Glassblower C. S. Tarpley (Choctaw/Chickasaw/Anglo) cherishes a youth spent in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "At an age when I would have been flipping burgers in any town, I was casting bronze, silver smithing, and learning to cut precious stones for minimum wage." Having worked with Charlie Miner blowing glass at Tesque, New Mexico, he set his sights on training at the Pilchuck Glass studio. His work is a melding of several disciplines and is also heavily influenced by his work as a goldsmith and lapidary.

Tarpley's blown glass vessels mimic traditional pottery forms. He sandblasts the surface decoration and electroplates metal onto the glass surface, a time consuming and delicate process. "Every design I use is universal and appears in European traditions as well as Native American. This aspect of these ancient motifs appeals to my sense of place in our present culture and allows me to honor the multiple nationalities and ethnicities that comprise my family."