The movement of water has always been a part of my life growing up in Michigan. I spent countless hours observing its majestic and poetic grace. Walking along the shorelines of my beloved Lake Superior created a life long connection to water shaping my creative development. These reflective observations became the muse to this seductive, viscous substance called glass. I wanted to emulate the movement of water and the beauty of its natural surroundings in order to capture a small part of a life I often missed. It really was as simple as that. The work to do that was much more intense to create. What the mind and heart knows, effortlessly, may take years to artistically decipher. I finally found my serenity by slowing my observations to the point of watching the grass grow, or capturing a single movement of a wave, then appreciating the way light travels through the atmosphere. It is important to be a witness to life plus share this experience in a way that transforms not only yourself, but other lives as well.

Ali Rogan has been an award-winning artist and teacher for over 20 years. Since 1999 she has been a partner/owner of Cristallo Artisans. Ms. Rogan has been an instructor at the Governor’s School for the Arts, Norfolk, Virginia since 1998, and an Instructor/Faculty with the Contemporary Arts Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia since 1998. She is a past President and Board Member of the Peninsula Glass Guild in Virginia and Board Member for Tidewater Community College, Portsmouth, Virginia. In 2003 Ms. Rogan received a Teaching Fellowship from the SURDNA Foundation, NY, NY . In 2007, she received the Peninsula Glass Guild of Virginia Glass Scholarship Award. She continues to teach a variety of glass workshops throughout Hampton Roads to help further the exploration of contemporary glass. Ms. Rogan pursues her personal studies in art at schools including Pilchuck Glass School, The Studio at Corning Glass Museum, Penland School of Crafts, and Tidewater Community College. She has studied glass under the guidance of Czech maestros Juri Harcuba and Martin Rosol, Japan’s glass casting pioneers, Shin-ichi and Kimiake Higuchi, Italian cameo engraver, Michaela Rinaldo, Seattle’s glass painting virtuoso, Cappy Thomspon, VCU’s past glass professor, Kent Ipsen, plus many others.