Flo Perkins (born 1951) is an American glass artist currently working and residing in the Pojoaque Valley north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

(1974), Master of Arts from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(1981), and she studied under renowned Italian master glass blower

Lino Tagliapietra Lino Tagliapietra (born 1934) is an Italian glass artist originally from Venice, who has also worked extensively in the United States. As a teacher and mentor, he has played a key role in the international exchange of glassblowing processes and tec ...

. Her work can be found in several museum collections including the

Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning, New York in the United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works and currently has a collection of more than 50,000 glass obje ...

, the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

, the

Albuquerque Museum The Albuquerque Museum, formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, is a public art and history museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum is located in the Old Town area and is operated by the City of Albuquerque Department of ...

and the

Racine Art Museum The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. The museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects fro ...

as well as numerous public and private collections.

Career

In the 1970s Perkins was one of a small group of female artisan glass blowers. In the 1980s Perkins built her own glass studio in Pojoaque, New Mexico where she worked on learning Venetian glassblowing techniques. She further refined her glass making technique while studying with the Murano glass master Lino Tagliapietra While living in New Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s she studied botanical forms including cacti, flower buds and bouquets and began incorporating those forms into her work. In the 1990s she began incorporating bronze, steel bars and iron into her glass work to create larger works including lattices, wreaths, swags and bouquets. By the early 21st century Perkins had mastered her glassblowing technique and become known for her creation of brightly colored botanical sculptures created using Italian techniques including murrina, reticello and granulare. She also built her fourth hot shop on her estate located 20 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Perkin's work has been displayed at Habatat Galleries in Pontiac, Michigan, Addison Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Traver Sutton Gallery in Seattle, Washington, The Elliot Brown Gallery in Seattle, Washington, Imago Galleries in Palm Desert, California, Cline Lewallen Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tagliapietra and Dante Marioni at Galleria Marina Barovier in Venice, Italy, and at The Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, New York In addition to her glass work, Perkins has taught at the Pilchuck Glass School, California State University at San Jose, Penland School, and the University of California in San Diego. Additionally, she has taught workshops for students at the GlassRoots hot shop in Newark, New Jersey.

References

External links

Artist websiteChiaroscuro Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New MexicoArtNet page
1951 births Living people 20th-century American women artists American contemporary artists Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico American glass artists Women glass artists University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni 21st-century American women {{Glass-art-stub