The first piece of glass that Mischka Jay Hunter created was in the fall of 2000, when he was enrolled in the Craft & Design program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. The process of working the glass, the optics, the colours, the heat and the dextrous relationship between the blower and the glass connected him to this art form.
Mischka was born in Vancouver and spent his childhood in a variety of places from Kauai Hawaii to Cassiar Northern British Columbia, but found his home in the small South-Eastern Ontario town of Newburgh. Mischka's work is certainly influenced by his experiences in these places; the colours of the tropics, the geological pattern of the Rockies, the surface pattern of the limestone buildings in South-Eastern Ontario and the industrial remnants of farming equipment.
After Mischka's last year at Sheridan, he was hired as a Teacher’s Assistant in the College’s glass studio for 1 year. Then in the summer of 2006 he was given the opportunity to become owner of an existing glass blowing studio and gallery in Kingston, Ontario. During the Sheridan program he was given the fundamentals for creative glass design. This gave him the opportunity to explore his glass blowing expression. Since becoming the owner of Kingston Glass Studio, he has had to explore glass designs that are both creative and functional to appeal to our market. The functional pieces that he has created sustain his business. Mischka is grateful to have developed this niche in his market and continues to work very hard to maintain it. Yet, he craves the freedom that he had at Sheridan; and he takes full advantage of any opportunities that he is given to indulge in pieces that are acts of pure expression.
Quite simply, Mischka made the commitment not only to produce glass but also to share with the community of Kingston the art form that is glass blowing. This is done through live demonstrations in the studio, the ‘family day events’ and frequent classes. After stumbling upon glass blowing at Sheridan College, Mischka found not only what he needs to do, and is good at doing, but also what he loves to do.
Mariel Jayne Waddell is an award-winning glass artist. She graduated from Hot Glass Forming at Sheridan College School of Craft and Design in April 2006. In 2005 she received the Betty Kantor Award and the Summer Residency Scholarship from the Harbourfront Center in Toronto. In 2006 she received the Don Lee Award and an Honorable Mention for the 2006 Sheridan Graduate Show.
Mariel was born in Trinidad and has lived in other tropical countries such as Barbados and Costa Rica. The experience of living in these countries has become the foundation of her inspiration. Using hot glass bits Mariel sculpts and captures pieces of the oceans reefs and currents onto her vessels.
Currently Mariel is co-owner and glassblower at the Kingston Glass Studio & Gallery in Kingston, Ontario. Mariel’s work can be found in galleries, public collections, private collections and museums, across North America and other parts of the world.
