Artist of the Month
November 2022
Jim Scheller
Jim Scheller works exclusively in glass, kilnforming and casting work at his Macoupin Prairie Glassworks studio in Staunton, Illinois. After a long career as an engineer and technologist, he discovered kilnforming in 2012. He has since dedicated himself to his craft and art, enjoying experimentation with the medium and finding pleasure in pushing the limits and developing new techniques. He is represented by Philabaum Glass Gallery, Tucson, Arizona.
Click on each photo to the right for a full picture.
Ancient Rings 15, 2022; 6.5 x 10 inches; kiln formed and slumped glass
Vessel Composition 9, 2020; 6.25 x 10 inches; kiln formed and slumped glass
Ancient Rings 11, 2022; 6.5 x 10 inches; kiln formed and slumped glass
Vessel Composition 21, 2020; 6 x 10 inches; kiln formed and slumped glass
Ancient Rings 17, 2022; 6.5 x 10 inches; kiln formed and slumped glass
Jim Scheller
Artist Statement:
Glass vessel designs are informed studying the simplicity and abstraction of neoplasticism beginning with the DeStijl movement of the early 20th century. Inspiration for cast works comes from a fascination of geological forms, textures and colors found in nature. The engineer, immersed in the process of making, joins glass, heat, and gravity to create works inviting one to view the once molten glass in a dance of light and color.
Each piece in Scheller’s Ancient Rings series is patiently assembled over several days. 10,000+ hand cut 9x9 mm pieces of glass create these intricate vessels that evoke the patterns of ancient rings. The pieces are fused in a kiln at 1500F to form a flat disk and then slumped in a 1200F kiln three times in molds of increasing depth. As the hot, soft glass begins to drop, the molds are adjusted by hand to ensure the proper shape. The matte finished opaque and transparent body is topped with a polished lip.
About Jim Scheller
After a long career as an engineer and technologist Jim Scheller discovered glass kilnforming in 2012. He has dedicated himself to his craft and art ever since. Extensive study of and experimentation with the medium is a passion and healthy addiction. In September 2018, after 27 years, Scheller moved from his forest home and studio, Chehalem Mountain Glassworks in Schools, Oregon, to his Macoupin Prairie Glassworks studio in Staunton, Illinois near his childhood home of Mt. Olive. Employing both fusing and slumping and kiln casting processes, his works are composed with glass sheets, crushed glass (frit) and glass slabs (billets). These are then fired to over 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. Fired works are extensively coldworked to achieve the final finish.
Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Philabaum Glass Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, for providing the Artist of the Month.
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
