Thomas played basket ball and started his college career at Centre College on a basket ball scholarship. But as luck would have it, he had a jaw dropping and life changing moment at a campus glass workshop. He saw the molten material rotating on the pipe, the creative energy, the improvisation, the dance, the sweat, and the teamwork. It was something he had to master. He changed his college courses and studied glass. He then received a fellowship at the Applelachian Center for Craft which focused his attention on the fine details of glass blowing, crafting the perfect object, great technique, and a complete understanding of the process. As his tenure ran out, Thomas was invited by a gallery to open a glass blowing studio. He built the equipment, laid out the space, designed the glassware, taught workshops, and demonstrated to the public. Spake then created his own hotshop in Chattanooga TN where he lives and works today. Spake Glass sits on a fifty-acre hilltop in rural Jasper, TN at the mouth of the Sequatchie Valley and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This idyllic setting—rolling hills, hardwood forests, and abundant wildlife—provides ample inspiration for Spake's award-winning glasswork. Artist Statement: I feel Inspired every time I walk into the woods, whenever I watch the sun drop over the horizon, or when I hear the thunder of rushing water, and as soon as I feel the crisp mountain air on my face. All these experiences, all these memories, hold true for most of us. I work with hot glass. I strive to create patterns and textures that mimic the natural world, stone, water, earth. I create these patterns by layering and fusing glass chips and powders to the surface of the glass using unconventional techniques along with the inherent chemistry of the metal oxides that formulate the colored glass, I can create very complex patterns that imitate natural objects or landscapes. This style of working has been heavily influenced by impressionistic painters, Monet, Klimt and Van Gogh and their mixture of color and patterns to express the idea of a landscape, as opposed to creating a representation. The simple flattened forms create a canvas, a front and a back, where I can fully express my intentions. I embrace the aesthetic of Wabi Sabi, creating forms that are authentic, accentuating the imperfections and celebrating the flaws. In the final phase of creation, I carve into the sandblasted, opaque exterior to reveal the translucent glass just beneath the surface. All these techniques come together to give the pieces a raw complexity, conjuring explorations of our memories. My unique approach gives the work a tactile quality that offers the audience a treat for the eyes as well as the fingers, and with the blown vessels surface exposed, the soft glow of light is transmitted through the vessel, revealing the true nature of the material.