My Dad’s Art

Art runs in my family. My dad has been a working artist for decades, creating millefiori clay sculptures from his studio, now located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work has earned awards, been featured in collections, and appeared in art shows and publications. Every time I visit I find myself browsing his studio, asking questions about his process and picking up tips I can apply to my own work.

His medium is polymer clay, but his technique is rooted in an Italian glasswork tradition — millefiori. It involves arranging and compressing colored rods into intricate patterns, then slicing them to reveal repeating motifs of extraordinary detail. Each of his pieces begin as a hand-sculpted form, then layered with his custom millefiori canes, fired multiple times, and finished with a meticulous sanding and buffing process. The detail in his finished pieces is breathtaking.

It wasn't until I dove deeper into mosaic that I started to see the connection. I work with glass, he works with clay. Different medium, different process, but we share the same love of color, detail, and working by hand.

You can explore his portfolio and process at The Mongrel Koi.