Jack Storms, a 47-year-old glass sculptor and the entrepreneur of the company StormWorks Studio. Storms’ sculptors have become extremely popular after a viral video on Facebook by Insider Art, they were even featured in the marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy.
“I fell in love with the process”
Growing up, Storms had always been good at art. He also had passion for it. He says he was in love with the process of it. Moreover, he was inspired by watching his father working on wooden sculptures for hours and hours.
He followed his high school counselor’s advice and pursued a career in art. Storms after graduating got a job with the local glass artist. The local artist had been working glass, combining lead crystal and dichroic glass. This caught Storms’ attention. After a year, once he had enough experience he started his own work.
“The effects are just brilliant for me.”
Storms says that most glass sculptors use heat, they administer flame or use a kiln to heat up the glass and then mold it. However, Storms grinds and polishes the blocks of glass into art, he does not use any heat. Although this method is time intensive, Storms doesn’t mind it because he wants his products to turn out perfect.
“...because of the perfection because of the tolerances being so tight, it's a pursuit of perfection at every single turn so because of that they take some time.”
Since, he does not use heat, Storms invented a cold-working lathe to help him sculpt his glass masterpieces with greater detail and precise curves. He got this idea from spending his childhood watching his father spend hours using a wooden lathe. Storms combined his childhood experiences with his experience working with the glass artist for a year to create this invention.
This idea of creating the cold-working lathe was abstract and remotely associated with his childhood memory of his father working with a wooden lathe. According to Smith and Ward, in the paper Cognition and creation of Ideas, the process of abstract thinking, associating two remote objects, as well as the process of combining the old concepts to create a new product are an important aid to creativity. Storms developed new “supporting technology” in order to construct his art pieces.
Furthermore, Storms also uses a combination of the glass refractive index, the Fibonacci ratios, the lead crystal and dichroic glass to create his magnificent art. He uses refractive indexes of the different glass surfaces to produce the colorful outcome he wants of his sculptures. He uses the Fibonacci sequence and the Fibonacci ratios in his work. He explains that Fibonacci ratio is everywhere in nature, and part of its consequences is that no lines in nature are ever straight. Therefore, he says that he uses the Fibonacci ratios to turn the straight lines of his pieces into more natural looking.
Storms admits that the process takes weeks or even months to complete, but it is the end product that makes it all worthwhile.
“It's a cut, grind, and polish, and repeat. Over and over and over again. So, the process is simple, but it's meticulous, and it's monotonous…but, but I love it.”
“He loves to come to work and sculpt, so he really doesn’t work a day in his life.”
Since childhood, Storms has loved art, and he says he loved it because he was good at it. He was passionate about it as well. He was extremely intrinsically motivated to sculpt because he simply loved it.
“...and from the second I was there I just knew it was something I was going to do for the rest of my life”
Storms also knew he wanted to make a name for himself. He had a drive for accomplishment. This gave him further motivation to pursue the career in art.
“It's a discovery, that keeps me anxious, it keeps me wanting to do more.”
Additionally, Storms not only loves the process of creating glass art but he also loves his products. Storms does not want his pieces to look manufactured or automated, he desires them to have more of a natural look.
“I do this for a living I stare at the work all day and every single time I do one of these pieces, it-it makes me pause and sit there and just reflect on how beautiful it is I sometimes look at this and I can't believe I can't believe I do this kind of work is just it blows me away.”
“the answer is I created it out of sheer beauty.”
Even though Jack Storms is the master sculptor, he does not do his work alone. Indeed, he is the mastermind, however, he has a team of collaborators such as his CEO and wife Vivian Storms. Mrs. Storms is the head of marketing and endlessly propels her husband’s work forward. Furthermore, Storm’s team involves Richard McKenna (studio manager), Florence Laitinen (design manager), Nancy Chavez (office and production manager), Kyle Heffeman (marketing manager), Carlos Ramos (production assistant manager), and lastly, Joe Willford and Alek Ulmer (artist’s assistants).
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/thisisinsiderart/videos/545619722275263/
https://jackstorms.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeMGRMwarKI
https://jackstorms.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeMGRMwarKI
https://www.instagram.com/stormsjack/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeMGRMwarKI&t=71s
https://media.giphy.com/media/uJs1UKVgPI8Za/200.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/uJs1UKVgPI8Za/200.gif
I think it's amazing how he creates such beautiful art in an extremely unique way. Most artists create with a paint brush or lyrics but he is sculpting glass in such an alluring manner. Turing a childhood passion into an profitable art form is everyones dream!
ReplyDeleteI have seen artists working with glass and heat but have never heard of cold-working lathe for glass art work. It was interesting that such a method creates perfection.
ReplyDeleteThis looks very cool! I'm amazed that he spends so much time on each project. I wonder how he doesn't burnout from working on a single project for so long! (I guess his intrinsic motivation goes a long way). I also admire how also puts so much thought into his work, both in creating the cold-working lathe method and in incorporating the Fibonacci sequence.
ReplyDeleteSmall sidebar but what his wife said in the video when he asked her to pick a favorite ("that one's my favorite because of what it could be") was really clever and sweet!
And hey, I like how you incorporated a lot from the stuff we've discussed in class. Great post!
Really interesting post! I had never heard of Jack Storms so it was really cool to learn more about an artist I am unfamiliar with. The work he creates is beautiful and it is unique to have created such a new technique to do it. It seems that in art often times, even when people are coming up with new and creative pieces they do so using old tools, ie Picasso using paint and a brush (one of the oldest techniques) to create his masterpieces. That, to me, just goes to show how creative Storms is, to not only make new pieces but to change the way pieces are made.
ReplyDelete