Shawn Athari

Shawn Athari has been creating glass art professionally since 1975 when she started taking commissions for sandblasted and flat glass window panels and cabinet doors.

In 1982 Shawn began working with warm and hot glass, combining her love of history with her glass expertise. The sum of these two loves expanded her repertoire into glass art of a new dimension. As she developed the ability of interpreting cultural artifacts in the medium of glass, her command of many unique glass techniques enabled her to transform ancient objects into a contemporary form. Shawn produces her sculptures as historical markers of cultures long since diminished or vanished and reaches beyond her art to cultural preservation, saving fragments of the past in her modernistic style.

Shawn has received many first prize and Best of Show awards. Her work is in the collection of many notable individuals and is enjoyed in many private and public collections throughout the world.

Shawn received a commission from the Walt Disney Company to adapt the Disney characters for glass. Shawn made a series of bowls/plates and statues of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto.
Her work was sold through 16 Neiman Marcus Stores.
One of her commissions was for Temple Adat Eloheim in Westlake, CA. It consisted of 240 sq. ft. of multi-panels depicting the parting of the Red Sea.
Her residence and art glass were the subject of two separate cable shows.
The Washington State ferries proudly displays her work on the Ferryboat “Kahleetan.”
Shawn created a line of glass furniture that is both beautifully decorative and functional.
Metropolitan Home, Phoenix Home and Garden, Glass Art, Glass Craftsman, Profitable Glass Quarterly, The Guild and several other publications have featured or displayed her work.
Her work has been used in set decoration for T.V. shows
Shawn’s Pacific Northwest inspired WOLF sculpture was purchased by the city of Beverly Hills and is displayed in their library.
A great three-page spread was featured in a Korean Art magazine. Although the text was in Korean, the photographic display was very complete.

Shawn was recently quoted as saying; “I have followed my heart, and passion and intellectual interests into a direction I could never have dreamed of. I have created a body of work that covers many centuries, cultures and an evolution of glass processes that tell my story as a glass artist. I am proud of the work I have created and the bridge it builds to the past.”

Work Description
Shawn’s sculptures start with a design, either from history or a more contemporary style. All the pieces are layered, the smallest being on top. Embellishments are added, then, slowly, all the glass is melted to 1600 degrees until all the layers become one. At this point the glass is flat. The last and most stressful procedure is to shape or bend the style. Since most of Shawn’s pieces are large it is important to get the entire sculpture to reach bending temperature at the same time. This is difficult because all ovens vary in temperature from end to end. If the edges are hot enough to bend but the center isn’t, an internal stress occurs and the glass cracks as it tries to bend. Once broken or cracked it is impossible to fix the piece. All that can be done is to start ALL OVER. Oh Vay!!!!

Some of the embellishments that highlight Shawn’s
Work are done with her poured, blown, lamp worked and cane work. All these elements are done separately and stored in their cooled -off state to be used later, as needed.

Poured pieces are done by gathering glass colors using Shawn’s recipes for her custom colors. Once the glass is 2300 degrees it is poured in it’s molten state onto a temperature tolerant surface The glass sets up in shapes determined by the poring pattern and is then used as a component in the final sculpture.

The stringers are threads of glass slowly brought into the propane heat of 2300 degrees. Since the thread of glass wants to puddle quickly it takes a lot of control to create the shapes shown in Shawn’s work.

Cane work is created by forming a design with thin strips of glass and melting them together. The resulting design can only be seen in the cross section. The glass is cut crosswise with a glass saw. The result is small disk shaped glass pieces, which are melted onto the surface of the glass.

Latticino is made by gathering two or more long strips of glass and using an open flame of 2300 degrees. As the glass softens it is twisted by turning the two ends in opposite directions.

Enjoy my work and think about adding a bright addition to your art collection. These are today’s collections and tomorrow’s treasures.

Shawn Athari
shawnathari.com