J.E.N.N.I.F.E.R. U.M.P.H.R.E.S.S.
"There’s a million amazing things about octopi, their intelligence, their camouflage capabilities, their inky jet propulsion, their suction cupped tentacles. One amazing thing about the octopus you may not have realized is their grace. This characteristic is captured beautifully by lampworker Jennifer Umphress in her glass made in Kingston, WA. Like Thai dancers, their tentacles curl in enviable elegance.
Jennifer began blowing glass in Hawaii, working in a shop on Maui, taking art classes on Oahu, and apprenticing for Cesare Toffolo in Italy. She’s one of the many successful artists in the area who did not attend art school for a B.F.A. , and though she believes that art school could have streamlined important information about the for her, she’s none the worse. She’s popular among designers in New York and Los Angeles. They purchase her production line, the freestanding octopus, at Plantation Lighting and Accessories (http://store.plantationdesign.com/). Her sea-life themed work is sold in fine art galleries, including recently at Micaela Gallery in San Francisco. She was the winner of the 2009 Niche Award in the category of Professional Lampworked Glass. But the recognition she is finds most gratifying is her inclusion in the survey of 33 of the “most significant borosilicate flameworkers,” juried by Robert Mickelsen, Paul Stankard, and Clinton Roman, since they (along with Toffolo, Janis Miltenberger, Hans Godo Frabel, and Richard LaLonde) are some of her great inspirations.
In 2006 Jennifer relocated to the Northwest. The gray skies don’t bother her much; she’s spends most of her time behind the torch. Moving to Kingston, WA from Maui in order be closer to the glass community has had the added benefit of pushing her to give her glass a “contemporary feel while keeping my roots in nature.” She wanted to live outside of Seattle (“There’s no better city for glass addicts,” as she puts it) but remain nearby, and the city of Kingston, on the Kitsap Peninsula, provided that. While she no longer can throw on a mask and flippers and escape to the ocean reefs as she used to do whenever she felt stressed out, the woods, trails, and shoreline her are what she enjoys about the area. It may be a wild stretch to say that her intricate fish, octopi and kelp are often framed by more glass that represents the limited scope of view through a scuba mask; so what will the ways of the geoduck-digging, sand-dollar flinging locals do for her art? Maybe the effect will be difficult to determine—the ways artist’s process their surroundings is why we remain so interested in them—she’s now at work on “African Dreams,” something different from past work, inspired by a close family member who recently passed away.
If she could have an unlimited budget to show her work (I was thinking of Lucio Bubacco’s 2008 SOFA solo exhibit through Litvak Gallery, when I asked the question), she says she’d still have it in a gallery setting but would push the limits on size and use some experimental elements.
Jennifer is one of the local glass artists whose business savvy and dedication to the perfection of her art (learned from Cesare Toffolo, she says) can only lead to more success. She has the following she needs now to move on to these experimental elements and transport her fans to whatever new watery (or dry!) world she wants."
http://www.jenniferumphress.com
ABJ Seattle Glass Online. "Jennifer Umphress" November 2, 2009.
