Fenton Craftsmen - Kelsey Murphy and Robert Bomkamp

Artists Kelsey Murphy and Robert Bomkamp call their southern West Virginia studio “Made in Heaven,” and the name is an apt one, indeed. Collectors and museums alike have come to regard Kelsey and Robert’s works as “heavenly!”

Kelsey and Robert specialize in glass cameo carving, an exacting art that demands both skill in design and great dexterity in execution. In recent months, they have teamed with Fenton Art Glass to design and produce some remarkable limited edition pieces. Kelsey’s “Dragonflies on Ebony Favrene” was part of Fenton’s limited edition Horizons group in 2006, and her “Gauley River Sunrise” Vase (limited to 375) on Fenton’s Burmese glass was an instant hit with Fenton collectors when it debuted in late 2006. Likewise, Robert’s “West Virginia Woodland” lamp on Burmese sold out in record time.

Cameo carving is a a painstaking process. After the glass has been annealed, a special mask is taped to the surface of the glass. Using an advanced “vignetting” technique, each piece is carefully sandcarved, by hand, using aluminum oxide crystal under pressure to take away some of the surface. Great individual skill and experience are needed to control this operation, as many distinct stages of successive cameo carving are required to create the remarkable depth and the intricate details.

We at Fenton Art Glass look forward to working with Kelsey and Robert to develop additional examples of their distinctive art on Fenton glass. Click here to view more cameo carved creations from Kelsey Murphy and Robert Bomkamp.