) and then the booking form makes it appear like the price is for only 1 participant. While in fact $345 covers 2 participant for a glassblowing class with the one and only, amazing glassblowing instructor: Jason Stropko!
Below are pictures of Jason’s glassblowing classes, some students in the studio and some student work as well as some of Jason’s wonderful work!
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JASON STROPKO WEBSITE HOME PAGE
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We are sitting in the office, editing photographs of Jason’s work and it’s just too exciting to not share this single teaser image of an upcoming bigger post with a range of incredible vessels made by Jason..
Shaping vessels like this and creating snug fitting lids requires high technical skills that take time, focus and deep passion for the medium to develop. One of our biggest wishes is to develop a whole exhibition full of lidded vessels like this one, in a range of voluptuous shapes, with elegant pointed lids.
New photographs will appear on this page as soon as Birgit get through the edits..
Sorry, this really was a teaser!
(Last but not least!!! Custom modification requests to a custom made vessel are ALWAYS welcome, shapes, colours, opacity, translucency, shape, voluptuousness, execution: your vision is our command! Make a drawing and share your ideas with us on Jason’s Facebook wall! What would you like to see!?!? If you would like to order a piece please use the contact tab on this website and we can take it from there. Looking forward to hearing from you!)
As usual Jason leans to squirrelling away his glass and hiding it in storage boxes.. This particular vase is actually quiet new, it was recently made in about July or August 2016.
We have gone ahead and added it to Jason’s Etsy shop because it just is too stunning to wait for it’s forever home at the glassblowing studio any longer.
The vase is very thick and quite heavy but doesn’t lose it’s elegance at all. You know how sometimes thick glass isn’t very elegant? Well this vase is stunning and exquisite! What an incredible statement piece it will be in somebody’s home who also loves this rich lucious colour!
If you are getting the feeling that I am reluctant to part with this beauty then you would have guessed right! But we often move house and until we one day own our very own beautiful little villa we shouldn’t hold on to objects of desire that should really be enjoyed in the present moment.
Let’s not delay! May you feel inspired to acquire this treasure.
With many greetings from the office where I work for Jason,
Birgit
Hello Squirrels! (and everybody loving autumn fruits and nuts.).
The acorn harvest is in the bag, we have already selected boxes to ship them in, are just waiting on labels from the printers. This is the season to be nutty.
Clear acorns are proving difficult to photograph, but they are easy to admire. They have lovely light catching qualities and complement well with the etched acorns that we have recently added to the repertoire.
We have a big, giant autumnal goal to get as many acorns out into the world this autumn and winter as possible. Everybody should have some of these precious nuts.
Fun fact: Did you know that acorns are edible? They were an essential crop used to grind into a flour by Native Americans. Since we found out some months ago we have been rearing at the bits to go acorn harvesting (in nature, not the glass studio) and try them for ourselves.
Have we already missed the acorns?!
Another great fun fact: California is home to a great variety of acorns / Oak Trees!
Want to get more connected? Love acorns so much you want to ask about a commission for your wedding table decoration? For a graduation ceremony? For Christmas? For a gift for somebody recently returned from hospital..?Acorns are fabulous, you can use the contact form below to say ‘Hi’ to Jason.
Why wait for February to treat yourself and your romantic other to a special experience? It is always a good time to book a glassblowing class session and learn to create your very own glass Objects of Desire with the accommodating and highly skilled glassmaker Jason Stropko!
In one of the most recent classes both students got really into their experience and designed and created outstanding glass projects with Jason.
The participants always get as much hands on time with the glass as they are comfortable with. Jason encourages each student to take over their own project as much as possible but is always ready to step in to guarantee that every class participant walks away with some finished work.
Here is what the students made in this class:
What would you like to make…?
You can follow the shop or take a class with Jason tabs on the homepage for more information on how you could join a class, too.
Jason Stropko Glass 