Meet Lynn Read | Glassblower

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lynn Read and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lynn, why did you pursue a creative career?
I can say it simply. My life guided me here. The main skills I gained along the way serve me still.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Lynn’s use of color and form to create modern and functional designs is a testament to his artistry. He draws his inspiration from the world around him, and his ability to blend traditional techniques with contemporary design principles is impressive. Lynn’s artwork, whether in the form of a vase, lamp, or sculpture, underscores the enduring power of glass as a medium for artistic expression. As of late I have been maintaining my studio line under the brand name Vitreluxe and well as developing a new collection for a feature of signature works for a show at Vetri Glass.

My style is characterized by a spartan simplicity that emphasizes the intricate network of lines rather than unnecessary embellishments. This minimalist approach utilizes color and form to produce beautiful design-driven works.

My signature works focus on murrini artwork that merges modern design with function, taking inspiration from process, constraints, and tradition. The murrine patterns, consisting of interlocking connections and blocks, are a metaphor for society, time, music, and nature. Some are linear, while others are fragmented.

I spend days building a small collection of canes layer by layer. Then imagine and reassemble them into more complex patterns and blocks. These blocks are then heated and stretched to reduce the image and make a richer pattern combination. Ones pulled down in size they are annealed and then chopped into thin slices across the pattern to form tiny glass tiles. These become the building blocks of glass plates and are then blown into vessel forms. Like the glass’s linear and fractured connections, our relationships with others can be both robust and delicate and influenced by various factors such as time and distance, tentative or sintered. The beauty is in the melding.

I prefer not to compare my life to others, Some of us have handicaps and find joy in personal growth. The notion of what sets me apart implies a hierarchy and I try not to live in that world but hope we can inspire others.

How did I get here? Great question and a long story. Hard to say where my personal drive came from. I am the youngest of four siblings with a fifteen-year age gap in a single-parent home as my father was away as a career marine. We lived in Oceanside California and the 70’s. A year after moving to Oregon in 77 my father dies of a heart attack and I was the first person to find him on the couch. I had no comprehension of death at that time. A few days later my oldest brother explained it to me, as he sat silently in a folding lawn chair in the center of the open garage staring into space. Simply stated…. dad is gone and he is never coming home.

This may be a common story but it was the next chapter in childhood without emotional support, child-rearing and paternal guidance for me. This lead to some formal learning handicaps and eventually special education and testing of learning disabilities that never gave a conclusive answer. So maybe I’m dyslexic, maybe ADD maybe just low self esteem ( AKA imposter syndrome ) but I have found thought art I have worth, I am intelligent and my comprehension of space, mechanics and physics is innate and I have learned to trust myself. It has taken far too long but I am proud of my accolades and the guidance I have offered others as a mentor. Was is easy, absolutely not! Was the path clear, no way but I had mentors standing in to fill the gap. All the art teachers stepped up. First music, wood, metals, photography, drafting, and film as literature. The arts had soul and embarrassed your heart and gave you a place to grow and discover your abilities. It taught me self-reliance, compassion and community.

What I want people to know about my “brand” is I am one of a few brands and that group is getting smaller every day. Think about it. I am a craftsman in a vast marketplace. A sole proprietor at its roots operating in a climate of AI, social media, and conglomerated mega businesses so my marketing budget is a fraction of a point compared to that. If you have heard of me I would be shocked but maybe your wave length and mine are the same. Thank you for looking out, being ware, and opting for the little guy.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My mentor Anthony ( Chip ) Corradetti is hoping to visit Oregon for the first time this year.

– I think it is worth running down town to show him the Japanese Garden, grab some romen and sushi at Afuri. Drop in for a Milo beer at Baerlic Brewing and talk about the brewing heydays of portland. Tell stories of Fullsail and bridgeport brewing.

– Jump on some bikes and do the loop down to sellwood on the east side esplanade, cross the river along johns landing and into south waterfront. Maybe get little korean food at the food truck. Or get bon mi at Luc Lac down town and then loop down to the steel bridge back up to OMSI area to get pizza and a view from an old train caboose at Mt. Hood brewing.

– Later go out to Multnomah Whiskey Library. Or hit Matts BBQ for the beef ribs. For vegan options fermenter. Or….. pizza at Pizza Thief. Catch some music at Laurelthirst tavern.

– AM…..Hit the gorge, hike up angels rest or Oneonta Trail to Triple Falls. Book a yurt at Lost Lake for a night or two and paddle board the lake with the view of Mt Hood in the background. So good.

Get up, do a little camp cooking breakfast and aero press coffee and hit the road down the back trail to lolo pass onto why 26 up to Mt hood for timberline lodge to see the positive impact of WPA era.

Head south….. drop through Canby, Silverton, Maybe hit Aurora mills for some cool antiques.

I would love to hit the road Opal Creek, if open again after the burn, Take home to a few swimming holes I love and frequented as a teen. He and I did a lot of that In Baltimore at lock raven so retuning the favor.

Probably grab a gingerbread ala mode at the ginger bread house, if it survived covid. And then head to the Pacific coast for blue hour and then the sunset. Just take a long walk at night with the wind and the stars and just be quiet and listen.

On the way out to the coast stop in wine country Sokol Blosser/ or Momokowa sake or durant farms for some fresh Oregon olive oil and drop off some Salt bowl stock.

For sure check out Matt Lightner at Okta or just get a pronto pup in otis oregon

Then loop up the public land along the coast into Astoria for a cold one at Bouy and some fried cheese curds, a local fav. What the sea lions, maybe hit the goonies house and the light house. Cross the bride because it’s insane.

..etc

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I love this question! I have been looking back to these people with gratitude.

Ms. Summers for being kind when testing me for my learning ability. 3rd grade

Mr. Leash for woodworking 7th grade, For giving me reference material to Scandinavian design.

Judy Rogers for color theory and teaching me to trust my artistic skillset.

Mr. Jim Baker for stepping in after my dad dies and hosting my brothers for dinner, laughs, and your homemade pies. The nourishment we needed even without the super. Thank you!

Joan Watson …. I did look and I found something special. Thanks for the wake up call.

Rich Lipsure for telling me ….. this is your art. It took my a while to understand your insight.

Anthony Corradetti for putting me to work in glass on day one. That changed my life. I love you for that you silly little freak.

Alysia …. you give me strength, confidence and a good life.

Current fave is Rich Rubin

Website: www.vitreluxe.com

Instagram: Vitreluxe

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-read-71518658/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vitreluxe

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitreluxe

Image Credits
process shots: Alec Miller Product shots: Lynn Read