Cedric Mitchell

His ‘funk is contagious.’ This L.A. glassblower breaks the rules with his stunning vessels

Seated on a chair, with the hum of twin furnaces and the Impressions playing in the background, glassblower Cedric Mitchell is lost in his craft as he and assistant Sara Roller turn and sculpt molten glass with steel shears.

After a few blasts of a blow torch and several trips back and forth to the furnace, the red-hot glass on the rod turns cobalt blue and forms what will eventually become a 7-inch vase.

Color is the first thing you notice about the artist’s hand-blown glass vessels.

“I love color,” Mitchell says, “which is weird because I wear black every day.”

Mitchell, 37, was an emerging hip-hop artist in Tulsa, Okla., when he first considered glassblowing. It was 2012, and he was recording a song in a Tulsa music studio when he noticed his friend’s impressive glass bong.

“He told me about a studio in downtown Tulsa where I could take a glass-blowing class as an elective at my community college,” says Mitchell, who was studying business at Tulsa Community College. “I immediately signed up for the class at 1 a.m.”

Moss is proud to present artisans that inspire us. Learn about Cedric Mitchell, glass blower redefining the practice. FOUNDERS MOSS CAME TO LIFE AS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN OUTLIER SOCIETY VENTURES, LED BY MICHAEL B. JORDAN, AND PURPOSE-DRIVEN, HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOOD AND BEVERAGE PLATFORM, DR SMOOD, FOR CONSCIOUS AND CONSCIENTIOUS LIVING. BRINGING BALANCE TO OUR LIVES PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS SOUGHT SUSTENANCE IN THE OCEAN. ITS WILD WATERS ARE RICH WITH VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND NUTRIENTS THAT SILENTLY KEEP OUR PLANET ALIVE. TRADITIONAL AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD HAVE KNOWN THIS FOR CENTURIES, AND GENERATIONS HAVE CELEBRATED MARINE PLANTS FOR THEIR MEDICINAL...

Mettle Work: In the Studio with Glass Artist Cedric Mitchell With a mix of grit, commitment and raw talent, Cedric Mitchell has built a one-of-a-kind glass art business.   Cedric Mitchell didn’t fall in love with making glass the first time he tried it. He was in a studio watching several artists work together for hours to make a six-foot-tall vase, when, at the end of the day, the vase broke. All of their hard work was shattered at their feet. It was then, seeing how fragile glass work can be, that he was hooked. “It was exciting and scary...

Designer of the Day: Cedric Mitchell DESIGNER OF THE DAY Designer of the Day: Cedric Mitchell Cedric Mitchell’s first art form may have been hip-hop, but the Tulsa local truly hit his stride when he discovered glassblowing and relocated to Los Angeles to establish his studio. He now explores glass as an inspired medium for personal expression, creating marvelous glass objects that combine electric hues and simple forms inspired by Memphis Milano, graffiti art, and ‘90s-era pop culture to dazzling effect. BY RYAN WADDOUPSJune 21, 2023  

Artist-in-Residence March 20 – April 21, 2023 Cedric Mitchell is a Los Angeles-based glass artist and instructor who creates work that ranges from functional to decorative art, combining simplicity in design with bold colors. Mitchell is inspired by an eccentric mix of graffiti art, pop culture, and postmodernism.   During his 2023 residency at The Studio, Mitchell successfully explored many different hotshop techniques for creating patterns paired with color theory research. He delved into chromatherapy theory and his extensive experimentation yielded unique color combinations in both transparent and opaque glass. Mitchell has completed residencies at Penland School of Craft and Pilchuck Glass School. He...