They are insightful and delightful, to the point of hysterical, but don't think for a moment that they are not substantial or deadly serious about what they do. Their primary objective is creation of fine art. They pursue it relentlessly and express it marvelously.

They are a driving force in the flamework community, and they synchronous friendship might be likened to that of "blood brothers."

Shane recalls when they first met:

"It was kind of strange, really. I was standing on top of a hill, and I looked out, and I saw this spacey kind of a mad scientist. It was very much like, 'Livingston, I presume?' It was just like that. I walked up to him and said, 'Fred?' and he said, 'Shane!!' and that ... was the beginning. We've had this kind of weird friendship over the years. We think the same things at the same time. We did a lot of the same things in glass before we even knew each other, at exactly the same times."

At first glance you might mistake Shane for the "straight man" of the duo. His serious side is more immediately accessible than Fred's. He can discuss philosophy or fine wine and is quite debonair in a down-home sort of way. But stick around a few minutes and a devilishly mischievous laugh will escape from his lips, and you'll know you are in the presence of a wickedly spirited artist.

The sophisticated colors used in his vessels are reached by rolling the molten mass in multiple layers of powdered glass. Sometimes acid is applied to the completed vessel if a matte finish is desired. It is the sculptural figures atop the stoppers, however, that are Shane's well-known signature. Surrealistic in nature, striking in silhouette, they are suggestive of a Picasso (although perhaps psychologically more well-adjusted regarding women!).

Another instantly apparent break with tradition is the style of the base, or foot, of his vessels. They rebelliously defy roundness. He will pull angular extensions from the formerly round foot, which works wondrously well with the angular figures in the stoppers.

Describing his departure from the usual, Shane says, "For most of my career, I conformed to the tradition whereby you try to achieve symmetry and balance. You want pieces to be symmetrical in their traditional forms. I think that over a period of years, I just got sick of symmetry, and thought, 'Well, why don't we take this vessel thing and make it a sculptural aspect?' Then the form begins and ends with the base and the top in a kind of free-form sort of a format."

Shane's artistry stems from the Florida flamework tradition, begun by a few well-established carnival families who eventually settled in the Sunshine State. Jerry and Lee Coker, who provided much of his early training, are still alive, but many of his early mentors are gone. There was a congenial camaraderie among the old-timers, and they trained a handfull of "youngsters" like Shane, who grew beyond flameworking's side-show origins and became prominent luminaries in the art world. Now Shane makes his home near Asheville, North Carolina, as a resident artist at the famed Penland School of Crafts.

He works both soft and borosilicate glass, whatever material will get the job done. When working with soft glass, he uses an oxygen/propane torch in combination with a set of crossfires and is probably the only artist to do so. Crossfires are an antiquated bit of living history and were once in common use by flameworkers and neon workers. They are comprised of a set of seven tips that angle toward a central point so that the flame is focused like a fiery triangle. Another torch sits opposite the first torch so that there is fire on both sides of the glass, perfect for creating his vessels.

Fred began his career as a scientific glassblower at Eastern Michigan University. Scientific glassblowing is the only real formal body of training available to the American flameworker, and Fred is enthusiastic about it's educational value.

"It's a marvelous foundation, and I highly recommend it as a course of study. It's a wonderful way to get the technical background in the craft. And it's good, of course, I think, to move onto more creative endeavors. But that was the foundation that forms the technical basis, even for what I do today."

The world is probably a safer place since Fred abandoned the scientific in favor of the artistic. As Shane previously related, there is very much an air of mad scientist about Fred. He is difficult to describe, possibly because words are finite and his energy and knowledge seem so infinite - like an immense soul compressed within the confines of a human body. He is boundless vigor pouring through the persona of a highly spirited clown. Yet while he may be jolly and animated, his work is substantial and meticulous.

Fred creates only with soft glass and will claim that he is "allergic to borosilicate" (philosophically, not physically). His endeavors include both flamework and furnace work.

"Maybe one a week I'll do furnace work and maybe the next week, flamework. I go back and forth, which is pretty much the history of my career. It's just ... curiosity ... You know, I get bored making the same objects. I'm always curious, trying to explore the medium, and other mediums as well."

What can we expect to see from Fred?

"Well, I can't predict the future, but I can say what I'm working on now is the best indicator for what's going to happen. I'm fascinated by these very organic vessel forms. Well, actually, the imagery is highly organic. The forms themselves are rather traditional, cylindrical forms. I'm fascinated now by an artist called Casper David Frederick, who was an early nineteenth century artist; he was a landscape painter. I'm trying to use him as a basis for a lot of my contemporary pieces ... using landscape imagery in my glass.

Fred and Shane collaborate on pieces occasionally and teach together several times a year. Their classes, known to those who love them as "The Fred & Shane Show," successfully synthesize their differing styles and provide an eclectic learning experience for their students.

They share a number of other interests as well. They love great cognacs and strolling through the woods looking for gourmet mushrooms, and they are intrigued by the scholarly and historic aspects of glass.

Together they have made several trips to Lauscha, Germany, the home of the montage technique that is so much a part of Fred's glass work. Montage is a rather difficult technique whereby a section of glass is decorated, and then the handles, or points, are removed and reattached at a 90-degree angle, thereby changing the entire axis of the piece. Fred was conducting research for a lecture on Lauscha to be presented at the Glass Art Society Conference in Amsterdam. The lecture was one of the highlights of the conference.

"Lauscha is one of the most fascinating places I've ever visited." reminisces Fred. "There are some rather magical places on earth, and one of them is Lauscha. Another is Venice. These incredible places are kind of hard to explain ... They have a long tradition in glassworking, going back centuries, and Lauscha goes back easily to the sixteenth century. It's simply amazing that this tiny town of 3,500 people has developed into one of the really great centers for flameworking in the entire world. Much of the technique that we practice now comes from this very small area of Germany.

Fred and Shane are thinking of sharing this special place with students. They are currently planning a teaching tour of Germany, whereby participants will enjoy "The Fred and Shane Show" against the backdrop of the cozy mountain village of Lauscha. The class will include many demonstrations of their individual techniques, as well as sumptuous meals, a day trip to Coburg Castle, and visits to local glass factories and artists studios.