Tofino glass artist Sol Maya

Sol is of Mayan ancestry and was born in Central America and was raised until the age of 14 in Cacaluta, a village in the mountains of Cuzcatlan. As a youth he moved to California where he became immersed in the bohemian art culture of the day. Artistic expression started right from the beginning for Sol. Some of his first memories are of dancers in his village and colourful rituals that they performed.

Sol's first formal training was in Santa Barbara where he attended art classes at the city college for over 10 years. Between classes he'd watch the glass blowers working the glass. The more he watched, the more he fell in love with this art form. The spontaneity of working with glass intrigued him. He started spending more time in the studio, until one day he tried his hand at it and he's never looked back. Sol eventually became responsible for the running of the glass studio at the college, a position he held for several years.

Sol enjoys working in many mediums including wood, copper, oil painting, various methods of Japanese printmaking. In all of this Sol derives inspiration from the water, the fire, the air and rocks. Other artists that inspire Sol are Emily Carr, Norval Morriseau, the Dineh Navajo weavers among others.

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Visit Sol in his new glass studio at 1180 Pacific Rim Hwy, behind Beaches Grocery.