As I pull the blowpipe out of the glory hole I lower the glass towards the floor to let it stretch out, preparing to marvel the tip. I lift up, arms up high, lower the glass to kiss the steel table, and as I marver I feel the softness, delicacy, and heat of the hot glass traveling up the pipe into my hands and coarse thru my body in my heart and head. Such a natural and familiar feeling to me. I bring the back of the pipe down and marker the neck slowly elongating the glass preparing it for the optic mold. Marvel, heat, block, thread, heat, marver, mold, heat, marver, block, and blow. Next thing I know I’m standing in front of the close to 2000 degree glory hole, door open, piece spins out in a beautiful flowing scalloped platter form. I wake up exhilarated. Another dream of blowing glass. I’ve been having these dreams for decades. I  wake up sweating feeling the heat, thought i was burned a couple times, and one time had glass in my foot from blowing barefoot – wait, that time might have been real. 

For me, glass is a passion. It is a medium with extreme versatility for inspirational design. I initially found interest in glass blowing as a creative release. With a background in architecture I found immediate gratification with glass. By this I mean it would take me an hour to get through the basic glass blowing process as opposed to a semester, or 5-6 months or more designing a building for a specific site. Although the creative processes are somewhat similar, the results working with glass give me immediate gratification and passion with feeds my creativity. 

The various methods and uses of glass amazes me. To name a few of these: From hot glass blowing to fusing and slumping to lamp working and torch work to cold working, and mixtures in between; glass can be formed into a multitude of uses; both functional and sculptural. 

I continue to feel the heat as I reheat the vessel I’m creating. It feels so familiar and I know why. This time as I bring the lip of the vessel to a temperature hot enough to work the top of the form, I pull it out of the glory hole and hold it down while spinning. The spin torques the form as I balance the pipe from its fulcrum point. It develops into a well scalloped vase with intricate levels of pattern and detail through the color and optics. This time it’s not a dream, for real!

Rees attended The Architectural Association in London and graduated from Texas Tech University with Honors in Architectural Design and Minors in 3-dimensional Sculpture and Fine Art Photography. His mentors include Bill Bagley, Peter Thomas, Nigel Coates, Zaha Hadid, and Harvey Littleton. Rees formed Spiralglass in the 90’s as an outlet for this creative process. Firehaus Studio was formed next as a way to connect fire inspired artists. Recently, he has engaged in a new business venture named Prism Glass Company using fusing techniques to create prismatic patterned glass, wire glass, and textured glass to create refraction for architectural and interior design applications.

He has been selected for a wide range of corporate projects, private and public custom commissions, and received multiple awards across the spectrum of his bodies of work. Some of his past clientele include Publicis Blum, Delinea, Neiman Marcus, Precept Builders, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Celebrity Bakery, Dallas County Community College,  Zales Corporation, the Nasher Sculpture Center, Omni Hotels and Resorts, Marriot Hotels, and the W Hotel Dallas.