For Emporian Evan Markowitz, it’s all about the glass.
The 23-year-old is a senior at Emporia State University majoring in art with an emphasis on glass who recently completed 15 commissioned pieces for the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce.
The vases were given to businesses that have been with the Chamber 50 years or more. Markowitz said he got to make the vases after the Chamber contacted Roberta Eichenberg, his professor at ESU , who passed Markowitz’s name to them.
“A couple of months later I had all the pieces done,” Markowitz said.
Markowitz became interested in glass blowing in high school. Markowitz said he worked his way through other art classes to be able to take glass blowing. He discovered he loved it.
“I would look forward to going into glass blowing,” he said, with a smile.
What attracts Markowitz to glass blowing is the process.
“It’s interesting working with material you can’t even touch,” he said. “It seemed unique to me. It seemed like a career path that not too many people took before.”
Markowitz said he enjoys working with his hands and glass blowing fits the bill. He said he takes his inspiration from his grandpa, Joe Markowitz, who used to own Mark II Lumber in Emporia.
“He always did a lot of fine detailed woodworking,” Markowitz said. “I think that’s where my artistic side came from. I always kind of look to my grandpa’s craftsmanship and his work to set a standard of my own.”
Although the family’s interest remains in wood — his father is part-owner of Emporia construction firm Mitchell Markowitz, Glass is the college student’s medium of choice.
Markowitz added that his family supports the arts. His father is working with the Emporia Arts Council, which is trying to raise money for a new building.
He also takes his inspiration from other artists, Markowitz said. This past summer he had the opportunity to work with glass blowing artists Anthony Schafermeyer, Claire Kelly and Pablo Soto in North Carolina.
“They are all extremely talented glass blowers,” Markowitz said. “It’s a privilege to work under those people. As a college student, that experience is hard to get.”
Each April, ESU holds a Glass Blowout, where professors Patrick Martin and Eichenberg bring in a visiting artist.
“For a place like Kansas, my professors do an excellent job bringing in talented artists to show everybody the right way to do things,” Markowitz said. “Everybody gets to assist the artist and (they) seem to get a lot better about what they are doing.”
Markowitz does a bit of everything when it comes to working with glass, he said. Right now he mainly is working on tall vases. He especially likes Venetian style glass, which are multi-part pieces blown thin.
“I like to focus on form,” he said. “A lot of my vases are functional. Form definitely comes first.”
No matter what, Markowitz said he likes to focus on the dynamics in a piece.
“I always try to get shapes that are dynamic,” he said. “I don’t see a piece as successful if it has bad lines or defects in it.”
Right now, Markowitz is working with Glendo Corp., doing research and design with glass engraving. He plans on working there after graduating.
“It’s been a pretty interesting experience working for Glendo,” Markowitz said. “Everything they do is very top notch. It makes it very easy to work for the company.”