Featured Artist: Diana Wendt, Kent WA
Studio History
Diana Wendt founded Blue Dog Glass Art in 1995, naming her studio after her blue Neapolitan mastiff “Sumo”. She was drawn to the ancient method of “kiln-fired” glass forming, specifically “fused and slumped” glass.
Artist Studies
Early on, Diana who is self-taught, set out to acquire kiln-forming techniques/skills from master artist workshops and local recognized artists due to a lack of schools that offered classes in fused glass. She studied with well-known artists: Roger Nachman, Michael Dupille, Cappy Thompson, Mark Eckstrand and Susan Plum and recently Carlyne Lynch, a fellow PNW Guild member.
She was the first glass artist to be awarded the Pathways Scholarship from Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle by Director Greg Robinson, which mentors emerging artists. Diana was also one of 30 artists selected by the Artists Trust to participate in the first EDGE Professional Development Program for visual arts.
Three years ago, Diana signed up to study with international glass artist, Narcissus Quagliata in his exciting new masterclass series: “Painting with Glass”- PWG. She was delighted to be part of his second cohort of global students who studied and learned his unique methods of transforming glass into a new language during a six volume masterclass series lasting over two and a half years. It changed her approach in glass to go beyond simply cutting and fusing layers of glass to create a piece.
Teaching
By 2001, Wendt began teaching basic fusing at Pratt Fine Arts Center. Four years later (2005), Wendt moved from Seattle to Kent, WA and created a fused glass program for Green River Community College – GRCC, fulfilling her dream to teach from the tranquil setting of her near-by studio.
In 2007, Diana set aside her studio art to lovingly provide 24/7 care for her ill, elderly mother while continuing to teach for Green River. Now, 29 years later, Diana continues to enjoy teaching for the college, being inspired by her students, exploring her own glass and learning from both the PWG and the PNW Guild communities.
Inspiration:
Diana’s style ranges from figurative to abstract with an Asian influence inspired by her Japanese mother, Mary. After losing the Blue Dog, Sumo in April of 2000 and subsequently her beloved mother, Mary in August of 2009; Diana realized how much their pure hearts are the true inspiration in her art:
“To find [him]/her you must lose [him]/her. The Blue Dog knows the Way” (George Rodrique 1994).
In the spirit of the Blue Dog and in loving memory of her extraordinary mother, Diana’s work continues to evolve as signed as “Sumo D” from the studio of Blue Dog Glass Art, Inc located in Kent, WA.