About Frank Varnell

future masterpiece

EMPLOYMENT
Frank manages and engineers engineering projects for Intel.
In his "spare" time, Frank is actively involved with the Craft Center  at UCSD where he blows glass and
 teaches Neon art tube bending. His work can be found in selected galleries and private collections.

ARTIST STATEMENT
The mediums of my craft, Neon and hot glass, present differing seductive properties that propel 
my work. I suppose that vivid color and intriguing shapes are the common ingredient. Neon is a
deliberate process whose illumination results in a piece larger than the work itself. Hot glass is
reminiscent of my years as a jazz musician. Making a piece has an initial intent and plan but
the process is a performance where improvisation is not only an advantage, it's a necessity. 

The content, or subject comes from current passions, whimsical notions, strong emotions, 
a fixation on a shape, or simply an attempt to push  the limits of the medium. My background 
in electronics and engineering creep into the picture often, usually in the form of animation. 

SELCECTED EXHIBITIONS
2001 "Energy Car" , Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles
2000 "Traveling Light 2000" , Let there Be Neon, New York
         "Politicly Lit", Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles, California  "A Group Exhibition of Neon" 
                   Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles, California
         "Singled Out 2000", UCSD, Grove Gallery, La Jolla, Califonia
1999  Hsinchu International Glass Art Festival, Hsinchu Municipal Cultural Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.
         "Selected Faculty", UCSD Grove Gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, California
         "Let There Be Light" Graduate Gallery, UCSD, La Jolla, Califronia
         "Light span" Installation for Sony Art Walk, San Diego, California
         "On The Oceanside" Installation on the Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, California
1998   "Traveling Light" Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles, California
	      "Tea for Two" Grove Gallery, UCSD, San Diego, California
          "Eight in One" Emerald Tower & Art Walk, San Diego, California
          "Traveling Light"  Seto Shinyou Kinko Gallery, Seto, Japan
1997    "Coffee!" Grove Cafe, UCSD, San Diego California

PERSONAL
Birth place: Denver, Colorado

EDUCATION
BSEE- University of Colorado

ORGANIZATIONS
Glass Art Society
Coalition of Light Artists

CONTACT INFO
email: frankvarnell@yahoo.com

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