  Heather Robyn Matthews, an award winning glass artist and furniture designer, has been a professional artist since 1980. As founder of Heather Glass, her body of work ranges from table top sized sculptures to large architectural panels and carved glass and steel tables weighing up to several hundred pounds. She creates one-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces for residential, commercial, and corporate clients worldwide.A life long artist, Heather was born in Sacramento, California, and educated in Europe and the United States. She studied drawing and printmaking in college, and although she was accepted to several prestigious art schools, Heather had become fascinated with the transparency and crystalline nature of glass. She began experimenting with carved and etched glass and many commissions followed for entries, partitions, and windows. In the late 1980’s, Heather began designing and building carved glass and metal chairs, tables and screens. Although she works with several talented metalsmiths to produce her furniture, Heather does all of the design and finish work, and supervises the metal fabrication very closely. Her exquisite carving of both plate glass and crystal, reflect her years of experience in both design and execution in this medium, and her natural talent as an artist.Heather has participated in many group shows and showcase homes, and is represented by numerous galleries throughout the country including galleries in the Hawaiian Islands, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and New York. She is the recipient of many awards, including the 1994 California Design '94 award for her “Wisteria Screen”, a carved crystal and wrought iron four panel screen, and the prestigious Gold award by the 1994 California Discovery Awards Commission for her “Gothic Chair” design.
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Carved glass has tremendous versatility both in design as well as application. We use many types of glass; laminate (“safety”), tempered, or plate in both clear and crystal. Clear glass has a blue/green tint that gives as underwater feel. Crystal is a white glass that has a warm feel, is neutral in color, and has the highest amount of light transmission. Both types are available in thicknesses of 3/8" to 3/4" and can be laminated even thicker. Generally we like to use 1/2" or thicker laminate in commercial and public spaces because it meets all code requirements for safety and can be easily carved. Laminate can also be curved and can be constructed to meet “bullet proof” specifications. Maintenance is low for carved and etched glass. Fingerprints are easily wiped off with glass cleaner and in very high traffic areas with exposed etching, a coating can be put on the glass or the panels can be sandwiched to minimize cleaning. Carved glass can be used for walls that are set directly into the floor, doors, partitions, guardrails, stairs, and furniture. Both sides of the glass can be carved to give a facetted, shadow-laced look, or it can be flatly frosted for a more structural feel. We can create landscapes or seascapes, or abstract patterns. Pricing ranges from $75.00 per sq. ft. to $400.00 per sq. ft. depending on complexity, FOB Soquel, CA. The glass has infinite possibilities. With its wonderful shadows and patterns that change throughout the day, the excitement and viewer interaction that carved glass provides makes it an ideal and thought provoking addition to any space. |
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| Alza Corporation, Palo Alto, CA | American Medical Response, Inc., Aurora, CO |
| Coast Commercial Bank, Santa Cruz, CA | Disney, Glendale, CA |
| Garden Gate, Inc., Carmel, CA | Kaiwah Island Community Center, Kiawah Island, SC |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA | Moore Epitaxial Inc., San Jose, CA |
| Oakwood Memorial Chapel, Santa Cruz, CA | Paramount Studios, Hollywood, CA |
| Pentagram Design, Inc., San Francisco, CA | Princess Cruises, Los Angeles, CA |
| Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA | Santa Cruz Travel, Santa Cruz, CA |
| Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Santa Cruz, CA | St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, Church, Las Vegas, NV |
| Sylvan Foods Holdings Inc., Worthington, PA | Synon, Larkspur, CA |
| Tandem Computer, Cupertino, CA | Trans-Box Systems, Oakland, CA |
| Watkins-Johnson, Scotts Valley, CA | |
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