PAUL TRAUTMAN

PAUL TRAUTMAN first put a Pyrex tube into a gas oxygen torch flame, after hours, in a college chemistry lab in 1974. At that time there was virtually no colored borosilicate glass available – you had to make your own. Since then Paul has spent his time variously blowing different types of art glass; owned and operated a scientific glassblowing company; made neon sculpture; and, most notably, pioneered and developed the world’s first colored borosilicate glass manufacturing facility, here in the Northwest. Trautman was also the first lamp worker invited to Pilchuck Glass School as a visiting artist. In the last three-and-a-half decades, Paul has seen the artistic lampworking movement explode worldwide into the thriving and exciting art form that it is today – due, in part, to the palette of borosilicate glass colors he first created.Today, Paul has returned to glass manufacturing on his own terms: small batches, and high quality control. His latest company, Trautman Art Glass, makes the most-popular red borosilicate on the market – Red Elvis, a self-striking ruby – and the unique Blizzard colors