Dan Friday demonstrated the Art of Glass in Ridgecrest October 20, 2024

Dan starting the Pegasus art project with a blob of glass at 1900 degree F.

Story and photos by Mike Remarcke

On Sunday, October 20, 2024 Dan Friday entertained his Ridgecrest neighbors at the Café Aroma with a demo of the “art of glass”. 

It was advertised as a glass blowing exhibit, but as I found out, it was a glass art event. I had thought all glass art was blowing glass but I quickly found out it is just one of the varieties of creating glass art.

Dan’s demo this day was the art of fused glass, which is a centuries-old technique that involves melting different colors of glass together in a kiln or furnace. 

He spoke of how totems are created by cutting or subtracting, whereas fusing is the art of layering colored glass on top of each other, building the piece of art.

The bead of glass has to be kept at a consistent heat so it can be shaped into the form the artist chooses. This is an ongoing process throughout the project.

Dan Friday is a native of the Northwest and a member of the Lummi Nation. There is a native art slant to much of the glass art he creates. He credits this with his rich cultural heritage where making things with one’s hands was a way of life and pleasure. 

When he saw glass blowing for the first time, he felt he “grew an inch”! He knew what he wanted to do with his life and his creative spirit. It was the art of glass making!

The design is starting to take shape. The glass is smoother and the legs are formed.
This piece has been in an out of the oven several times to get to this shape.

Dan has studied with the masters, including Dale Chihuly, Paul Marioni and Preston Singletary. He has studied and teaches at the Pilchuck Glass School and his work is shown and sold throughout the world. 

He has been a key contributor to the Studio Glass Movement and was a contestant on Netflix’s Season 3 of Blown Away.

Here Dan is forming the wings. The wings start out as a blob of hot glass, then, placed on the horse’s back forming the rib structure of the wing. Each time the horse is put back into the oven the wings melt and droop to the side and have to be repositioned.

Much collaboration is required to produce glass art. Here Alex, Dan’s assistant, has molten reddish glass that is to be attached and formed on the backside of the horse to create a tail. It may take several trips to the oven to reheat the horse to get the desired look for the tail.

Samples of Dan’s work. (Clockwise) A watcher cloud with an owl, two contemporary glass versions of Lummi baskets, bear pendants for necklaces, and a tribal feather representation.

Friday Glass website