Some artists are called at an early age and follow their artistic vision fervently, with a set goal in mind for their chosen medium -- they dominate it and become its master. Others, like Scott Amrhein, discover their artistic leanings in a more serendipitous manner. They are led down the artist's path by that artform as it entices them, and their artistic journey unfolds.

When Amrhein's wife decided to take up stained glass as a hobby back in the late 70's, he soon found himself drawn to the art. While working in the metal casting industry, he began designing glass projects and accepting small commission work on his own time. Before long he landed a commission producing windows for a four-star restaurant in Milwaukee, and his career in glass was sealed.

In 1988 Amrhein and his business partner and wife Cathy established High Cliff Studio where they continued designing and fabricating art glass for site-specific areas throughout the Midwest. In 1996 Amrhein expanded his creative efforts to include slumped glass bowls. Again, the art form seemed to lead him to develop his own special style and creation - the "lumen" bowl.

Through a series of experiments the lumen bowls evolved -- each with its unique metallic organic pattern, created as the metallic finish resists gravity when the hot glass slumps in the kiln.

"I want to express not only the fluid, lava-like nature of glass in its molten state," Amrhein says, "but also the finely polished material that man has created from sand, lime and ash. The absence of primary colors and the simplicity of design are the trademarks of the pieces. It must be noted that since heat and gravity form the bowl, no two are exactly alike. I relinquish my control to nature!"

To complement the lustrous bowls, Amrhein has designed several primitive-style bases created from wood and metal, resulting in a striking presentation. Today over 90 galleries in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico display Amrhein's lumen bowls, including the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and the Los Angeles Museum of Art.


Although he has traveled extensively, Amrhein remains firmly rooted in his native Wisconsin. His appreciation of the arts, he says, is a direct result of the wealth of natural beauty that surrounds him. As Thoreau said, "I went to the woods to live my life deliberately," Amrhein believes those are wise words to ponder. "I want my life to reflect those simple words," he said, "in a time when lives are not always so simple."