The colored pieces dance like confetti in a frame. A rainbow of shadows is cast, presenting a two-faced beauty in one location and again, distorted and dynamic, in another. The idiosyncrasy of glass art is its unmatched ability to be itself and also something else simultaneously. It inhabits a space between kinesthetic and still life, being both solid and still, while also ever-changing, and fluid enough to creep across distant surfaces, seizing their form.

Scott Reid knows a thing or two about the complexities and nuances of glass. He’s spent the last three years patiently acquainting himself with the amorphous solid; coaxing it to agree to his desires, while learning the limitations of its capabilities. It is through this carefully crafted relationship that Reid has come to create Glassability.

Glassability is where passion meets play for Reid. The 53-year-old Waxhaw resident has beconee on of the lucky ones who has been able to meld his hobby into his livelihood. Ried remarks, “It has become a dream come true doing something that I truly enjoy and love to do as a job and a business.”

Coxing glass into treasures that delight the eyes started out for Ried as a new interest on his family owned farm, Ried Bros Dairy, when a friend gifted him a spare tabletop glass Kiln.

Beginning with fused glass wind chimes and pieces of jewellery, Ried was soon able to turn to more advanced mosaics and pieced glass hangables. Many of his creations are trimmed in upcycled wooden windows, setting the litany of colorful bits in an energetic juxtaposition against the clear borders of the time tested frames.

The lively look of Ried’s pieces lends itself perfectly to the characteristics of the glass, as the colors, riding on light, burst from their boundaries and onto far off surfaces. In this way, the artist shows his respect for his medium by thoughtful enhancing its beauty in tune with the natural flow of its parts.

To view Reid’s work is to love it, and to love it is to desire to own it. Luckily, his pieces can be found in a multiple venues in the area.

Created in the Carolinas, located at 216 W North Main St in Waxhaw, houses a permanent offering of Gallability originals. However, Ried can also be found out and about with his handmade hangings in tow.

While he often attends trade shows in Waxhaw, Monroe, Wesley Chapel and Weddington and those who have piqued curiosity and wish not to wait will be able find him this Sunday, Sept. 24 in Waxhaw’s Lawson community from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Photos of much of Rieds work, and updated information about how to purchase from him can be found on facebook under Glassability’s self-titled page. Allow you eyes to linger on the loveliness of Ried’s work as you make the impossible choice of which to make your own.