A chance encounter with a glassblower at a Renaissance Festival nearly two decades ago kickstarted Caleb Siegler on a journey that would forever change his life.
“I had never seen glass blowing in person before,” he said. “I thought that is amazing. It looks hot. It looks dangerous. It looks fun. It’s intimidating but really cool…I want to try that someday.”
Today, he is living his passion as a glass and metal sculpture artist known for his three-dimensional contemporary pieces that aim to portray the pursuit of balance in a busy world. Naturally, his work has been an evolution over the years as the self-taught artist started out creating small items like ornaments and candle holders. It wasn’t until an inspired idea to add steel to one of his pieces came to him that his work would transform from “gift shop items” to art.
“I had an idea for a piece one day and there was no way around using steel as a component,” Caleb said. “Until that point, I had never done any big three-dimensional sculpture. I had a buddy help me with it because I didn’t know how to weld at the time. But that piece started my current art.”
Over the years, Caleb has honed his art and his voice through a lot of trial and error –– no easy feat when working with mediums as delicate as glass and as challenging as metal. As such, he’s also had to learn to embrace the nuances of these materials.
“My art is about controlling the materials, which has been a big theme for me,” he said. “A lot of the time though, the materials don’t work the way you think they’re going to work. But I don’t put it out into the world unless I’m happy with it. So I either completely change the plan or accept what it wants to be and if it meets my vision, then I make it happen.”
Caleb has been at the Celebration for five years now and what he loves most is the connection.
“Five years later, I’m in three galleries and anytime a piece of art sells at a gallery I think, ‘I wish it was at the show so I could’ve met the folks and had the opportunity to share conversation with them,’” he said. “My favorite part about this show is being able to connect with art lovers. Share my story and hear their story. That’s what it’s all about…connecting with people.”
To see Caleb’s work, visit his online gallery. For the full interview, see below!