Guide to Oregon Glassblowing

To James Kingwell and Suzanne Kindland, glass isn’t just a medium for their art — it’s their muse, their livelihood.

The couple have created hand-blown glass art together in their downtown Cannon Beach studio since the early 1990s. That was two decades after Kingwell first settled on the Oregon Coast, at a time when it was largely dotted with sleepy lumber towns.

Today, Icefire Glassworks is a landmark for many who stop in for a souvenir, or come to watch Kingwell and Kindland create their complex, fiery art through the plexiglass.

As fans of blown glass know, the colorful, labor-intensive pieces — bowls and vases, hearts and animals, ornaments and drinking glasses — are ubiquitous at studios up and down the Oregon Coast, and in fact across the seven regions of Oregon.

Just why are they so magical, for the artists and the fans?

It’s the art and science of an age-old process.

“It’s like building a Monet-like painting with colors trapped up the sidewalls,” Kingwell says of his partner Kindland’s style. “She’s building a tremendous depth with those things.” The couple always challenge themselves to make something new, he says; nowadays he likes to work with pieces that have an intentional weight imbalance. “Rather than directing the glass, I want the weight to move,” he says. “Glass is so much more graceful than I am.”