Cory Ballis

"With each piece, I try to bring a splash of color to a sometimes mundane world. When I think about hand mixing my colors, it's like baking a cake—sometimes you follow a recipe, and other times, it's fun to switch it up and see what happens."

Cory Ballis grew up in an artistic environment and has always thrived by working with his hands. It wasn't until he took an art elective class that he discovered his true passion: blown glass. Throughout his glass journey, he has found many inspirations, but has always been drawn to the beauty of coastal landscapes. His love for glass comes from the way it moves, expands, and contracts—as if it's alive.

Ballis works with furnace glass using a variety of learned and developed techniques. He combines over ten hand-mixed colors to craft his unique vision. He creates a limited production line of works that are uniform in design and style, as well as distinctive one-of-a-kind pieces.

Ballis has studied all over the west coast, from Los Angeles to Seattle and a few places in between. He has studied under Dick Marquis, Dante Marioni, Nick Mount, Karen Willenbrink, Guido Gerlitz, and a few others. After college, he worked as the lead assistant to Bob Kliss for six years before opening his own studio in 2014.