ONLINE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: David Hartman, Glass Artist
by Bernadette Finnerty

David at work. Glass cups. Glass lamp and cups. Glass vases. Glass bowls.

David Hartman

David Hartman, of Swallowtail Glass Studio in Kauai, Hawaii, creates shapes and designs with molten glass inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. Throughout the 22 years he has been running his full-time glass business, Hartman's hand-blown and etched work has been the subject of national and international exhibitions. His client list includes Neiman Marcus, Contemporary Art Glass of New York, Rax of Amsterdam, and Rare Discovery in Hawaii.

TCR: How did you first get involved in working with glass?

DH: I was teaching ceramics at the Sausalito Art Center. Glass blowing was also taught, and after class I would sit and watch the glassblowers. This gave me ideas on combining glass and ceramics, so I started playing around with blowing glass and combining the shapes of glass and ceramics into sculptures. A friend asked me to blow some goblets. I hadn't made these before, so it was a big challenge. Goblets are probably the hardest shape to blow. I was successful and, through the experience, taught myself how glass moves. I wanted the glass I blew to be functional as well as beautiful, so I created forms to serve both functions. From this I evolved into creating lamps.

TCR: How did you pursue it?

DH: One of the glassblowers at the Sausalito Art Center and I built a glass-blowing studio, known as Swallowtail Studio, in Petaluma. Here we developed our own glass formulas that were helpful for my ceramic background. In addition to designing and building the entire building that housed the glass studio, we designed and built most of the equipment, from furnace to glory hole to finishing equipment. I started experimenting with colors, shapes and designs that evolved into the present lamp base design.

TCR: When did you begin selling your work, and through what venues? (local retail craft shows, local galleries, etc.)

DH: In the beginning, I took my glass to display on the streets of San Francisco as part of the Street Artist Guild. The Canyon Gallery in Hollywood approached me to show my work. At that time, I was combining clay and glass and creating sculptures. After that, I showed my work in gift shows, craft fairs and shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Baltimore, where more galleries agreed to carry my work.

TCR: Who is the market for your work?

DH: Mostly individuals with good taste. I sell to tourists who stop by the studio, galleries and stores on all the Hawaiian Islands. I have several mainland galleries in California, Washington and Canada who carry my work.

TCR: How do you currently reach them?

DH: Stores approach me to carry my work when I show at craft fairs. A local gallery, Kebanu, carries my glass and has put information about me in the hotel room guides. I also approach stores or galleries to carry my work. I had a glass show at the Kauai Museum. Also I have a Web page, which brings in some buyers and gallery contacts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

David Hartman Box 646 Koloa, HI 96756 Ph: (808) 742-8398 Fax: (808) 742-6641 E-mail: dhartman@poi.net hartglass.freeservers.com

TCR: Have there been major turning points in your business?

DH: The first turning point was building Swallowtail Studio as a private business, and the friendship and bonds of the glass blowers I worked with. We did a lot of experimentation in creating glass formulas, blowing shapes and improving on them, and creating the equipment that allowed us to be creative. Bouncing ideas off each other was also stimulating.

I also did a show in Amsterdam at the Rax Museum, after which I spent six weeks touring France. I was invited to demonstrate and instruct glassblowing in Biots, France in 1986. Then I established a glass blowing studio, Hart Glass, here in Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii. This was built from scratch 10 years ago without partners. I have created new glass formulas and batch my own glass. I have built all the equipment including the furnace, and I have a new design for an electric pot furnace.

DETAILS

TCR: Where do you get your materials? DH: Glass at East Bay Color out of Oakland; brass (for lamp armatures) at U.S. Copper and Brass; ceramics/oxides at Ceramics Hawaii and Bay Area ceramics stores; light bulbs and lamp parts at B&P and American DeRosa on the mainland. TCR: What other resources have been helpful to your career? DH: Other glassblowers and their connections for information on new trends, equipment and materials. I also use them for consulting when building equipment and mixing glass and colors. [Also] glass outlets, hardware stores, and equipment parts, [and] the library and Internet to find suppliers for equipment and glass.

TCR: What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered in your work?

DH: Accounts receivable, being paid by galleries and customers. Having to keep records on the business side detracts from my creativity. My wife keeps the books, created my brochure, approaches galleries and assists me when I'm blowing. But she works full time as a high school teacher. I enjoy working alone without partners and the problems that come with them, but at times I wish I had another glassblower to help me create some of the wild ideas in my head.

My biggest concern is the markup by the galleries and the fact that they want only consignment. One gallery wanted both consignment and [exclusivity]. Some galleries mark up the price from wholesale to over four times the wholesale price. I try to keep my prices low so the galleries will keystone the work and we both make money. I had one gallery telling customers I was dead in order to make a sale. I feel that I, as the artist, should be making more than the galleries, not the other way around. After all, they wouldn't exist without the artist.

TCR: What, in terms of business insight, have you learned to do or not to do over the years?

DH: Have someone else do the business side, although you cannot get totally away from it. People love seeing and talking with the artist. I have also learned not to do consignment (except on a limited basis) because the galleries do not keep good records and work is lost or not collected on.

TCR: Has your Web site affected your business?

DH: It has embellished it. We are getting more orders; it is starting to take off. In the beginning, mostly galleries responded, and [I think they] wanted prices lower than the wholesale price on the Web page because they have not contacted us back after the price quote. I can't afford to do that with energy costs here. I have had energy price increases of over 400 percent. It also seems that individuals do not like to buy glass sight unseen over the Internet. They want to touch and feel it before purchasing.

TCR: What kind of active marketing do you conduct to enhance your online presence and sales?

DH: I have a friend who manages, monitors and updates the Web page constantly -- currently no other marketing. Outside the Web page, we are thinking of printing a flyer to distribute to the hotels for the guests.

Bernadette Finnerty is a contributing editor for The Crafts Report.

Copyright© 2001

FEBRUARY 2001: TABLE OF CONTENTS