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Brian Bowden | profile | all galleries >> Glass ORBits - Contemporary Art Glass Marbles and Other Art Glass For Sale! >> Nathan Gorman Marbles For Sale tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Nathan Gorman Marbles For Sale


I think Nathan Gorman is one of the most exciting marble/sphere artists to come on the scene in a while - and yet, he doesn't actually blow glass himself currently. That's because Nathan's forte is coldworking the glass, and he has quickly established himself as one of the best in the world in this field when it comes to marbles. The actual glass marbles themselves are created by Nathan's collaborators, Doug Whaley and Gary Joshua. In a nutshell, Nathan takes these 'blanks' which are created for him to his specs, and then begins to use his various carving tools to bring that glass to special life in the way a sculptor would, coaxing form and expression out of previously simple looking spheres, in a way that most of us would have never conceived. In addition to the carving, Nathan employs a lot of different inlay techniques, as well as painting and other methods which bring even more added life and pizzazz to the glass. The end results are nothing short of mind-boggling fascination, immediately invoking that 'How the heck did he do that???" response from all who see them.

Nathan is a fantastic artist who is on the way up, and I have caught him at a point where he is now creating art that reaches for that masterpiece status. Some of his work is delicate and fragile, and so amazing in its artistic fragility that you will seek ways to elaborately protect these pieces for the ages to come, so that many future generations will be able to enjoy their smile-conjuring nature as well. If you are open to the endless possibilities of the sphere, then Nathan Gorman is an artist you will want to seek and collect - mark my words!

Here's a little extra bio that Nathan wrote on 1/6/22: "I got into working with glass roughly ten years ago at the Frabel studio in Atlanta. I would find old forgotten pieces of glass that were buried in piles and carve on them for practice. Clear glass was the easiest to obtain and mostly what I worked with although it didn’t show the carving as well as I wanted it to. Without proper lighting, details would easily wash out and the piece would look less dramatic. As I progressed the other artists became intrigued and offered to flamework glass that I could use. Doug Whaley was working there at the time and I asked him if it was possible to layer colors around a core that would express the carving better. He said yes and from that point on he and I spent years dialing in the idea. We found that fine frit worked best and the ideal thickness of each color layer required him to make eight passes through the frit tray with each pass requiring time in the flame. He could only do this with one side of the marble at a time then punty up to the other side and coat that equally. So each color requires sixteen rolls through the frit tray and sixteen passes in the flame. We found some colors didn’t like being stacked with each other, some colors needed more or less time in the flame, and some colors didn’t like being carved. We used up a lot of time doing this work and not having a product we could sell. There were times where weeks of work became cracked and ruined. We hit a sweet spot for a few years where most of what we did together came out great. I am grateful that people like Brian Bowden and many others stuck their neck out and said yes, this can be included as a contemporary marble. They provided an audience and members who were willing to invest in my time and Doug's time allowing us to continue practicing our craft."

Please click on a gallery to see more images of each marble and to purchase available marbles. I ship worldwide.

