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Bringing out the inner fire of glass By Cindy Blankenship,For the Tidings Dec 08, 2005 12:00 AM A A December 8, 2005 The fiery chandelier hanging over the bar at the Black Sheep Pub and Restaurant was created by blown glass and metal sculptor David Gelfand. A glass blower of 20 years, for the past year and a half Gelfand has been combining his blown glass and metal into what he calls & illuminated sculptures.& & When the glass is molten it glows because it& s so hot,& says Gelfand, explaining how he got started creating light fixtures from blown glass and metal. When the pieces cool, they would be beautiful but I always wanted to capture the glow.& Since Gelfand discovered that by lighting the blown glass sculpture from the inside, he could recapture this glow, he& s created several of these illuminated sculptures, including the one hanging from the ceiling at Evo& s Coffee Lounge. While he& s begun glass blowing a series of vases and enjoys this work as well, he is passionate about expressing through his unique alchemy of metal and glass what he calls the ritual aspects of fire. & Fire has many ritual aspects to it,& explains Gelfand. & Sitting around a fire has in the past been a place where community gathered and celebrated, and I& m wanting to bring that aspect back into our lives. I think a lot happens around campfires and drumming. I think there& s something primordial inside of us that happens around community and fire, some kind of ancestral thing, and it& s part of Judeo-Christian traditions as well as other traditions.& Gelfand blows glass at Gathering Glass Studio where he dips the end of a hollow blowpipe through the glory hole into a pool of molten glass in the furnace that has heated the liquid to about 2,140 Fahrenheit degrees. In the summer, the studio can reach 130 Fahrenheit. — — ARTIST SKETCH — Name: David Gelfand — Age: 37 — Hails From: Westfield, N.J. — Training: Fine art degrees, Franklin Pierce College, New Hampshire. — Niche: Illuminated sculpture — Claim to Fame: At 15 years old, played CBGB& s famous punk rock — club in NYC with his band. — Inspiration: Nature. & I love it, he says, adding in reply, & Yes, even in the summer.& At his home metal studio, he hammers and bends the fixtures using an oxyacetylene torch and a forge. & My sculpture came about from me wanting to combine beautiful metal sculpture with art glass, and to just have that kind of union,& says Gelfand. He says he is largely inspired by nature. Hiking around Lithia Park in the morning before making a piece may inspire petal-like shapes on a light or leaves of gold on a fixture. He says that the imagination he uses in creating a sculpture from molten glass reminds him that & we imagine our world into being.& & I like expressing my imagination,& Gelfand continues. & I thrive on constantly breaking down perceived limitations, drawing an idea for a piece and wondering if I can pull it off. Once I do a certain style I want to push my technical ability beyond that and see where my imagination will go.& Before moving to Ashland four years ago, Gelfand left his New Hampshire home and apprenticed with a couple glass blowers and metal workers around the country, including in Gold Hill, Colo., a town with a population of 150 in the Rockies. While he enjoyed his mountain cabin and small town life in Colorado, he is especially enthusiastic about Ashland. & I love Ashland. I especially love the people. It& s a great community. Glass Works lets me do work for them in exchange for time to make my work there. Friends who assist me & glass blowing is a team sport & learn from me. There& s just some really cool exchange of energy in Ashland & 133; tons of trades. I& ve never seen this anywhere else.& A few of David Gelfand& s illuminated sculptures can be viewed online at www.davidgelfand.com. He also has a show through January in Eureka, Calif. at the Accident Gallery on Second Street.