Though Detroit native Chris Hawthorne had no formal training in art, he grew up in an art friendly environment. His father was an architect, many family friends were artists and his parents always encouraged art as a viable career choice. Chris began making glass art while working as a commercial fisherman off the Oregon coast in the mid 1970's. Through a mutual friend, he met Dale Chihuly who encouraged him to further explore the medium. At The Pilchuk School, founded by Chihuly, he studied with a number of leading contemporary glass artists. They supported his efforts to develop a colorful and painterly approach to creating glass sculpture. He also traveled to Italy, to work with the highly profiled and one of the most distinguished Italian artists, Lino Tagliapietra, of Murano glass fame. In 1985, Chris built his own hot glass workshop near the small commercial fishing and crabbing town of Port Orford, located on the Oregon coast about 70 miles north of the California state line. "I prepare to work in the studio much like preparing a special meal. The ingredients are ready, the plan is formulated and now the focus, timing, spontaneity and intuition must carry from the beginning to the end. Hot glass has a rhythm and cadence that is dictated by scale and design of the finished piece. It cannot be rushed or delayed. It must be caressed into existence with determined persuasion and precise timing. Working with glass allows me the luxury of uninterrupted focus on something I love to do. When a piece is produced with all the preparation, work and timing assembled like the presentation of a gourmet meal, the end product is something I am delighted to share" Birth date: November 25, 1953 Detroit, MI Education: Pilchuck Glass Center 1978: Flat Glass - Patrick Reyntiens 1979: Hot Glass - Joel Meyers & Dan Dailey 1987: Advanced Glass Blowing - Lino Tagliapietra 1991: Solid Off - hand glass sculpture - Loredano Rosin 1998: Advanced Flameworking - Lucio Bubbaco Collections (Partial List): Museum of Fine Art - Boston Muskegon Museum of Art Coos Art Museum Caroline Power and Light Dow Chemical UAW/Chrysler Corporation Collection Renaissance Vineyards Southern Company Penta Hotels Motorola Corporation Trammel Crowe NWLI - Northwest Life Insurance St. Paul Companies Prudential Securities Peat Marwick Old Kent Bank - Grand Rapids, MI Gillette Corporation Knauf Fiberglass