Basic HTML Version
H
iram Toraason knew he
was a pretty good artist
in high school. As a stu-
dent at St. Bede’s in Peru, he was
exposed to a variety of artistic
media and learned he could do
quite a bit.
“But I also knew I wasn’t go-
ing to go to school for art. That
wasn’t something we did in my
family. So I went to Southern (Il-
linois University) and majored in
business. That’s the sort of thing
we do,” Toraason said.
But it was at SIU that Toraason
learned how to use glass as a
medium for fine art and he hasn’t
been able to let go of it since. So
now the sort of thing he does
is make art from glass, going
from what is accepted by friends
and family to being part of an
“endangered species” — and he
wouldn’t want it any other way.
Our “Artist in Residence” for
January-February did put his
business degree to use, taking
the knowledge gained from those
classes and opening his own busi-
ness, Toraason Glass in Peoria.
It is in that workshop and
studio at 506 Evans St. that Toraa-
son and his staff create, making
items from glass that range from
vases to Christmas ornaments,
from light fixtures to plates and
platters, from glass hearts to large
teeth.
Each piece is unique, from its
shape to its colors to the precise
detailing necessary for some of
them.
From start to finish, the items
are blown, shaped and finished
by hand into as much as work
of art as a water color portrait or
bronze sculpture. “From begin-
ning to end, these are made with
these hands,” Toraason said re-
cently while showing much of his
work on shelves in his studio.
He doesn’t advertise widely
but markets himself almost solely
through his works, by word of
mouth and through his “for the
common good approach” to
helping others, something few
self-employed artists can afford
to do. For example, Toraason will
donate items he has made to a
non-profit that then can sell or
auction it to raise money. In the
case of Easter Seals, he will invite
children served by that agency
to his workshop so they can help
make items they then can keep or
sell for the organization.
Toraason gets commissioned
more and more to create special,
one-of-a-kind items for people,
organizations or even companies.
For example, he did the glass
sculpture work just inside the
new foyer at Methodist Medical
Center, right down to the glass
flowers that are part of the huge
package.
Caterpillar Inc. commissioned
him to create two awards. The
first is an award presented to
company engineers when they
Hiram Toraason keeps his ‘endangered
species’ art going strong in Peoria
38
thePeorian.com