Biography

In relation to glass, I generally use my first name only, Asa. My last name is Shows, and I leave that off since the combination sounds like a business not a name. I was born and raised in New Mexico, most of it in the southern portion of the state in the mountains outside of a small town called La Luz.

My educational background does not contain anything formally related to the arts. I spent most of my spare time, elective choices, and extracurricular activities in high school working with computers, in specific, programming them. Mostly games, I admit, but games can be art. More so perhaps than other applications, since their domain is not constrained with functional restrictions. This passion eventually led me to a B.S. in Computer Science and a career, programming. Recently, I moved on from programming as a full time occupation to a part time occupation in order to pursue glass. On a physical and on a practical day to day level, this was a radical change. But, at a higher level, I feel like I just changed mediums.

A period of nine years passed between my first course blowing glass and the present. Initially, most of my energy was spent learning about and building the equipment to blow glass. This was quite an endeavor, particularly with as little experience as I'd had, but it worked, because I found I enjoyed designing and building the tools as much as I enjoyed working the glass. And now, I am able to leverage that knowledge, by evolving the studio to fit the work I want to create rather than fitting the work to the studio. This is very liberating, particularly so when working solo.

The previous paragraphs have led us to the the present, where I blow glass and continue to explore the nature of my affair with glass. My most current work is chasing the wonder that is chalcedony and working on my contemporary side.

Artist Statement

My approach to creating is straightforward. I like to make things. Things of simplicity, things of complexity. Sometimes practical, sometimes whimsical. I particularly enjoy making things out of glass. Both the physical and technical challenge of the process and the inherent, instinctual beauty of the medium, captivate me. In response, I explore, blowing glass, building contraptions, trying to create pieces that illuminate the elements of this attraction, both to you and me.

My Signature

I sign my pieces with a mark (seen here to the right) when I make them. This will be found on the bottom of the piece, right where the puntil was attached. Given the puntil break is not always uniform, my signature may take on some of this relief. If it is not distinguishable or for some reason I don't press the mark into the bottom of the piece, I will sign it with my name. Next to my the signature, the pieces are dated with the month and year of creation.