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Charles Lotton - Biography |
Charles Lotton began his full time, professional glass making career in January of 1973. A very successful hairstylist and salon owner, Charles had always possessed a passion for beautiful art glass. After melting old Coke bottles and experimenting with many different formulas, Charles developed his own secret formula for creating magnificent colors of glass. Charles' passion for glass still remains today as he creates his beautiful pieces in his Crete, Illinois studio where many admirers come to visit.
As Charles labored to achieve technical excellence coupled with artistic beauty, his creative achievements took form under the watchful gaze of his three young sons. Following the example of their father, David, Daniel and John Lotton have each chosen to master the art of glass making and all have become highly respected artists. Today, from all four Lotton furnaces in eastern Illinois, working against the combined challenges of heat, gravity, and time, exquisite creations take shape through gentle coaxing and forceful manipulation of molten glass.
In addition to the private collections of many serious collectors of art glass, the artistry of Charles Lotton can be found gracing the shelves of the Smithsonian Institute, the Corning Museum of Glass, the High Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. It has been said that just as the names of Tiffany and Steuben ushered in the art glass movement of the twentieth century, Lotton Art Glass will surely lead that way into the twenty-first century.
As Charles labored to achieve technical excellence coupled with artistic beauty, his creative achievements took form under the watchful gaze of his three young sons. Following the example of their father, David, Daniel and John Lotton have each chosen to master the art of glass making and all have become highly respected artists. Today, from all four Lotton furnaces in eastern Illinois, working against the combined challenges of heat, gravity, and time, exquisite creations take shape through gentle coaxing and forceful manipulation of molten glass.
In addition to the private collections of many serious collectors of art glass, the artistry of Charles Lotton can be found gracing the shelves of the Smithsonian Institute, the Corning Museum of Glass, the High Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. It has been said that just as the names of Tiffany and Steuben ushered in the art glass movement of the twentieth century, Lotton Art Glass will surely lead that way into the twenty-first century.