Jon Goldberg's interest in hot glass began in Old City, Philadelphia. A gallery specializing in studio glass opened across the street from his condo. He was fascinated by the variety and expressiveness of the work on display. The gallery's curator, Maura Shanker, taught classes at Philadelphia's first public access glassblowing studio, Hot Soup. In 1999, she invited Jon to take a class and he was hooked. He continued taking classes there until 2003. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as an assistant teacher. In 2000, Jon took his first class at the Corning Museum of Glass. The class, taught by James Nowak and Pat Collentine, concentrated on 'plasma-neon' work. This experience led to a series of work, culminating in a show at City Hall in Philadelphia. Information about this work and pictures from the City Hall show can be found at Jon's MiniTorr website. A Venetian Technique class, taught by Bill Gudenrath at Corning, brought Jon's glassblowing ability to a new level. He decided to concentrate on developing skill and aesthetic through the study of historical Venetian technique and form. To that end, he participated in Scott Wolfson's goblet making workshop taught by Scott Wolfson at the Crefeld school, and then took Bill's class again at Corning. In Summer of 2004, Jon had the opportunity to take Elio Quarisa's two week goblet workshop at Corning. After the completion of Elio's course, Jon decided to continue to express himself through glassblowing, but realized that developing glassblowing technique required dedication and time commitment. He started making work at Ryan Blythe's studio in Lancaster. While 90 minutes outside the city, this was the closest facility that had the requisite equipment to make Venetian-style work. In preparation for his wedding in 2004, he made goblets for all the attending guests as favors. Since 2003, Jon and Owen Pach have worked closely, teaching together and assisting each other in making work. They have always discussed having their own 'perfect' studio. On those long drives out to Lancaster to make wedding goblets, the ideas gelled into a plan and East Falls Glassworks was born. Jon's full-time job as a computer consultant enabled him to follow his muse, bringing East Falls Glassworks to reality. Once operational, he plans to continue consulting, but teach classes a couple of nights a week and make work over the weekends. Working in glass provides a nice counterbalance to the abstract thought needed for Jon's day job. The physical dexterity and skill required for glassblowing are satifying and have no correlation to the world of computer programming. You can see more of Jon Goldberg's work on our gallery page.