Roger Dale

Art is the reflection of one’s personality and life experiences. My ideas and motivational forces stem from my optimism, love of life and my experiences over the last 18 years as a wilderness guide in the Grand Canyon. I will admit that I am a fun hog, I like to work hard and play harder. I like to go rock climbing, kayaking and back country skiing. These sports stimulate ideas and generate energy which I channel into my glass work. My latest work, the Mardigras series, involves a series of hot cast glass wall relief’s. The casting consists of numerous panels which I hot cast separately then assemble to create a dynamic and active wall sculpture. Hot casting glass is the process of gathering or ladling hot molten glass from the furnace and pouring the liquid glass into molds. In each hot cast panel there lies hundreds of complex colored glass bits which I produce using Italian hot glass techniques. My blown work expresses my love for bright colors and tight forms. I find that I am more interested in the lines of a piece and how ones eyes flow over them than the designs on the surface. Form over function, I have always said.