Born in 1952, Glass artist Dave Kendall developed a deep appreciation for graphic and performing arts as a child while attending Far Brook School, Short Hills, NJ. "The Roots of Excellence" a primary education through the arts program planted the seeds early on for a lifetime of creative endeavor. Here he had the incredible fortune to study music with Edwin Finckel, composer and jazz pianist who had a lasting influence on Dave as he developed an ability and love for playing jazz and ragtime piano.

Upon attending Goddard College in Plainfield, VT, Dave discovered the lifelong passion for glassblowing and hot glass work with instructor Bill Happle. The creative freedom of the liberal Goddard curriculum provided a fertile environment in which Dave was able to flourish as a glassblower and conduct a thorough study of the world history of manmade glass objects dating back 4000 years. The captivating raw energy of handling hot glass quickly revealed itself to Dave as a world of endless possibilities in which he could immerse himself in a lifetime of pursuit.

Graduating from Goddard with a bachelor of arts degree in 1974, Dave had the good fortune to find the opportunity to work with Art Reed of Sweetwater Glass, Delancy, NY as his assistant while creating his own body of work on the side. During this period Dave successfully showed and sold his work in the eastern states and founded Freedonia Glassworks aka Kendall Art Glass.

In 1985 Dave built his own glassmaking studio on the property where he and his family now live in SW Oregon. In this botanically rich environment Dave and his wife Susan operate a successful home based retail and wholesale glassblowing business with four employees. Dave's work can be found in over 200 stores in over 40 states.

Today, their two sons Spencer (15) and Benjamin (12) are working in the studio together creating their own distinctive line of nightlights which have become very popular gift items. It is very exciting to see them creating and selling their own product. Please see related photos.

The dance that is Glassblowing involves elements of passion, fluidity, drama, spontaneity, choreography, temperature and timing all working together. The hot glass seems to have a life of it's own: creating a piece to completion is an immensely rewarding experience bounded by a narrow time window as the glass cools.

Fine crystal batch is melted in a furnace at 2300 degrees F, gathered on a metal blowpipe and rich colors are added and transformed into unique patterns. Then it is mouth-blown and shaped free-hand without molds using gravity, centrifugal force and hand tools at the bench. When the piece is formed to the artist's specifications, it is then annealed (slowly cooled) which makes the glass durable. Once cooled and inspected, every one of a kind piece is then signed and dated by the artist. Only the finest quality work is carefully selected before being shipped.