RIDGEWALKER GLASS DESIGNS

Teri Walker

Teri began her creative life in her hometown of Toronto, Canada. First, she took painting and drawing classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario, followed by the Ontario College of Art and Design, and glass courses at the Harbourfront Glass Studios. Teri spent a year painting in Florence, Italy as well as a year in the Masters Program at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has taken classes at Corning in New York, Espace Verre in Montreal and the Pittsburg Glass Center. She has traveled all over Canada and the U.S. teaching glass, sculpture, and participating in workshops, residencies, and work study programs. In 1997, Teri arrived in New Orleans and became the artist in residence at New Orleans School of Glassworks and an instructor soon after. For twenty years, she has created whimsical one-of-a-kind animals and birds, Mardi Gras Indians, figures, skeletons, gargoyles and fancy glasses. One of her most noted, ongoing commission projects have been the glass awards for the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, held each year in New Orleans.

Chad Ridgeway

Chad’s beginnings as an artist started when he was a teenager. His grandfather introduced him to the art of glass beadmaking. Additionally, he played around with welding equipment he discovered on his father’s plumbing truck.
In 2000, he experienced his first year-long stretch in New Orleans as a cook, working the trenches of French Quarter restaurants. Eventually, he landed at Emeril Lagassi’s famed establishment, Delmonico however, this was short-lived. Opportunities beckoned in Paris, France. It is there that Chad spent 8 years working his way through several chef positions. Unfortunately, he grew tired of the long hours so he began the process of reinventing himself as an artist. Eager to make a fresh start, he found a way to put a studio together and began teaching himself how to fabricate metal. But that’s not all the art gods had in mind…
Chad met the love of his life through a mutual friend and she happened to be a glass artist. Teri persuaded him to return to New Orleans, where she began teaching him the basics of glass. The learning curve was so steep, Chad neglected his metalwork for a few years. Gradually, as his skills improved, he learned to combine glass and metal, allowing the art duo to create more complex sculptures.

Together, Teri and Chad have taught glass at B&A Glass Studio in Dallas, Texas, The Red Barns in Picton (Prince Edward County, Canada), and Glen Williams Glass in Ontario. They even had an opportunity to blow glass one summer at a temporary kiosk overlooking Niagara Falls! After Teri and Chad married in 2009, they decided to live and raise a family in New Orleans, but committed to spend their summers traveling, teaching, and doing residencies. Their partnership led to combining artistic skills in blown/sculpted glass, metal sculpture, furniture, & light fixtures, resulting in Ridgewalker Glass.