For two decades David's creative energies primarily found an outlet in music, but a blowpipe and furnace have firmly replaced his guitar and amp. A former corporate marketing professional, a glassblowing class in 2001 ignited such a passion that he transitioned his professional career from the software world to full-time glass artist. David has been guest artist at the Corning Museum of Glass and studied at Pilchuck Glass School, founded by Dale Chihuly and John & Anne Hauberg in Stanwood, Washington. In 2010, David was selected as Artist in Residence in Seto City, Japan, spending a month lecturing, demonstrating his work through an award from the Seto City Art and Cultural Foundation. Primarily self-taught, David grew his skills through experimentation informed by observing talented local artists and a few visits with Afro Celotto, maestro and former assistant to Lino Tagliapietra in Murano, Italy. David has received awards for his work including an artistic merit scholarship for a class at Pilchuck. His book David Patchen, Glass is in the permanent collection of the Rakow Library at the Corning Museum of Glass and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Centro Studi del Vetro (Glass Study Center Library) in Venice, Italy. David is actively involved in the glass arts community as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors at Public Glass (San Francisco's center for glass art), member of the Pilchuck Leadership Council and former member of the Board of Directors, Glass Alliance of Northern California. David maintains a private studio within Public Glass where he creates his work. He enjoys and finds inspiration in international travel, the marine environment, science, nature and architecture. David's work is known for its intense colors, intricate detail and meticulous craftsmanship, is in numerous private collections and exhibited internationally. Born and raised in New York, David Patchen now resides in San Francisco. ARTIST STATEMENT: I find glass as seductive as it is challenging. As a particularly unforgiving medium, an artist has endless creative opportunities to design for its unique properties--the only limitations are their imagination and skill in working with the material. I've always been captivated by how one can use this enigmatic material to achieve virtually any form, hold elements in suspension, and achieve great detail or soft abstraction. Its flexibility as a medium is matched by the difficulty it presents in using it to execute precise work. My current work is an intensive exploration of patterns, colors and transparency created through multi-layered cane and murrine (colored rods and patterned cross-sections of glass). While varied in composition and design, I most often create work within a series of graceful forms that I consider three dimensional canvases. The diversity in my compositions reflects my desire to constantly experiment and explore a variety of ideas simultaneously. Some themes in my work include windows into or through a piece, things hidden & revealed and extreme detail. Colors in contrasting and/or complimentary tertiary tones woven into complex patterns challenge expectations of the amount of detail glass can carry and its place in the art world. My influences include textiles, ethnically distinct colors and shapes as well as the marine environment. Creating my work begins with meticulous planning and designing of colors and patterns. After I pull the cane and murrine, I carefully compose these elements to design the final work, all days prior to blowing it. I enjoy this process of thoughtful creativity and the contrasting intensity of executing work in the hotshop, where the limited window to shape molten glass requires precision and urgency. The dual challenge of designing and executing complex work satisfies both the artist and the craftsman in me and I continually find it exciting to create a piece I've poured days over, watching it come to life in the fire. BLOOM: Recently I've been exploring a range of sculptural ideas which have evolved into a new body of work titled Bloom. Over the years I have experimented with the concept of precious things hidden and revealed and only recently found an expression for these ideas. Bloom are organic forms that reveal something unexpected and precious that reward close inquiry. Bloom are natural but non-representational and intentionally somewhat curious and hard to place. Since human brains are pattern matching machines ("oh, that looks like x"), I wanted the work to feel vaguely familiar but lack a single point of reference leaving it to the viewer to consider what