A love of nature expressed in artistic excellence by an American Master.

Provenance

At the New Branch Studio, working with only one glass furnace, Nygren melts recycled glass. The expediency of this approach to materials is constant with his active stewardship of the environment and his eminent artistic economy. Nygren has made a large collection of colored pulled cane glass rods. To produce a new piece, he gathers molten glass and creates a blown form, then uses the rods for cane drawing or flameworking. These are the extensive glass color palette which he uses to brings his three dimensional forms to life on blown vessels.

In order to identify his work, Nygren devised a system that could not be easily mistaken or forged. Nygren designed and made a sterling silver stamp imprinted with his initials JFN. After blowing a piece, a button of hot glass is applied over the punty mark: the silver stamp is imprinted into this button. In addition, Nygren engraves JFN, the date and registry number, plus a full signature with a diamond point on the bottom of each work.

Nygren’s method of registry and identification is as important to the glass as the piece itself and is unique to the way in which he records his work. Very few artists are as detail oriented as Nygren; he is an archivists dream. He keeps meticulous records of all pieces – this record keeping often takes as much time as blowing the piece. Nygren’s journal contains the following information: registry number, the date when the piece was made, and measurements. A written description and ink and watercolor drawing completes the entry. The registry is securely held by the artist. The registry number serves as a birth certificate and means of tracing individual pieces.