Glassblowing

Moyse ( pr. moy·zee) Glass & Gem was created in 2015 and is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The first time I ever had the pleasure to witness live glass blowing was as a child, visiting my grandparents in New England. Almost every visit, we would drive to Simon and Pearce, a renowned soft glass studio in Vermont.

Firing up my favorite glass torch in the studio

Rough Umba Garnets - hand picked and sourced from Eastern Africa by Samuel.

I was first introduced to flame working in 2012 while going to university at Cal Poly Humboldt. I was living with a roommate who’s friends were glassblowers, and through them I was exposed to the world of flame working and “heady” glass for the first time. Watching them work at the torch sparked my curiosity, and eventually I convinced one of them to give me lessons every day over one magical northern California summer. Needless to say I was hooked on melting glass.

After returning back to New Mexico, I bought myself a used torch from our local glass shop. My dad help me install an exhaust fan in our funky 1960’s era cinderblock garage, and I was off to the races.

What I cut gems with today- an Ultra Tech Glass tech- this machine ROCKS

Examining the polish on a stone

While a few years of glassblowing went by, I developed a new interest in trying to “coldwork” or facet my own glass. I ended up buying the cheapest used machine I could find on Ebay and bought a whole faceting machine with laps for about $700.

I was quick to find out- faceting AINT easy. I ended up seeking out some instruction, and found the New Mexico Facetors Guild. They held monthly workshops at the Natural History Museum and I was able to get the instruction I needed to cut, grind, and polish my glass art.

More recently, I began exploring natural gemstone faceting, which brought a new level of precision and geometry into my art. Today my studio practice blends handmade glasswork with precision-cut gemstones, with a focus on craftsmanship, color, light play, and high production quality.