Stoked Artist Spotlight: Suellen Fowler
Suellen Fowler, the Queen of color, has been working with glass for over forty years. Suellen is most known for her exquisite color palette which she mixes and hand pulls herself. Suellen Fowler has developed an instantly recognizable style, including her signature hobnail pattern and small batch color. These processes she uses to create her vessels are rich in color and intricate in design.
Suellen displayed a passion for color, drawing and sculpting at an early age. Her family encouraged her to develop these talents; she was enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles at the age of 9 where she took art classes for several years. In the summer of 1969, at the tender age of 14, she enrolled in the Glass Workshop at Pepperdine College in Los Angeles, CA. The program was directed by John Burton and taught by his first apprentice, Margaret Youd. Suellen was instantly captivated by the scintillating qualities of light and color in this volatile medium. Under Margaret's able instruction, she rapidly acquired technical skills - within a few months she was assisting other students in the class.
During this time borosilicate glass had a limited and unsophisticated palette of colors available to the artist. John Burton recognized her skill and invited Suellen to take private lessons at his home studio in Montecito, CA. Suellen worked under Burton’s guidance for two years developing and creating hand-mixed colors.
Suellen continued working independently developing her own extensive range of color formulations, she considers herself to be a colorist. Suellen's influences come from painters such as Turner, Whistler and the Impressionists - she is drawn to artists known for beautiful use of color and whimsical imagery. Suellen Fowler's work will always stand out from the rest of the lampworkers of the world because of her devotion to the John Burton method of lampworking, her unique palette of hand-mixed colors, the absolute precision of her skills, and her uncompromising esthetic quality.
Suellen’s work is celebrated and collected worldwide by artists and enthusiasts alike. Suellen Fowler's work can also be found at The Corning Museum Of Glass in their permanent collection in Corning, NY.