it could be, how it evolved, what inspired it, what it communicates and what it could mean. Bloom are all one-of-a-kind works that vary in color, texture, interior pattern and overall form, but they are all of one 'species.' EXHIBITIONS, SHOWS: Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY - Guest Artist demonstrations, May 2017 Glass Wheel Studio, Norfolk, VA - Layered Up Invitational, Mar. 2017 Aerena Galleries, Napa, CA - "Unbreakable" Feb. 2017 Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL - "Patchen's Patterns" demo, museum lecture and new work, Nov. 2016 Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery, "Bound by Glass", June - Sept 2016 Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, "Raising Cane" Apr. 2016 Gallery 212/Fresco Art, 'Lost in Abstraction', Miami, Feb. 2016 Michelangelo Fine Art, Calgary "Modernity", Jan. 2016 Art Palm Beach, K. Allen Gallery, Jan. 2016 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) Chicago, Nov. 2015 Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities; "Fired" (Sept. 17 - Dec. 20, 2015) 555 California Concourse Gallery, ?David Patchen, Vitreous Tapestry? Jul. ? Oct 2015 Gump's, San Francisco, CA, "Masters of Glass" Jul. 2015 Art Palm Beach, K. Allen Gallery, Jan. 2015 Chihuly Collection, St. Petersburg, FL, "Italian Traditions" Jan. 2015 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) Chicago, Nov. 2014 Taos Art Glass Invitational, Oct. 2014 Hsinchu Glass Art Festival, Taiwan, July 2014 Chihuly Collection, St. Petersburg, FL, "Glasscentric" Apr. 2014 Stewart Fine Art, Boca Raton, FL, "David Patchen: ?The Color and Pattern?, Jan 2014 Art Palm Beach, Tansey Contemporary, Jan. 2014 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art) Chicago, Nov. 2013 Featured Artist: Kuivato Gallery, Oct, 2013 Union University, Jackson, TN; solo show David Patchen: Details Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL; 'Polk County Collects', Jul. 2013 Art Shanghai, International New Glass Art Exhibition, Feb. 2013 Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL - "Distant Visions II" Jan. 2013 International Contemporary Glass Exhibition - Shanghai, China, Feb. 2013 Pilchuck Glass School, Annual Auction (juried) - Seattle, WA, Oct. 2012 Museum of Glass Red Hot; juried into live auction - Tacoma, WA, Sept. 2012 Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL - "Focus: David Patchen" Aug. 2012 Stewart Fine Art, Boca Raton, FL - "Bloom" Apr. 2012 Marshall-LeKae Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ - Glass Invitational, Mar. 2012 Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL - "Distant Visions" Jan. 2012 JRB Art At the Elms, Oklahoma City - 'Cutting Edge Glass,' Aug. 2011 Museum of Glass, Tacoma - 'Red Hot,' Jul. 2011 Kunstmesse Dusseldorf - Dusseldorf, Germany, Feb. 2011 Vienna International Art Show - Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2010 Temple Arts Festival, Nashville, TN - invited artist, Apr. 2010 Seto City Museum, Seto City Japan; Artist in Residence Exhibition, Mar. 2010 Stewart Fine Art, Boca Raton, FL - "Simple Addition and Subtraction," Dec. 2009 Vienna International Art Show - Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2009 ArtSpan - San Francisco Private Preview Gala (Juror's Choice Award), Oct. 2009 Sausalito Art Festival - invited artist, Sept. 2009 Pismo Fine Art Glass, Aspen, CO - New work by David Patchen, Stig Persson, July 2009 The Bender Gallery, Asheville, NC - New work by David Patchen, June 2009 Art Forte, Seattle - Into Nature, June 2009 Art Forte, Seattle - Zen Organic, May 2009 Gump's, San Francisco - Pearl; Inspiring Design and Desire, Apr. 2009 Glass Alliance of Northern California - Lecture & Demo, Mar. 2009 SOFA (Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art) Chicago, Nov. 2008 Pilchuck, Seattle - Annual Auction (juried), Oct. 2008 Judy Youens Gallery, Santa Fe, NM - Opening Show, Jul. 2008 JRB Art At the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK - Glass Invitational, June 2008 Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA - New work by David Patchen, David Ruth, Julie Lazarus, Nov. 2007 Pismo Fine Art Glass, Denver - Murrine Mystique (group all-murrine show), Oct. 2007 National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA - Glass Now Auction, Oct. 2006 Gump's, San Francisco, CA - California Creations Group Show, Jul. 2006 Glass Art Society - Annual Conference, live auction (juried), Jun. 2006 Santa Barbara Museum of Art - Annual Auction, May 2006 ArtsFest, San Francisco - Spectra Ball (juried), Apr. 2006 Santa Barbara Ballet - Arts Fundraiser, Apr. 2006 New York Artexpo; Javits Center New York, NY, Mar. 2006 Public Glass, San Francisco, CA - Not So Clear Group Show (juried), Oct. 2005 Gump's, San Francisco - Lead artist in California Transformation Group Show, Jul. 2005 Public Glass, San Francisco - Keep Us Hot live auction (juried), Apr. 2005 - 2007 ArtSpan - Open Studios exhibitor, demonstrator, Oct. 2003 . 