Roy Lammer, Fused-Glass Artisan

oy Lammer, fused glass artist, spoke with the editor of Ferrycounty.com from his home near Danville, Washington. He was born in North Dakota,attended grade and high school in Minnesota. He's lived in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Korea. He's also traveled to Europe, Asia, Great Britain,the Middle East, India, and many South American countries. "Curiosity brought my family to Ferry County initially. We camped, kayaked, fished and hiked with our children and attempted to see as many parts of the state as possible. We stayed at Lake Beth a few times, looked into a retirement site and picked our present location on the Kettle river."

Roy Lammer’s fused glass art is best described as a lovely mixture of artistry, exacting science, and fortuitous chance. He takes a highly skilled and deliberate approach to the art of glass fusion, weaving rich solids and luminous slices of color into appealing works of art. For Roy, it’s an art that is exacting, highly technical, and frustratingly and happily unpredictable.

He didn’t start out as a fused glass artist. Rather, he spent 35 years as a product support engineer and manager with Sperry and Honeywell, unaware that his engineering background was preparing him to tackle the ancient art of glass fusion.

Fused glass platter with crane After retiring from engineering, he took up glass fusion as a hobby. He explains, “I was fascinated with its four thousand year history; the complex technical process; the chemistry involved with creating glass colors; the way glass changes during fusing; the often unpredictable results and the beauty of the finished products that can be obtained when everything goes right.”

After purchasing tools, an electric kiln and a few sheets of hand-rolled, colored glass he began experimenting with the fusion process. He took classes, read books, and devoted himself to learning and mastering an interesting and challenging craft.

It’s proven to be an expensive passion. “Fusible colored glass is made by only a few companies,” states Roy. “Most is hand ladled as molten glass and then rolled out into sheets, then annealed, tested for expansion, trimmed, boxed and shipped. Clear, white, and black fusible glass are the least expensive. Chemicals added to create other colors increase prices. For example, cobalt is added to make blue glass, and gold is added to make pinks and purples.” He adds, “Recent energy prices have driven prices up and up to the point where many glass artists are going from profitable, to break- even, to selling at a loss, because it’s their passion.” Roy admits that he’s helped by “having a retirement income to supplement this art form.”

“The chances for mistakes during the process are many, so opening the kiln in the morning, after the glass fuses overnight, is always exciting”

Glass fusion can also be a painful passion. “I use a lot of band aids," he says, adding, "A sliver of clear glass in your thumb is worse than a plain old cut because you can't see it to remove it. I attended an artist’s reception once wearing several band-aids. It drew some comments.”

Fused glass plate with eocene fossil image Roy has experimented with glass blowing, torch work, glass painting, glass etching, and with making glass jewelry and wall hangings, but he’s happiest creating plates and bowls using fusing techniques that were developed four millennia ago. While the exact origin of glass fusing isn’t known for certain, “Egyptians and Romans were advanced glass formers and many examples of their work are in museums around the world.” Roy makes use of an electric kiln to form his glass, but the essential glass fusion process remains the same:

Roy sketches out his design and selects glass based on its color and texture.
He then cuts and assembles pieces of glass to form the design.
The assembled glass is fused in an electric kiln for 12 hours, with kiln temperatures reaching as much as 1500 degrees.
The resulting piece of fused glass is flat.
He then arranges the glass over a metal or ceramic mold and returns it to the kiln where it is “slumped” for an additional twelve hours at temperatures up to 1250 degrees.
During the slumping phase, the glass conforms to the shape of the mold and becomes the finished product.
The resulting items are brilliantly colorful, have safe food bearing surfaces, and are very durable.

“Choices made during the fusing process have tremendous affect on the finished product,” Roy explains. “The same glass colors and design can end up with five or six very different looks depending on time, temperature, order of stacking, choice of mold, etc.” He adds, “The chances for mistakes during the process are many, so opening the kiln in the morning, after the glass fuses overnight, is always exciting.”

“I was fascinated with...the way glass changes during fusing; the often unpredictable results and the beauty of the finished products that can be obtained when everything goes right.”

Roy works from the small studio he built next to his retirement home on the Kettle River near Danville, Washington. He explains that his wife “enjoys working with fiber arts as a hobby, so she was delighted to see me have an interest that keeps me working in my studio -- playing my loud jazz classics -- and out of our small cabin where her studio is located.”

Initially, nearly all his glass art found its way into the homes of his three grown children who live in Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Eventually, he began selling his work through a number of Northwestern galleries located in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The gallery owners “convinced me that my work was more art than craft and were pleased to display and sell my work at their galleries.”

Success has proven to be a two-edged sword. As his glass art gained in popularity and his sales increased, he realized he was working harder as an artist than he had during his 35 years as an engineer. He missed having time to experience the “enjoyment of experimenting and learning new things,” so he made the decision to scale his work back and reduce the number of galleries he sells through. Now, in his late seventies, he has returned to a state of semi-retirement, making fewer items and limiting the number of galleries he works through.

Purchase Information

Roy sells his glass art through these galleries:

Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, Washington; 509-775-2295.
Devin Galleries in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; 208-667-2898.
Silver Star Art Gallery in Chelan, Washington; 509-682-4848.
Sunset Gallery in Harrison, Idaho; 208-689-9076.

He typically hosts a booth at the Art in the Park at Omak, WA (Father’s Day weekend); the Holiday Festival of the Arts at Bozeman, MT (Thanksgiving); and the Kettle River Weaving Guild Fundraiser in Republic, Washington (December).

Contact Information

Roy Lammer
PO Box 149
Danville, WA 99121
509-779-4036

Acknowledgements

Ferrycounty.com wishes to thank Roy Lammer for allowing us to photograph and display photos of his glass art. Article by Sarah Lawrence, published on July 23, 2007.

See more artist interviews on our Arts and Culture page.

Kiln is used for both fusing and slumping glass.

Glass kiln is used for both fusing and slumping glass.

Irridescent sheet glass waiting to be incorporated into a design.

Iridescent sheet glass waiting to be incorporated into a design.

The chemistry involved with creating the fused glass changes the colors during fusing.

Many of Roy Lammer's designs are simply artful and fun, like this Wizard of Oz wall clock.