Michael Youngblood
Glass Artist

Michael is a furnace glass blower of original glass artwork inspired by Venetian and American styles. He also occasionally dabbles in glass flame (borosilicate and soft) and kiln work. He designs and creates custom non-functional art, functional glassware, and is increasingly passionate about complex interior and exterior lighting installations.

Michael has developed his own techniques and specialized equipment for pulling cane and making Murrine using a vitigraph kiln. He incorporates these materials into furnace blown art. His signature art form uses elements of projection (designing on a flat surface to be in blown into a curve with the desired perspectives), precision cut roll-ups (assembling designs like quilt work instead of stacking), and custom Murrine (pulled from the furnace, kiln, and a mix). He is inspired by the art, culture, and landscapes of the American Southwest.

Michael received formal glass training from the Bay Area Glass Institute (San Jose, CA, USA), Abate Zanetti (Murano, Italy, EU), and Bullseye (Emeryville, CA, USA).

He has trained/worked with

• Treg Silkwood (Furnace glassblowing),

• Devin Burgess (Furnace glassblowing),

• Maestro Nicola Giovanni (Furnace glassblowing Ventian chandeliers and millefiori forms, apprentice to Archimede Seguso),

• Penelope Rakov (Furnace glass cane and Murrini)

• Kevin Leopold (Borosilicate Flamework),

• Elise Ordorica (Fusing/Slumping),

• Ilene Conde (Vitrigraph Cane), and

• Alessia Fuga (Effetre Beads)

Michael has a studio for flame, kiln, and blown work in Southern New Mexico. He is accepting commissions on a limited basis.

Professionally, Michael (Dr. Youngblood) works remotely for the Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto, California, as a Principal Engineer and Research Scientist focused on investigations involving the interaction of humans and machines. His expertise is in interactive artificial intelligence.