David Wight

Looking back, my first steps toward a life working with glass were taken on a trail in a Caribbean rainforest. The year was 1994 and I had hiked up a small trail toward the sound of moving water. Before me stood a waterfall, a hundred feet high, descending through the forest, ferns, and cliffs. It was a cascade from a painted dream, and I was mesmerized. I watched how the water began to gather in the river above and brake apart into segments as it fell, before collecting into a perfect pool below. As I walked away from the falls, the sound fading, my mind and body felt relaxed with a calm I had never experienced before. On a deep level I had the desire to bring the therapeutic flow of water into lives and homes.

Returning to my hometown with a business degree and no formal art education, I accepted a good paying office job. Unable to find fulfillment or inspiration behind a desk, I left with the belief that life was too short to do something I didn’t love. I sat down to have a serious conversation with myself about what I was passionate about. My thoughts kept circling back to water, the source of all my most profound life experiences, and especially to that day by the waterfall. I wanted to share my inspiration by bringing the essence of water into peoples lives.

While working several odd jobs, I happened upon an ad in the newspaper for an open house at a glass shop around the corner. When I arrived, I watched the glass, that amorphous solid at two thousand molten degrees, and the way it flowed. That’s when I knew – this was the only material with the power to capture the movement of water.

After learning to blow glass, I began making fountains in an attempt to capture the moving water, but still, I desired to do more. I wanted to create a solid sculpture that embodied the essence and movement of water – not just a vessel, but the water itself. I experimented, and eventually began to utilize ancient Italian tools along with new tools I created to achieve the style of glass-work I envisioned.

I continue to live in Bellingham, Washington, inspired by the beauty of the Cascade Mountains, San Juan Islands, and the Pacific Ocean’s crashing waves. I travel to Seattle where I personally sculpt each wave by hand. I am fortunate to have the support of my cousins Eric Wight and Lucas Wight who manage the day to day operations at David Wight Glass Art. Their help allows me to focus all of my energy toward my glass sculptures.

Amidst the heat and the unexpected, I am constantly challenged by the molten medium of hot glass. With my glass sculptures, I work to freeze a moment in time; to capture the beauty, grace, and power of water in its most dynamic form: The Wave.