I believe I was born to work with glass. I’m Swedish after all. The Swedes have been making glass for centuries. Their most famous glass studio is Kosta Boda, in Småland, Sweden. It’s “The Kingdom of Crystal”. It’s also where Pippi Longstocking lives but that’s a whole other story. I’ve been fortunate to have been to Kosta and Boda, which are two different glass factories. At Kosta I met the artist Olle Brozen.
He does some really cool cast cars that are in the Kosta production line of art glass, as well as alot of other fine glass work. I got a quick tour of the hot shop and was able to watch the amazing workers create the production pieces that are sold all over the world. At the Boda studio I briefly got to meet the artist Kjell Engman. He was in a bit of a hurried mode since he was getting ready to go to the SOFA show in Chicago with his glass art.
I was absolutely in awe of the entire experience. The glass is from the sand of the area. It’s all created there. They color the glass themselves although the majority of the glass is transparent. Fabulous work. And the whole area is full of glass factories and schools. Another factory we saw that is also owned by Kosta Boda was Orrefors. They produce more traditional glassware. If you have the opportunity to travel to Sweden you have to check out “The Kingdom of Crystal”. The land where Swedish glass comes from!
