Meet Our Artists

John J. Schiff III - John J. Schiff III is a glass artist, designer, philanthropist and a Vice President with Schiff Agency in Fairfield, Ohio.  He received a B.A. in Glass Arts from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio in 1987.  He’s also a 1982 graduate of Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.  John has always been interested in art, taking classes throughout high school.  He also has a curious vein and that is what started him into the medium of glass.  During class in high school, he often wondered what was being kept in that locked cabinet.  One day he finally got the chance to find out and discovered the world of enameling.  After that, glass became his medium of choice. 

In 1978, while in high school, he entered his first art show and placed third in the Juried Governors Exhibition.  In his second year of college at Ohio State, he co-founded the Student Art Exhibition Council and became a trustee.  This organization still exists almost 20 years later and is known as the Ohio State University Glass Club.  In 1986, he co-founded and became a trustee of Glass Axis, a public access glass studio in Columbus.  He participated as an artist in the Heart of Ohio Gallery Group Show in 1986 with Don Boyd as the curator.  In 1987 his artwork was shown in the Columbus Art League Juried Exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art.

In 1988, he became a trustee of Golden Glass Studio and School in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This was one of the first glass studios located in Cincinnati.  From 1989 to 1992 he was a member of Friends of the Museum at the Cincinnati Art Museum. In 1990 he participated in the Wooster College Group Show with his glass art.  In 1992 he co-founded River City Works located in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He is also a trustee for River City Works.  River City Works was later donated to the Art Academy of Cincinnati although Mr. Schiff still supports its operation.  In 1996 he participated in a two person show with Marta Hewett Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The show featured glass and paintings.  In 1998 John participated in the Omni Netherland Hotel Collection.

2000 proved to be the start of even bigger projects for John.  FRCH Federated Department Store commissioned him to do the Macy’s West Glass Quilt Installations.  These installations encompassed three stores located in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Dallas and included twelve installations.  They were all designed by John and were done in a fused glass medium.  When Macy’s closed their doors in the Texas location, the installation was acquired by a glass collector.  These designs received honorable mention in Chain Store Design Magazine. In 2003, Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati commissioned John to do an installation on the Psychiatric Floor.  The installation is still there and is entitled “Metamorphosis”.  It is the transitioning of a caterpillar in a cocoon to a butterfly and is representative of the transitioning that takes place in some of the psychiatric settings.

Michael Goodman - Spring 1998, Michael began an apprenticeship with an independent artist, mostly making jewelry and selling his works at art and craft shows.  Autumn 2004 he became a resident of Neusole doing production and public demonstrations.  Today, Michael has led countless public and private demos, workshops and classes.  He is currently wrapping up his 3rd semester instructing college level flameworking, all the while furthering his own education attending industry conferences, lectures and advanced classes/workshops. He recently attended the Glass Craft and Bead Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Mike entered a goblet into the Gallery of Excellence Competition.  We are happy to announce that he took 3rd place in the Professional category.

Nate Freeland - Nate Freeland is an Ohio-born-and-raised artist. He has been living in Cincinnati working with glass since 1999. In 2003 he earned his BFA in communication arts/ digital design from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Since graduation he has focused his artistic energy as far away from the digital world as possible, in more primitive art forms.  While some strive to become the next great maestro of glass smything, Nate's humble approach to the medium (glass) allows him to maintain some sort of sanity, with more achievable goals.          

Sharing knowledge and collaborating thoughts with those who desire grow, is the main vehicle in Nate's personal development. Most of the energy Nate exhausts in the studio is spent toward educating. He has been the front-man of a variety of community education courses, as well as a part time instructor for the College of Mt. St. Joseph,  teaching both hot shop and industrial flat glass (fusing, slumping, kiln forming). Unlike most artists who travel from studio-to-studio, and from state-to-state to expand their knowledge, Nate has been fortunate enough to sit tight in the intimate glass  setting in Cincinnati, allowing others to come to him. He has been an assistant for numerous glass artists such as John J. Schiff III, Warren Trefz, Eric Dahlderg, and others. He has also assisted venetian glass maestro Afro Celotto in a week long work shop, and has gotten his hands dirty helping glass artists such as John Miller, and Richard Royal.  Neusole Glassworks Is where you can find nate  doing what he does best.

Zachary Compton - Zachary Compton has received a BFA in sculpture from the University of Cincinnati and he started his glassblowing career in the City of Cincinnati.  He continued his glassblowing career and education in Pittsburgh, PA working and teaching for the Pittsburgh Glass Center.   His profession as a glassblower continued on the Island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands doing demonstrations and classes for tourists to the island. After a year on the island he moved back to the states working across the country until landing a three month artist-in-residency at Neusole Glassworks.  Zach currently lives in Cincinnati, OH and is an artist of Neusole Glassworks.