CHRISTOPHER SMITH
Born October 1953 in San Francisco, California, moved to British Columbia in 1970. Chris began working in stained glass in 1975 employed as an apprentice to a stained-glass studio in Nelson. That same year, he spent a semester blowing glass at the Alberta College of Art.
Moving to Nanaimo in 1976, he studied art history at Malaspina College and opened the original Glaskrafter Art Glass studio in 1977. The Studio relocated to Lantzville in 1986 and finally in 1991 moved to its present location behind his home on the edge of Nanoose Bay.
Following decades of creating custom stained glass and sand carved work in architectural and residential settings Chris began a serious exploration into the artistic potential of kiln cast glass. To that end he spent time working in Brock Craig's glass studio in 2009 and studied kiln casting at Bullseye Glass in Portland, Oregon. Chris’s recent work is an exploration into the luminous and transcendent aspects of cast glass sculptures; life size kiln cast Salmon and Steelhead trout swimming through undulating steel river grass; ravens and salmon, some copper, some gold leaf, some painted, circling without and within woven glass baskets, or suspended in solid glass eggs. Everything Chris creates is an invitation to share his unique perspective of life within nature and its transcendent value, “Glass becoming Fish”. As a life-long lover of the natural world, Chris expresses this passion through his art, connecting the viewer with the magic and miracle of nature. He is also on the board of the stewardship group Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society.
He is represented by Reflecting Spirit Gallery, Ucluelet, The Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Coastal Carving, Combs, The Salish Sea Market, Bowser, Weiwaikum House of Treasures, Campbell River, Side Street Studio, Oak Bay, and Studio 106, James Bay, Victoria, Chris also shows his new work at his studio gallery.
Email: glaskrafter@shaw.ca
Mobile Phone: (250) 240-1096
Website: glaskrafter.com
Facebook: @glaskrafter
Studio Name: Phoenix Gallery
Studio address: 8226 Sabre Rd. Lantzville
