MILTON, WV - Legacy West Virginia handblown glass factory, Blenko Glass, announces its new Guest Artist – West Virginia native and graphic artist Don Pendleton. Don Pendleton has made beautifully geometric, bold graphic art for skateboards, musicians, and even murals, such as the one that trims the Mountain Health Arena in Huntington, West Virginia. His charming creatures and characters come to life in his bold strokes and bright colors – which made him a natural fit for the Most Colorful Name in Glass.
Pendleton designed a brand new owl bookend and ‘critter’ statue for Blenko, carrying on a tradition of honoring these beautiful birds in our glass forms. For someone whose work has always been two-dimensional, it was a refreshing challenge to collaborate on three-dimensional glass art. As he observes, “the translation from flat to 3-dimensional requires some adjustments and consideration,” but “the designers at Blenko were able to take the drawings and have them make sense as a 3D piece of art.” The two-dimensional owl comes to life in beautifully rounded, three-dimensional forms in glass.
Blenko enjoys working with Appalachian artists and creatives, and the feeling was mutual for the Ravenswood native. Growing up in West Virginia, naturally, he says, he was familiar with Blenko Glass - who wasn’t? It was only when he got older and developed his art style that he realized that “their Midcentury glass vase shapes…had an influence on some of [his] design work.” That was almost certainly what drew Creative Director Dr. James Arnett’s eyes to Pendleton’s work – the sleek lines, the geometric complexity and formality of Pendleton’s design work that speaks to the clean design of Blenko Glass
In addition to the lively Owl bookends and critters ($79 and $28, respectively; Turquoise, Tangerine, and Crystal), Pendleton has designed an ‘Owl Family’ six-inch sundisc in Turquoise that shows off the artist’s work perfectly on a wall or in the window, blasting color and light. Each of these pieces is available on the Blenko Glass Company website at https://blenko.com/collections/don-pendleton-designs.
