“My objective with glass has been and always will be to communicate truth and beauty through the medium.” 

 - Christopher Ries

"Communicating one’s vision through the cold working process is elusive and challenging.  It starts with conceiving a form in glass that can convey your thoughts.  Since there are so many things a work of glass can say, it can be challenging to choose a direction to take the form.

Once the concept has been chosen, the carving process is like a game of chess.  In the beginning, the moves you can make are limitless, but as you decide where to cut and what to leave, inevitably you reach a point where there is no where else to move without suffering a negative effect. 

Zugzwang!  You reach a point of diminishing returns that forces the end of the process.  Unlike a simple game, however, where the participants are judged by win, lose, or draw, the finished piece of art work is judged qualitatively by the beholder through aesthetic, emotive and spiritual filters, completing the communication process."