Don Shepherd

Artist Don Shepherd (1930–2002) studied at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and later at the Catan-Rose Institute of Fine Art in Jamaica, New York, where he received a certificate of fine art in 1957. He was trained as an architect before working as a design designer for Blenko Glass Company from 1974 to 1988. Shepherd later joined former Blenko designer John Nickerson to hold demonstrations of their glass craft at the art departments of various institutions. Shepherd left Blenko in 1988 to design office furniture for Herman Miller.

Works

Green Transcending Head, 1981. Made with the assistance of Everett “Shorty” Finley at Blenko Glass Company. Green tinted transparent glass; blown, with copper metal inclusions; sandblasted; cemented to base. H: 39 cm, W: 18.3 cm. Collection of The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York (81.4.121).

Candlestick (No. 802S Diamonds candleblock). Designed by Shepherd for Blenko Glass Company, made c. 1980-1981. Clear glass. H: 2.5 in, Diam: 2.5 in. Collection of the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia (2009.114.141).

Vase (No. 8433 top hat), Designed by Shepherd for Blenko Glass Company, made c. 1985. Clear glass with dimpled sides. H: 2.5 in, Diam: 5.625 in. Collection of the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia (2012.102.1).

Don Shepherd discusses Howard Ben Tré setting up an annealing oven at Blenko in a 1981 interview.

Playing01:02 Transcript
Don Shepherd

Don Shepherd discusses Howard Ben Tré setting up an annealing oven at Blenko. Interview with Don Shepherd by Paul Hollister, June 10, 1981. (Rakow title: Don Shepherd interview [sound recording], BIB ID: 168505) Clip length: 01:02.

Paul Hollister (PH): You and Howard Ben Tré are gonna set up an annealing oven—

Don Shepherd (DS): —Oven at the Blenko Glass Works.

PH: —at the Blenko works.

DS: I—

PH: For what? I mean, don’t they have one anyway?

DS: Not really, none of the type that we’re talking about. It would be that would be one that would be tied to a digital computer—the one that Andrew Magdanz developed, which would [inaudible] twenty—it’s on a twenty-eight day annealing cycle which you could program any—any time period within that, you know, frame, and do some large glass castings right out of the large Blenko [inaudible].

PH: Take that along with you—

DS: Can I do that?

PH: Yeah, maybe you’ll find somebody who’d like to join our glass club.

DS: Fine.

PH: You get four of these—

DS: Yeah—

PH: —a year. Still working at Blenko, he’s been there since ‘75, okay.

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Don Shepherd talks about being a designer for Blenko and making a mold made out of coat hangers in a 1981 interview with Paul Hollister.

Playing1:51 Transcript
Don Shepherd

In a 1981 interview with Paul Hollister, Don Shepherd talks about being a designer for Blenko and making a mold made out of coat hangers. Interview with Don Shepherd by Paul Hollister, June 10, 1981. (Rakow title: Don Shepherd interview [sound recording], BIB ID: 168505) Clip length: 01:51.

Don Shepherd (DS): And I live in Connecticut and I go to the glass factory once a month for a week.

Paul Hollister (PH): And give them the designs for the next—

DS: I—I do more than that, I mean, I’m not a carrier of paper concepts. I mean I make the molds and I show them how to use the molds and I [inaudible] the standards.

PH: What are the molds made out of?

DS: Every—we make molds—I think that’s part of the reason that I think I work well as a factory designer is my technological background is one where I have a familiarity—a broad-based familiarity with a lot of media techniques that have no set standard for what a mold is made out of, it’s really a conceptual thing that’s part of the—what you’re trying to create. It depends on concept as to what the mold will be made out of. It’s been made literally out of a—about anything you can imagine—

PH: Really?

DS: I did one a couple years ago made out of coat hangers—

PH: Hmm.

DS: —out of heavy duty coat hangers that opened and closed and expanded as you were blowing and had all kinds of undercuts but because of the flexibility of the mold you could just lift it right out.

PH: Hmm.

DS:  Like a ribbed [inaudible]—

PH: Yeah.

DS: —an interesting piece. And you also had a torque to it—a twist to it, that you could just—because it—when you tied this rope on the top of it and the wire that, when you closed it up and you could just see the [inaudible] blowing [inaudible] the piece would just breath like this and then when you opened it up you can take the wire off, it would open up just like this, and—but you still had to pull to get it out, but it would come out and with all kinds of undercuts to it.

Permalink

Don Shepherd talks about being a designer for Blenko and making a mold made out of coat hangers in a 1981 interview with Paul Holister.

Playing01:51 Transcript
Don Shepherd

In a 1981 interview with Paul Hollister, Don Shepherd talks about being a designer for Blenko and making a mold made out of coat hangers. Interview with Don Shepherd by Paul Hollister, June 10, 1981. (Rakow title: Don Shepherd interview [sound recording], BIB ID: 168505) Clip length: 01:51.

Don Shepherd (DS): And I live in Connecticut and I go to the glass factory once a month for a week.

Paul Hollister (PH): And give them the designs for the next—

DS: I—I do more than that, I mean, I’m not a carrier of paper concepts. I mean I make the molds and I show them how to use the molds and I [inaudible] the standards.

PH: What are the molds made out of?

DS: Every—we make molds—I think that’s part of the reason that I think I work well as a factory designer is my technological background is one where I have a familiarity—a broad-based familiarity with a lot of media techniques that have no set standard for what a mold is made out of, it’s really a conceptual thing that’s part of the—what you’re trying to create. It depends on concept as to what the mold will be made out of. It’s been made literally out of a—about anything you can imagine—

PH: Really?

DS: I did one a couple years ago made out of coat hangers—

PH: Hmm.

DS: —out of heavy duty coat hangers that opened and closed and expanded as you were blowing and had all kinds of undercuts but because of the flexibility of the mold you could just lift it right out.

PH: Hmm.

DS:  Like a ribbed [inaudible]—

PH: Yeah.

DS: —an interesting piece. And you also had a torque to it—a twist to it, that you could just—because it—when you tied this rope on the top of it and the wire that, when you closed it up and you could just see the [inaudible] blowing [inaudible] the piece would just breath like this and then when you opened it up you can take the wire off, it would open up just like this, and—but you still had to pull to get it out, but it would come out and with all kinds of undercuts to it.

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