Perfection in every piece: Local artists showcase their glass artwork

Ryan Hoffman and Bob Taylor’s dream is slowly coming together.

The pair opened their studio Volta Glass in 2010, but said they only felt comfortable having an opening ceremony last month. There’s been remodeling for the last five months; and though it’s still not finished, they’re glad to be getting started.

“It’s something that we’ve talked about for a long time after doing wholesale for so long,” Taylor said. “So once this place opened up, we scraped up the money and did it.”

They possess over 25 years of glassblowing experience between the two of them; and though they’ve been collaborating for about eight years, they hail from very different
beginnings.

Hoffman, a Hoosier his whole life, attended the University of Southern Indiana where he developed an interest in glassblowing at a local studio. There, he said, he eventually took an apprenticeship and after several years of training went on his own.

On the other hand, Taylor hails from Virginia. He took up glassblowing after witnessing a much less professional experience: his friend working in a limited basement studio.
“My buddy helped me for about 30 minutes then said, ‘you’re on your own,’”Taylor said. “It wasn’t easy to learn. I just couldn’t find people to watch.”

So Taylor said he would watch whenever he could and then compare what he saw to whatever he read in books. It took about two weeks for him to make his first usable piece of glass.

Now both of their careers have landed them at Volta.

“With the volume of production that we had, it became crazy to give our stuff away to someone else,” Hoffman said.

“It’s hard to have friends in this business because people get protective over their skill level and their customers,” added Taylor.

Before Volta, both of their work was featured at art galleries, fairs and various shops from New York to California, including Amused Clothing in Bloomington. Amused store manager Ian Wildridge said they’re the first people to undertake a glass studio that he has seen in the area.
“Their work is pretty insane,” he said. “I mean they’re household names in the regional scene, like from Chicago to Bloomington.”

The two said they see a crossover opportunity in glass that was something of an appealing challenge.

“Normally there’s no crossover with form versus function,” Hoffman said. “We think they go hand in hand, side to side. The function is determined by whatever hands buy our piece. We make everything with the same amount of craftsmanship.”

That’s part of the reason Volta offers customizable pieces of glass. Hoffman and Taylor both said they want to foster an appreciation for the craft and work with people to create what they want.

“There are collectors on both sides, functional and otherwise,” Hoffman said. “We don’t believe there should be a disrespect toward either kind.”

The love for the craft and the need to continue learning still spurs both of them, each said.

“You actually change forms of matter, from one thing to another and then back again,” Hoffman said. “It’s amazing to me. I still learn daily.

“If you quit learning, you quit advancing and you lost artistic integrity, creativity. It’s a circle that leads you nowhere.”

Taylor echoed similar sentiments.

“I want my learning to go on forever,” he said. “I would take these great classes in Colorado or Washington if I could, but for now I’m just taking care of this place.”

The word “volta” is Italian. In the Venetian glassmaking tradition, it means the best possible method of doing something. By combining their abilities, Taylor said, the studio is literally their volta and the best way they know how to create their art.

“With glass, it’s hard to nail the exact product because it’s so creative and abstract,” Wildridge said. “Those guys meet demands every time. They’re pretty awesome.”