Percy Echols II is a plasma neon artist, so it's no surprise he got his start blowing glass as an undergraduate at Illinois State University. Both technical and experimental, Percy discovered a passion for the medium, thanks to his position at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Even now as a recipient of the first Ron Desmett Memorial Award for Imagination in Glass, with shows around the corner, Percy still marvels at the scientific application of excited gases and the use of specialized equipment used in neon. He talks with Mondo about his interests as an independent contractor and the making of Taming Lightning, a blog and podcast dedicated to the science and history of plasma neon.

Find Percy on Instagram @glass.percy and @taminglightning.

Read more about the artist at UrbanGlass.