Tommy Peters

Since he was 20 years old, award-winning tattoo artist Tommy Peters has been digging old bottles—literally. “I love the history behind them,” says Tommy. But his interest in making them into art only began about two years ago.

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“My wife and I have always been interested in the Native American History of our area, and we’ve collected artifacts for decades. That’s where my glass creations started,” explains Tommy. “I started making arrowheads with pieces of my broken antique bottles. After a while, I just progressed to different shapes—hearts, stars, and eventually animals.”

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While not technically stained-glass pieces, Tommy makes all his art using antique glass bottles that he and his wife dig up from “secret dig spots,” as he says, and he creates each piece by using “hand knapping,” the same traditional methods used by Native Americans for making arrowheads.

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“Most times, the glass determines what it’s going to be. I’ve found that green glass is particularly unpredictable, so what may have started as one thing will become something else,” says Tommy. “I think it’s awesome that something so old and discarded can live on as something beautiful!”