It was snowing on my drive up to Chico, CA for a photo shoot at the Satava Art Glass Studio. Richard Satava, who has been creating glass art for over 30 years, generously allowed Jim Morris from the California Rice Commission (CRC) and me to take photos and video while he and his talented crew created a one of a kind glass vessel for the CRC 2009 Gift Box. We stood in wonder watching what seemed like performance art as the three artists danced around each other transferring 20lbs of molten glass at the end of a four-foot metal rod from one person to another. It was so cold that steam from the glass and water would sometimes block our view of what was going on. Each person had a specific role – from keeping the vessel heated so it would not  crack (or worse yet explode) from cooling down too fast – to creating the background scenery – to shaping the overall piece, which in the end would be over 18" tall!

Richard is perhaps most well known for his Jelly Fish Paperweights which are featured at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. His subject matter also includes petroglyphs, flowers, the Arizona Mesa and more. (You can view his full portfolio at www.satava.com.) The California Rice Commission requested that Richard create a piece whose focus was, of course, California Rice. Not wanting to art direct Richard too much we provided him with all sorts of rice imagery and then let him create the final look and feel of the piece.

Richard and his crew created perhaps 20 pieces as they tried different techniques and colors, each piece taking between two and three hours to create! The most challenging part of this piece, according to Richard, was coming up with a technique to create the rice checks.

The California Rice Commission is now in the process of choosing the final piece that will be used on the 2009 Gift Box label.

Stay tuned  for Part 2 to see the final piece in all its glory

Click the thumbnails below for a quick tour of the Satava Studio.