Jim Scheller - Macoupin Prairie Glassworks Staunton, Illinois USA
Biography
Jim Scheller is a glass artist based in Staunton, Illinois. After living 27 years in his forested home and art studio of Chehalem Mountain Glassworks in Schools, Oregon, Scheller relocated and opened his current studio near his childhood home of Mt. Olive, IL. There, Scheller operates Macoupin Prairie Glassworks, where he has created kilnformed glass art since September of 2018.
Following an extensive career as an engineer and technologist, Scheller discovered glass kilnforming in 2012 and has since been dedicated to this craft and his art. Extensive study of and experimentation with the medium of glass is a passion and healthy addiction for Scheller.
The artist finds great pleasure in pushing limits and developing new techniques. Employing both “fusing and slumping” and “kiln casting” processes, Scheller’s works of art are composed using glass sheets, comprised of crushed glass (frit) and glass slabs (billets). These sheets are then fired in a kiln at over 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. His fired works in glass are then extensively cold-worked to achieve a refined finish.
Scheller’s inspiration for his glass cast works comes from a fascination with geometric forms, textures, and colors found in nature. In the creation of his glass vessel designs, Scheller is also highly informed by the simplicity and abstraction of neoplasticism. Pioneered by the Dutch DeStijl movement of the early 20th century, this style of geometric abstraction implemented square forms and primary colors.
With his background in engineering, Scheller immerses himself and relishes in the process of making—joining glass and using heat and gravity to create art. Jim Scheller invites viewers to see the once molten glass in a new way, as a dance of light and color.
CV
Technique and artistic development:
• Pilchuck Glass School Kinforming Artist Residency, Stanwood, WA
September 2014 •September 2015 •September 2021
• Bullseye Glass Company, classes and open studio sessions, Portland, OR 2012-2018.
• Pilchuck Glass School, Nathan Sandberg: "Material Matters", 2014, Stanwood, WA
• eBooks and online classes from artists and mentors I admire.
Juried work shown at:
• “Pilchuck: Energy of the Elements”, Seattle, WA, October 2023.
• “Metro Montage XXIII”. Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA, July 2023. First place award for “Ancient Rings 34”.
• " Expanding Boundaries", Contemporary Glass Society, UK, March 2023
• "Stores Reimagined", Pilchuck Glass Gallery, Tucson, AZ, February 2023
• “Art St. Louis XXXVIII, The Exhibition“, St. Louis, MO, November 2022.
• “St. Louis Artists' Guild Members Exhibition”, St. Louis, MO, September 2022
• “2022 Pilchuck Auction & Gala, PILCHUCK: The Next 50!”, Seattle, WA, October 2022.
• "No Place to Show" Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL, July 2022
• “Constructed Visions IV”, St. Louis Artist Guild, St. Louis, MO, June 2022.
• "Fused and Focused", Featured Artist Exhibition, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL June 2022.
• Quad Cities Art, Gallery at the International Airport, May – July 2022.
• “Pilchuck: The Next 50” , Seattle, WA, October 2021.
• “Illinois State Fair Professional Artist Exhibition”, Springfield, IL, August 2021. First place award for “São Martinho do Porto”.
• Jones Gallery, Kansas City, MO, March –April 2021.
• “Glass Exhibition”, Indiana University Kokomo Downtown Gallery Kokomo, IN, 2021.
• “The Ann Maritz Members Exhibition”, St. Louis Artists' Guild, St. Louis, MO, 2020. “Ancient Rings 5” winner of Ann & Edgar Metzger Memorial Award.
• “Metro Montage XX”. Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA, 2020.
• “Constructed Visions III”, St. Louis Artist Guild, St. Louis, MO, 2020
• “ConTEXT III”, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO, 2020
• “Glass National 2019”, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA, 2019
• “Art St. Louis XXXV, The Exhibition,” St. Louis, Missouri, 2019
• “Illinois State Fair Professional Artist Exhibition”, Sculpture Honorable Mention, Craft Third Place, Springfield, IL, 2019
• “Metro Montag XVIII:, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA, 2018
• “For the Love of Glass”, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, GA, 2017
• “Pilchuck Auction People’s Choice Award”, Pilchuck Gallery, Seattle. WA, 2015
• FormWorx Design Studio (solo exhibition), 2015, Newberg, OR
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