Karascopes

Charles Karadimos

 

Charles Karadimos, a self - taught artist, began working with glass in 1975 and made transition exclusively to building glass kaleidoscopes in 1979.

He created- and continues to create - object chambers with intricate, handworked pieces of glass including handmade, pressed molten glass, flameworked and cut pieces and dry- filled ampules.

Charles mastered the tapered- design mirror system - a transition that enabled him to build kaleidoscopes that maximized the image size in a relatively small exterior. Again, Charles build hundreds of kaleidoscopes working to perfect the object chamber/ mirror relationship. At the same time, he continued to develop his fusing and slumping techniques- creating a kaleidoscope that is as pleasing to the hand as it is to the eye.

Charles works alone in his studio in Damascus, Maryland making each part of every kaleidoscope by hand. There are no machined parts. Every piece- down to the smallest shard of glass in the object chamber- is hand worked and individually selected by the artist himself.