Fire into Ice: Adventures in Glass Making - Rilegato

James Houston has led several lives. Raised in Toronto and trained as an artist, he served in World War II, studied life drawing in France and lived in the Arctic for more than fourteen years. His glass sculpture, created for Steuben in Manhattan, are in galleries and private collections around the world. An Officer of the Order of Canada, James Houston is the author of both adult and children’s books including Confessions of an Igloo Dweller, Frozen Fire (both McClelland & Stewart), and ZigZag.

What could be more different than the icy arctic landscape and the hot blast of a glass furnace? James Houston, explorer, artist, and writer, draws the inspiring connection in this fascinating introduction to one of the world’s most ancient – and most beautiful – arts.

During the years that James Houston lived in the Arctic, he was above all impressed by the resourceful people. But he also fell in love with the rugged treeless land, the winter moonlight shining off the snow and ice, the majestic ever-changing shapes and great sighing of new-formed ice.

When asked to design glass sculptures for Steuben, he, with some misgivings, left his isolated arctic home to move to the heat of a crowded New York summer. As he learned the art of glass sculpture, he found an affinity with life in the Far North. After all, glass is a liquid that hardens, much like ice. The jagged shapes reflect the arctic landscape. Glass making depends on small teams of cooperative craftspeople, much like the Inuit families as they hunt and create their art together.

This very personal story is a stunning introduction to glass making, and to an extraordinary individual.