Pilchuck t-shirt by Ulrica Hydman-Vallien, 1984

One of the hardest summers I ever spent was the summer of 1984, when we ran the kitchen at Pilchuck Glass Center in Stanwood, WA. We met a lot of artists there that year, many of whom taught me how to blow glass.

One person there that year was artist and designer Ulrica Hydman-Vallien, who painted on glass as she has done for Kosta Boda and other companies. She designed a t-shirt for Pilchuck that summer, seen here, and I still have a shot glass that she decorated and fired for me. It sits on a shelf right next to the one we got from Dale Chihuly.