Ron Desmett: Artist Statement
(Written shortly before his death in 2016)
"I have always loved the thought of the continuum of prehistoric hands to mine...making the ordinary extraordinary.
"I began by making forms that literally held material: wine, butter or cereal. In later years, my forms lost their connection to function. They took on a figurative quality, with only a cursory nod to the vessel. The immediacy and expressiveness – the 'me' in the form – is what I enjoy creating.
"Nature and its inherent rhythm offer up old, rotted, curling stumps of wood in the landscape. These twisting, gnarling internal shapes become my inspiration.
"By using hollowed out walnut trees as molds to hold the force of my breath, I am infusing nature that has lost its life with life anew. As a person steeped in the history of art and craft, I take the craft of glass and turn it into art that transcends material."
