Frank Workman

Visitors at Fenton Art Glass watch in awe as glass artisan Frank Workman sits at his finisher's bench and carefully applies a molten thread of glass to a vase. Within a few minutes, Frank has deftly fashioned the thread into an intricate zigzag pattern whose bright color contrasts perfectly with the hue of the vase. His audience applauds as Frank holds the vase aloft momentarily for all to see.

Since joining Fenton in 1996, Frank has mastered all the traditional skills of the glassmaker. In recent years, he has worked closely with master glass artisan Dave Fetty and taken on some of the most challenging jobs in our factory. However, Frank most enjoys working "off hand," producing vases and similar objects with a basic mould and creating vivid decorative motifs ranging from hanging hearts and thin threads to amazing swirls, twists and exaggerated geometric patterns.

For the vase shown here, Frank begins with a core of Milk Glass, then applies molten green glass in various ways to create a unique interior that will vary somewhat from piece to piece. The exterior design is also applied molten glass, and Frank designed the overall look. The applied black foot is done by a special technique Frank has mastered. This 12'' Footed Vase is called ''Windblown'' and was a Limited Edition of 250.

You may still see some of Frank's one-of-a-kind creations on our Fenton eBay auction site from when he was a visiting artist at various glass factories.