I had the Opportunity to meet Up with Trevor Wasik @TREXGLASS on Instagram

T-rex as it’s supposed to be pronounced , yup Like the dinosaur but we will get in to that a little bit later. Trevor, 31 lives less then 1hr west of Toronto, Ontario Canada with his wife and 2 little girls and has been behind the torch for the better part of a decade .

I have known Trevor for over 8 years ,so I have got to know him pretty well over the years but I was quite surprised with Trevor and his journey to becoming the Lamp worker / Glass blower he is today.

 

Ryan / @Boroslave : Let’s start at the beginning why / when did you want to become a glass blower ?

 

Trevor / @trexGlass : I remember I started telling my friends and family I wanted to be a glass blower when I was in grade 8 I remember seeing something on tv molten glass that red magma looked like lava dripping hot it was just so neat, I knew I wanted to do something fun like that.

 

Ryan : Childhood Dream

 

Trevor : Pretty Much

 

Ryan : Let’s talk background , how did you get started in glass blowing ?

 

Trevor : I started my lamp working with Terry Boake @tear__e I worked at what is now Pangea Glass Studio for a bit over 1 year , but before that I went to school in Italy called Vetroricerca. The 2 year course was completely free , with 2 weeks notice I dropped everything , quit my job and moved to Italy , every weeks was a new topic , stained glass, sculpting , slumping, fusing, furnace work and lamp work .

 

Ryan : have you taken any classes or demos?

 

Trevor : I missed out on classes

 

Ryan : Have you done any collaborations with any one or would you like to ?

 

Trevor : I worked with Gump Glass last year. I have lots of plans to work with other glass blowers , I feel like it’s going to be important for my growth as a glass blower to work with other artists. I would be happy to work with any one in Canada. I just reached out to J Honey I have an idea and I really want to bring it to reality , we should definitely do something.

 

Ryan : Oh ya definitely , I know someone that will buy it

 

Trevor and I both laugh and then continue with more questions

 

 

Ryan : What’s your favourite thing about glass?

 

Trevor : Having my shop in my back yard and getting to go inside and see my little girls

 

Ryan : and what’s your less favourite thing ?

 

Trevor : I would originally would have said the business side of things but I seem to be ok with that now , I struggle with organization , I just can’t seem to stay on top of it.

 

Ryan : Will you change with trends in the industry or do you just love making bowls so much you’re going to be the bowl guy forever?

 

A: I suspect it will change based on what’s happened in the past. It seems like this industry moves quite quickly , it’s so hard to say, I just love making bowls ,but If people stop buying them it would make it less appealing to make (laughs) I try not to look too far ahead ,there’s lots to enjoy right here and now.

 

Ryan : How do you find balance between what you like or want to make and what the customer wants ?

 

Trevor : I am not the best at that, I find I struggle to make stuff I want to make. Instagram helps with that because I can put a lot of time in to one piece and not have to worry about if I am going to get what I put in to it and auction it off , and I stop making things if I don’t enjoy making them.

 

Ryan : How do you come up with the names for your glass?

 

Trevor : I try and give them the most obvious names but one time I did a poll on Instagram for the sabretooth slide , I would like to make more use of that .

 

Ryan : What’s your favourite bowl or style ?

 

Trevor : Oh man that’s a tough question , it keeps on changing for me, variety is pretty important

 

Ryan : You definitely have a big selection

 

Trevor : Ya Definitely have a lot of different styles

 

Ryan : What inspires that … boredom ?

 

We both laugh at this

 

Trevor : If I make something I can always make it better the next time or integrate something different , there is so much new in glass new colours all the time new tech I feel like we’re using this medium that’s un tapped anyone can do something that’s new, I feel like were living the dream as artists. I feel like I didn’t quite answer the question.

 

We laugh

 

Ryan : Do you make any glass that you can’t use to smoke with ?

 

Trevor : When I first started out I had a line of jewellery ,  I quite enjoyed making those items but the cannabis scene seems to be much more welcoming , I have met so many awesome people in the cannabis scene. I still like making Christmas ornaments especially now that I have a family of my own. Lately I have been making a 3D picture out of glass , basically you get a picture frame and fill it with a ton of glass sculptures to make any image you want , I had a lot of fun doing that .

 

Ryan : Any advice for new glass blowers or people that want to get in the industry?

 

Trevor : Keep at it , it’s not really easy , you’re going to have to beat your own path. There is definitely more resources available to you online , get as much torch time as you can and that’s really the best way you have to do it to get good at it .

 

Ryan : What music do you listen to or T.V do you put on while blowing glass?

 

Trevor : I work alone, I don’t like to be interrupted so I put on audiobooks I like it because I can put it on and listen to it for a while. I listen to everything you could think of science fiction, fantasy even lectures , I definitely learned a lot over the years.

 

Ryan : Do you want to give a shout out to all the stores that have got new glass from you in the last 3-4 months ?

 

Trevor : Crazy bills , Culture Rising , Altered Native , Shop 420 , Smoking Aces and Friendly Stranger , I would love to have my glass everywhere!

 

Ryan : What would you be doing if not for glass blowing ?

 

Trevor : Well I have a geological engineering degree and I did work as an exploration geologist in the mountains of Albania and the Arctic so something In that field , but I am very happy blowing glass .

 

Ryan : What’s next anything we should keep an eye out for ?

 

Trevor : I got a sand blaster and should have lots of exciting stuff coming out from that

 

Ryan : Last and the most important question , what’s up with your name ?

 

Trevor : When I chose it I wanted something small I could fit in a millie … oh you mean is T-REX or TREX

 

We laugh

 

Trevor : I like being a little bit of both to be honest but I need to go with the people, if they want to call me TREX that’s fine .

 

Ryan : I think TREX is a great name.