The Squash Vase: When Glass Starts to Feel Alive
There’s a point in almost every glassmaking session when the material begins to behave like something biological. It sags, folds, stretches, and collapses under its own weight in ways that feel strangely alive. The Squash Vase series emerged from leaning into that behavior rather than resisting it. I use a mold form to create the ripples, one traditionally used for making glass pumpkins, but this is my interpretation of that category, removing the kitsch and replacing it with sophistication and luxury.
You can explore the full Squash Vase collection in our Vases and New Design sections.
Inspired by Organic Forms in Nature
I’ve always been drawn to objects found in nature that hold both awkwardness and beauty at the same time; gourds, seed pods, squash, shells, river stones. They’re asymmetrical but balanced, heavy yet soft, functional yet deeply sculptural. Their forms feel evolved rather than designed.
The Squash Vase grew out of that love for organic form, translating those natural silhouettes into handblown glass that feels both familiar and unexpected.
Exploring Compression, Gravity, and Volume
The Squash Vase began as an exploration of compression and gravity in blown glass. I wanted to create a vessel that felt swollen and segmented, as though the material had been gently gathered inward by invisible pressure. The ridged silhouette references the natural fluting found in acorn squash and pumpkins, while also nodding to architectural columns, drapery, and folded fabric.
What interests me most is the tension between softness and solidity. Even though the vessels are made from thick, weighty glass, they appear almost inflated—as if still in motion.
How Light, Color, and Shadow Animate the Form
The curves of each Squash Vase catch and distort light from every angle, creating deep internal reflections and shifting shadows throughout the day. In darker, saturated colors, the forms feel dense and atmospheric. In brighter, translucent tones, they seem to glow from within.
Because glass is inherently reflective, the vase becomes a responsive object in the home—picking up nearby color, changing with the weather, and subtly transforming as the light moves.
The Making: A Physical, Time-Sensitive Dance
The process of making these pieces is highly physical. Each vase begins as a gather of molten glass from the furnace. While still fluid, the form is shaped through a series of controlled compressions and sculptural techniques that push the glass into organic, lobed volumes.
Timing is everything. The glass must remain hot enough to move, yet cool enough to hold tension and structure. Too soft, and the form collapses. Too cold, and it resists movement entirely. There’s a constant negotiation between gravity, heat, air pressure, and touch—one that gets permanently recorded in the finished piece.
Designed for Minimal, Sculptural Florals
The opening is intentionally small and understated, allowing the vase to function beautifully with just a few stems or even a single branch. These forms don’t require large floral arrangements; they work best when the composition remains minimal and sculptural.
A single flowering stem, a clipped garden branch, or dried grasses create just enough contrast against the rounded volume of the vessel. The result is a quiet but powerful statement piece on a dining table, nightstand, or entry console.
A Sculptural Object, With or Without Flowers
The Squash Vase is also designed to exist beautifully without flowers at all. I often style them as standalone sculptural objects on shelving, stone surfaces, or dining tables, or grouped in clusters where the forms begin to interact like a landscape.
The reflective quality of glass allows them to shift continuously with their environment - absorbing surrounding colors, sunlight, and shadow in subtle ways. Over time, they become part of the architecture of a space rather than a seasonal accessory.
Esque Studio: Where Function Meets Sculpture
At Esque Studio, I’m always interested in blurring the line between functional object and sculpture. Utility should never diminish presence. The Squash Vase embodies that philosophy fully. It is a vessel, but also an exploration of volume, movement, color, and material memory.
Every piece is made entirely by hand, and no two are identical. That individuality is essential. Each vase carries evidence of the moment it was made—the heat, the movement, and the subtle unpredictability that gives handmade objects their soul.