Short Bio
Inventor (Dichrolam), SCUBA diver, boat builder, expanding foam watcher, husband and mentor.
Statement
I've always been fascinated by light optics, and particularly as a SCUBA diver where I could download my visual library with the "lens effect" of water refraction coupled with the flamboyant designs of Nudibranchs. As a pioneer of biofluorescent night diving with custom black lights, I further file maxed my library with neon colored coral, fueling my thirst for visually dynamic material in my furniture design.
Following my discovery of dichroic glass for inlays, I said, "If only this could be cut on my tablesaw . . .". Years later, I would do exactly that as a chemist when I found dichroic films with the same color changing properties. Several patents later would see my invention of Dichrolam - the gemstone Opal in sheet form, fulfilling my image library of lensed refraction over color shifting 3D texture.
Having a monopoly on the most visually dynamic surfacing material in the world for truly original art, my wall mirrors are framed in molded Dichrolam, and my "lava river" wall and table pcs utilize my Burl line of custom, gradation patterned Dichrolam.
Sometimes a designer must invent the very material he is designing for.
Biography
John Blazy knew he would be a composites engineer the first morning he checked the hardness of his geometrical mudpie designs at age six. Since then John won high school art show awards in seven separate media to go on to major in Furniture Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1985 - 86.
As a furniture desgner, John explored machine age Art Deco design in tables and grand scale hall mirrors, utilizing exotic materials, pearlescent finishes and heavily figured holographic woods in between work as a cabinetmaker in northeast Ohio.
John did shows like ICFF in NYC, ACC Baltimore, and was published in Design Book Six by Fine Woodworking Magazine, with numerous awards in local shows, but was never really discovered, so he became an application chemist at a coatings company where the seeds of Dichrolam were planted - a composite sheet with the appearance of Australian Black Opal.
The coatings company folded and John reinstated his company - John Blazy Designs / Dichrolam, LLC to develop glass versions of Dichrolam for architectural use, winning several awards, being published in top design magazines.
John knew that non-glass versions of Dichrolam would be far more marketable for ease of machining, so a long, hard period of costly R&D ensued between 2010 and 2016 where the dumpster recieved five figures in materials constantly.
Once nailing the chemistry for interlaminar adhesion, John's God given creativity exploded into three, separate composite lines of which there is no equal: the "Burl" line of Dichrolam, the "Impressed" line of molded dichroic composites, and the exotic Chatoyant Carbon Fiber / DichroQuilt line of ultra high end solid surfacing.
These composites can be found in the highest end knives, guitars, and electronics components for top tier companies like William Henry, Cabot Guns, Ritter Instruments, Fender and Jackson Guitars.
Resume / CV
1996 - published in Design Book Six by Fine Woodworking magazine
2000 - Dichrolam makes top ten list in the Material ConneXion library.
2000 - Dichrolam selected "Most Innovative Product" at Neocon / IIDEX Toronto
2005 - Dichrolam featured in Metropolis Magazine for Bloomberg World Headquarters
2009 - feature in Decorative Glass Magazine
2014 - Cover of Healthcare Design Magazine for skylights in Levine Children's Hospital
2016 - Cover of Interior Design Magazine for Chesapeake Energy atrium sculpture
