Courtney Branam approaches his glass practice with a sensibility informed by a reverence for tradition and technique, yet with a unique perspective that is as fresh and contemporary as it is unique and original.  Design and craftsmanship lend way to personal vision as color, surface and form come together to compose recognizable visual motifs of the natural world; symbols that speak sculpturally towards the nature of human curiosity and our tendency to marvel. Through blown glass processes, Branam emulates the structure of clouds, moons, suns, mountains, trees and rainbows as the physical focal point in his current work. Like childhood memories of when we would lose track of time gazing upward and acknowledging something bigger is always in the balance, Branam’s work serves as a similar mediator between us and our imagination.  It allows us to contemplate our sense of place, where we are at, where we could eventually go or who we could eventually become.  In this light Branam’s work is like a navigational tool, directing our thought towards new areas of introspection and self-examination.Drawing upon the mysticism of the sky and the coded language that is spoken through the various phenomenal happenings within it, Courtney Branam’s work taps into our inherent desire to wonder and, in turn, allows us to wander; objects that serve as a vehicle to rediscover how we understand ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.

Courtney Branam was born and raised in Houston, TX.  While studying engineering and graphic design at Texas Tech University, he discovered his passion for blowing glass. Since graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Courtney has traveled from Alaska to Australia - and parts in between - practicing his craft.  He currently lives in Seattle and has worked as a freelance glass blower in numerous studios.  When not in his own studio, Courtney can frequently be found working at the Tacoma Museum of Glass with the hotshop team, at Pilchuck Glass School and in studios of Pratt Fine Arts Center. Courtney has participated in several group and solo exhibitions and in 2013 received the People's Choice Award at The Tacoma Museum of Glass Red Hot Auction. Courtney has taught at Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle WA, UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, NY, The Appalachian Center for Craft at Tennessee Technological University, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pilchuck Glass School, and China Academy of Arts, College of Craft, in Hangzhou, China.