Deadhead Expresses Possibilities Through Glass

The furnace fueled the fire for Danny Polk.

The founder of Grateful Gathers grew up working with his hands, often alongside his father, an electrician, “who I was always looking to impress,” he said.

Art didn’t sound cool when he was a kid. He wanted to snowboard and make videos on the mountain. Attending Salisbury University on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Danny was an undeclared major.

“I saw the furnace and was intrigued,” Danny said. “As soon as I took that first gather, I knew it was something I wanted to do more of.”

Galleries in 31 states nationwide display Danny’s expressive hand-blown glass. It’s housed in Anchorage, Alaska at 2 Friends Gallery; in the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley, California; and at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. It’s online at Bernville, Pennsylvania, studio, Grateful Gathers, coined after his favorite band, the Grateful Dead. For the last seven years and counting, Danny has shown at the Rose Squared Rittenhouse Square Fine Craft Shows Spring (May 8-10, 2026) and Fall (Oct. 9-11, 2026).

While college classes pushed the glass concept, Danny embraced technique. A teacher’s assistant helped hone his development. After college, Danny yearned to be on the pipe 40 hours a week. He found a good fit in production glass, which taught him the business side of being a glass artist.

Through trial and error, Danny developed his signature style dependent on the relationship between the thermal dynamics of gravity and the curious forces of his own creative energy. Flexible boundaries are an integral component of each of his pieces.

“The interesting thing for me is not doing the same thing over and over again,” Danny said.

“I’m constantly pulling techniques out of the bag and trying them here and there to see where they go rather than just using the technique the way it was taught to me.” Danny recently began applying color to the surface and carving glass to create texture and pattern outside of the hot shop. He uses a diamond lathe to carve glass after it is cooled. The results are stunning.

For the last five years, he’s owned his own studio in two buildings in the Berks County Pennsylvania borough where he lives. The furnace in the hot shop reaches 2,100 degrees – a particular challenge during the humid summers. The cold shop includes a place to grind and polish glass, metal and wood shops, and a spot to pack orders. Danny specializes in everything from functional glass to high-end sculptures. Some of Danny’s vessels take 60 or more hours to carve.

His glass Christmas trees, some with color inside and others with color outside, are customer favorites. Glass acorns, gourds and snowmen are among his other seasonal items.

Fresh ideas inspire Danny. “I don’t want to burn myself out making the same work,” he said. “I don’t want to wake up feeling like I have to make something particular.” Working with a team, Danny spends the first few hours in relative quiet. Once the day gets going, he turns up the Grateful Dead, though the music varies depending on the tastes of his helpers.

Danny offers glassmaking classes.

In addition to showing at Rose Squared Art Shows, Danny spent the last year exhibiting in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Michigan. Drop by his Grateful Gathers booth at Rittenhouse Square to explore his dazzling glass.