Glass faucets by Jim Mckelvey

"I want my glass to stop conversations, and then provoke long discussions."

For 20 years, James McKelvey has worked to capture
the magic of glass in his art. As chairman of the world's
largest gathering of glass artists in 2006, he strove to
surprise and challenge other artists with his innovative
glass faucets. Demand for the faucets proved so strong
that McKelvey and a team of artists and engineers
spent the next nine months perfecting his design.

Creating functional art is a great challenge for an
artist/engineer. Each of McKelvey's faucets is shaped
by hand from a tube of molten glass. For every four
attempts, only one faucet is accepted. It is then cut,
polished, tempered, and assembled using materials so
pure that the FDA approves them for implantation into
the body. This patented design is like nothing else in
the world.

McKelvey began blowing glass as an
undergraduate engineer at
Washington University in 1986. Upon
graduation, he supported himself as a
glass blower while he established Mira
Digital Publishing, splitting his time
between the corporate and art worlds.

He has studied with dozens of artists
but was primarily influenced by the
Italian techniques of Lino Tagliapietra
and his disciples. "Before there were
good classes and textbooks,
apprenticing was the only way to learn,
so I spent years traveling and working
with artists all over the world. I spent
many days working with people with
whom I couldn't even converse.

McKelvey has taught glass blowing at
Washington University's Art School
and Glen Echo National Park in
Maryland and presented several
workshops in the U.S. and Asia. His
work has been exhibited nationally and
three galleries represent him.

In the fall of 2001 he co-founded the Third Degree Glass Factory. At Third Degree,
McKelvey teaches classes for the Washington University College program.
He developed the basic curriculum used in all Third Degree courses and in 2006
wrote The Art of Fire: Beginning Glassblowing, a textbook used for classes at Third
Degree as well as at colleges around the world. He's also produced a 4-disc DVD
set that complements The Art of Fire and brings an additional dimension to
learning glass blowing.