St Pete Retreat
Mar 05, 2026
On the Road Again
We slipped out of Washington just before the flooding began. On December 1st, we headed to the Bay Area to see family, then continued on to Phoenix for more family time — especially with Kala.
In between hugs and catch-ups with old friends, we ate incredibly well (the tacos… unforgettable — thank you, MikeeyB) Huarachis .We also delivered "Mint Chip" for a group exhibition at the Idea Museum, “Artfully Absurd: Quirks, Questions and Creative Chaos.”
We also managed to visit the butterfly exhibit for the very first time. (Thank you Katy and JP) So magical— though in hindsight, we might have thought twice about bringing a child who’s afraid of bugs to a bug exhibit. The carousel made it all worthwhile. He chose the Gator all on his own lol.
Weather permitting....It was that time of year in AZ and Steve Ciezki had his furnace running. Stopped by to catch up with a quick morning blowslot. Leaving Phoenix was difficult. We drove through Dallas next to see the Kittrell crew and drop off “Don’t Let Speed Change You”. With a cold and quick stop in Jackson, MI for tacos, we settled for a couple of days blowing glass with friends in Americus, GA.
In Americus, we got to see where the little dragon was born- Mobile Glassblowing and picked up an incredible mold. Thank you Phil! Devan Cole hosted us. We had a wonderful time blowing glass out of his Dragon, reconnecting with friends, making new ones, and even meeting a few local legends. It was one of those creative detours that fills you back up.
We arrived in St. Petersburg on my birthday and spent the most perfect day — the museum, the farmers market, dinner, pelicans diving into a bait ball in the bay. It felt like a gift.
The next morning, we headed into Duncan McClellan Gallery to begin our residency — and from the moment we walked into DMG, each day bled into the next. Thankfully Pauli and Kevin were available to assist us with any of our hot shop needs. We worked relentlessly for nearly three weeks, and were able to complete eleven new pieces. Gillian designed a great flow to the show which highlighted the strengths in pieces. The gallery and studio had so much daily traffic, we were constantly rewarded with opportunities to interact with the public while in the process of making. The residency and show were very successful, made even better by the support of the entire DMG crew.
We even stayed an extra week to complete a special commissioned piece — the kind of opportunity that makes the long days worth it.
After one more stop in Georgia to say goodbye to dear friends, we raced back to Washington — bearly before the snow hit.
We had such an inspiring time making new work and building new friendships in St. Petersburg. And now, we’re home and already deep into preparations for our next opportunity in March. Stay tuned. Thank you.
Jason returned with a lingering “y’all” in his vocabulary — thank you, Leilani, Figz, and Pauli.
