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About

Dahl’s Rio Grande Series of plates, bowls, and trays offer an unusual coupling of slumped glass over water polished river stones.  

"I collect the rocks from the banks of the Rio Grande," explains Dahl, who resides in Santa Fe. "For me, the combination of clear glass and river rock recalls the rushing of the river, or perhaps an icy pond."

In his studio, Dahl selects and arranges a grouping of rocks from among those he has collected. He then places a sheet of clear glass over the rock arrangement, which will serve as a mold of sorts. Once placed into a special fusing and slumping kiln, the glass becomes soft and conforms to the curves of the rocks at temperatures near 1500 degrees F. After firing, the stones are laminated to the glass and Dahl signs and dates each piece.

Among the many architectural commissions Dahl has completed is Wolfgang Puck’s Granita restaurant in Malibu, where he created 26 door panels of slumped and fused glass. A variety of Dahl’s pieces specially commissioned for Carol Burnett’s Santa Fe residence were featured in 1997 on a House and Garden TV special. Dahl created 32 pieces for Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe residence. He has completed more than 150 other commissioned pieces in public spaces and private residences in 15 states and Mexico.

In 1991 Absolut Vodka sponsored an international competition which was juried by New York’s Museum of American Folk Art. Dahl’s piece was chosen to be exhibited in the museum, used in national print promotion and added to the permanent collection at Absolut’s U.S. corporate headquarters.

Dahl studied Journalism at the University of Washington and then switched to glass fusing and casting at the Seattle Art Institute. He began work as a glass artist in 1987 and established his own studio, Dahl Glass, the following year.

Numerous publications have featured Dahl’s work, including The Absolut Book; restaurant magazines such as Restaurants That Work, Hospitality Design and Restaurant Hospitality; and consumer publications like Metropolitan Home, Country Home, House & Garden.

Dahl’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of American Folk Art, NY, as well as in major galleries and juried shows throughout the U.S. and England.