Orbix Hot Glass

[+] | [-]

About Orbix Hot Glass

In 1972, Cal Breed was born in Alabama to an artist and an engineer. This combination of the expressive and the critical laid the framework for a life coursed by grasping to bridge the seemingly dichotomous. After years of studying the beauty of the ocean and almost finishing a degree in marine biology, Cal was burdened by the need to be expressive with his hands. Bowing to that burden, he began to study the arts. Having such a quiet demeanor, Cal sought for a material that spoke boldly and clearly. In 1994 Cal found glass—first in assembling stained glass windows and finally to glassblowing.

Cal spent six months apprenticing under Cam Langley, one of the South’s few glass artists. During this time Cal became entranced by both the medium of glass and the process by which it is made. From that point, Cal went to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts to study with Paul Cunningham who pushed Cal to finish his BFA degree at Ohio State University under Ruth King. Cal later received scholarships at both Haystack and Pilchuck Glass School where he continued honing design and technical skills by studying with Dante Marioni, Dick Marquis, Lino Tagliapietra, and Benjamin Moore. Upon graduation from Ohio State in 1997, Cal also did graduate work with Jack Wax at Illinois State University which opened many doors to the limitless possibilities with glass.

In 2000, Cal and his wife Christy began working towards opening a private studio. Five years and three children later, Orbix Hot Glass opened its furnace doors in Fort Payne, AL, just minutes from Little River Canyon National Preserve. Today, Orbix creates a Studio Series and a Signature Series that adhere to Cal’s original purpose of marrying the engineer and artist within him. All of the designs pay close attention to proportion, color, purity and form. Each is chosen with specific intention to accentuate details particularly innate to glass. The Studio Designs use simple overlapping techniques to create optical distortions and highlight contrasts of rich and vague color. The Signature Designs, mainly defined by multiple transparent incalmo bands, employ color gradients and optical density to express breathtaking arrangements.