RL: Okay, so I think before we start, give yourself like an introduction, but not just like your regular introduction. One like where you introduce yourself to people who already do art, you know, it’s like a different type of introduction.

TL: If I was to introduce myself to someone who is also an artist... Um, okay, so my name is Tara Lynch. I am a glass artist. I work in the realm of crafting with borosilicate glass primarily figurative demonic sculptures. I’ve been doing it for over five years, I started at Mass Art, got a degree in glass and yeah, I would say that’s my introduction. I’m a glass artist I work with silicate glass, creating sculptural demonic figures.

RL: That’s wild, I didn’t know Mass Art had like a major, specializing in glass.

TL: My major is under glass. My degree says Tara Lynch, Bachelor of Fine Arts in glass. Yeah, it’s a whole major. That’s not why I went to Mass Art. But why I really wanted to go to Mass Art for it. 

RL: Oh, what did you go to Mass Art for?

TL: So okay, um, when I was in eighth grade, I got a D back on a math paper and I was looking at it going, Okay, I can’t do math. I can’t do science, okay at English, but I’m really good at art. 

Eighth grade was when I realized that I wanted to go to school for art. And my mom went to Mass Art and a bunch of my other family members went to Mass Art. So I was like, Okay, I’ll just go to Mass Art. So in eighth grade, I was like, I’ll go to Mass Art. And I didn’t know so throughout high school, I was like, I don’t know what I’m going to like go for, I guess painting, because I didn’t know anything. And then once I was a fucking senior in high school, I saw like a Mass Art pamphlet. And I saw that they had glass as a major, and I was like, What the fuck, so I didn’t know anything about it. But I was like, I want to do that really bad. And my mom, like, took me to like a beginner glassblowing class. And I was like, Cool. 

And then like, I went to Mass Art. They’re like, “What do you want to major in” 

And I said, “Glass.” 

They were like, “Have you ever done it?” 

And I was like, “No.” 

And they’re like, “Okay, well, why don’t you go into sculpture first.”

So I was in sculpture for like, literally, two months, I was like “switching to glass” and they’re like, “Okay, fine...for you...”

RL: I want to really know what your like design process is for glass because I could understand for- I don’t know, like painting, drawing, graphic design. But what’s the design process like for making glass? 

TL: So it’s actually like super- there’s different ways of melting glass. And glassblowing is sort of an umbrella term. But a lot of people think of like hotshot in which it’s like a furnace with large pipes where you actually physically put your mouth to and blow into them. And so the design process from that is very different from the type of work that I primarily do, which is called flameworking. 

So I work with a different type of glass. It’s called borosilicate, but the American name is Pyrex, which is like, we pretty much all know that as cookware. But so for flameworking, I use a table-mounted torch, and I melt glass rods in the flame. And it sort of builds itself out of midair. And there’s also glassblowing involved, but it comes from tubes instead of like a long metal pipe. 

So in terms of like the design process, it’s very similar to how you would go about designing like a clay sculpture, you know what I mean? So like, if you were to work with clay, you’re working with your hands, and you sort of start with this blob, and you kind of build off it or make different parts and attach them together. And it’s very similar to glass, but you cannot touch it. 

You have tools in order to maneuver it basically off of just like, sticks. I guess I would just say the design process is like, is very similar to how you would work with clay. A lot of times, if I don’t have access to the glass studio, I’ll try something in clay, and then bring it back there. And it will be a very similar but very different process, because, you know, it’s melting instead of, you know, I mean, being like molded. So I don’t know, I guess that’s just my answer to that. 

RL: And what’s your design process for before you bring it into the glass shop? Like, when you’re sketching something, does it come like randomly, like, you just get a random thought and go I want that to be glass? Or is it like a step-by-step, like long process?

TL: Depends on what I want to make. So glass is not like a material that you can just pick up and already know how to do. It takes like years of development. So when I first started in glass, and especially during COVID, I really, you know, we’re doing classes from home, so I didn’t have like, a teacher showing me skills in person. So I was limited to my ability. 

And so my design process when I am super limited is like, okay, what can I make out of pulling, like 100, like strings of glass, and I got into this very sea urchin realm, where I was putting those strings together. 

But like, after years, now I have more tools under my belt, essentially more skill in the material. I can sort of know what I want to do and know where I want to improve and design based on that. So I guess for an example, right now, I’m trying to create larger sculptures out of hollow glass, which requires blowing and one thing there’s like a no, no rule with glasses, that glass does not like acute angles. 

