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| metro art by Megan Voeller |
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Artist Profile: Duncan McClellan
When artist Duncan McClellan set out to transform a former warehouse near downtown St. Petersburg into a massive new studio several years ago, his renovation wish list might have looked something like this. A workshop to carve and finish glass vessels. A gallery to host exhibitions. A spacious wooden deck with a fountain. Bathrooms outfitted with glass art tiles. Two kitchens, one for catering. And a grove of tropical fruit trees.
That’s just some of what visitors to McClellan’s impressive studio will find. Decorated with the artist’s glass art, which appears in backlit cases and on pedestals throughout the space, the studio showcases McClellan’s distinctive aesthetic across every square foot.
“I really got my dream,” he says.
The studio marks the culmination for McClellan of 20 years as a glass artist in Tampa Bay. Born in New York State and raised in Orlando, he first studied the culinary arts. Following that passion — which he still taps to cater his own parties and benefits — McClellan arrived in Tampa 35 years ago. Shifting to glass art, he began to blow large vessels at the Pinellas studio of fellow glass artist Chuck Boux.
McClellan’s process still begins in Boux’s hotshop. (Constructing his own hotshop remains a project for the future.) After blowing large, multicolored glass vessels — a multi-person task that requires several assistants — he undertakes a six-stage process to grind and polish the vessel. Carving figures and symbols into the surface of each glass piece, McClellan creates narratives about timeless subjects. On one glimmering vase, an image of two people atop a tandem bicycle symbolizes life as a journey between partners.
In October, McClellan opens his studio to the public for the first time with an exhibition of his own glass art as well as pieces by other artists.
—Megan Voeller
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