The Art of Intention: Father’s Day with Catskill Glassworks

For more than two decades, Chad Davis has worked at the intersection of sculpture and utility, shaping molten glass into pieces that lend refinement to the everyday. After nearly twenty years collaborating with other artists and factories, he founded Catskill Glassworks in pursuit of creative autonomy. The result is a body of work that feels deliberate, yet deeply personal.  

Sketch to Table

Designs begin on paper. Sketches move from page to studio, where early forms are blown by hand. The true test does not require the heat of the furnace, however. It happens at home.  

“My approach to designing pieces starts with sketches brought into the studio, bringing early prototypes home to use, look at, and live with,” Davis explains. He lives with the piece, making “any adjustments in design and scale as time goes on.” A bowl resting on a kitchen table reveals something different than one viewed under studio lights.  

This quiet commitment is evident in his craftsmanship. Each piece is refined through lived experience before taking its final form.

The Hudson Valley Influence

Artistry and culinary culture define the Hudson Valley. Its landscape invites a slower cadence, where craft is practiced with precision and care.

“The Hudson Valley has always been a hub for craft and food,” Davis notes. “I am inspired by all the Hudson Valley has to offer in its natural beauty and the people who live here.”

Davis’s work reflects the region’s way of living, informed by communal meals, thoughtful presentation, and gatherings that unfold without hurry. 

Ritual in the Everyday

Davis’s cocktail mixing glasses are especially beloved, born from simple observation. “I observed bartenders at restaurants stirring and not shaking their martinis. As a fan of the martini, I needed to make one for myself.”  

A personal necessity became a signature piece. For Davis, the glass is never incidental. “Enjoying a cocktail out of a thoughtfully designed glass or mixer can really elevate an experience.” Handmade glassware transforms the act of pouring a drink into something more intentional.  

Davis himself collects the work of other makers, “I have a lot of handmade items in my house and the makers I’ve met along the way. I think of them when picking up their mug or cocktail glass.”

The weight of the glass holds stories. Each piece carries the imprint of the hand that shaped it. “The subtle differences and imperfections are a reminder that the items were made by hand with care and intention.”

Time as Material

Glass is fluid, unpredictable, alive. Each color holds a different temperature. Each moment at the furnace demands learned skill.  

“Glass requires you to work with it in all its subtle differences and moods,” Davis explains. Even the most detailed sketch must yield to the material itself. “Sometimes the glass has a different idea and you have to just let it run its course.”

In an era defined by immediacy, Davis chooses restraint. “Being handmade is meaningful to me because there are so many mass produced and disposable things in our lives today.” He embraces a more deliberate approach. “Production will always be slow, and I am okay with that.” The subtle differences and imperfections are a reminder that the items were made with care and intention. When it comes to handmade goods, time is the most meaningful material.  

A Father’s Day Ritual

This Father’s Day, Catskill Glassworks is featured at The Surrey as part of its whiskey cart experience.  

“What excites me most about seeing my work incorporated into the guest experience is the unsuspecting interaction,” Davis says. There is a quiet pleasure in that discovery. In lifting a glass and noticing the weight, the clarity, the balance.

Thoughtful gifting, he believes, is about finding “something special for that person that they might not know they wanted…something they can use.” 

At The Surrey, evenings unfold slowly. Conversation lingers. A pour of whiskey catches the light in a handcrafted glass. What begins as a simple pour becomes quietly refined.  

Luxury, at its best, is in the details.