Hello, Lightning Tamers!

Percy here, and welcome to episode 63 of the Taming Lightning Podcast. Today, I’m thrilled to chat with “Dani” Kaes, a talented light artist and educator based in Seattle, Washington. Dani’s journey with glass started back in 2012 when she joined the Hilltop Artists program as a traditional glassblower. Since then, she’s dived deep into the world of neon, apprenticing as a commercial neon bender at a prominent Seattle sign shop and embracing neon as her primary creative medium.

Dani’s work is bold, playful, and unapologetically vibrant, often exploring humor, absurdity, and the temporary nature of neon itself. 

She describes her art as “big, bright, and always flashing” — pieces that are more about challenging the idea of what can become art rather than following traditional artistic conventions. 

With a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Puget Sound, Dani brings a scientific lens to her neon practice. She’s also a passionate educator, deeply committed to open access to information, ensuring the neon community continues to grow and evolve, sharing her knowledge at places like Pilchuck Glass School, the Museum of Neon Art, and the Glass Art Society.

In this episode, we’ll take a lightning round of different topics—like how different gases influence the colors we see in neon art, why color theory is such a big part of the process, and nd the science behind vacuum systems and gas mixtures.  We’ll also get into some of the more technical topics like getters (or whatever Dani prefers to call them), Penning mixtures, and ionization efficiency—but don’t worry, Dani has a knack for making it all easy to follow.

We’ll also hear how her scientific background has shaped her artistic approach, the questions in neon she’s still curious to explore, and—of course—we’ll talk The Boy, her energetic furball of feline who’s always by her side.

So, settle in for a great conversation with someone who’s not just making neon art but also advancing the craft with curiosity, humor, and a scientific edge. 

Welcome to the podcast, Dani Kaes!

I hope you enjoyed the podcast. 

Thank you Dani for take the time after a long week teaching neon tube pulling and bending at PGC. This was wild week and there was certainly a lot that was shared and learned. I’m looking forward to following up on these topics and the new questions that have spawned since our conversation, and I hope you join me for another round of nerding out about the science behind the art of neon and plasma.

I’ll be including links for the many topics we mention in this episode, so dear listeners if you’re interested in having your questions answered please send them to percy@taminglightning.net 

Also if there are listeners interested in teaching or have recommendations for the Pittsburgh Glass Center, please email me at percy@pittsburghglasscenter.org,

I’d like to thank Pittsburgh Glass Center for supporting me as a place of research and inspiration, the Plasma Art Alliance, and the Facebook group Neon and Plasma Art for Beginner, where I have access to the well of knowledge and connects me to some amazing and supportive people. 

Please support Taming Lightning by subscribing to the blog mailing list , or follow on instagram @taminglightning.

Feel free to share, comment, and subscribe. and I’ll See you next time.

Percy Echols II

Taming Lightning