So I’m like, Okay, I’m learning this new skill, and I’m practicing, but how can I design like one of my demon fingers with as few acute angles as possible? I could get away with it and other things, but I don’t have the skills yet to get away with it now. 

So I changed the poses. Yeah, um, I don’t know if that answers that. And then a lot of times too, is like, my mentor, Trina essentially was like, making is thinking or like making is doing or whatever. So whenever you’re stuck and you don’t know what to do, she’s like, just melt, just start making the piece and then you can move things from there. Or you can try different things. 

And sometimes it doesn’t even like start on the sketchbook, sometimes it does. But like, sometimes if I’m staring at a blank piece of paper, then that’s when I just go right to the torch and I just like start making and like things change. I can move things a lot, I can shrink things I can add material is a lot like clay in that sense. 

So I yeah, I don’t know, in terms of like, if I was staring at a blank page, then I start with what I know are my skills and build from there as you would pretty much any type of art form, I suppose. Or if I’m in the studio, and I don’t know, or I don’t have a design, then I just go right into the fire and design as I build. Yeah. 

RL: Nice. I think the second design process that you have where you just like kind of skip the whole sketching and just like make something out of like, whatever you have in front of you, that kind of relates to how I do design. A lot of people do design when they like plan it out. And they make these grids and they have like a sketch board of what they want it to look like. 

But I feel like I get too indecisive, so I don’t want to put anything permanent on paper. Like, it’s weird, even though it’s just like a sketch that it feels more permanent than me just going in on a program and making something. 

TL: Totally, yeah. And I mean, I guess another huge factor of glass is like, you develop a detachment to the material, because glass breaks, period. If glass breaks, and you cannot fix it, that’s common. So it’s like-. 

RL: That’s so sad. 

TL: No, it’s like, you get used to it real quick. You know, when you’re first starting off, you’re gonna get a lot of breaks before you can get the thing. Right, right, because you’re fucking up all the time. And you do have this sort of, like, to an extent a detachment to your work sometimes where it’s like, yeah, you can fix it but, other times, you’re like, Fuck it, start over. 

RL: So yeah, my thesis, I guess I haven’t really explained to you what my thesis is about. I didn’t want to go like the traditional route of graphic design, where I talk about, I don’t know, typography and things that people aren’t really interested in outside of design. I really love the design process of how other people who do other types of design and art mediums and forms and stuff like that, and how they process things and why they love what they do. 

TL: Oh, I like that.

RL: So I would say my thesis is a bit silly- on the silly side because a lot of people are doing like serious environmental stuff, and like, how can we make design change the world or solve problems? And I feel like, I don’t know, I don’t really care about that too much. But I do care about having fun with other artists. So, I have a few questions, now, where it gets a little silly. How would you describe yourself or your image, your brand in three words?

TL: Hmm. Red Demon. Figurative. Okay, well, myself or my art? Fucking- three words? Only three words? Okay, so my art is like, fuck. I’m so bad with words. Me... my art. I feel like myself as an artist is like separate from like, Tara. I feel like people see me as like something else other than from what I am. But I would say um acrobatic...

RL: Ohh, very cool.

TL: I’ll even kind of come off of that and use the word flexible in terms of like, you know, not only my art but the way I approach my art. And let me think of another word. I would even perhaps go for carefree. Even though that’s more of like a me as an artist as I’m making. As opposed to like, I guess you could put that word into my art, too. Okay, those are my words. Acrabatic...

RL: Flexible, carefree. They’re all like synonyms of each other. 

TL: They are, I’m sorry.  

RL: It’s okay. It’s very interesting. Now, pick one word out of those three words, to be added to your own core. You know, like the Chromecore, Cybercore, like, what would be your core? 

TL: Does my core have to be one word?

RL: Yeah. 

TL: Fuck, it has to be one word. Why would you say that, Ren? There’s no way I’m gonna come to it, just like off the fucking top of my head.

RL: It’s not like a life-or-death situation.

TL: You just asked me what the core was one of the three words that I had a hard time thinking of. 

RL: I helped you narrow it down to three at least. 

TL: Perhaps like ah, I don’t fucking know. Hold on. What was it carefree, acrobatic? And what was the other one?

RL: Oh, uh carefree, acrobatic, and flexible?

TL: I don’t know. Acrobatic is like the most abstract and also like, less of my work. But if I were to put a core into that for myself, I don’t know. Maybe not that word.

RL: You want to phone a friend? 

QO: I almost feel like you need a new word that encompasses those three things. I almost, knowing your aesthetic, would want to do something like circus, big top, painted faces.

TL: No, but this is sort of the core but that’s a branch of where my art is.

