About
Linda Ross opened Ross Art Studio in 1999 to provide state-of-the-art custom glass casting services to artists. Since then RAS has evolved from a lost-wax casting boutique for a few New York- and New England-based sculptors into a preeminent source of custom glass design and fabrication services for artists, galleries and museums; architects and designers; and businesses, NGOs and branding companies.
Our areas of expertise include:
casting, fusing, slumping, hot pour, blowing and flame-working; design, model and mold making; extensive cold-working processes both mechanical and chemical.
Glass is a particularly unpredictable fabrication material, compared to metal or wood, ceramic or plastic. During our twenty-five-year history we’ve designed and built a workshop to optimally meet the challenges of working with many types of glass, for a variety of applications.
At the beginning of every project, whether a design is represented by a rough sketch or by digital images and/or 3-D models, we research, plan, experiment, prototype–-and sometimes start over-–in order to perfect each step in the fabrication process.
We have developed several different mold making systems, including the use of specialty rubber and waxes to render the finest detail; proprietary investment formulae to provide the best surfaces; and custom-derived adhesion methods to lend structural stability and expand application possibilities.
Each of our kilns was designed to handle a particular type of form; some are used for multiple simultaneous casts; one will accommodate large-scale and complex forms. The computer-controlled kilns were designed to perform the demanding, precise annealing programs necessary to relieve the strain in the glass, created as the material transforms back from a liquid to a solid.
We use the highest quality materials available, and expertly navigate among the choices—including pure lead crystal Schott glass, soda-lime from Bullseye, and Gaffer casting crystal from New Zealand—to produce the desired color, surface characteristics, and translucence.
Over the years we’ve developed a first-class cold-working shop. Diamond saws, wet grinders, drill presses and specialty hand tools, sandblasters, a reciprolap, and an acid bath room enable us to realize the most challenging finishing specifications.
Ross Art Studio occupies 5000 sq ft. in a renovated artist/industrial building in the Hyde Park section of Boston. The 25-year history of the studio is a case study in steady growth and expanding capabilities.
For many projects—particularly in the architectural and public art areas—our expertise extends beyond our fabrication studio to various, often exacting, on-site installation situations.
Finally, as devoted as we are to the tools and technology we use to produce beautiful work, we know that the most meaningful factors in our success are the people involved in each project. From our interns and expert studio crew, to the designers, engineers, and craftspeople who make up our network of advisors and contractors—it’s human passion, talent, and experience that make RAS an incomparable destination for the design and creation of custom glass work.