Cane Working with Lino Tagliapietra | Master Class Series, Volume I

Produced from 1998 to 2014, each video in The Studio’s Master Class Series presents a portrait of an artist and teaches a glassworking technique. Until now, these 30-minute videos have only been available on DVD.
This video follows celebrated glassmaker Lino Tagliapietra as he makes canes and uses them to decorate one of his intricate blown vessels. Along the way, he notes the importance of the gather in cane-pulling, offers some observations on the state of glassmaking in Murano, and discusses his own philosophy of glassworking.Tagliapietra has had a lasting impact on American studio glassblowing.
Born on the island of Murano, he worked as an assistant and then as an apprentice in the island's glass factories, where he earned the title of maestro at the age of 21. In 1979, he traveled for the first time to the United States to teach at the Pilchuck Glass School. This was the beginning of an international career and collaborations with noted European and American artists working in glass.
After working in the United States and abroad for 10 years, Tagliapietra made the difficult decision to change his artistic focus from design to the production of unique work. Rethinking his craft, he emerged in the 1990s as an influential artist.