Rising Stars: Meet Mark Leputa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Leputa.

Hi Mark, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I began my glass career at Lava Glass in Taupo, New Zealand, where I spent 3 years as an apprentice, learning to gather glass from the furnace and create small objects. After returning to the US, I was hired as an assistant to Cal Breed of Orbix Hot Glass (Alabama), where I spent 14 years honing and perfecting my craft. In 2021, I teamed up with long-time friend and colleague Steve Hagan and founded High Priority Studio in Tucson, where we both currently work. We also utilize the Sonoran Glass School here in Tucson for most of the hot processes of our artwork. My work is exhibited in select galleries across the US and Europe. In early 2024, I will be part of an exhibition at the Philabaum Gallery in Tucson, AZ. This exhibition is special to me as it will be alongside two of my closest friends and peers – fellow Sonoran Glass School artists Steve Hagan and Jason Marshall. We are all building off of each others’ energy in designing and creating our upcoming artwork.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This career has been a wild journey. Learning to blow glass and turn it into a full-time profession demands a stubborn, persevering mentality, but I have been hooked since day one – like a moth to a flame. If I had to pinpoint why glass is my medium of choice, it would have to be the physically demanding challenges of working with this material, coupled with the high-intensity teamwork necessary to create anything on a large scale. Glassblowing is like a sport and a science. The glass is heavy. It is liquid, and it flows. You must learn to dance with it gracefully, and it always leads. Through this dance, you gain an understanding of thermodynamics, chemistry, and physics – at least on a sub-conscience level. You can only find finesse in the process with years of failures – which is where perseverance comes in handy.

I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a glass artist using blown glass techniques combined with glass cutting and engraving. My current body of work is my ‘Tensile Series.’ It has been my most explored series to date, and I have been focused on refining and pushing the boundaries of each shape.

I am continuously trying to manipulate the unique optical qualities of glass through color, form, negative space, and optics. Much of the true sculpting happens once the blown glass is cold, using various diamond tools akin to the lapidary work of a stone sculptor. The glass is cut and carved away in removal, then refined and polished into its final shape. Optical lenses are also carved into the surface of each work to bend and refract light. Each facet and lens takes 8 different grits, each finer than the last, to bring to complete polish. Each piece can take weeks to complete, depending on the scale and complexity of the form.

Much of my work is created in Tucson, floating between blowing glass at the Sonoran Glass School and then cutting and polishing the sculptures into their final form at High Priority Studio. Travel and nature are also vital to my creative process, and I often spend a few months out of the year visiting and working in friends’ studios throughout the US and Canada. I recently spent the summer creating with my wife in Calgary.

We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, a successful art career is defined by something other than focusing on awards, accolades, or absorbent bank accounts. Successful artists – those I hold in the highest regard – never compromised for a buck but continued to create and refine the ideas closest to their hearts. Your heart will be full if you routinely put time and energy into your true passion. You will live a happy, rich life. That is true art. I am extremely thankful to have created a style and body of work that is uniquely recognizable as my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.markleputa.com
• Instagram: @markleputaglass
• Facebook: Mark Leputa Glass Sculpture

Image Credits
Glassblowing photo by Eduardo Manteca, Palo Fierro Productions (Tempe, AZ) Glass Engraving photo by Steve Hagan, High Priority Studio (Tucson, AZ), All images of artwork by the artist