David Wight, the world’s premier glass wave sculptor, almost drowned at age 11.
“My dad was floating down a little offshoot of water from the main river. I really wanted to do it…my mom really didn’t want me to but I convinced her,” says Wight.
As he arrived at the mouth of the river, he realized that there were powerful whirlpools that started to pull him under.
“They made me feel like I had handcuffs on my feet, and took me under the water.”
His mom, screaming in panic, followed him along the riverbank. Luckily, Wight was able to get a breath of air in here and there.
“I got pulled under again, and everything stopped. Every beautiful moment I’d ever spent with my mom came up like a Polaroid picture, and I could look at it, feel it, love it, and there were hundreds of pictures… At the last picture I was hit with the most incredible feeling of peace, gratitude, and happiness. And then the river let me up.”
Wight felt changed when he exited the river; his entire outlook on life had shifted.
“I realized that anything is possible [if] we believe in it, and that trust is the underlying current in life.”
People who have near-death experiences may lean away from reminders of the event, but Wight did the opposite. He asked himself what he really wanted to bring to the world—which was how he found himself, many years later, shaping molten glass into beautiful waves.
Photograph by Kendra Nicholas
Inspiration struck Wight during a trip to the Caribbean Islands. He stumbled upon Trafalgar Falls, a magnificent double waterfall surrounded by lush foliage on the Island of Dominica.
“As I was walking away from the waterfall, and the sound was dissipating, I could viscerally feel all of the stress of my life washing off me. That’s when I realized, it’s the sound of water that is nourishing, healing, and rejuvenating, and that’s what’s important to our bodies,” says Wight. “I realized I need to make the sound of water… That’s what I want to bring into people’s homes and businesses and lives.”
Photograph by Kendra Nicholas
After starting out with water fountains, he studied glass blowing in Bellingham, then attended the Pilchuck Glass School.
“I knew I wanted to work with glass because it’s so translucent, and flows like water when it’s molten,” says Wight. “So I was trying to figure out, what form does water take? How do you make water? How do you take this molten material and capture the essence and movement of water? Then I realized: we recognize water when we see waves.”
Photograph by Kendra Nicholas
That was when Wight began creating wave sculptures—30 years later he’s still making them. In his Bellingham studio, he works with at least five other people, each of whom has 20-35 years of experience working with glass.
“They’re so highly skilled that they make it look easy, because the amount of time they’ve spent with this material allows them to bring me the hot glass at the right size, in the right shape, at the right time, so I can layer and sculpt it…It’s a real fun dance,” says Wight.
Photograph by Chloe Nelson
Wight’s glass wave sculptures are incredibly popular. Not only was he the glass artist on Princess Cruise Lines for five years, but he is also Disney’s solo glass artist, and his work has been shown and sold at galleries all over the country.
Wight’s stamina, internal motivation, and confidence have guided him through his journey to discover who he wants to be and what he wants to bring to the world.
“To [live the dream you desire most], you have to know what it is and put it out there, and then work really hard. You can manifest anything you want, if you know what you want,” says Wight.
Wight’s studio is hosting a live holiday exhibition on Dec. 14, from 1–4 p.m. The show is open to all ages and is the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit! 2111 Lincoln St., Ste. 102, Bellingham, 360.389.5699, davidwightglassart.com
