Regis Turocy always knew he would be an artist. In college, he earned serval art degrees, and moving forward, he worked as a graphic designer and metal sculptor. He’s even a certified art teacher. But it wasn’t until he began blowing glass that he found his true calling.
“I’ve worked in a lot of mediums from illustration and computer graphics to metal and ceramics, so, I knew that glass was something that was going to be a lot greater — and I love fire,” says Regis, who’s been at the torch since moving to Colorado from the East Coast in 2006. “Once I got into glass blowing, it brought in every aspect of art that I’ve ever studied.”
Regis, who also goes by R3G15 (figure it out), has become known for a variety of creative glass styles. He turns class tie-dye designs into pipes and pendants and brings to life sculpted “trash panda” characters and Native American inspired fetishes in the form of bear, deer, eagles and wolves.
Not everything he creates is made from glass. Still, miniature kilns and studio dioramas he creates, celebrate the glass blowing community. He recently spent 10 months painstaking recreating a model of a seventies VW bus once owned by the legendary Bob Snodgrass. Sliding open the door reveals a tiny workstation complete with torch and tools.
“It’s really hard for me to stay with one thing for my whole career,” Regis says. “I’m one to dive into any challenge.”
“I just try to be real with what I’m making — I’m more of the conduit for whatever’s flowing through it,” Regis adds. “There’s a quantum aspect to it that keeps me alive, thriving and happy — to also see the joy that my work brings to people is incredible.”
Regis Turocy
Instagram.com/r3g15
