Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Mitchell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kathleen. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I started working in glass in 1979 and began blowing glass in 1984. I taught glassblowing (furnace work) and lampworking (torch work) at the original UCSD Crafts Center from 2000 until its closure in 2012. In 2013, I built my first hotshop on Main Street in Barrio Logan. My new ‘state of the art’ studio is located at Bread & Salt on Julian Avenue about six blocks from the original.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not a smooth road at all! The loss of the original Crafts Center was devastating for the students, instructors, and community. Building a glassblowing studio (hotshop) is a daunting endeavor, but I was determined. In 2013 I built my first solo hotshop in the artist collective aptly named Glashaus.
Fast forward to 2015, when I suffered a near-fatal accident in my studio. I was working on my lathe, polishing the bottom of a tall cylinder, when my hair clip fell loose, and I was scalped from the base of my skull to my forehead. After three surgeries and several months of rehab, I returned to my studio practice and created a new body of work based on this unimaginable accident.
In 2017, following the devastating Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, the City of San Diego shut down many art spaces, particularly targeting the Barrio Logan area where at least three spaces were temporarily or permanently shuttered. Glashause was no more. It took about six months to find new studio space and another six months to build out the shop.
I learned more about permitting plans, inspections, and City code than I’d ever imagined. I reopened in June of 2018!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I came up with the name Art-Hell by combining part of my last name with part of my husband’s. Rich StewART and Kathleen MitcHELL. I work in molten glass, and he works in molten iron, so it seemed fitting!
My personal art is best described as assemblage/sculpture. I also have several lines of decor such as vases, bowls, drinkware, and lighting.
I teach all levels of glassblowing from novice to advanced Italian techniques. I pride myself on teaching the physics of glassblowing as well as the chemistry of the material. I strive to instill the same passion for glass that I have felt for 40 years.
What were you like growing up?
I am a lifelong maker of art. It has been said that my Stegosaurus sculpture at the age of six was the best piece of pinched clay in all of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1975 Julian Ave San Diego, CA 92113
- Website: kathleenmitchellglass.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=art-hell%2C%20a%20glassblowing%20studio&epa=SEARCH_BOX
Image Credit:
Cameron Rains, Alec Miller, Rob Forsythe
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