Dominick Labino (1910 – 1987) was an American internationally known scientist, inventor, artist and master craftsman in glass.
He is responsible for sixty patents in the U.S. and hundreds in foreign countries, and is particularly remembered for his development of glass fibers, glass papers, and furnace designs.
He invented a formula that allowed glass to melt at low temperatures in small furnaces suitable for the needs of individual glassblowers, and thus, the international studio glass movement was begun.
Labino was trained as an engineer at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began his professional career at Owens-Illinois, Inc., a glass manufacturing plant in Clarion, Pennsylvania.
Labino’s technical training facilitated his work as a glass innovator.
The unique combination of scientific knowledge and aesthetic inventiveness give the artist the ability to create extraordinary shapes, which give flashing light to his pieces.
The range of intensities of color in his fused multicolored forms, often contained in clear glass casing, along with the varied surface qualities, create broken reflective lights or light-absorbing matte textures.
Although an innovator in form, Labino is probably best known for his use of color.
The colorless glass encases interior veils of “dichroic” color, causing the hues to change as light strikes the piece from different angles.

The graceful, fluid form of Labino’s sculpture complements the special nature of the material, but it is his extraordinary sense of color and his ability to create color relationships through technical expertise that made him a master of twentieth-century glassmaking.
More of Dominick Labrino’s amazing glasswork can be found at https://hudsongallery.net/artist/dominick-labino/ and https://www.artnet.com/artists/dominick-labino/.
I feel so fancy… My best paperweight, from glass blowing classes, is also “colorless glass encases interior veils of ‘dichroic’ color, causing the hues to change as light strikes the piece from different angles.” Dunno if I have a pic anywhere and not even sure where it is right now.
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i believe I have one too! Now IVE gotta go downstairs in my craft room/library and find it!
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Yes Yes! Do you know who made it?
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I made it!! I took glassblowing in college.
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No Way!!!!!!!
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Way! F
It’s the first thing that I made and the only thing that survived all stages. It’s red & ?? (free in kiln) glass inside, fume (iridescent spray), and a coat of clear glass.
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Proud of you, girlfriend….
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Yes yes! I found mine — made by Gilbert C. Johnson — trained by Dominick Labino! WooHoo!
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That’s gorgeous!!!!!
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So intricate — and he was the one who developed the swirl inside technique!
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Now I have to look him up!
My instructor still demos/sells at the Laguna Festival of the Arts every year (he doesn’t remember me; I took the class in the early 80s).
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Just saw this INSANE glass vid and thought you’d appreciate it too: https://www.tumblr.com/jabberding0/792211060070498304/glass-masters?source=share
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It is indeed insane how a true glass artist makes it look like it’s nothing to pull glass into whatever shape you want! I soooo admire this amazing talent!
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Amazing, indeed! I have always been fascinated by glass artworks. A friend of mine’s family owned a jewelry store (ages ago) and they would get these Venetian glass candies in every so often. Naturally, I would BUY as many as I could afford and gift family and friends boxes of candy that would not make their hips expand… After all these decades, I hope I kept a few for myself. (I need to dig through some boxes)
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Time to Redecorate! haha …
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