Feature of the Day #21: CMooreGlass

Greetings!

Anemone Air Trap Marble

Today's feature of the day goes to CMooreGlass, AKA Chip Moore and his mind-numbingly astounding glass craftsmanship. Moore has been creating wearable glass art since 2006. The inspiration from his work comes from the Oregon coastline and all of his works are his own personal designs. In 2004 he had his first exposure to lampworking through his friend, Glass Master Chris Emerson of Emerson Glass. Chris taught Moore a few techniques and that was all it took to get him hooked. Two years later, he felt it was time to share his art with the world and CMooreGlass was born.
Moore is a self taught lampworking artist who works with borosilicate glass. Lampworking, also known as flameworking or torchworking, is the process of making glasswork by using a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. The molten glass is molded and formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. Lampworking manipulates glass by the use of tools, gravity, and by blowing directly into the end of a glass tube. Whereas glassblowing uses a blowpipe to inflate a glass blob. Lampworking can be used to create trinkets, figurines, ornaments, beads, and in Moore's case, marbles. (See full lampworking article here)

Sea Life Marble

Borosilicate glass is also known as "hard glass" and is made from silica and boron oxide. It's more resistant to thermal stress so it's commonly used for creating reagent bottles. It can also be found in fish tank thermometers, telescope and high-quality flashlight lenses, glass cookware, and many other items, including Moore's works.
When one first sees Moore's creations, one can't help but wonder if he somehow captured a bubble of life within. The contents of his work seem as though they could start moving at any moment, swaying gently in the currents of the ocean. This is especially true for his marble, Anemone Air Trap Marble (top of page). Each bubble on the glass anemone's delicate arms is a pocket of air that Moore expertly trapped. The marble is only 1 5/8" in diameter but seems to contain a whole world, much like the piece Sea Life Marble (pictured above).

Implosion Sea Turtle Pendant

It is difficult for one to truly wrap their minds around one of Moore's creations without understanding the techniques used to create it. But such is also true of the craftsmanship of Versailles, or a painting by Da Vinci; even if you don't understand how it was created, the mind still recognizes it as beautiful and something to be appreciated. However Moore is generous enough to give the viewer a hint at the creative process. This is what he says about his Implosion Sea Turtle Pendant (pictured right):
A sea turtle made of borosilicate glass with exotic green and amber purple frit(shards of glass) implosion. The fins are made with peacock blue and caramel dotted on. 
And of his Jellyfish Pendant (pictured below):
Jellyfish pendant made of borosilicate glass so lifelike you may be afraid to touch it. The cap is made of double amber purple and the tentacles are made of double amber purple stretched very thin with a midnight blue color for the backing and caramel dots.
Technique and definitions aside, what really draws the viewer into Moore's work is the inherent sense of creativity, pride, and above all, joy, in what he does. His work doesn't carry the weight of having been created just for a profit, but for the sheer joy an artist has while creating. It makes his pieces light and fun and something to truly be treasured.
Check out his store today for many other pendants, animals figurines and marbles.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CMooreGlass?ref=seller_info

~Squirrel Creek Creations

Our Etsy store: www.squirrelcrkcreations.etsy.com

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/squirrelcreek

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/SquirrelsCreek

Jellyfish Pendant