Meet Grace Chepenik | Glassblower & Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grace Chepenik and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grace, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I view taking risks as the best way to learn. Accepting new challenges forces you to make new decisions, rise to the occasion, and meet yourself at a deeper level. It makes you step up to experiences you previously wouldn’t have handled and results in personal growth.

Every time I’ve taken a risk, it has led me to a deeper version of myself. My proudest accomplishments come from taking leaps of faith where I wasn’t sure if I would succeed. Whether it was studying art, driving solo across the country, moving to Aruba for a bit or other big tasks I had ahead of me that I did not know what risks they would entail. Through these challenges, I learned more about myself, and they continue to shape the person I am and the art that I make!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Starting at 13, I was determined to be an artist, with paint as my primary medium. I share a love of painting with my grandmother, and growing up I learned from her, we took courses together and still continue to share our love for art. I went into college believing I would leave a painter as well, but finding glassblowing led me on a major detour. Throughout college, I maintained a balance of painting and blown glass work. Recently, I have delved more into glass blowing as the time needed to be good at this craft is intense. I have poured myself into glassblowing to try to sculpt to life the inspirations behind my work. I am deeply inspired by nature and my tropical life since splitting time between South Florida and Aruba. I love shells, shiny iridescent things and the vivid colors that come with the special sunshine in these places I call home. Therefore, I have been making a lot of work that celebrates those factors.

While I am honing my craft in glassblowing I am so excited to continue to explore how to incorporate my painting background with my glasswork as well. I know I will find my niche of creating sculptural paintings that pull both from my meditative, calm state while painting and my quick, reactionary side from glass. I am on the long artistic journey, because I know this is what I am called to do.

While I am beyond blessed living my passion- it has not been easy to be a full time artist without financial support from others. Especially with something so physical like glassblowing. It is truly a labor of love, especially in the South Florida heat. Some days I think about how I could be making more babysitting and not pushing my body to its limits lifting molten glass and working around such intense temperatures. Then I remind myself that all these hours I am pouring in is an investment in myself, in my artwork and in my dream. I truly can’t imagine spending my life any other way than to fully pursue this artistic dream of mine; the money will come some day!

There are days when I take a step back and I feel proud of what my hands have created and those days make all of the genuine blood, sweat and tears well worth it. I am very proud of myself for sticking with this art and for having the determination that has gotten me where I am.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love nature and being outside in Miami. So my week’s itinerary would include a lot of beaches, parks and preserves. It’s not such a secret place but Fairchild Orchard Gardens is a beautiful sanctuary of nature. It has amazing plants, flowers, greenery and glass installations.

Now that I live further north in Dania Beach, I love to recommend the Dr. Von D. Mizell- Eula Johnson state park. I also love the Hollywood Dog Beaches for my little pup. For some good eats, Tiki-Tiki is one of my favorite restaurants. And for dessert, Jaxson’s Ice Cream is a delicious treat in Dania as well. Grampa’s Restaurant or Bake Shack is a wonderful breakfast. The beach and clear water are really what makes South Florida special for me so any beach in Dania or across the street there are wooden paths to walk along the intercoastal.

Most importantly, I would say to come take a glassblowing class at the Benzaiten Center of Craft with me in Lake Worth, Florida. It is a bit of a drive from Miami but I am so proud and happy with where I work. It is worth the visit! If you can’t make it all the way up to Lake Worth, but still want to try glassblowing I recommend visiting my old colleagues and friends at Hollywood Hot Glass.

Those items would be my fun to-do’s for a SoFlo itinerary!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank my glass professor, Jenna Efrein.

Jenna always pushed me to creatively tackle projects and genuinely think about the message behind my work. Jenna is an artist through and through. The way she approaches her own work with thoughtful care, experimentation and boundary pushing has profoundly influenced how I work. Jenna made the most out of our resources and time at the University of Miami.

She created a project that forged the next steps of my career post college. She found renowned artists in our field and we, the students, created proposals to collaborate with them. Jaime Guerrero accepted my project proposal, and after creating a glass deer skull together, he asked me to assist with his residency at Starworks in Star, North Carolina. While I was there, he recommended that I apply for the assistantship program at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, which I gladly did. My time at the Chrysler Museum taught me so much. It improved my technical skills and allowed me to create an unbelievable network of colleagues. I met countless artists which opened the door for studios I have worked for in Aruba, Baltimore, Seattle and Florida. I was able to assist world renowned artists, Grant and Erin Garmezy, and then learn from Fabianno Zanchi through these experiences. The snowball effect of studying and continue to pursue glass has led me to countless wonderful experiences that fill my soul with gratitude.

I am forever grateful to Jenna for opening that door to the rest of the glass world for me.

Website: https://www.gracechepenik.com

Instagram: @gracechepenikart

Facebook: @gracechepenikart

Other: www.glassgarden.studio
(my glass flower website)

Image Credits
Nick Noble (for the photo in front of my chandelier and the photo of me working in the blue shirt)