Moving Forward

At first glance, the decorative accessories Tony Wurman creates might be mistaken for glass. (It's no surprise: the artist is a glassblower, as well as a classically trained industrial designer.) But his pieces are actually made from a substance called EVA — otherwise known as hot glue pellets.

"I knew right away it was interesting design material," he says. Wurman discovered he could make just about anything using EVA; the line includes lamps, vases, bowls and clocks.

Another appealing factor is that EVA is environmentally friendly. "It has a low melting temperature, it can be colored and it's non-toxic," Wurman tells G&DA. "Most important, it's a thermoplastic, which means it can be re-melted — that has tremendous recycling benefits."

Wurman also quickly found that he was able to create pieces that he couldn't make with glass because of cost. Soon, he began working with his own tools, and he now orders specific types of EVA in bulk from manufacturers in the U.S. and China. While he hasn't worked in glass in a few years, Wurman hopes to return to that medium one day. "I vow that one day I will return to the glass studio. It will be interesting to see how my glue has influenced my glass," he says.

Wurman debuted his pieces at the New York International Gift Fair to great success. "The response was very reassuring," He says. "We received the Best New Product Award, which is nice!"

For 20 years, Cindy Avroch worked as an art director in the fashion industry before leaving to take care of an ill child. "While I was home, I bought myself a computer and taught myself Photoshop, as well as [Adobe] Painter and Illustrator," she says.

Soon, Avroch began creating custom wall coverings and murals; it wasn't long before clients began asking for coordinating accessories. Taking her designs to the computer, Avroch digitally repainted her original artwork and photography (so they no longer looked like photos), and printed the "new" designs onto surfaces such as paper for her decoupage pieces; silk, cotton and linen for her lampshades or fabrics for pillows.

The end result is a unique, interesting product that debuted to wonderful response at the January New York Gift Market. "One woman sat on the floor in my booth and said 'I need to take this all in,'" says Avroch, who jumped into the Gift Fair at the last minute by taking a booth in the Gallery on Six showroom at 7West. While she did no advertising or promotion prior to the fair, Avroch feels she had a good first show. "I picked up eight stores; I think that's pretty good considering nobody knows who I am," she says.