Ryan Bavin
Ryan Bavin Biography
Ryan Bavin was born in August of 1973, in Invermere, BC. Growing up in the Columbia Valley of British Columbia has played an instrumental part in the development of Ryan and his art. Spending any spare time enjoying various outdoor activities in and around the mountains is an endless source for inspiration. Winter or summer, spring or fall, Ryan has always felt a great passion for being around his home at the headwaters of the Columbia River.
Ryan started learning the art of fly-fishing from his grandfather Hal when he was 7 years old. This included not only how to cast, but how to tie flies and properly present them on a variety of different waters. Many weekends were spent fishing the rivers and lakes of the Columbia Valley with his grandparents.
Ryan was trained as a glassblower by his father, Pat, starting at the age of 15 in the late 1980’s. He has been working in the studio at Bavin Glassworks ever since, and now runs it as his own business called Bavin Studios. From a young age, artistic expression has been a part of everyday life.
In 1996 he was given the opportunity to go to the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Since then he has returned to the school several times in such roles as teaching assistant and gaffer (lead glassblower). He has worked with internationally respected artists from Canada and around the world. One of Ryan’s most memorable times was being a teaching assistant at Pilchuck for Erwin and Valentin Eisch of Germany during the summer of 1998.
In 2002, a vase made by Ryan and his father Pat was accepted to the Art Bank of the National Gallery of Canada. Six years later in 2008 the Bavin’s had a successful solo show of glass fish at Master’s Gallery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 2015, Ryan was chosen to create the awards for the FIS World Cup Ski races in Lake Louise, Alberta. He has made the signature awards for these races every year since. In 2021 one of Ryan’s glass Rainbow Trout was selected for the juried show “Glass Lifeforms” hosted at the Fuller Craft Museum in conjunction with the Harvard University Botanical Museum in Massachusetts, USA. He was the only Canadian included in the juried selection.
Ryan continues to work with glass using inspiration from the mountainous region around his home in southeastern British Columbia on the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa and Sepwepemc indigenous First Nations.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2015 ACMG Full Hiking Guide - Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC
2009 ACMG Asst. Hiking Guide - Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC
1996-2002 Classes, workshops, studies - Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
1989-1997. Glassblowing Apprenticeship, Bavin Glassworks - Pat Bavin
Workshops
2023 Ktunaxa First Nation language course, Invermere, BC
2022 Glass Art Society conference, Tacoma, WA
2015 Vitreography, Charles Cohen, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
2010 Photography (Adv. Digital Techniques), Pat Morrow – Wilmer, BC
2009 Advanced Glassblowing, Dante Marioni – ACAD, Calgary, AB
2006 Canadian Glass Conference, Red Deer, AB
2006 Photo Printing from Transparencies, Keith Logan – Cochrane, AB
2004 Color Theory, John Cooper – Invermere, BC
2000 Canadian Glass Conference, Red Deer, AB
Presentations/Lectures
2023 Masters of the North, Duncan McClellan Gallery, Florida, USA
2022 Talking out your Glass-Podcast with Leslie Rowe-Isrealson
2021 Virtual Presenter with Leslie Rowe-Isrealson, Glass Art Society, USA
2008 Inspiration for Glass, Alberta College of Art and Design – Calgary, AB
2002 Personal work retrospective, Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1990-Present Glassblowing Demonstrations, Bavin Glass - Invermere,BC
Teaching Experience
2002-Present Glassblowing apprentice mentorship, Bavin Glass - Invermere, BC
2023 Photography Workshop - Wings over the Rockies festival - Invermere, BC
2022 Photography Workshop - Wings over the Rockies festival - Invermere, BC
2022 Photography Workshop - College of the Rockies - Invermere, BC
2022 Photography Workshop - Sepwepemc First Nation - Invermere, BC
1998 TA for Erwin Eisch (Germany), Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1996 TA for Paula Bartron (Sweden), Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
Other Experience
2019 Residency, University of Hawaii Art Department, Honolulu, HI
2016 Residency, University of Hawaii Art Department, Honolulu, HI
2002 Gaffer, Centerpiece Project, Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
2001 Gaffer, Centerpiece Project, Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
1996 Furnace Building Project, Pilchuck Glass School – Stanwood, WA
Exhibitions
2023 Abstractions in B&W, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, BC
2023 Masters of the North (Juried group show), Duncan McClellan Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL
2022 More Mountain Moments, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, BC
2021 Glass Lifeforms (Juried selection), Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
2021 Mountain Moments, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, BC
2019 Artists in the Alpine, Canada House Gallery, Banff, AB
2018 Ryan Bavin - Mountain Photos, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, BC
2018 Accord - Glass Artist Collaboration, Passion for Glass, Calgary, AB
2017 Ryan Bavin - Recent Photos, Pynelogs Cultural Centre, Invermere, BC
2008 Solo Show - Fish of Western Canada, Master’s Gallery – Calgary, AB
2008 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour – Worldwide
2007 Vanishing Ice, Mountain Waterfalls, Majestic Peaks – Photo Exhibition
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge, Banff National Park, AB
2005 River of Memory, Traveling Exhibit – Several towns in WA and BC
Awards
2008 1st, Mountain Landscape Category, Banff Mountain Festival Photo Competition – Banff, AB
Public Collections
National Gallery Art Bank, Ottawa – Soprano Series vase – Acquired 2004
Select Commissions
2023 Destination Canada, Canadian Mountain Holidays for TED New York
2022 - 2023 True Key Resorts
2016 - 2023 Kicking Horse Coffee
2015 - 2022 Lake Louise World Cup Ski Organization
2014 - 2023 Canadian Mountain Holidays
2021 Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce
2021 Teine Energy LTD
2021 Calgary Youth Justice Society
2018 The Bow River Foundation
2012 - 2017 Trout Unlimited Canada
2016 Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce
2014 The Glenbow Museum
2011 - 2013 Banff Centre for the Arts
2010 - 2012 Canadian Pacific Railway
2008 Nature Conservancy Trust of Canada
2008 - 2009 Canadian Mountain Holidays
1996 Panorama Mountain Village
Publications
2017 Kootenay Living Magazine - Fall 2017 -“Bavin Glassworks goes Aquatic”
2017 The Flow Magazine - Fall 2017 - Collaborative Issue, Isrealson and Bavin
2015 Articulate Magazine - Fall/Winter 2015/2016 - “Holding the Passion”
2010 Contemporary Canadian Glass, Dec. – “Goin’ Fishing with Ryan Bavin”
2007 Articulate Magazine - Fall/Winter 2007/2008 - “Creations in Glass”
2006 River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia by William Layman
Representation
Canada House, Banff, AB
Duncan McClellan Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA
Artym Gallery, Invermere, BC
Bavin Studios, Invermere, BC
Gallery Odin, Silver Star, BC
Memberships
Glass Art Association of Canada
Glass Art Society (International)
Association of Canadian Mountain Guides