Artist Randy Strong challenges the notion that glass is cold and hard, creating fluid glasswork that seems like a living thing.

Eight to 10 pieces of Strong’s glass will be shown at the RASgalleries in Yountville, May 19 through the month of June. RASgalleries owner Ronda Schaer has known Strong since she started the gallery 17 years ago.

“He’s the only glass artist I know who puts everything on paper first and works incredibly hard before even getting to the glass,” said Schaer. “I love the brilliance and the simplicity of form in his work. His pieces are unique. A lot of artists say they do one of a kind work, he really does. It’s his passion.”

North Bay resident Randy Strong explained, “I’ve done well if my work has life, movement and when people return to look at it, they feel it’s still growing. In my art, I ask how I can translate the universe’s spiritual harmony into something that’s seemingly cold and hard. Glass transmits light, so it’s not cold. Even though it’s hard, glass has been molten liquid. It’s the perfect medium to put a voice to spiritual essence. I’m just the translator. Something speaks to me and I translate it for you.”

In his 40 years as an artist, this self-styled “translator” has won awards, such as the 2005 Niche Award for Blown Glass, and his glass sculptures have been displayed in the Louvre in Paris, the Corning Museum in New York and in many public and private collections. His work has been described by critics as exhibiting “strength and delicacy like wondrous creatures from the sea.”

When an injury ended his dreams of a career in football, Strong studied ceramics and was mentored by Peter Voulkas, the “Father of American Art in Clay.”

He’d helped to build the first glass studio at the California College of Arts and Crafts. After a disagreement with a ceramics teacher, he tried glasswork.

“I loved it immediately. In ways, it’s much like football. It requires a lot of physical energy and technical ability. You’re moving around 50 or 60 pounds of molten glass. Working with glass is like a dance. It’s the only medium that constantly challenges me. My work is like a hard-edged ballet. I try to create a ballet, a perfect form in the end result.”

For his “Wind” series of glass sculptures, Strong says, he’s inspired by nature.

“I watch the grass blowing across the hills. When I scuba dive I get into an emotional state watching how everything moves as a unit in the currents. Underwater there’s a fluidness, weightlessness and moving in harmony. Again, it’s similar to football players moving as a unit with a rhythm and flow.”

Strong’s work has evolved over the years, starting with goblets and vases, to cast sculptures to freeform work.

“Often the reaction to my goblets 35 years ago was that the buyer would admire them, but tell me they couldn’t spend $20 on a wine glass,” Strong laughed. “That was in the ’60s, now those goblets go for $300 and $400. My vases are in the thousands. If you know anything about art, it’s got the highest probability of return on investment.”

He’s proud of changing his style.

“It takes courage for an artist to ask if there’s more he can do, if he can take something farther,” said Strong. “It’s better to live in a gutsy world. I’ve done a lot of styles and I have no idea when I’ll change again. The dream is to reach a goal that’s almost unattainable. ...

“People have asked me how long one of my pieces takes to create. I don’t want to sound flippant, but my answer is 40 years. You never get to the end point without all the things that came before. I wake up and start drawing and work until I fall over. Art doesn’t take a day off.”

He enjoys teaching and has conducted workshops at the University of Miami, the College of Arts & Crafts and UC Berkeley.

“I love teaching, but I don’t get to spend a lot of time at it. If a person asked me what it takes to be a glass artist, I’d say guts, unbending determination and the courage to ask, ‘What if?’ Glass art is brutal. When you open the furnace, it’s physically like opening the gates of hell and dancing with the devil. It’s over 2,000 degrees inside and you have to dance with it and sing with it to make it beautiful. It has to have a life and voice of its own.”

In addition to daily confrontations with the physically demanding aspects of his work, he has to contend with educating the consumer.

“I’m always battling the degree of ignorance about glass sculpture. Glass is the newest art form in the world. Even Tiffany lamps in their day were considered a craft. Glass artists are missionaries in a sense. We’re trying to teach people about art. I’m always challenging myself to grow, then challenging the viewer to grow as well. ...

“People are so busy feeding the government, feeding taxes and feeding credit card bills that they don’t feed their souls.”

“Randy Strong: New Sculptural Works 2007” runs May 19 through June. An artist’s reception takes place May 19, 1-4 p.m. RASgalleries is at 6540 Washington St. in Beard Plaza in Yountville and is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday by appointment. Info, 944-9211.