Meet the Team

We are lucky to have worked with our current team at Island Art Glass for many years!

Our longtime friend and excellent glassmaker, Eric Leiberman, began working with us and training in glass at Glass Eye Studio in 1984. He quickly became a lead gaffer on the blowing teams. Today Eric resides on Whidbey Island, continues to make his own work in glass, and has worked in collaboration with glass artists from around the world. His own glass creations are inspired by the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Eric participates in juried Art Festivals and Shows in the Pacific Northwest.

Don Singleton started blowing glass at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1988. In 1997 he moved to Whidbey Island for the glass blowing that was going on out here. He first worked at Island Art Glass in 2000, while working for Chihuly and for Eric Leiberman. He became a full member of the Island Art Glass team from 2004 to the present. He has been a Guest Artist and Teaching Assistant at Pilchuck Glass School, Teaching Assistant for master glass artist Fritz Dreisbach in Germany at Frauenau BildWerk, and a Teaching Assistant at Penland School of Crafts for a Spring glass concentration. He also enjoys doing linoleum cut printing, and playing music in local bands.

Janis’s brother, Steve Swalwell, began working in glass with us at the age of 15. He participated in our early Arts & Crafts Co-op, the collaborative San Juan Glass Studio, both in Seattle, and joined us as a summer worker at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood while observing and learning more about glass in the early 70’s. Steve continued with us into our first independent company, the Glass Eye Studio, both blowing glass and as a data analyst in technical support and cost accounting in the 80’s. Taking time away for study, he became a Radiographer at UW Medical Center, Seattle, specialized in medical informatics and then became adjunct hospital administrator. After many years, he retired and joined us again on Whidbey Island at Island Art Glass.