Featured Artist, Mike Smarr.

Welcome Featured Artist,

Mike Smarr.

     I would like to welcome my new friend, and very talented glass artist Mike Smarr of Oscar Baron Artist's to "Till death...".  Mike is an amazingly talented artist who makes my favorite recycled glass necklaces and many other amazing pieces!  Im so honored to have him here and to share him with all of you! 

      Please give him a warm welcome with me!  Stop by his store, and leave him a comment below.  I hope that you are all as inspired by his beautiful glass pieces as I am!

1. Who are you? Where are you from, how old are you? Tell us about yourself.



      Hello. I'm Mike Smarr, I'm 36 years old and I'm from Marietta, Ohio. I am a glass artist and I am married to a wonderful woman named Mandy. I also have the honor of having a 12 year-old daughter. We have two very special dogs and one very unique cat. We are currently residing in Marietta, but we are relocating to California this summer.

2. How long have you been an artist and how did you learn about art?


      I have been an artist all of my life. I remember how natural it felt as a child to create things with my hands. It still feels that way. I really learned about art through life. Experiencing it. Living it. It's kind of a “follow your bliss” sort-of-thing. I started my sandblasting education with Butch Young's book and dvds, and then a basic introduction to sandblasting course with Norm Dobbins.

3. When did you decide to make the leap from hobby to Profession? Tell us about your first sale.


      The business has been in the making for about 3 years now, but things didn't get serious until about 9 months ago. I think I've really developed the professional mind-set over the last year. My first sale was to a friend for a gift for her mother. It was a lighthouse etched and lightly carved on a blue wine bottle. It was the first thing that I had created to sell in many years, and it felt incredible. I think she was quite pleased with the end result.

4. 1. INSPIRATION. Anything, everything. What inspires you?



     Music...memories...synergy...historical moments in the making...an opportunity to discover something more about life...

5. Explain your process a bit.


      I am more old school when it comes to blasting and cutting, and I like that. Most of the techniques I use today, I've learned from Butch. It's a different style, mostly hand cutting resist, rather than a pre-cut or photoresist stencil design. It's a freer approach to blasting glass, in my opinion. Each piece is carefully hand selected for the design in mind. The glass is cleaned and then the design is applied onto a vinyl or rubber resist. How the design is applied to the resist is what separates most blasters. This where the handcutting comes in. Often times resist is either ordered as a precut stencil (computer cut) or a photoresist (image burned to special resist to create stencil), but I've chosen to handcut the majority of everything I do. There are some exceptions, but very few. This allows true creative control over just about everything I create. Anything that will resist sand at high pressures can be used as a resist. The design is then interpreted and sandblasted accordingly. Glass can be solid frosted, lightly to heavily shaded, leveled, carved, glue-chipped, colored (through paint or various gilding techniques), mirrored, or even left clear, to create stunning art pieces. I like to create functional art pieces, but rarely turn down the chance to create anything.

6. What are your goals and dreams, where do you see yourself in 10 years?


     Honestly, I have big plans. I think this is a get-what-you-give type of world and I plan on making an impact. We are taking the next step in our journey this summer by moving out to California. In the next 10 years, I see us closer to Seattle, running a small private gallery, still selling online, and beginning to establish our foundations and educational programs for entrepreneurship and small business. My wife and I have spoken many times of our desire to give back to our community and establish opportuities for those who have been less fortunate, and I believe that things will be in full swing around this time frame.

7. Anything and everything else about yourself that you would like to share. Favorite color to favorite food. Family, friends, life, anything. :)


      I've never been real good at self-promotion so I'll just wrap it up. Thank you Iris, I appreciate the opportunity you've given me to share some of my thoughts with the world. I love what you're doing here.

8. Where can you be found?


      You can find me, follow me, fan me, or friend me at the following:


• http://www.oscarbaronartists.com – website


• http://www.oscarbaron.etsy.com - store


• http://www.oscarbaronartists.com/category/blog/ - blog


• http://www.twitter.com/oscarbaron – twitter


• http://tr.im/oscarbaronfanpage – facebook fan page

     I hope that you have all enjoyed meeting Mike, and learning about his work as much as I have!  Please, dont forget to introduce yourself to him as well!  Thank you again Mike for sharing yoruself with us!