Jack has been with Hilltop Artists since 2015. He has most enjoyed being able to blow glass at some of the best hot shops in the world; such as the Museum of Glass and Pilchuck Glass School.

The Museum of Glass hot shop team inspires him to keep practicing and pushing himself to become better. They inspire and teach him glass blowing through strong fundamentals.

Jack loves working with glass because there is always something new to learn. He enjoys that he can always improve and refine his skills. 

Check out his glass art on Instagram @glassblowerjack

Trenton first started blowing glass in 2005 at Wilson High School, joining Team Production from 2006-2009.

He joined Hilltop Artists as a part-time instructor in 2014. His first instructors, Patricia Davidson and Tony Sorgenfrei, really hooked him on the material. Trenton now instructs for Hilltop Artists Team Production program and the new Alumni Team program.  

Trenton has been an integral part of the Team Production program and brings real-world experience as a professional glass artist working at Chihuly Studios and Glassybaby. 

Check out his glass art on Instagram @amocat_lowlife

David Rios first started working with glass when he was 14 while attending 8th grade at Jason Lee Middle School.

He enjoys helping students complete their projects in the cold shop, sharing the knowledge he learned as a student ambassador to Biot.

Artist Ethan Stern inspires Rios to explore beautiful surface textures non-reminiscent of glass. He loves working with glass because of the inherent nature of glass objects. 

Check out his glass art on Instagram @rios_glass_life

Luis started working with glass when he was 13 years old at Jason Lee Middle School. He learned about Hilltop Artists when he saw students holding their glass pieces walking through the hallways, and was inspired to learn more.

Luis has worked as a Hilltop Artists flameworking instructor for 3 years. If you’ve attended a Winter Warmers event you may have enjoyed Luis’ kind and patient ways during a glass bead lesson. Additionally, Luis’ miniature snow-people are one of the most coveted items at our Winter Sales.

Beyond Luis’ skills in teaching and glassmaking, he’s also an incredible baker, and his delicious cookies are always quickly devoured!

Check out his glass art on Instagram @chompyglass

Zach has been with Hilltop Artists since 2015. The Pilchuck retreats have been a great experience that has taught him so much about the world of glass and opened many doors. Artist Ethan Stern inspires him the most because of his unique use of the cold shop.

Zach loves working with glass because it is a very collaborative medium. It takes the full attention of a team to get the best piece made. Through this, it creates deep trust for a team and strong friendships in and out of the studio.

Check out his glass art on Instagram @zachabellaglass

Ellye has been at Hilltop Artists since 2013. Some of her favorite experiences and greatest opportunities through Hilltop Artists have been the Team Production Pilchuck retreats and the Student Ambassador exchange (an internship with glass artist Antoine Pierini in Biot, France.)

These experiences inspired her to grow as an artist, creative thinker, and human being. She is inspired by glass artists Raven Skyriver and Kit Paulson who always astound her. Glass captures her fascination because, as a medium, it is so complex and transformative. On every level of the process, there are things to learn and different challenges, and it can vary extremely from one step to another.

Working with glass forces her to be attentive and flexible while also teaching her how to better communicate and connect with those around her. It’s a very communal art form and experience, and she loves how by working with glass she gets to work with and learn from the team.

Check out her glass art on Instagram @ellyesevierglassart

Tony is one of the best glassblowing teachers in the area. He mostly teaches Career and Technical Education classes during the day at Wilson but he has also been running the after-school program at Wilson for 12 years. He first learned about Hilltop Artists when he was 14 years old and started glass arts classes at Jason Lee Middle School with Greg Piercy as his instructor. He had his first week-long solo artist residency at the Museum of Glass last year and he had a glass piece accepted into the 2019 Pilchuck Gala. When he’s not teaching, he enjoys working out and playing disc golf.

Check out his glass art on Instagram @tonyglassart