Blue bottle with stopper; blown glass; 2011; 9 in. h x 3 in. w

Carolyn Riley

After working as a graphic designer for many years, I decided it was time to pursue my passion, not just earn a living! I began by taking some glass fusing classes at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach. That only whetted my appetite for more. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about making glass art. I moved on and began taking courses in fused glass and glass blowing at the Visual Art Center, Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, VA.

I have always loved glass. As a child I went to the Corning Glass Center while visiting my grandparents. I was fascinated by the glass art in the museum and how it was transformed from the molten material I watched glow in the factory furnaces into solid forms.

I recently took the opportunity to do a little research into my family’s genealogy. I discovered why I might have more than a passing interest in glass. It’s actually part of my Swedish heritage. My Swedish great grandfather, Henning Overstrom, was a glass blower in Sweden. I read he was the first glass blower hired by Frederick Carder when Carder started Steuben Glass in Corning in 1903. My grandfather, Robert Rylander, also worked at the Corning Glass Works as a glass blower. Last summer I had the opportunity to visit my grandfather’s home in Smaland Province, Sweden, and spent a day blowing glass in Rosdala Glass Factory just a few miles from where he grew up. What a thrill!

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