Wes Hunting

West Hunting is a glass artist based in rural Wisconsin, where he works alongside his son, Wesley. Originally trained in painting at Kent State University in the 1970s, Hunting discovered glassblowing unexpectedly while working at Hale Farm, a historical village near campus. This chance encounter led him into the university’s glass program under Henry Halem, where he learned from pioneering glass artists like Dale Chihuly, Marvin Lipofsky, and Fritz Dreisbach. Hunting further honed his craft at the Penland School of Crafts and through travels to Murano, Italy. In 1982, he opened Hunting Studio Glass in Chicago, later relocating to Wisconsin to pursue a more focused, expressive practice. His work reflects a painterly approach to molten glass, exploring color, transparency, and light with intensity and precision.

“I never had an early interest in glass in particular but always had an interest in creativity.  Sometimes, I’m not too sure where it’s going; but for me, it’s all about being able to make  what I want, when I want, and keep it moving until I can no longer do so. I took the scenic route on the way to working with glass. I was always interested in the visual arts and music, and in 1976, I started my education at Kent State University with a major in painting. During this time, I had a weekend job as a groundskeeper at Hale Farm, an early American historical village just outside of Kent, Ohio. It was there that I was literally thrown into glassblowing.”

-Wes Hunting