Ray Schultz-Glass Artist

Ray Schultz "The Picture Show, presenting Nebraska artists in the permanent collection of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska."

[NARRATOR] "The art of glassblowing has remained almost unchanged since ancient times. Kearney artist Ray Schultz uses this process to transform sand into transparent beauty. He creates his designs by a process he calls off-hand glass blowing, which simply is shaping glass with a blowpipe. Ray Schultz's interest in this art form began after years of working as a bronze sculptor. For him heating metal to two thousand degrees to cast bronze has a parallel to melting sand. And he also enjoys glassblowing for the free forms which he can create."
[Ray Schultz] "I think that's one of the joys about off-hand glassblowing. That I don't always decide what I'm going to do when I begin. Part way through I can change my mind. Or an idea may come. Or if you do something... if the glass was a little bit hotter than anticipated it may have stretched your form a little bit further than you anticipated so you might change your idea then to an elongated form. And that isn't always bad because sometimes ideas do develop as a result of unpredictable things. My primary objective is to make a piece that's interesting to look at to the eye. And also the tactile experience is very important. To pick up a piece, even to pick up a carafe for example, to feel it... to feel it while it's being used is very important. It's all part of the aesthetic experience."