John Cook Studios

​The glass artist who made these contemporary Carnival glass pieces is John Cook, who lived and worked in Oregon. We bought our first Cook piece (the red Fish glass) from an Amen Wardy store in the Caesar’s Palace shopping mall in Las Vegas in late 2003! On the base of the glass was the signature “Cook” and the date 2003. We were determined to discover more and so we did, courtesy of John’s wife, Tina.
 
John was born and raised in California. He obtained his B.F.A. at The Institute of Fine Arts in 1972 and subsequently started Phoenix Glass Studio with two partners, selling his partnership in 1982. John Cook Studios was started and he lived in Santa Barbara with his wife and children until 1990 when the Cook family moved to Gearhart, Oregon (Gearhart is a small beach town on the Oregon coast). The building was a 1946 gas station on HWY 101.

The Cooks bought the building and set up the glass blowing studio and adjoining art gallery in it. Besides the wonderful Fish glasses and tiles, John specialized in lighting: chandeliers, lamps, wall sconces and more. Bowls, vases, perfume bottles, wall platters and many more items can be seen as well.
 
John fumed (iridised) glass since the 70's. He made Carnival by spraying a metallic solution on the glass on the end of the blow pipe. It is reheated and then annealed; the iridescence is permanent. All his work is signed "Cook" plus the year of production. The selection shown below is only a small part of the shapes, colours and designs in John's repertoire.

​Sadly, John passed away in 2013.

Above: Top row - a selection of Lighthouse tiles. Middle and lower rows - a selection of Sun tiles.

Below, left to right - Starfish (7 inch), Fish tumbler (the one that started us on the John Cook trail!), and a Fish plate.