Sarah Garrard

Artist Statement:

Glass is the most amazing material to work with. Everything about it and the craft of glassblowing is mesmerizing. The intense heat, the light, the glow of the fire, the inability to actually touch the material all while manipulating it through the use of steam, fire, metal, wood and water. It is an all immersive experience of the senses and complete alchemy. It is magic. 

So much of my work lies in the element of play and exploration of this amazing material. What will it do? What wont it do? What if I do this? How will it react if I do this? The process is as important as the finished piece. 

My current work is focusing on organic forms that imitate flora and nature. While exploring the use of color and the countless combinations possible, I am trying to discover and make something new and inspired. 

So much of my work has come from failure. But instead of tossing the piece, I decided to explore where the glass would take me and through that process, I have refined a new style for myself to focus on and explore.

Artist Bio:

Sarah Garrard started her love affair with Glass in 2000 when she apprenticed in a small glass art studio in the hill country of Texas. She went on to study glass formally at Sheridan College where she majored in Craft and Design. Upon graduating from Sheridan in 2005, glass took Sarah to Honolulu, Hawaii where she worked with adolescents at the prestigious Punahou School while assisting Glassblowers around the Island and continuing to focus on her own body of work.

The crash of 2008 led Sarah back to the mainland where she spent the next decade focusing on academia and healthcare while she specialized in Emergency Medicine as a Registered Nurse.

In 2020 Sarah returned to the hot shop with the urge to create again. She finds inspiration in nature and patterns, culture and diversity, music and art. Focusing on technique and tradition she continues to apply contemporary aesthetic through the use of colors and patterns while exploring the optical versatility of glass.