Jeffrey Andrews
Jeffrey Andrews majored in design at VCU during its heyday as the number three ranked art school in the US. Jeffrey was nominated as a Fulbright Fellowship candidate by architecture professor, Has Schroder (of Rietveld/Schroder House fame). After graduation, Jeffrey worked as an apprentice to artist/designer Don Shepherd in Connecticut where they created original interiors, glass art, and furniture for a variety of clients including venerable furniture manufacturer Herman Miller. Jeffrey designed a 5000 sq. ft. contemporary residence that was built next to David Letterman’s house in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Jeffrey next fulfilled a youthful ambition of riding a motorcycle across the US, ending up in Santa Cruz, CA. Jeffrey became the first production artist, then manager, and finally a designer for Annieglass, a highly successful producer of functional art glass dinnerware.
In 1990 Jeffrey created his own company -- Felt Glass and a studio in a beautiful sunlit warehouse a few blocks from the beach. Jeffrey’s first major show was the flagship American Crafts Council show in Baltimore, where he exhibited original furniture and accessory items. Felt Glass continued to exhibit at many of the major juried craft shows throughout the US. Felt Glass became a regular exhibitor at the ACC shows and the NY International Gift Fair, as well as those in Atlanta, San Francisco and Chicago. Felt Glass also exhibited annually at the juried Rosen Show in Philadelphia. Along the way, Jeffrey attended sand and kiln glass casting workshops at Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass school outside Seattle. Jeffrey taught the first ever kiln-formed glass making workshops at world renowned Esalen Institute in the mid 90’s.
At its peak, Felt Glass consisted of six artisans producing a broad variety of Jeffrey’s original kiln-formed glass designs for prime customers like Barneys NY, Saks Fifth Avenue, Gumps and Neiman Marcus. Many museum stores like the Guggenheim and the American Craft Museum sold Jeffrey’s work regularly, and Felt Glass was represented in hundreds of craft galleries across the country and internationally in Tokyo. Felt Glass was featured in numerous publications including Gourmet, The New York Times, Bon Appetit and Brides.
After 14 busy years, Jeffrey put Felt Glass on hiatus and moved to Los Angeles to fulfill another ambition of being near the entertainment industry. Jeffrey began working in various aspects of the design profession including several years with UltraGlas Inc., where he regularly worked on large scale decorative architectural glass projects with companies like Disney Imagineering and the top architectural and design firms in the world including Gensler.
Having a strong desire to return to the visceral, hands-on experience of producing glass, Jeffrey recently set up a new studio in Los Angeles. Jeffrey has lots of exciting design ideas informed by his recent experience in the architectural market. In addition to his art and design work, Jeffrey is a musician, producer and composer. Jeffrey has performed with diverse artists including Joan Baez and Baba Olatungi and recorded with super producer Rick Rubin. Jeffrey has written original music for Television shows like Catfish on the MTV Network as well as the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Explorer.