the scientific glassblowing education
Nick has been blacksmithing, welding and machining since his high school years. He started glassblowing as a hobby, but this was the one that became a passion and eventually pursued in earnest. He completed his associate's degree in Scientific Glass Technology at the only facility in the US that provides such an education, Salem Community College in Southern New Jersey. Currently, Nick works out of Crockett or Arcata, both in California.
adding artistic skills
Nick is constantly acquiring supporting skills since graduating from Salem. Cutting, polishing and faceting are as applicable to glass as to rocks in creating central pieces for jewelry. He manufactures specialized tools and equipment when the right ones can't be purchased or are too expensive. Gold for fuming (a process of using the flame of the torch to layer a microscopically thin layer onto the glass) has much more meaning if it was prospected for with ingenious methods in the scenic mountain country of the west with its rich gold mining history.
