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Kaemmer graduated from Bates in 1992 with a B.A. in Religion. For almost two years Kaemmer embarked on what he considers "the most confusing time of his life." After debating being a fisherman and leading fishing trips, he decided to return to glassblowing. His earlier studies of glass art included only two summer workshops that were both a week long. He continued his formal glass studies at the University of Wisconsin â€" River Falls and remained there for six years, honing his skills and, by the end, teaching. Kaemmer thanks Bates and commends its liberal arts education because it "allowed me to explore various disciplines without pushing too hard one way or another. Bates encouraged and nurtured self discovery without trying to find a hole for each peg before they graduated â€" if they had, I might never have found this great, if not hot, passion. Of course, it was at Bates that I found my first real passion, my wife, Kate Tilney, '92." Kaemmer was joined, at the lecture, by his wife and two daughters, Gracie and Leela.
One of Kaemmer's first slides showed a picture of him molding hot glass in the University of Wisconsin's view book, with a heading caption, which read, "Learning by Doing." Kaemmer claims this entire journey to where he is now, in his own studio in St. Paul, Minnesota, is defined by this caption. After an extensive, yet inconclusive, search with his sister, who is a sculptor, for a space for the two of them, he settled on buying a building for himself. He had to construct every piece of equipment, except for the economically efficient electric furnace, so he took classes at Saint Paul College, a technical college.
Adapting to a business took some time, Kaemmer said. He stated at first you never want to sell your art because you can't believe you made it, maybe you'll give it as a gift occasionally to friends and family. The transformation is from loving everything to hating everything. As his skills became better, so did his work and his desire to conceal imperfections increased. In his studio there is a "seconds shelf" where he keeps all his flawed work. Time and time again friends have tried to purchase the work, but there is a certain amount of nervousness when work of that caliber is released with his name on it.
"[Making glass] sounds exotic, but the reality is it's a lot of grunt work." Kaemmer also commented on how glass art is often romanticized. The actual glass is cheap to buy, about one kilo of colored class is $25 to $50, and clear class is $1,300 per ton. It is economically challenging to make a bowl, for example, with pure colored glass. Colored objects begin with a small amount of color and are then surrounded by clear glass to make it appear completely colored. It is the energy that it takes to melt the glass that is expensive. His energy bill is $1,000 a month. It is a very resource-intensive profession that incurs a lot of expenses.
The process of learning, becoming an artist and starting a business by promoting his work is an on-going exploration. A key part of his work and exploration is discovering the difference between art and craft. "One of the challenges is that [glasswork] has to happen in the studio, it can't be done outside in the grass or under the stars." Many of his mentors have recommended he spend a lot of time in the studio alone, without assistants, even though in the past the people that surround him in the studio also have inspired him. He even found inspiration while reading a short story to one of his daughters. In the story there was a fork stuck in a tree, an idea he reworked in his art and made indents in his glass with the same utensil.
Accumulating a business takes time, he says, it's all a matter of what you're time is worth. His slide show, as he said it would, proved to show his development as a working artist. From taking no slides of his work, to taking scratchy, poor-lit slides, to other professionals capturing his slides and then varying different settings and light options.
"If you can't make what's in your mind, you need to get better," Kaemmer says describing his biggest problem, the pursuit in confidence as an artist. There is a struggle between pretty or marketable things vs. satisfying yourself. Kaemmer is constantly trying new things and has enjoyed the evolution of his ideas.