Season 3 of Blown Away will premiere on Netflix on Friday, July 22, 2022. Season 3 of Blown Away will introduce 10 new glassblowing contestants who will compete for $60,000 in prize money and a residency at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. Each week, Blown Away participants will be given a theme, and their task will be to create a unique creation by blowing glass. Each week, one design that does not meet the judges’ standards is removed.
Former Big Brother contestant Nick Uhas will host the third season of Blown Away. Katherine Gray, a glass artist, will join Uhas as a resident judge of the exhibition. Each competitor is an expert in their field, and the competition is full of high stakes and tension. One such competitor is 53-year-old Rob Stern, who has more than 30 years of experience.
Rob Stern, Blown Away competitor with 30 years of experience
Rob Stern, the most experienced candidate for Blown Away Season 3, has spent over three decades working with glass and has worked with the most skilled and recognized glass artists from around the world. Rob was born in Miami but grew up in Atlanta, where his mother was an art teacher. His father worked in the film business and was a photographer.
Rob grew up in a creative atmosphere due to his parents’ profession. He attended Northside High School of Performing Arts, where he was an active member of international singing, acting and dancing groups. Stern was also an athlete who enjoyed rock climbing, skating and surfing in addition to regular sports. His enthusiasm and daring spirit greatly helped his career in the glass sector. His works have been shown throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, among other places. Rob Stern Art Glass Inc., the workshop of Blown Away contestants, debuted in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District in 2003, where Rob and his crew produce creative works of art that are commissioned, exhibited and collected around the world.
Artist statement by Rob Stern
The Blown Away contestant said in his artist statement on his website:
“My aesthetics exist at the intersection of people and nature.” The gap between the organic and the angular that connects the human-made with the pre-existing and eternal universe. This is where we begin to evaluate our point of view and consider our sense of our place in the world, which is always changing as space, light and time evolve.”
Stern sees his artistic activities as stepping stones that help him understand life better. The relationship between what he perceives and what he does affects his process and everyday life choices.
He stated in his statement:
“My constant attention to detail convinces me to replicate the intricacy of his simplicity.”
Education
The Blown Away candidate earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from San Francisco State University in 1989 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Miami in 2003. He then spent five years as an intern at John Lewis Glass, an industrial casting company in Oakland, where he learned to be a metal fabricator and exceptional glass caster/cooler.
He even spent a semester in Europe researching glassmaking before enrolling at the Pilchuck Glass School in 1990. He continued his adventure as an apprentice and assistant to numerous masters and artists in Pilchuck. He also worked as a TA for the Czech master Petr Novotny and spent two years as a designer and glassmaker in the Czech glass manufacturers Huntig and Ajeto in 1992.
From beginner to master
Blown Away Season 3 contestant and glass artist Rob Stern worked as a lecturer at the University of Miami from 1998 to 2004. He was also the director of studies at the institution, according to his bio. He served as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2010. Over the past 30 years, the Blown Away Season 3 candidate has visited leading glass schools and progressed from glass student to master of the medium. He has also given seminars and demonstrations at prestigious glass schools including Penland School of Crafts, The Glass Furnace and Pilchuck Glass School.
Over the years, the glass artist has also worked with many other artists, including Libenski/Bryctova in 1997, Italo Scanga in 1995, and Bob Carlson in 2000. Dale Chihuly, William Morris, Martik Blank, Richard Royal, Richard Jolly, Dante Marioni, and many other artists he has worked with include pioneers of the modern studio glass movement.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education