About Matthew Buechner
For over 40 years, Matthew Buechner has dedicated his life to his passion for glassblowing. Born and raised in Corning, New York to father Thomas, a renowned glassblower, painter, and writer and mother Mary, also an artist, Matthew grew up in a life surrounding art. Matthew attributes his appreciation for making and collecting art to his loving, artistic parents.
At age eighteen, Matthew had the opportunity to work as an apprentice for a glassblower, and it changed his life. He fell in love with the craft, as it was both creative and physical, like a sport. He describes, “glassblowing is art, craft, and sport, all rolled into one.”
Matthew dedicated his life to glassblowing, studying it at Hartwick College and later as an apprentice at the Glasshutte Eisch in Frauenau, Germany as a bit gatherer and making stemware.
With his only savings, Matthew moved to Newport, Rhode Island in hopes of starting his own glass blowing business with his wife Adrian in 1981. It was then that Thames Glass was established, and it has been operated by him and his wife ever since.
Matthew has participated in workshops at Haystack Mountain School, New York Experimental Glass Workshop, Rhode Island School of Design, and Penland School of Crafts. He has taught glassblowing at the Bild-Werk arts program in Frauenau, Germany. Matthew’s glass is exhibited and sold internationally and is included in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass and Fraunau Museum of Glass. It has been featured in the Smithsonian Mail Order Catalogue as well as in numerous other publications.
When asked what his goals for the business are, he said, “My goal for Thames Glass is to produce the highest possible quality glass and also make sure that the process is a source of pride and pleasure for everyone involved. I want our customers to enjoy our glass and know that it was made by someone, not pumped out by a machine. Years of time and practice have gone into everything we make and that dedication enables us to make beautiful, well-crafted glass that we hope you will enjoy.”
