Northwest Designer Craftartists

Northwest Designer Craftartists (NWDC) was founded in 1954 to promote excellence of design and craftsmanship and to stimulate public appreciation and interest in fine craft. Artists in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, who work professionally in clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, and/or mixed media, are members. 

Timed to coincide with REFRACT: The Seattle Glass Experience, the glass installation brings together work that honors Seattle’s internationally recognized glass movement. 

John de Wit:

“When I began my art journey 35 years ago, glass as a medium was still considered a craft material. My professors at the time were clay artists. It was an unlikely union but, with time, glass matured as my material of choice. Along the way I have incorporated and developed techniques to allow dimension and uniqueness to the glass possibility.

I have primarily engaged myself for the last 25 years using the vessel as a canvas, using its sculptural potential to pivot the viewer beyond the commonplace. My interest is in the container as the emblem of domestic activity and by applying an abstracted functionality, creating a surface for narrative and decorative application; and expanding the context of purpose.

What I draw inspiration from is quite varied: African objects, Japanese and Korean Ceramics, Persian and Indian metalwork. Among contemporary artists, the painters Motherwell, Frankenthaler, and Rauschenerg and the sculptor Martin Puryear are the masters who I appreciate. To describe a theme or thread in my work, I would suggest that it has been the discipline to pursue a road less traveled; Many of the techniques I use are a result of my own development.

Combining the painting techniques I have developed with hybridized Swedish and Italian glass blowing processes, the vessels and objects I have produced reflect an interest in glass transcending its common purpose and achieving a sculptural possibility.”

Crista Van Slyck Matteson:

Her latest installation, Diatom Meadow, was included in the Corning Museum of Glass’ prestigious, New Glass Review 44. Collaborating with a climate scientist, Crista interpreted his research about coastal erosion in the Skagit Valley to create a large-scale glass installation, for the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA.

In 2024 Crista taught at the international, Pilchuck Glass School, and Pratt Fine Art Center. In 2025 she will teach at Corning Museum, in New York, and have a solo exhibition, titled The Land of Falling Water.  Her Glass Diatom Costume will make its debut in the Glass Art Society’s Glass fashion show in New York, in 2026.

After studying at California College of Art, she began her career in Costume Design. With Merit Scholarships, Crista continued her education attending Gage’s Sculpture Atelier, Pilchuck, and Pratt, studying painting, metals, printmaking, kiln cast, flameworked and hot cast glass.

She has been awarded a Collector’s Choice Award at Habatat Gallery’s International Exhibit, the Skills Artistry Award at Pratt’s Fine Art Auction, Juror’s Choice Awards at Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, the Schack Art Center, Tacoma College Gallery, and Pratt’s Auction. Van Slyck Matteson’s work is shown in museums and galleries across the US. She is represented by the Museum of Glass store in Washington, the Duncan McClellan Gallery in Florida and the Bainbridge Museum of Art store in Washington.

Kait Rhoads

“My love of living things was encouraged, so that from the very beginning I was able to develop that sense of wonder, of awe, that can lead to spiritual awareness.” –Jane Goodall

My work is inspired by nature and informed by memory.  And, three oceans—the Caribbean, the Indian and the Pacific–delineate the imaginative boundaries of my practice.

I grew up on the water of the Caribbean in a ship with my family where my deep affinity for biological systems began. I lived surrounded by nature; the liquid light and aquatic life imprinted upon my senses. The sculptures I create emanate from my early experiences within and curiosity about the natural world. While exploring the waters around Bali, I experienced the extraordinary biodiversity and extensive architecture of coral colonies there. This has been a deep influence on my sculptural forms and process of making.

The cold, deep green waters of Puget Sound are a more recent source of inspiration in my work.  Since moving to the Northwest over two decades ago, my fascination extended from coral colonies to kelp forests. Seaweed’s pliable forms continually inspire me—they stretch up from the depths, undulate in the shallows, and lie on tidal surfaces. Aquatic life infuses my sculptures with animated forms, sparkling surfaces and faceted exoskeletons.

My method of construction mirrors how my life has formed me, with individual elements woven together to create a strong whole. I consider the individual units, conical hexagonal forms known as hollow murrine, as architectural elements that fit together to create a fluid or floating object. The concept of the work develops slowly, and the production of a complicated piece can take months to years to complete.

I desire my work to be emotionally affective—that it evokes for audiences a similar sense of wonder in our blue planet that continues to inspire me. And even, perhaps, to instill a desire to conserve our fragile aquatic ecosystems.

Dick Weiss (Curator)

Weiss was born in Everett, Washington, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. He began teaching at Pilchuck Glass School in 1982 and has completed commissions for the Bellevue Art Museum, Washington, the Port of Shanghai, Shanghai, China, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington, and the University of Washington, Seattle. His work is included in impressive collections worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York.