2008 Bay Area Glass Institute - Annual Live Auction (juried), Jan. 2004 . 2009 COLLECTIONS: Seto City Art Museum, Japan Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel, Paris Island Hotel, Newport Beach Crown Plaza, Shanghai (Presidential Suite) Regent Cruise Lines Royal Carribean Jack Welsh, GE Jeff Immelt, GE Sam Palmisano, IBM Arnold Fisher - CEO, Fisher Brothers Development Elton John Mark Parker - CEO, Nike Vinod and Neeru Khosla - Khosla Ventures Herb Kelleher - Founder, Southwest Airlines Marcia Goodstein and Bill Gross - CEO, Idealab George and Mary Wheyerhouser Ken Tuchman - CEO, TeleTech James Della Collection Jack and Aviva Robinson Zeke Friedlander George C. Halvorson ? Chairman, Kaiser Permanente Michael J. Critelli ? CEO, Dossia PUBLICATIONS; David Patchen; Glass, 4th Edition with Foreword by William Gudenrath ? Sept. 2017 Vidrio Perfil (Spain) - Galería de Artistas - David Patchen, May 2017 American Art Collector Magazine - "David Patchen; Intricate Patterns" Nov 2016 Glass Art;112 Contemporary Artists, Barbara Purchia, E. Ashley Rooney (Schiffer Publishing, Nov 2016) Glass Art Magazine - Hot Glass Studio Profile: David Patchen - Glass for the Inquisitive Mind, Mar/Apr 2016 Glass Art Magazine - Murrine Maker David Patchen; Diving Into Detail, Mar/Apr 2016 Domus Magazine (Calgary); Spring 2016 American Art Collector Magazine - Artist Focus; David Patchen, Dec. 2015 Attitude Magazine, Mar./Apr. 2015 Vidro Impresso, Arte em Vidro: David Patchen. Mar. 2015 (Brazil) Glassation: Glass Artists With Remarkable Murrine and Cane Working Skills, Dec. 2014 Western Art & Architecture: Ones to Watch; David Patchen. Nov. 2014 Contemporary Glass Society - Glass Network: Detailing Pattern, June 2014 WBBJ TV: David Patchen Show at Union University, Sept. 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Magazine: Collective Forces for a New Age of Art, Sept. 2013 Gramado: David Patchen O Mago Do Vidro (Brazil) Aug./Sept. 2013 The Detailers: David Patchen, Heat, May 2013 Creating Linus Art Magazine: Meet the Artist: An Interview with David Patchen, Jan. 2013 Nashville Arts Magazine: Frozen Fire: Glass Art of David Patchen, Oct. 2012 The Bold Italic - Found Local; David Patchen American Craft, One Glass Artist's Evolving Style - Mar. 29, 2012 Artistaday.com, Feb 14, 2012 GLASS The James Della Collection, 2012 Sarasota Visual Art - A Look At Not So Local Glass - Duncan McClellan Gallery, Feb. 2012 The Oklahoman, Cutting Edge Glass, August 2011 Nashville Arts Magazine, Artist Spotlight: David Patchen, March 2010 International Ceramic and Glass Art in the 21st Century - Artists in Residence in Seto for 10 Years Kurier, Vienna, Austria, October 31, 2009 Etihadinflight, Etihad Airways, September 2009 SF Art News - Interview with David Patchen Sept. 2009 San Francisco Magazine, June 2009 Arizona Republic; Arts Nov. 2008 San Francisco Weekly, Sept. 2008 San Francisco Chronicle - Home & Garden section, Apr. 2006 San Francisco Arts Monthly - Oct. 2005 EVENTS, DEMONSTRATIONS: Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass - Studio visit and demo, Aug. 2018 Corning Museum of Glass, Corning NY - Guest Artist & 2300 Degrees Demonstration, May, 2017 Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL - "Patchen's Patterns" Demonstration, Nov. 2016 St. Petersberg Museum of Fine Art - artist lecture, Nov. 2016 Glass Art Society Annual Conference - Demonstrating Artist, Jun. 2015 Glass Alliance of Northern California - Show, Lecture and Demonstration, Aug. 2012 Public Glass, Patron's Event; Show, Lecture and Demonstration, Mar. 2012 Seto Cultural Foundation - Artist in Residence Lecture, Interview and Demonstration, Jan. 2010 San Francisco State University Glass Arts Program - Demo, Apr. 2009 Artspan, Tour des Artistes Lecture and Demo, Aug. 2009 Glass Alliance of Northern California - Studio visit and demo, April. 2009 Glass Alliance of Northern California - Studio visit and demo, Jan. 2009 Bay Area Glass Institute - Third Thursday Artist Lecture and Demo, July 2007 Assisted Afro Celotto, Public Glass - Nov, 2006 Public Glass - various demonstrations at Open Studios and other events, 2004 - 2012 Public Glass New Furnace Celebration - demonstration, Jul, 2006 Gaffed for Marvin Lipofsky demonstration, Apr, 2006