Hi Nancy,
I absolutely share your enthusiasm, from here in sunny London! Contemporary glass spheres are immensely appealing and often incredibly complex to create - many of the guys who create these masterpieces are arguably yet to be widely 'discovered'. I've been interested in this area for a few years now and have a small collection, built up on my trips to the US. Whilst names such as Mark Matthews and Paul Stankard attract very high prices, the work of Jesse Taj, Dustin Morell, Cathy Richardson and others is largely affordable to most - and there's a whole new world of people out there waiting to be discovered. There's a book on the area by Mark Block, published by Schiffer Books, that gives more information for anyone interested. As well as glass pipes, quite a few artists came to the area though marble collecting. Mark is one of the leading experts in this area and also a good friend of mine. He has also contributed to the books I co-produce - the annual DK Collectables Price Guides by Judith Miller. I've included a section on contemporary glass spheres for the past three years' worth of editions, mainly in the hope that people on both sides of the pond may pay them more attention. The problem for me is getting hold of them here in the UK - we just don't see them -- yet!
Mark