QO: No, but it’s core like Cottagecore, but it really has to do with like old American aesthetics.

TL: I don’t know if that’s really my core. I would say maybe like if the word is like flexible, because flexible, you could branch off into the acrobatics, but it’s also sort of like, how I make my work. 

My work is very on a whim. Maybe that’s the word I’ll use “on a whim”

RL: Like whimsical.

TL: Yeah, yeah. Because when I’m making my work, I am constantly fucking up in between steps and secretly adding dots and melting them in to build material. Like I don’t have like a good structure. The way I work with glass is entirely fucked up. I would never be able to teach a class because like, my process is different every time. 

It’s fucking like, kind of, I always do something fucking wrong and insane every time like oh, I shouldn’t have gotten away with that. I’ve been making these like demon pendants and like every single time I fucking pop the head off by accident, no matter how I go about the process. So I would say like, on a whim. 

RL: On-a-whimcore? That’s technically three words, not one.

TL: Just do it for me.

RL: I’ll put dashes. Yeah. One word. Anyway, if your favorite piece of glass art came to life, what personality traits would it have and what adventures would embark on?

TL: Oh my gosh, my favorite piece of mine. Ah, alright, so this is kind of like a bad example. But it was a commission for someone who wanted a different pose. And I sent it off to Texas and I was like, damn, this is such a good one. So it was kind of like based on a shitty idea. It was this demon figure and it had its arm up, but it was like holding a heart. And I kind of thought this like person’s idea was tacky, but then I made it and I just fucking fell in love with it.

RL: Do you ever, if it’s a commission, like, do you make one for yourself? Or is it just the one version?

TL: Just the one. Because why would I do that? I’m trying to make money. The first demon I ever made, I kept that one and then I sold the next one to Quinn’s mom, and then I sold the next one to Quinn’s mom. So I have the first one and Quinn’s mom has the next two and then everything after that has sort of been either sales or donations. 

But, no I don’t keep them. So, this demon went off to Texas and if it were to come to life I don’t know the heart hanging by is so weird but it’s poses interesting. And also like is a hanging piece so it has like these little gold cups like these just like little ringlets on, it’s cute. 

So, it’s very circusy, it’s very acrobatic in my opinion. The holding a heart is like kind of giving emo to me. I mean, it’s like whatever but the head like the way that the heart and the hand came out the fact that it’s holding something is really cool. So I don’t know where the heart came from. But I would suppose it’s living its life as an acrobat. Right now, they’re traveling with their circus.

RL: Are they the mainstage or?

TL: For sure, yeah, yeah. They might be a solo act like if they’re lucky.

RL: Okay, and lastly, if you were to host a glassblowing workshop, but for animals-. 

TL: Oh my god...

RL: Which animal do you think would create the most interesting piece? And what would it be?

TL: Oh my god, they’d all die. They’d all die. 

RL: No, no. In this world, they can do it. They won’t die. 

TL: Ok, let me play pretend. Alright, so I don’t know why my first thought was goats. I don’t know if it’s just because Quinn’s around here. But I feel like goats just have this personality where they’re... Maybe not. Maybe not goats, though. Can you actually repeat the question?

RL: Yeah. If you were to host a glassblowing workshop for animals, what animal do you think would create the most interesting piece? Not that they would like actually succeed? Or that like they need them? Just what would be the most interesting piece? And what would it be? 

TL: Ok, um, cats would be too prestigious. They would like make these like large vessels and cats are making the type of glass that’s in rich people's homes. But that aside, I need an animal with some real neat personality. Oh, sloths would make beautiful glass

RL: They’re very patient and take their time.

TL: I actually do think sloths would create very high-end glass. Sloths would create very high end intricate detailed glass. They would be very detail-oriented. I feel like they’d have a lot of little small pieces. I would say -.

Or maybe, my other fucking answer is an octopus. Oh my god.The best glassblower in the world. Yes. The fucking arms. Octopus. Thank you. Octopus, yes, is a creature. First off, they’re incredibly intelligent. They’re insanely intelligent. They’re fucking like color-changing as a whole. So like, they’re just use of every fucking technique. They’d have it down. They’d have it down every fucking technique, they’d have it down. 

Not only that, but they’re like color applications would be phenomenal. Like, right? But like, octopuses will just create or octopi would just create these insane sculptures like we’ve never seen before as humans, and I feel like they can also like their color perception is so different from ours, so it would just be so fucking good. There we go, the answer locked in.

RL: They’re like weird aliens in the best way. But well, thank you for your time.  I had fun learning and talking about glass art and weird creatures.