8/1/23: I confess I look at so many glass vessels, I’ve started to feel like I can’t be really surprised by them anymore. Wrong. Innovative genius glass artist Jim Scheller has shut me right up. Under the name Macoupin Prairie Glassworks, the Illinois-based artist uses opacity as a new language, and I couldn’t be more impressed. Working exclusively with glass, Scheller uses the kiln-forming and casting techniques to create vessels that I’m just dying to see in person.

“[Jim Scheller’s] kiln-formed glass sculptures are a feat in astute technical knowledge, not only of form and composition but of the scientific process of working in glass. The intricate, multicolored design presents an understanding of pattern and color theory that keeps the work of art balanced, as opposed to busy. The piece is opaque and transparent, allowing for lighting to cast colors and patterns in the space around the work. Though it has a sense of whimsy, the piece undeniably displays order and precision.”

– Marietta Cobb Museum of Art

You can see all of Jim Scheller’s magnificent glass work on his website and on Instagram and Facebook.