Hiram Toraason, Glass Artist

Starting off experimenting with oil painting, ceramics, print making, and bronze casting in high school, it was not until an elective at Southern Illinois University that Peru native, Hiram Toraason, found his artistic niche. In 1997, Toraason attended Carbondale with the intention of majoring in Business Marketing, but was always dabbling in artistic electives. He says the moment he stepped into the glass studio, he knew he belonged. After working as an artist in North Carolina for four years and studying art as a student in Costa Rica before that, Toraason now owns a glass blowing studio in Peoria, Illinois, where he practices this immaculate art form. He describes glass art as being "intense, hot, exciting, and dangerous." He enjoys "playing with fire" and attributes his artistic growth to his methodical and unconventional tendencies learned from his two very different teachers.

Toraason Glass was founded in 2003 and is a 4,000 square foot glass blowing studio and gallery. The gallery offers a variety of finished glass pieces for show and for sale, from functional to the one of a kind creations