Exquisite color, skilled craftsmen, and creative designs have made Blenko famous in the ancient craft of hand-blown glass. Over the years, talented designers have developed contemporary new designs for our skilled artisans, who have learned the difficult techniques of glass blowing through many years of practice.

The uniqueness of hand-blown glass cannot be compared to that of machine-formed glass - a process which produces items all exactly alike but without character. Because Blenko glass is made in small batches and our processes are performed by hand, it is common to observe small air bubbles, lines or individual marks left by our craftsmen. These are not flaws - but rather the distinctive nature of the hand-made process - which identify and magnify the uniqueness of each piece of glass.

Russell Barr Pottery is akin to American Art Pottery (Arts & Crafts Style) from 1890-1930, especially the matte organic glazes. These pieces look amazing sitting on a fine Amish-made side table in an Arts & Crafts Bungalow.

Tom’s artistic vision is to capture the beautiful and interesting aspects of our world and bring focus to it in a photographic image and print. Tom has entered various photo contests over the years, winning or placing in most that he entered. Most notable is the Purdue University Grand Prize Winner. Tom’s photographs have been published in nationally distributed Shutterbug Magazine (Antelope Canyon, Oct 06 and Hong Kong Fireworks, April 06), “Ambient Light” (Lafayette, IN) and in the local newspaper, the Topeka Capital-Journal (Golden Gate Bridge, Slot Canyons, etc). Most recently Tom exhibited with 90 other artists at the Mulvane Art Museum's Mountain/Plains Art Fair at Washburn University in June 2009.