Blog

07.23.2022
I'm restocked with brand new Maruko jacks and parcioffis.  Tweezers coming soon.If you're unfamiliar, Maruko tools are handmade by an expert metalsmith (and former glassblower) at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan and are excellent in so many ways. These are my favorite jacks and tweezers and I'...
02.26.2022
What's new with David Patchen Handblown GlassIn this Newsletter:Demonstrations:GAS ConferenceCorning Museum of GlassCollaboration with James Devereux UpdateInterview with Contemporary Glass Society: "Master of Murrine"Still Hot From the Kiln (new work)Artist Talks:Sandra Ainsley GalleryElder...
11.26.2021
Get out of the closet about your murrine obsession with an MIT t-shirt!What is the Murrine Institute of Technology you ask? Well it's the preeminent post-graduate glass school focused exclusively on the murrine technique in glass.Ok...um, not quite.Actually, it's a fictional school I dreamt up as a...
05.16.2021
  Is this email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser. In this Newsletter:Good Riddance 2020!Still Hot From the Kiln (New Work)Artist CollaborationsNew Series: SentinelCalifornia Modern Magazine featureMurrine Institute of TechnologyThe Great Create Web TV SeriesMaking...
11.01.2020
Cane are rods of glass; they can be clear, solid color or have all manner of lines of color inside of them.  They can also be incorporated in a mass of molten glass and pulled and twisted into all sorts of patterns.  This highly-patterned cane is often called 'twisty cane' or referred to...
11.01.2020
The Fall 2020 CA Modern Magazine has this feature on my work.  You can download a pdf here.
04.20.2020
You can view the full newsletter here.
12.16.2019
I was honored to be invited to be on Talking Out Your Glass, a podcast hosted by Shawn Waggoner interviewing leading artists in the glass world.  Shawn is a well-known figure in the glass world herself, having been the editor of Glass Art Magazine for decades. You can find the podcast on...
11.06.2019
 I recently installed eight sculptures titled Dewdrops in a brand new Norwegian Cruise Line ship off the north coast of Germany.  This project was a perfect combination of glassblowing, design, engineering and craftsmanship and one of the most satisfying of my career thus far.  The...
03.21.2019
New diamond lap disks are amazing to behold--all sparkly in the sun (you do check them out in the sun, right?) and super-rough on your hand.  But using them for the first few hours can be pretty challenging since new disks have a break-in period where they're so aggressive they are difficult...
12.20.2018
You can read the full newsletter here.
11.09.2017
This newsletter covers my visit to the Corning Museum of Glass as guest artist, new gallery, revised book, article by Glass Art Magazine.  You can read it here.
08.28.2017
The 4th edition of my book, with a foreword by Bill Gudenrath of the Corning Museum of Glass is now available.  It's significantly updated and reflects my most recent work and new series.  The foreword by Bill Gudenrath provides a brief summary of the history of murrine and offers context...
07.24.2017
I made close to two dozen pieces for a new luxury cruise ship owned by Regent Cruise lines and since it doesn't vist San Francisco, have never been able to see the work installed.  Thanks to some glassy friends, I got a heads up that some of the pieces were in a photo on CNN's story on the...
06.25.2017
In May of 2017 I spent a few days as Guest Artist at the Corning Museum of Glass and did demonstrations in their amphitheater hot shop.  The Thursday evening of my visit was one of their epic 2300 Degrees parties.  With the Museum open late, a live band and my demo being watched by a few...
05.21.2017
New large damascus tags to squeeze up murrine in style. Rainbow pattern Damascus, quilted walnut handles, stainless counterweight. These are the first and coming with me to Corning but i'll be making a few for sale. Large at 27" long, med at 13" long.      
01.24.2017
A Japanese TV crew shot us today for a show called Wafu Sohonke. Lots of demos for the camera and talk about Maruko tools (with assistant Ian Whitt). The show was on TV Tokyo at 9pm on feb 23, 2017. The show features a visit with Shin Nagai who makes excellent Maruko tools and yours...
01.04.2017
This seems like a complimentary article but my Spanish is worse than even the gibberish that Google Translate gave me.  So...who can read this in Spanish?
01.04.2017
The folks at Glass Art Magazine did a cover feature on my work earlier this year and was planning on doing another article exclusively for their subs.  Well, they decided to make this second article, David Patchen: Glass for the Inquisitive Mind, available online so anyone who wants can check...
11.24.2016
My work is featured in this book by Barbara Purchia & E. Ashley Rooney.According to the publisher (Schiffer):More than 590 brilliantly detailed photos capture the work of 112 glass artists and show the tremendous diversity, depth, and breadth of how this ancient medium is used in the twenty-...
11.14.2016
The editors at American Art Collector Magazine are always seeking to be be a timely resource for the art world by highlighting artists in advance of their shows.  I was delighted they featured me in this article announcing my show at Duncan McClellan Gallery in St. Petersberg, FL.  The...
10.17.2016
I'm a tool geek; I love to try different tools by established makers, have custom tools made to my specs as well as make my own when I can't find something that meets my needs.  As most toolmakers aren't glassblowers, they aren't using their own tools and need to rely on feedback from their...
03.17.2016
A thread came up in CraftWeb about how to reduce injuries.  Here are some of my approaches to take stress off my body while making bigger glass: I used to pitch the pipe up to get four and five gather pieces to flow a bit before necking or after necking until I hurt my rotator cuff--now I...
02.29.2016
So honored to be featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Glass Art Magazine, especially since this magazine is published by my peers.  There's a 6-page article that's wide-ranging covering influences, challenges, creative development, etc.  The writer and I spoke for a long time and she...
12.23.2015
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