Mark Rosenbaum, the owner and creative force behind Rosetree Glass Studio is what I would call a Modern Master. I recently had the opportunity to visit Mark in his New Orleans glass studio. Housed in a vintage, art deco movie theatre that Mark converted into a gallery and glassblowing studio I found myself surrounded by the most beautiful works of art.
Mark has been creating one-of-a-kind Jewish Wedding Glass Keepsakes for Traditions since 2012. I remember the day when I called Mark and pitched my idea for him to take broken pieces of glass from a Jewish wedding and use it to create one of his remarkable bowls or vases. Mark jumped on board and let his creative juices explode. He started by creating small glass balls, something he calls jellybeans to be stepped on during the Jewish wedding ceremony. Each jellybean is a work of art in its own right. He combines unique color pallets of glass and swirls them all together to create what will soon be the base for a wedding glass keepsake. We now feature 16 different colored glass jellybeans to choose from.
After the jellybean is stepped on at the Jewish wedding, we send the broken glass to Mark. Now comes the fun part. It was fascinating to see him lay out the broken glass pieces on his metal table. He would start with a molten ball of clear glass on his glass pipe and then he would roll the glass onto the broken glass pieces. This fused the colored wedding glass onto the glass ball. Then through the process of heating, rolling and blowing the glass the vase starts to form. Here comes the show stopper...at one point he took the glass pipe with the vase attached to the end and started twirling it in circles like one would twirl a baton. Truly an amazing experience to watch Mark work!
Through the years Mark has grown the Crushed Wedding Glass Collection from just a few vases to over a dozen different creations. From Shabbat Candlesticks and a Kiddush Cup to a Heart-Shaped Keepsake and an Eternity Ring, you are sure to find the perfect keepsake to capture the one moment at your wedding where everyone shouts Mazel Tov!
