I walked through a snowball fight at the Museum of Glass cone to get into the artists reception at William Traver Gallery Saturday.  I was half expecting a somber-toned event centered around intent, theme, and composition, and found a fun, young group of individuals gawking at the cool glass while sipping wine and beer. The perfect ambiance was set with music by DJ Karlitos and Che Guevara-like artist Wyatt Landis, while Lani Ladbon chatted and hostessed in her trademark cheery fashion: she took my coat, procured a glass of wine for me, and I felt at home.

The art itself, glass by two different artists whose themes coincidentally seemed to mesh really well, was amazing.  Sean O’Neill, who slumps, blows, etches, and carves patterns into his works, says pieces shown are “a pretty raw direct translation of my experience in the world.”

Similarly, Benjamin Cobb says his works are “Abstract takes on natural forms.”

United in theme, the works diverge in form.  Upon first glance, Cobb’s vase-like pieces and monotype prints have a decidedly '60s feel to them, with bright colors and modern forms that look like they would be at home in a Guggenheim Museum.  But upon closer inspection, the pieces have a technical edge to them, with windows that enable the viewer to see the contrasting interiors of the forms.  Names like “Bladder,” “Bursa,” “Stomach,” and “Ventricle” allude to the types of life forms Cobb had in mind as he created the pieces; the asymmetrical works call these biological specimens to mind.  In both “Bursa 12” and “Bursa 2,” the etched exterior obscures the vivid interior of Murrini; the striations and layers do actually look like cut-away tendons and muscles. My favorite was probably “pill” with it’s white exterior, deliciously grape interior, and its capsular form.

O’Neill’s works, with titles like  “Rain,” “Rift,” “Iris,” “Corona,"  and “Nimbus” recall a bigger natural picture.  O’Neill’s items appear to transcend the material he uses, appearing to be more like Bake-Lite, or enamel on metal, than glass.  His shallow bowls, with radial patterns etched into them, are unlike work I have ever seen, and are amazingly cool; it’s the kind of cool you have to look at, so you can see the texture and depth of the items.  While quite a few have a very geometrical pattern of lines creating a circle, others that appealed to me the most were the obscure haloes of shape. I tried to blink to bring them into focus, but the ghost-like haze was inherent to the art. O’Neill says of his work, “This is the first time I’m making things that appeal to my aesthetic.” â€" Jessica Corey-Butler