As an artist and an architect, Richard M. Parrish finds inspiration in both natural and human-made environments. His work investigates the intersections and collisions between the natural landscape and the human impositions on that landscape. Purity of form is an essential element in many of his pieces. "My glasswork," says Parrish, "explores texture and pattern, transparency and opacity, and visual depth. My training and experience as an architect strongly influence my designs."
Fused glass, sometimes called warm glasswork, is made in a kiln much like ceramics. Sheet glass is cut and fit together, then fused at 1500 degrees. Crushed and powdered glass, copper, glass threads, and other materials are sometimes introduced.
Parrish operates Fusio Studio for kiln-glass in Bozeman, MT. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. His work was selected for the Corning Museum of Glass New Glass Review 27 and 38. He was featured in a solo exhibition at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York, and in a group exhibition at the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark, both in 2016. Parrish has taught architecture and design at The University of Michigan and Montana State University. He teaches classes in kiln-glass internationally, focusing on the visual elements of design; color theory; and inspiration, meaning and intent.