I'm Isak.

I'm a chef and a glass artist, I was born in Seattle in 1979.  My love for cooking began at an early age before I could even physically reach the kitchen countertop. Creating with my hands has always brought me pleasure, and my infinite curiosity in how things work has driven my passions.

After graduating culinary school in 99',  I spent some time working in Seattle as a cook, then I travelled to Italy where I began learning Italian language and cuisine. In 2003 I returned to Seattle and  began to study the art of glassblowing, surrounded by a large community of talented glass artists. 

After developing some basic glassblowing skills I left my job as a chef and found a number of jobs working as an assistant for independent artists as well as in some small artisan blown glass production facilities. For the next four years, I spent all of my free time blowing glass and attending demonstrations, glass studios, galleries, and museums in an effort to learn as much as I could about the material. That period of my life provided a solid foundation of knowledge and skills for using glass as an artistic medium, as well as an endless inspiration and a sense that anything is possible.

At the end of 2007, I had an opportunity to go and live in Tuscany, Italy. Once I discovered that there was glassblowing in the region,  I decided to make the move. Initially I worked in a factory with some Tuscan maestros, but with economic crisis at the end of 2008, many of the glassblowing factories began to struggle and I was eventually laid off. With no glassblowing prospects, I returned to the kitchen and began learning Tuscan cuisine. My passion for glassblowing did not cease and I began building a private glass studio in my free time, I completed it in 2011. 

I've continued working as a chef in various establishments across Tuscany,  but eventually I moved to the province of Florence in January of 2015. After working for a number of years in Florence I decided to move back to the United States to realize a dream.