Jul 18, 2016
Episode 118-Chris Piazza
(aka-KrispysGlass)
As mentioned in the intro I have
an idea of doing a "Christmas in July Secret Santa Pendant
Trade". The way this would work is by you sending me your shipping
info via email or via a direct message to the WyzGuy Radio facebook
page. I would then randomly pair your info
with another's and then send each of you the
others info..if that makes sense..lol..
In my opinion it would be super
cool to receive a pendant form an artists half way around the
world. Your info is safe with me and will never be shared with
anyone except in this case with another artist whom would be
sending you a pendant. Please contact me to let me know what you
think and whether you'd like to participate or not. I'm 100%
participating in this and hope you will too!!
In this episode Chis and I sit
down in the virtual studios of WyzGuy Media and discuss his glass
journey which started years before he even lit a torch for the
first time. Chris is a great example of what it truly takes to
become successful as a functional production artists. He has
overcome many personal hurdles along his journey which we discuss
as well as those who have had his back and shown what a
mentor is all about. We discuss the current landscape of
pricing, hype vs. real pricing , the potential of a "bubble " as
well as how to properly setup a studio and what it takes to be an
apprentice. I truly hope you enjoy this conversation with Chris as
there are a ton of takeaways.
@krispysglass on instagram
Chris ‘Krispy’ Piazza (@KrispysGlass
& www.KAglass.com)
is the owner of KA-Glass, LLC. He was born in the suburbs of
Chicago and learned to blow glass in Colorado. Krispy started on a
MAPP gas torch on a porch of a condo at 10,000 feet during the
winter, until he got an apprenticeship in Denver under Tyrel R.
(@RoneGlass). He was brought up learning the fundamentals. Started
with a jar of marbles and moved on to making sets of a 1,000 fume
spoons, wrap’n rakes and frit spoons. Krispy put in the work and
paid his dues during his apprenticeship. After about a year Tyrel
brought them up to work at Plump Glass with Ryan R (@RosburgGlass)
in Boulder. This was a great experience of working with many great
artists from @CajunRick, @Marni420, Nancy Nagel (www.NancyNagel.com). During the
end of this period Chris ran into some personal issues and really
got to experience the bonds of having a true glass family. He moved
back to Chicago to restart. At first it looked like he was done
with glass, but knew that couldn’t be true. For about 9 months he
worked in a warehouse until he found a space to work. Rather
quickly life came together. Krispy worked at All About It a local
headshop for a short time until getting a scientific glass position
making X-Ray tubes. He learned his way around a lathe, working with
microscopic tolerances and glass to metal seals. This job gave
Krispy the opportunity to purchase his own house and build out his
first studio where he currently has 4 benches set up. His first
apprentice has been with him for a year and a half (@saturn_glass)
and recently has 2 new students working with him as well. Krispy
believes in passing on the craft the same way it was passed to him
so each of the 3 began by making a jar of marbles. Krispy has
mainly focused on production but is starting to branch out to find
his own style. He also has a side glass business geared towards
marketing using pipes as a medium (@promopipes & www.PromoPipes.com). Having a
diverse platform of products from $1 hitters to $100+ rigs allows
KA-Glass to perceiver. Focus on quality and consistency creates
stability for Krispy and the shop as a whole.