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Outsider Artist Doug Odom and Glass Master Charles Lotton at Chicago’s “One of a Kind Show”,
Daryle Lambert’s Blog
I find surprises come at the most unexpected times and places.
I intended to meet Outsider Artist, Doug Odom and his wife at the “One of a Kind Show” at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart at around 10:00am, and then spend the rest of the day at the show. Finding an open parking space just one block from Merchandise Mart was the first bit of excitement I came upon, saving me the thirty dollars I’d have to fork over otherwise to park in downtown Chicago. Yes, this was my sign that a great day was in store for me.
When I entered this block-long building and made my way to the elevator bank, I discovered that Doug had left a pass for me, and I was whisked into the elevator by escort as if I was a VIP. When the elevator opened up, I entered a space that occupied the entire eighth floor — and as I said, this building takes up an entire city block. Artwork everywhere! I finally made my way to Doug’s fantastic booth, where I was graciously received. I began to admire his latest creations when the strangest thing happened. I gazed up over my shoulder and couldn’t believe my eyes. Right in the next booth stood none other than Charles Lotton, the Master Glass Artist and most of his staff, whose studio I had just recently spent a wonderful afternoon at. In a show this size, with over 400 artists, what were the chances of that?
The Lotton Studio, located in Crete, Illinois, produces some of the finest and most sought after art glass in the world. Some of Charles’ work has been compared to many of the Tiffany pieces produced in the 1950’s and continues to grow in appeal. Back in June of this year, I made a prediction about the future of Lotton Glass. Take a look at that, here.
Charles’ and Doug’s booths were kitty corner to one another and both had already admired one another’s work and were in negotiation to buy or trade a piece of their work for the other’s.
After spending quite a long time with Doug and Charles, I toured the rest of the show. While it was a good show, with a lot of paintings, glass, and indie designers of clothing and hats, I found only two booths other than Doug and Charles, that held any interest for me, personally. One was a painter you will hear about in a later blog, and the other was a fantastic 18-year-old glass artist, Caleb Noble. I can’t tell you how exciting it is for me to see a young person taking up this kind of work with the passion that Caleb has. I’ll be writing further about Caleb Noble and his glass creations in a later blog, so please watch for it.
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