Wilke Adolfsson -- Master of Glassblowing.

Wilke Adolfsson

The name Wilke Adolfsson is synonymous with mastery in glassblowing. Ask any of his colleagues, and they will tell you how good he is. It all began in Gullaskruf where Wilke was born into the profession in 1940. He worked at the local glassworks called Gullaskruf Glasbruk as a glassblower from the time he was 15 until he was 23. From there he moved to world renowned Orrefors Glasbruk where he worked with product development as well as performed specialized work for artists at Orrefors until 1979. For four years following that, he worked with artist Ann Wärff at Stenhytta Glasstudio in Transjö. Wilke Adolfsson established his own studio in 1983 where he designs and blows glass himself. Everything is blown freehand. The pieces he creates range from pieces of art to those for everyday use.

Wilke is a person who likes to experiment with glass. He can bend and pull a stem to see how tall it can be or add colored layers with bubbles of air to just to see how it will appear. He is also a perfectionist who doesn´t let any piece with which he isn’t satisfied go to a gallery. On the shelves in his studio, he has beautiful glass pieces that will never leave his studio. The are technically advanced pieces that he has made just to prove to himself that he can make them.

Many of his pieces are theme pieces, but no two are exactly alike in the same theme. Every piece in a theme is numbered, and Wilke records all of his pieces in a book.

He has his own studio behind his house.

At Orrefors he used to blow art glass for famous designers as Eva Höglund and others, which where shown in fairs around the world every year. He is a visiting professor of sorts -- occasionally he visits the School of Fine Art in Stockholm where he is a welcomed teacher. He has also demonstrated his techniques at the Pilchuck Glass Center in Seattle in addition to several other glass schools worldwide.

Many Glass Artists from around the world have found their way to his cozy glass studio nestled in the woods of Orrefors to study glassblowing under his tutelage.

See his resumé and exhibition list.

Some of his glass pieces