Meet Chiara Strilo, #ArtGlassFinest Spotlight May 2023

Hello artglass fam :). How is it already May... That being said, I wanted to pay a little tribute to this month. For those of you not aware, May is special because it is mental health awareness month. This is just a friendly reminder to check up on your loved ones as you never know what they are truly going through ;). Okay so now for the main act: let me introduce you to the one and only Chiara Stroll also know by her insta handle : @chibitglass. This powerhouse woman has a knack for all things sparkle and paw related. One look on her page and it's clear why she is a heavy hitter. Thank you Chiara for all the love and support *blush emoji*  Scroll down to see all her amazing work.

 

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself: who you are, where you are from, how you got 
   into glass. 

I am Chiara Lutz-Strilio, I was born in Como, Italy, but grew up in Southern California. I first saw glassblowing/ hotshop work when I was a little girl and visited Venice with my nonni (grandparents). I made a couple of mosaics with my nonno as a young girl. When I started going to San Bernardino Valley College, I took the intro to glassblowing class and design in glass class and have been in love with glass as a medium ever since.  

 

2. How long have you been working with glass in general? 

About 7 years, I started working with glass in spring 2016  

 

3.What is the focus of your work, any inspiration behind it? 

The focus of my work is to create works that depict my dedication to the art form of glass and to make pieces that can be functional, sturdy, look beautiful, bring joy, and be cute as heck! Through working with different approaches such as hotshop, fusing, torchworking, and coldworking I combine skills to create multifaceted work and see how far I can push the material and use every bit of it.

 

 

 

  4. How long have you used our products, and do you use them exclusively? 

I have used your glass since the acquisition of spectrum by oceanside and used the same glass produced by spectrum before then. I use oceanside specifically for my fused and hotshop work.

 

 5. Is there anything that makes our product stand out from the rest- a reason why you choose to use it? What do you look for in glass when you are sourcing it for your next project? (ie: color, texture, quality etc.) reliability  

I choose Oceanside because of its availability to me, colors, and how I can make components in the hotshop to use in my fused work and vice versa. I also choose oceanside because of the fusers reserve patterns and the consistency of results with fusing.

 6. If you are teaching a class, what is it about? What will students learn? (If not a class, are you launching anything?) Do you have any big projects in the works or coming up? Any works you are particularly proud of? 

I've been a Hotshop monitor at SBVC for a few years practicing my forms and skill sets. This semester I have been stepping out and practicing recreating my detailed lampworked borosilicate designs in the hotshop. I am currently finishing a cat paw lighting fixture which is a collaboration with Alexis Valdillvez made with Oceanside clear studio nuggets and Blue aventurine. I am also in the process of graduating and transferring to Cal State San Bernardino where I plan to continue to study and create art with glass. In the long run I would like to receive an MFA in studio arts and become a professor teaching glass art and inspire our future glass artists just as I am inspired and supported by my teachers, and I would like to get to share my knowledge through classes. When looking back on my work through the years I am most proud of my murrine work where I hand batched calcedony glass, pulled into murrine, stacked and pulled again, cut up into chips, and fused into large tiles.   

 

Thank you again Chiara for being our May 2023 #ArtGlassFeature. As always Glass Fam we love you and thank you for the constant support :) Comment below your favorite questions / what other things you would like to know from your favorite influencer!