Skip Horton and Donna Beverly
Skip Horton and Donna Beverly have owned and operated their own glass studio (Gazelle Glass) since 1976. Skip received his BFA and completed two years
post-graduate work in ceramics at Cal State University before making
wooden toys, wooden musical instruments and diving for abalone. He has
been a lampworker since 1976.
Donna has a masters degree in visual arts
and taught drawing and painting for eighteen years. She is an accomplished painter and
has been a lampworker since 1986.
Gazelle Glass is a small company located in the farmland foothills of
Philomath, Oregon. Gazelle moved to Oregon in 1990 after Skip
and Donna's home and business burned to the ground in the Santa
Barbara city-wide arson fire. They got their cat and the computer
backup and said goodbye to California. Moving north, they set up in
the three-sided garage of their new Oregon home. Now, fourteen years later, Gazelle is
situated on 50 acres of farmland. Oregon protects and values its farmland, so Gazelle
shares its space with a flock of sheep.
Their glass pieces are high quality and all handblown.
There are no items blown into molds. Gazelle primarily uses borosilicate glass,
more commonly known as Pyrex. Colors are added in lines or dots of colored cane,
most of which are made in-house. The transparent colors--yellow, bright pink and
coral--are made by fuming metals--silver, 24k gold and copper--onto the glass with
the torch's heat. The caps are made of chrome-plated brass.
Gazelle Glass now employs five glassblowers that design and produce salt shakers, perfume
bottles, ornaments and wall sculptures. Designs range from whimsical to elegant.
Gazelle's goal is to make fine quality art glass available to everyone.
