)
John D)
DonovanKenny Pieper grew up in glass country, in the town of Spruce Pine, NC, just miles from the Penland School of Crafts. He took his first courses in glassblowing at Penland when he was only 16, and then spent 2 years at the Center for Creative Studies College of Art and Design, in Detroit. In 1980, Kenny earned his BFA in glass from the California College of Arts and Crafts. Currently, he directs the glass studio at Penland, sharing his technical expertise and support with visiting faculty and students alike, while pursuing his own art.
Kenny is fascinated by traditional Italian formats and techniques, often done with a modern twist. His reticello pieces are masterworks. Vase or bowl forms created using this classic technique are typically combined with whimsical hot-sculpted heads, which are then attached to a reticello base. Kenny creates his own colors and loves to experiment with reds and ambers, colors favored by the Venetian masters. Naturally drawn to the goblet format, he creates drinking vessels that that are both elegant and functional. His palette includes strong pastels as well as his more intense "signature colors." The process of making color is typically full of surprises, some of them happy accidents that add a new hue to his repertoire.
