I am an Oakland based designer and craftsman creating handcrafted work mostly in glass. With a firm commitment to handmade processes I aims to make quality, unique works in glass for people who want special things in their homes and in their lives.
Background
While studying Humanities in college and writing tons of papers about abstract ideas, I longed for the physicality of making things by hand. I made a fast move to the Art Department. There, by chance I enrolled in a beginning glass class which surveyed several glass techniques, including kiln-work and casting. Glassblowing classes soon followed. I was hooked on this material and began exploring every opportunity to use it.. The technical challenges combined with the uniqueness (and beauty) of the material were enough to satisfy both my analytical and aesthetic pursuits.
Heather Palmer Glass the company grew slowly as I began to connect more strongly to the ethos of the handmade both in the studio and out. I had grown up in a seriously DIY house where my parents would make everything from skylights to duvet covers, so it was natural for me to just make things and I slowly returned to my handmade roots. I also began purchasing more meaningful items for my home while continuing to make objects in the studio. Both acts came from desire to balance mass produced "throw away" design products that we inevitably have with lower production objects made and sold with intent and integrity.
2006 - Bullseye Resource Center, Portland, OR
2004 - Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
2004 - Bachelor of Arts, San Francisco State University -Art Education and, Sculpture ; minor, Humanities
Professional Experience:
September 2006 to September 2007 - Warmshop Manager, Public Glass, San Francisco, CA
2005 - 2008 - Kilnforming Instructor, Public Glass, San Francisco,
2005- 2007 Art Teacher, Children’s Center at the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay
Exhibitions Events and Shows:
2011- SOFA Chicago, with Bespoke Global
2009- MOCFA’s Glass Trunk Show, Museum of Craft and