George Cirocco (20th/21st Century) American, Art Glass Suspended Gong Sculpture. A glass gong might seem like a bad idea, but the execution is absolutely beautiful. Thin connections hang the glass onto the metal frame and stand, in a format known as a roundel or "sun-catcher." Signed and dated 2000 along the edge. 

Stand Size: 24 x 6 1/2 x 25 in. 

Disc Size: 18 1/2 x 21 in. 

In 1996 two artists in Portsmouth, New Hampshire created their own art studio, Salamandra Glass. George Cirocco grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, exposed to glass art as a youth. After completing a Bachelors in Political Science he spent seven years as an officer with the United States Air Force, serving most of it in Southeast Asia. He became enchanted with the culture and art of the region, and upon leaving the Air Force in 1975 he started an apprenticeship with glass artists David Ballantone and Todd Phillips. He supplemented his experiences with art classes at Massachusetts College of Art, Steuben Glass, and the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1991 he left the state and began traveling the country, working in a variety of studios until he met John Speight. Speight had also earned a degree in Political Science from Franklin Pierce College and served in the military before discovering art glass, and the two bonded over their shared journey and decided to work together. The two-man studio continued to produce extremely popular forms for over a decade until the studio closed down in 2008. Speight moved to Maine, where he works now in property and plant maintenance, and Cirocco continues to make art, mainly painting and sketching, in nearby Dover.