Meet Michelle Pennington | Glassblower

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

Hi Michelle, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success is having the ability to tell myself that each baby step towards progress and growth counts. I try not to compare myself to other small businesses or other artists because we each have our own individual hurdles to jump through. I celebrate their successes and cheer them on just as much as I do myself. I think keeping that humble mentality and staying focused on the tasks that I have done well while reassuring myself with positive affirmations keeps me moving in a forward direction. Of course some days are harder than others to do so, and I occasionally feel like I should give up, but then I end up making a big sale or I come up with a new work of art and I’m reminded that one day doesn’t measure your success, but the journey will.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started blowing glass at 23 years old, my last semester in college at Bowling Green State University. I realized immediately that I had fallen in love with hot glass. Although I still ended up graduating with a degree in Graphic Design, I never applied to one job in that field after that, instead I spent all of my free time in the glassblowing studio. Since I had started later than most, I felt the need to quickly catch up. What I didn’t realize at the time is that is simply not possible in glassblowing. To become a great glassblower it takes years of dedicating yourself to your craft; getting to know the material and how it moves, develop an understanding about its scientific properties, and creating a muscle memory with how your body moves and responds to the glass.

I took many classes at different craft schools across America and although I earned many scholarships for those classes, I remember one in particular. The class was 8 weeks long where we blew glass for about 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. It cost $12,000 but people had claimed that working that intensely with the Master glassblower Martin Janecky would increase my skill level by two years time, so I knew I had to take the class no matter what. I did receive a half scholarship, but I still owed $6000. I didn’t have that kind of money lying around and my parents still weren’t sure about the whole glassblowing career so they refused to co-sign a loan with me, so I ended up having to take a high interest loan out against the value of my car. Was it worth it; I think so, because following that class my skills increased drastically and when I applied to graduate school with the work I had made during that class I ended receiving a full tuition scholarship with the highest stipend in the country for my field.

While in grad school I was able to begin teaching glassblowing which I became very passionate about and it came very easily to me. I was also able to develop my work more conceptually, adding ideas and thoughts to the work to create more of a dialogue. It wasn’t until I started my business that I really developed artistic product lines that I felt proud of that used lots of bright colors which has sort of become my signature trait.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite place to go in Dallas is King Spa and Sauna which is a Korean spa with good food, a water park, and hot and cold baths and saunas. It is very relaxing and you can get the best foot massage there. I also love the art museums like the Nasher, and the Dallas Museum of Art. Then we would head to Deep Ellum for some live music and some good food. There are so many delicious restaurants in the area that its hard to focus on just a few.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people to thank for my success. First a little back story, I have been blowing glass for 15 years and actually received my Master’s Degree specializing in glass from the University of Texas at Arlington. After graduating I ended up in a very bad situation where I became a victim of narcissistic abuse from a person that I thought was a great friend. People around me recognized that the situation was bad and helped me get out of it. Here is a list of people I would like to shoutout for being there for me at that time and encouraging me to start my own business called High Gravity Glassworks: Jason and Laura Baldwin, Todd and Barbi Huhn, Susan Clark, Cherie Berry, Candy Mullenax, Sunny and Vince Gulley, Patrick Hedglen, Jared and Katie Beville, Beau Raines, Cassie Stone, Jim Malsch, Beau Miguez, Frank Wilson, Marvin Crane and Sibile Pardue, Debbie and Dan Rickards, Jeff Pieper, Jessica Briggs, Angi Malone, Ally Bean, Tom Chavanne, Kim Vancena, Jackson McConnico, Quinn Coleman, all of my family and many more.

The most important people that I have to thank for my success are my students Debbie Porter and Robert Streeter who have volunteered their time for two years assisting me in the hot shop to make all of the handblown glass art. Without their support I would not have been able to get the word out about my business and would not have made the huge leaps towards becoming financially stable.

And finally I need to thank my partner Cesar Almendarez. He has been my rock since day one and has had nothing but complete faith in my ability to succeed. He invested in my business financially and helps me find new clients as well. He doesn’t get discouraged with me when I work long hours and cheers me on when I make new artwork that I deem a success. Without his support, this journey was not possible, and I thank him everyday for that.

Website: https://highgravityglassworks.com

Instagram: @highgravityglassworks

Facebook: @highgravityglassworks

Image Credits
Michelle Pennington