Louis "Tony" Curiel and Angie Roberts working together to create astonishing lampwork beads

Louis “Tony” Curiel’s art glass is found in the prized collections of both corporate and private collectors and in public galleries and museums around the world. 

Over the years, Curiel’s work has been an influential part of the revolutionary changes in blown glass that have instrumentally defined American glass art forms as we know them today. Curiel is one in an elite list of prolific of glass artists that include Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni, Fritz Driesbach, Marvin Lipofsky, and Mark Bogenrief.  These 20th century glass artists have combined their passion for natural lifeforms into living glass works. 

According to historians, Glassblowing was initially invented by the Phoenicians at approximately 50 B.C. when collections of waste were collected from mikvah, “a ritual bath in the Jewish Quarter of Old City of Jerusalem dated from 37 to 4 B.C.”

In Curiel’s artistic career, he has focused primarily on neon, illuminated and plasma glasswork along with an serious love of lampwork.

Lampworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. (*Wikipedia.org)

Lampwork beads, paperweights and pendants are favored by Curiel, and when he opened the Curiel-Reynolds School of Visual Arts in Spencer on July 20, 2008, he made sure there was a Glass Blowing and Lampworking Lab where students could learn the the contemporay skills of the art form. 

Now with the school in its second year, the glass master has decided to work with a select group and write a book on the art of making lampwork beads.  To spearhead the book project, Curiel has selected author Amelia Painter.  Along with Painter, Curiel has selected professional lampwork bead artists Jon Curiel and Angie Roberts to work on the project. 

Since Curiel is a scientific glass artist, he believes that his glassblowing/lampworking son Jon, who is the main lampwork instructor at the Curiel school, can add great value to the book in the chapters that cover working glass with a torch.  And, since Robert’s lampwork tends to be dainty and whimsical, her contribution to the book project will add a creative touch the book might not otherwise have.  The co-authors hope to have the new book on the shelves prior to Christmas 2009. 

To learn more about Tony and Jon Curiel, visit the Curiel-Reynolds School of Visual Arts online at:  www.curielarts.org.