Wet Dog Glass // About Us

About Us

We at Wet Dog Glass are committed to providing our clients with top-notch services and products that range from studio equipment design, fabrication and installation to consultation and technical support. We are experts in combustion, safety and control systems, so you can count on us to provide you with exactly what you need. We understand the need for efficiency and so we put forth great effort into bringing you products of the highest quality. Since 1996, we have helped glass and ceramic artists around the world to solve problems unique to each situation. When you call on Wet Dog Glass for assistance, we give you all we’ve got!

Super Heroes

At Wet Dog Glass we consider our employees to be super heroes

Eddie Bernard, Founder

Name: Edward B. Bernard
Alias: Captain
Place of Birth: New Iberia, LA
Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 195
Special Skills: Mind reading, dog whispering, unicyclist, brewer
Languages: all
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Angela Bernard, co-founder, owner, accounting, legal, travel planner

Name: Angela Bart Bernard
Alias: Miss Angela
Place of Birth: New Orleans, LA
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 135
Special Skills: Waking-up, making coffee, scrambling eggs, seasoning to taste, walking to work, answering phone calls, paying bills, organizing loads of information, going to the post office, walking home, gardening, cooking dinner, smiling, going to sleep, dreaming
Languages: English, Angie talk
Zodiac Sign: Libra

Stephen Protheroe, Control systems and tech support

Name: Stephen Wade Protheroe
Alias: SteveO
Place of Birth: Emporia, KS
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: light
Special Skills: Free hand paper clip bending, speed walking, champion breakfast eater and coffee drinker
Languages: Midwestern, english & a little yinzer
Zodiac Sign: Virgo, Cock

Zach Compton, Control systems & Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Zachary T. Compton
Alias: Compton, Doctor, Z
Place of Birth: Hurley, NY
Height: 175 cm.
Weight: 13.93 stones
Special Skills: Miming, mastering the art of witty banter, ninja assassin by night;pirate by day, magnets
Languages: English, a little Finnish, Jive
Zodiac Sign: shamrock

Mac Metz, Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Mac Metz
Alias: Macadocious, Mac-attack! etc.
Place of Birth: Raleigh, NC
Height: 5’93/16”
Weight: 145lbs
Special Skills: Race walking, dueling, plundering, useless trivia, history enthusiast
Languages: English, some Spanish and Latin (although I don’t use it much anymore.)Pirate
Zodiac Sign: Leo, Lion, Dragon and Fire

Phil Przybylski, Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Phillip Przybylski
Alias: Bylski (billski)
Place of Birth: Portland, OR
Height: 70”
Weight: less than Eddie more than Mac
Special Skills: One pint two gulps, brewer, expert problem solver
Languages: Mute
Zodiac Sign: Leo, Rooster
(Photograph taken on the Corning Corporate jet)

Daniel Bruce, CAD, Design, Engineer

Name: Daniel Bruce
Alias: “D”
Place of Birth: Pinehurst, NC
Height: 5’10”
Weight: A Deuce Forty
Special Skills: virtual fabrication, expert pencil sharpening, Yo-Mama jokes, extreme sleeping
Languages: English and “The Local Vernacular”
Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Ben Irwin, CAD, Design, Engineer

Name: Benjamin Irwin
Alias: Benjammin, Birwin, Beer-when?
Place of Birth: Whipple, OH
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 260?
Special Skills: Drummer, syncopated beats, glassblowing, single malt scotch connoisseur
Languages: English, Spanish, Cat, Solidworks
Zodiac Sign: Libra, Dragon

Suzie Ririe, Liaison

Name: Suzanne R. Ririe
Alias: Suze, Magooz
Place of Birth: Woodland, CA
Height: 5’6.5”
Weight: 135
Special Skills: Cooking, Glassblowing, Cleaning, part-time pirate, stray animal magnet, Hockey trivia
Languages: English, Love
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Anthony Wynne Buchman, Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Anthony Wynne Buchman
Alias: Odd Job
Place of Birth: Newport News, VA
Height: Tall
Weight: Just right
Special Skills: Experienced electrician, making something out of nothing, a master of all things
Languages: English & some Korean
Zodiac Sign: Leo

Dustin Lewis, Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Dustin Lewis
Alias: Dusty
Place of Birth: Pinehurst, NC
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 140
Special Skills: man of mystery
Languages: NC English
Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Dustin Crisco, Fabricator extraordinaire

Name: Dustin Crisco
Alias: Durwood
Place of Birth: Troy, NC
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 180
Special Skills: demolition, marksman, fishing, trapping, woodworking, auto mechanic
Languages: English, Spanish, some German & Russian
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius, the archer

Louise Bernard, mascot, beloved pet

Name: Louise Bernard
Alias: Weezy, Weez-alicious
Place of Birth: Unknown
Height: 17 1/4”
Weight: 11 lbs.
Special Skills: Dancing, sitting, spinning, sprinting, shaking, experienced guard dog
Languages: Doggie
Zodiac Sign: Unknown

History

From an early age Eddie Bernard enjoyed working with his hands and figuring out how things are put together. In 1988, at the age of 15, Eddie began working for Craig McCullen making stained glass panels. At 17 years old, he began apprenticing Paulo Dufour in the stained glass trade, and it was Paulo who introduced Eddie to hot glass. This early interest in glass lead him to School of American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology to study glass blowing. While there he had the opportunity to build his first furnace, and a love affair with building equipment was born. After graduating with a BFA in glass in the spring of 1996, Eddie went to the Corning Museum to help install The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass. He was offered the job as the first Corning Glass studio technician and also took on the role of stained glass program founder and instructor. Eddie moved back to Louisiana later that same year and founded Wet Dog Glass, LLC, now the preeminent glass blowing equipment manufacturer in the United States.

The company resided in New Orleans, LA until the spring of 2008 when we moved to Star, NC. Located in rural Piedmont of North Carolina has afforded Wet Dog Glass the opportunity to conduct further research into high efficiency refractories and heat exchange systems, alternate fuels and interactive control systems.

Philosophy

Since 1996, Wet Dog Glass, LLC has worked with clients to develop and produce the best glass studio equipment money can buy. One of our highest priorities is to research and develop new systems that are more efficient in their energy consumption.

Our newest development, the round day tank incorporates design features that we have been researching for several years. It is the culmination of years of experience and comprehension in art glass furnace functionality, ergonomics, insulation, atmosphere control and heat reclamation. We are now building electric furnaces for those customers who’s electric service is generated by hydroelectric, wind or solar. We are experimenting with the use of several waste or byproduct liquid fuels. The time ahead looks very exciting as we merge our art making habits with sustainable studio environments.

Spotlight Projects

Check out pictures from our busiest summer of 2010! View photos

Penland School of Crafts is the first to get our NEW FSP-DC80! read more…

Pratt Fine Arts Center Cut Costs with new RDT1000!! read more…

January/February 2010 issue of Glass Art Magazine features an article about Wet Dog Glass