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Rex B. Cravat 1947-2001 Glass Sculptor Extraordinaire Born in Reno, Nevada in 1947, Rex Buckley Cravat also lived in California, Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota and finally in New Jersey’s Delaware River Valley. A man truly in love with nature’s splendor, Rex was a consummate outdoorsman, who spent his favorite hours in the mountains and deserts of the Western USA. His passion for Mother Nature remains alive in his expertly sculpted glass.
Rex’s mother was a school teacher and a ventriloquist. His father was Sundance Cravat, a well-known glass sculptor, goldsmith, engraver, painter, wood carver, cowboy and showman. Rex not only inherited his father’s artistic abilities, but he actually surpassed Sundance’s skill in the area of glass sculpting. He received his very first glass sculpting lesson from his father and then in 1968 he had the privilege of working with the famous paperweight maker, Harold Hacker, at Hacker’s Knotts Berry Farm Studio. Soon thereafter, Rex was creating prize showpieces and displays for the Crystal Palace in Las Vegas. And, for thirteen years, he operated his own successful glass shop in Tucson’s Trail Dust Town.
Rex’s elaborate sculpture titled, The Sentinel, was in The Corning Museum of Glass New Glass Review 18 in February of 1997. Each year, Corning picks the top 100 glass sculptors in the world. And, with sculptors from 40 countries competing, Rex Cravat was among those chosen for this honor. The Corning competition included all types of glass sculpting, not just the flame-working technique in which Rex was proficient. The Sentinel (pictured right) was created with colored glass, clear glass and fumed with pure silver and 24K gold. Last I heard, The Sentinel was held in a private collection.
See text and photos about Rex in the Delaware Valley on next pages. Photos of the mural done in Rex’s memory are included. |
The
Sentinel, (pictured
above) hard glass, frosted,
Bird
Nest Scene (below) hard glass, frosted |
