Drawing inspiration from the natural world, Thomas Spake creates hand-blown glass vessels and sculptures that capture the colors, textures, and erosion of landscapes, gardens, and wild spaces. Working from his studio on a fifty-acre farm in Jasper, Tennessee, he distills the spirit of nature into richly layered, one-of-a-kind pieces.

Spake discovered glassblowing in 1994 while studying at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where a work-study position in the art department led him from basketball courts to the hotshop. The physicality, teamwork, and creative improvisation of glassblowing mirrored the dynamics of athletics and sparked a lifelong passion for the medium. After graduating, he honed his skills through a craft fellowship and hands-on experience building and managing a public-access studio before founding Thomas Spake Studios in 2002.

His work blends traditional glassblowing techniques with surface treatments like sandblasting and carving, creating matte finishes and revealing inner layers of color and translucency. Inspired by aerial photography and impressionist painting, his glass objects evoke the slow shaping of the earth by time, wind, and water.

Pinnacle Vase