We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephan Cox. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephan below.

Stephan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I recently finished “Brilliant Floral”, a commissioned sculpture for the Greenville SC residence of an esteemed architect and his wife. This couple had purchased numerous smaller pieces over the years and we’d talked at intervals of doing a significant piece for either his architecture firm headquarters or their home. The sculpture was to be a gift to his wife so we decided to install the piece in their home, an elegant and sprawling structure designed by the owner.

I admire the architect and his work and respect his aesthetic. He was CEO for many years of a giant international firm and principal architect on dozens of projects worldwide. He has since left that position to establish a smaller firm in Greenville. I’d talked to the architect at length on previous visits and enjoyed his stories of working with architect Santiago Calatrava and glass artist Dale Chihuly.

It was extremely gratifying to work closely with this gracious couple to make “Brilliant Floral”.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve thought of myself as an artist from early childhood. I pored over my parent’s giant art books, studying old masters, impressionists, expressionists, and surrealists. At first (and for many years) I felt the only true artist was a painter and ignored most other forms of artistic expression. I’ve since come to appreciate and admire all creative disciplines.

Early on I drew with charcoal and pastels and painted in oils and acrylic. In college I drew from life models and painted, then gravitated to printmaking, working mainly with stone lithography. I enjoyed handling and preparing the thick limestone slabs and the process-heavy technique.

One of the few university-based glass hot shops in the nation was next door to the print shop and I’d stop in to watch glassblowing. I began to spend more time with the glassblowers and eventually took a class;
the medium was tricky and frustrating and had to be dealt with in the moment – you couldn’t set something aside and gaze at it. Glassblowing finally took over my time and energies and I stepped away from printmaking.

My university glassmaking experience was the genesis for an adventurous 42-year (so far) exploration of glass, art, and life.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Of course there was no way of knowing or preparing for two seismic shocks coming my way. After 25 mostly successful years selling my art in various ways, The Great Recession of 2008 – 2009 turned off the money faucet. My previous templates for encountering a market and selling no longer worked and from 2009 to 2013 I slowly rebuilt my business by targeting a wealthier client. This new direction was successful and from 2013 to 2020 I met clients by exhibiting at high-end international indoor art fairs.

Unfortunately the pandemic years – beginnng in 2019 and into 2022 – shut off the faucet again. The art fairs were no longer viable for me and I began in late 2022 to again re-direct my marketing, this time targeting fine gift galleries. I recently inroduced “design/make 23”, my limited-line of smaller glass sculpture:
file:///C:/Users/coxgl/OneDrive/Desktop/2023%20Retail/design-make-retail.pdf

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Curiosity and a search for excellence drives my creative journey. Whatever the endeavor – drawing, painting, printmaking, glassmaking – I’ve always taken the work seriously and done my absolute best to excell and explore within a given discipline. I’m glad to say that my body of work holds up well over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: stephancoxglass.com
• Instagram: @coxglassart
• Facebook: Stephan Cox Glass

Image Credits
Credit personal photo – Patricia O’Neill All other images – Stephan Cox