Glass Chandeliers Add to calendar Newt Grover ♦ Newt Glass Chandeliers Scottsdale, AZ | Glass Chandeliers | Website If Newt Grover wants to learn a particular craft or art, he will find a way to master the form by teaching himself. In high school he taught himself how to make jewelry and for many years enjoyed a long career creating fine platinum and gold custom pieces for clients. At the same, time he took up the hobbies of making neon and metalworking, skills that led him to start a sign making business. Working in neon brought him naturally to glassblowing. Intrigued by this new art form, he hand-built a small studio where he taught himself to blow glass. Today, in a much larger studio, in Scottsdale, Arizona, he creates his popular chandeliers in designs influenced by his love of nature that range from elegant to whimsical. GET TO KNOW NEWT What drew you to your chosen craft? The color, transparency and vibrant nature of glass. No other medium is as versatile. The effect and feel I can create is unparalleled. There are always new skills for me to learn and improve. What do you enjoy most about your craft? The process and the really wild things my brain comes up with to make. The absolute joy of people seeing my work. It’s also a Zen like experience. Why is it important for people to make things with their own hands? I think some people express themselves better with their hands than anything else. Working with your hands gives you a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for things that are handmade. Working with your hands is very fulfilling and grounding for most people. In what ways are handmade goods better than those that are mass-produced? With glass being so ubiquitous, the handmade glass art has so much more soul, energy and feeling. Most people recognize and respect the skill and time it takes to make a great piece handmade by an artisan. What does the future hold for your type of work? In this push button world with easy access user interfaces, going forward, people who can work and create with their hands will be a rarity. Finely crafted handmade goods are already becoming more valuable because fewer people are learning the skills to craft them. Glass Chandeliers, Garden Tools, Western Saddles EPISODE | PHOTOS | SCHEDULE ♦ GARDEN TOOLS | WESTERN SADDLES DISCOVER OTHER ARTISANS [rev_slider alias=”crafts”] #HandcraftedAmerica