Contemporary Canadian Glass

By K. Leah Duperreault

Ryan fishing

Ryan Bavin has been producing blown glass fish for more than ten years.  Growing up, he spent a lot of time fishing.  His grandfather taught him how to fly fish, including how to tie his own flies, when he was six or seven years old.  This is where his fascination with fish started.  Many weekends were spent on the local lakes and streams fishing for several varieties of trout.

Ryan and Pat working

Bavin Glassworks was founded in 1988 by Ryan’s father, Pat Bavin, in the small BC town of Windermere.  Ryan started working with his dad in 1989 at the age of 15, learning how to blow glass.  Several years later in the mid 1990′s, a couple of things happened.

Firstly, in the winter of 1996, Ryan spent a couple of months with his brother Marc road-tripping down into Mexico.  Every day was spent in the ocean, surfing and snorkeling on the tropical beaches.  Seeing all the brightly colored fish in the ocean made Ryan think that they would be fun to make in glass.  All the bright colors and interesting shapes would be an interesting challenge.

Secondly, shortly after returning home from Mexico, Ryan went on the first of what would become several trips to the Pilchuck Glass School.  Here he was exposed to some more advanced techniques in the blowing and sculpture of hot glass.  After returning from Pilchuck in the summer of 1996, Ryan began to experiment with the process of making fish in glass.

Bull Trout

The first fish were tropical in nature.  Tropical fish were relatively easy to make as you could make them almost any shape and color combination and they would look like a tropical fish.  Before long Ryan became more interested in making the fish that he had always known and grew up fishing for around his home.  Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout, as well as Bull Trout and Whitefish were what he was more familiar with.  So, when he could get the chance and be assisted by his father, he started to work on making more indigenous species of fish.  The early trout were usually clear, with spots and eyes sandblasted on once the piece had been annealed.  This was because it was difficult to get the color on the fish in the right location.  Over several more years, Ryan tried various techniques for applying color.  Gradually, he formed a color technique using mostly cane and powders.  And as the colors began to develop, he became more proficient with the other aspects of making the trout as well.  He then began working on creating the subtle differences of body shape and color between the different species.

Dolly Varden Detail

Ryan believes that glass is about as good a medium as you can possibly use to make a fish.  “The fluidity of the medium really lends itself to the natural movement of creatures that live in water,” he says.  “While I’m working in the hotshop, the piece is naturally moving all the time.”  He laughs, “It really comes alive on the end of the punty!”

The first major show of the Bavin glass fish was in November, 2008.  Rod Green of Masters Gallery in Calgary became interested in the fish and offered to have a show.  The Bavins were excited by the prospect of having a show in such a prestigious gallery.  Working hard throughout 2008, Ryan, assisted by his dad Pat, produced 25 fish for the November show at Masters.  The show was an overwhelming success, selling out in two days.

This show gave Ryan the confidence that he needed to continue to work on making fish out of glass.  He is still producing trout, and has started to produce a species of Pacific salmon as well.  “Eighty years ago, Pacific salmon used to make their way up to the Columbia River all the way past Invermere to the headwaters of the Columbia,” he says.  The salmon no longer make it this far upstream due to the damming of the river; however, a landlocked version, the Kokanee, still run up sections of the river every fall.

Sockeye

Ryan still enjoys getting out and going fishing for the local species of trout, and now has renewed interest in learning about the fish and studying their aquatic environment.  Introduced species, interbreeding, and changes to the very waters in which they live are changing the fish.  The fish that Ryan now finds in the Columbia River Basin are quite different from the ones his grandfather fished for a couple generations ago.  “By studying the fish, I have learned a lot about the area in which I live,” says Ryan.  “It makes me realize how interconnected everything is, especially with water.”

Ryan blowing

Ryan blows glass at his family’s studio, Bavin Glassworks, in Invermere, BC.  He still works occasionally with his father but is now assisted by other people as well in the growing glass community in the Columbia Valley.  Leah Duperreault has become a regular assistant with the fish for the last couple of years.

Check out bavinglass.com for more information about Bavin Glassworks!