#8: Egg Shell Size: 2.13 Price: $430
:: #8: "Egg Shell" Size: 2.13" Price: $430  ::
#12: Key to the Cosmos Size: 2.50 Price: $1,500
:: #12: "Key to the Cosmos" Size: 2.50" Price: $1,500  ::
#14: Eons of the Ancient Size: 2.06 Price: $1,600
:: #14: "Eons of the Ancient" Size: 2.06" Price: $1,600 ::
#16: Hope-Light-Life Size: 3.81 Price: $900
:: #16: "Hope-Light-Life" Size: 3.81" Price: $900 ::
#17: Hollow Geometry Size: 3.03 Price: $900
:: #17: "Hollow Geometry" Size: 3.03" Price: $900 ::
#20: Geodesic Fragility Size: 2.74 Price: $1,100
:: #20: "Geodesic Fragility" Size: 2.74" Price: $1,100  ::
#46: HoneyBee Hideout Size: 3.14 Price: $1,500
:: #46: "HoneyBee Hideout" Size: 3.14" Price: $1,500 ::
#47: Azure Dreams Size: 3.07 Price: $1,500
:: #47: "Azure Dreams" Size: 3.07" Price: $1,500 ::
#48: Star Paths Size: 2.03 Price: $240
:: #48: "Star Paths" Size: 2.03" Price: $240 ::
#49: Activision Engagement Size: 2.31 Price: $390
:: #49: "Activision Engagement" Size: 2.31" Price: $390 ::
#50: Borovirus Bloodworks Size: 1.53 Price: $200
:: #50: "Borovirus Bloodworks" Size: 1.53" Price: $200 ::
#51: Borovirus Splinter Size: 1.85 Price: $480
:: #51: "Borovirus Splinter" Size: 1.85" Price: $480 ::
#52: Borovirus Icicles Size: 1.44 Price: $230
:: #52: "Borovirus Icicles" Size: 1.44" Price: $230 ::
#54: Borovirus Crystalline Size: 2.31 Price: $450
:: #54: "Borovirus Crystalline" Size: 2.31" Price: $450 ::
#55: Borovirus Terps Size: 1.54 Price: $200
:: #55: "Borovirus Terps" Size: 1.54" Price: $200 ::
Ode to the Foodies  Size: 1.88  Price: SOLD
:: "Ode to the Foodies" Size: 1.88" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Verde Size: 2.35 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Verde" Size: 2.35" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Waterworld Size: 3.06 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Waterworld" Size: 3.06" Price: SOLD  ::
Spherical Living Size: 2.44 Price: SOLD
:: "Spherical Living" Size: 2.44" Price: SOLD  ::
Death Star Size: 2.74 Price: SOLD
:: "Death Star" Size: 2.74" Price: SOLD  ::
Death Star Metamorph Size: 2.05 Price: SOLD
:: "Death Star Metamorph" Size: 2.05" Price: SOLD  ::
Spinal Zap Size: 2.25 Price: SOLD
:: "Spinal Zap" Size: 2.25" Price: SOLD  ::
Overlord Size: 2.52 Price: SOLD
:: "Overlord" Size: 2.52" Price: SOLD  ::
Utopian Keymaster  Size: 2.34  Price: SOLD
:: "Utopian Keymaster" Size: 2.34" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Mutatorstrain Size: 1.36 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Mutatorstrain" Size: 1.36" Price: SOLD  ::
SKull Crusher Size: 2.69 Price: SOLD
:: "SKull Crusher" Size: 2.69" Price: SOLD  ::
Robotic Formation Size: 2.71 Price: SOLD
:: "Robotic Formation" Size: 2.71" Price: SOLD ::
Trapped in Splendor  Size: 2.52 (glass) x 3.57 (total)  Price: SOLD
:: "Trapped in Splendor" Size: 2.52" (glass) x 3.57" (total) Price: SOLD ::
Borovirus Snowspike Size: 1.49 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Snowspike" Size: 1.49" Price: SOLD ::
Borovirus Mutant Size: 1.19 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Mutant" Size: 1.19" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Darkheart Size: 1.20 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Darkheart" Size: 1.20" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Watership Size: 1.24 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Watership" Size: 1.24" Price: SOLD  ::
Amulet of Gormandia Size: 2.70 Price: SOLD
:: "Amulet of Gormandia" Size: 2.70" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Drowner Size: 1.19 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Drowner" Size: 1.19" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Slimer Size: 1.27 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Slimer" Size: 1.27" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Blizzard Size: 1.20 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Blizzard" Size: 1.20" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Darkpassenger Size: 1.15 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Darkpassenger" Size: 1.15" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Oilslick Size: 1.37 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Oilslick" Size: 1.37" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Freezercore Size: 1.47 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Freezercore" Size: 1.47" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Snowball Size: 1.13 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Snowball" Size: 1.13" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Landmine Size: 1.17 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Landmine" Size: 1.17" Price: SOLD ::
Borovirus Happypill Size: 1.13 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Happypill" Size: 1.13" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Devolution Size: 0.99 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Devolution" Size: 0.99" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Icerzone Size: 1.08 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Icerzone" Size: 1.08" Price: SOLD  ::
Borovirus Earthchime Size: 1.37 Price: SOLD
:: "Borovirus Earthchime" Size: 1.37" Price: SOLD  ::
Hippie Holiday Size: 2.15 Price: SOLD
:: "Hippie Holiday" Size: 2.15" Price: SOLD  ::
Incan Ecstasy Size: 2.27 Price: SOLD
:: "Incan Ecstasy" Size: 2.27" Price: SOLD ::
Peach Pound Size: 1.64 Price: SOLD
:: "Peach Pound" Size: 1.64" Price: SOLD  ::
Marbhole Size: 1.57 Price: SOLD
:: "Marbhole" Size: 1.57" Price: SOLD ::
Skullbert Size: 1.97 Price: SOLD
:: "Skullbert" Size: 1.97" Price: SOLD  ::
Cherry Bombed Size: 1.44 Price: SOLD
:: "Cherry Bombed" Size: 1.44" Price: SOLD  ::
Mine Field  Size: 2.41  Price: SOLD
:: "Mine Field" Size: 2.41" Price: SOLD ::
Life as a Sideshow  Size: 2.47  Price: SOLD
:: "Life as a Sideshow" Size: 2.47" Price: SOLD ::
Seven Sacks and Snacks Size: 2.33 Price: SOLD
:: "Seven Sacks and Snacks" Size: 2.33" Price: SOLD ::
Circular Introversion  Size: 1.60  Price: SOLD
:: "Circular Introversion" Size: 1.60" Price: SOLD ::
Glassivore  Size: 1.66  Price: SOLD
:: "Glassivore" Size: 1.66" Price: SOLD ::