Commissions, process & material experimentation
The studio is a space of creation, alchemy, vision, imagination, testing, a smatter of magic and at least a mile of blind wandering, Stop by and see what's happening here or join the email list for the timely announcements. I am on LinkedIn as my social media connection (Instagram can't convey the complexities of our projects). I am always trying on something new for my art practice and our legal entity Shangri La Art Glass (see below). The fun never stops: how about watching me break some glass with a flamethrower, or melting glass into threads and compositions, or the photo shoots, the installations, some welding or making custom joinery parts. While glass is the most technical medium or component I use, it's only part of the art. We possess a rare skillset that has to be seen and experienced to appreciate. Cool as all the photos and video can be, being in our space is how you understand what is possible.
What's in our Studio
On site we have 11 kilns (glass and ceramic), a powder coater, industrial sand blaster, cement mixer, glass cold working stations, welding and light tables throughout. We have state of the art batteries that will keep our kilns going for a month in a power failure if we need - we hope at least). My artwork's main material is fused glass (mostly 6mm fusing, some deep casting, vitro graph, enameling/sandblasting, bas relief /kiln carving) but (and it is a big but) I also work in polished concret (not a typo), metals, resin, wood, stone/rock and rubber as my methods of joinery and display. All of the artwork by my LLC parent company Shangri La Art Glass is also done in the studio. It's not just me, but everything Shangri-La Art Glass does too - which is only growing by the month.
About US at Shangri La Art Glass (Shangri La Art Glass)
Our LLC parent company Shanrgi La Art Glass (SLAG) provides color & design advanced palette tools, color & design education and serves a member cadre of fused glass artists worldwide. I am the lead artist and designer, my wife Shaundra Toy is our technical director. Her decades of experience in color science with Kodak and Pantone bring lighting expertise we could not hire. Because she is PMP certified we also get things done. We live life to its fullest in Southern California near the beautiful coastal regions where Laguna, NewPort, Montecito, Santa Barbara and La Jolla beaches inspires our work. Our son's beautiful wedding in Santa Barbara inspired the heirloom Holding Memory collection.
What Slag Does
Together Shaundra and I design, create and curate a distinguished luxury line of indoor and outdoor lighting and decorative art glass in the garden. When we say garden, we mean space done right. We have 2 art galleries on site
- The Pool side gallery is about 60" running feet of installed works (including a miniatures section of prototypes, maquettes and models on 5 stone pedestals. This space exemplifies planning, lighting & color decisions, temporary and permanent installations. From the sky our backyard is an infinity emblem. We took out a membership at Glen Ivy Spa for a year to research their 16 pools to fully develop our design plans for this sacred creative space. And yes we were also the General Contractors of this Eden paradise.
- The Sunset Lounge & Butterfly garden is a more intimate gallery, placed around a smaller 20' round garden. It beauty at sunset captures every orb and dust in the air and the dragonflies dart across the water, while the lizards scale the stucco fences and the hummingbirds zip through the banana groves and 6' high hibiscus. It's the cocktail hour just before the night collapses on the day.
- In 2027 we plan on completing desirable (yes desirable) pool rails incorporating brass, glass and stainless steel and finalizing the fountains designed during the pool build of 2023/20024. The pool is 50" long, hot tub 16'x12', and the deck is 1800 square feet which wraps around to our studios.
Studio & Gallery visits
Email us to schedule a visit and see what works are in developmental phases of testing (glass annealing, coatings, bases and connections/seals fixtures, joinery) right through completion.
We prefer to work directly with architects and designers to ensure the client arrives at the best art decisions appropriate to their desires, scope, timeline & budget. We also partner with larger studios and craftspeople when the finished works are in excess of our limitations or availability.
We invite architects and designers to first meet with us to discuss projects and then meet with clients here and on the clients site. Because our artwork is glass , light provides our most significant opportunities and obstacles and we need to see what is possible.