I recently had the opportunity to be at the opening of Richard Ritter: 40 Years in Glass at Western Carolina University. The show is a retrospective featuring more than 75 amazing works in glass from 1969-2009. This show will also be exhibited April 9-May 15 at the Green Hill Center for NC Art.

Richard Ritter, born in Detroit, Michigan in 1940, studied to be an artist and became an illustrator for an advertising firm. After 5 years as an illustrator, he decided to take a class in metalworking. It was his desire to incorporate glass elements into his pewter castings that ultimately led him to glassblowing.

In 1971, Richard enrolled in a summer session at the Penland School of Crafts in Mitchell County taught by Mark Peiser. It was a later session that same summer with fellow glass artist Richard Marquis that proved to be pivotal. Marquis had recently spent a year in Murano. His course gave instruction on working with glass using a highly complex version of the murrini process. A process that was first developed by the Phoenicians and early Romans, a murrini is a cross cut slice made of glass threads or canes that convey a design or color pattern.

Richard Ritter taught classes back in Michigan as well as became one of Penland School's first artists in residence. In 1980, he and his wife, Jan Williams, permanently settled in Bakersville, near the school.

What separates Richard from many glass artists working in the field today is that he makes all his glass- the clear or opalescent components to the color rods that compose the murrini slices. Developing the chemical compositions to achieve a certain color as well as knowing which colors can and will combine witout an adverse reaction is slowly becoming a lost art.

His compositions are known by glass collectors and institutions throughout
the world. Flowers, faces even insects such as dragonflies and ladybugs are made from countless hours of painstaking work. Drawing a design, arranging the color rods, melting, stretching, slicing and then working with hot glass to incorporate all the elements into larger highly complex works are just the basic steps in his process. Many fellow artists as well as other respected authorities consider him to be one of the most highly skilled artists working in the medium.

Richard is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council. His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in public and private collections including the Corning Museum of Arts and Design the White House permanent craft collection, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Additional information and images available: www.ritterglass.com, www.habatatglass.com

Ed Jones
Realtor/Broker
D: 704.602.6864
ejones@dickensmitchener.com