Today, we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Tate.
Hi Aaron, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My passion for glass began the first moment I saw it when I was 18 years old in Tucson, Arizona. Since that time, I have never left the glass shop. Learning constantly, I worked in factories and for artists during a long career in Seattle, Washington. I was in Seattle for 15ish years and now have been in Dallas for about the same. I make all types of glass, being a craftsman, artisan, sculptor, and teacher…
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
The struggles are constant, learning the material. Glass is very responsive to input, good or bad. It takes many years to feel competent in this medium. The glass encourages all along the way, though, deeply fulfilling in part because it’s so difficult. All successes are hard fought when won.
Glass breaks! It is very fragile throughout the process of creating it and then beyond, as most everyone knows. The fragility is part of its allure… The best things I have ever made have smashed on the ground in an instant of poor technique…one needs to learn, modify methods, and try again. Perpetual, constant struggle.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Glass can be made in many different ways for its myriad of purposes. I make glass off-hand in a studio format, which follows a rich and old tradition. I have worked hard to follow the methods of Italian techniques. They perfected the method long ago. Italian-influenced goblets and sculpting figurative work are among my favorite things to make.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
That I am Canadian by birth sometimes surprises people who know me.
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