Glasslight Studio

Now Available! Shop Now at MyAmetricanCrafts for hand blown art glass menorahs and lamps.

Joel Bless first began working with hot glass at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the early 1970s in the School of American Craftsmen's newly opened glassblowing program. Having been interested in lighting from an early age, he found it natural to incorporate glassblowing and light. By 1977, he had built his own hot shop and was producing vases and lamps, which he sold through craft shows around the country.

During the late 1980s, Joel explored a unique technique of vertical casting he eventually used for Glasslight Menorahs, Shabbat Candlesticks, and Seder Plates reflecting different aspects of the Jewish faith. He uses the same technique for other candlestick designs, as well as vases. "Creative processes build on each other," he says, "fostering the evolution of new ideas and techniques."

Joel currently makes a wide range of hand-made glass lighting products in a variety of styles and is always working to develop new techniques for creating functional art.