Cal Breed

Stay Curious.  Always learning.  Be a mentor.

Cal Breed, a native of Florence, Alabama, is recognized as one of the Southeast’s most seasoned glass artists/sculptors.

Cal and his wife, Christy Breed, own and run Orbix Hot Glass on Little River Canyon in Ft. Payne, AL where Cal and his team make functional and decorative glass along with his sculptural works.  The functional work has been used for years as a tool to sharpen his sensitivities to the material as well as to teach and refine the craftsmanship and the artistic skills of his team. The studio’s proximity to this National Preserve has served as a wellspring of artistic inspiration while exploring in and around these natural areas.  Breed believes that time spent in quietness is important, and much of his work is intended to encourage the viewer to pause, think, question, ponder, and wonder.

As a tool for learning, Cal has made it a habit to seek out mentors to learn from and share experience with.  Among these are many glass artists including Cam Langley, Paul Cunningham, Ruth King, Jack Wax, Dante Marioni, Dick Marquis, Lino Tagliapietra, Pino Signoretto, Benjamin Moore, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, and Richard Royal at The Ohio State University, The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, and individual studios.  To continue this heritage of sharing through mentorship, Cal makes it a part of his lifestyle to share with younger learners and artists of life.  His studio is set up as a sort of incubational space for younger artists to develop.  Along with teaching the young artists in his studio, Cal also has taught classes at Pilchuck Glass School and Tennessee Tech.

Inspired at an early age by the inquisitive work of the marine explorer Jacques Cousteau, Cal pursued the process of learning to see the unseen through the study of the sciences and immersing himself in a lifestyle of adventurous exploration.  This search has manifested itself in a variety of ways. 

Years of repetitive walks in the woods from home to the studio have allowed him to see hidden details by observing inconsistencies within the consistencies of the familiar walking path.  Hyper focused rock climbing of intricately detailed textured stone skins has made a way to explore blocking out much of life’s distractions in order to see the hidden gifts of beauty described in a physical movement in balance or the tiniest plant finding its home in an unusual space.  Even sailing the atmospheric cycles of flow amongst clouds upon a paraglider, has provided situations to gain a new variety of perspectives and points of view. 

These layers of observational information are accessed only through time and practice of awareness which is achieved many times by taking a moment to stare upward or squat down for a closer look. Observing on a macro scale and a micro scale as well as pushing and pulling time inform much of his decision making as he builds sculptural meditations.

As this joy for learning has flowed over into the love of glass as an expressive material, Cal’s lifelong love of practice and observation, along with 29 years of time developing an intuitive feel for glass and a poetic approach to this material has proved to be a uniquely personal way to fluently express ideas.

Numerous awards and honors have been given for his work including, the Alabama State Council of Arts Individual Artist Grant for 2005 and 2015, the 2004 Niche Award, scholarships to Pilchuck Glass School, scholarships to Haystack Mtn. School, and 2007 Corning Foundation Award from Pilchuck Glass School.

Breed’s work is found in many private and public collections, including The Huntsville Museum of Art, The Wiregrass Museum of Art, and The Montgomery Museum of Art.

Also, Cal was featured in an Alabama Public Television Documentary entitled” Alabama Crafts:  Tradition and Innovation.

Look. See. Think. Make. Thankful. Fly.

Seeking to see the unseen.  Share it in a beautiful way.