Joe Hobbs

As a graffiti-obsessed art student, Joe Hobbs pursued glassblowing, learning classic Venetian technique to create classic forms. His love for illustration and drawing manifested in a 25-year-long search for ways to apply drawing to blown glass forms. Hobbs developed an unprecedented illustrative glass technique during his 2022 winter residency at Penland School of Craft. Borrowing the enamel transfer process from the ceramic world, Hobbs converts drawings into water slide decals printed in glass enamel. The glass drawings are transferred onto the blown glass form and then drawings are fired at 2000 degrees. With a nod to his pursuit of high-profile graffiti murals, Hobbs is now incorporating airbrushed enamels into some of his vessels and forms to create an ethereal layering of color. Joe was recognized with the Pilchuck Glass School Award for Innovation 2023, and was the Demonstrating Artist at the 2023 Glass Art Society Conference, and taught “Imagery in the Hot Shop” and“ Glass Illustration and Painting in the Hot Shop” at Pittsburgh Glass Center 2024.