About Me

My Passion For Art

Creating and firing fused glass is a passion that has totally enthralled me soon after completing my first pieces. I look forward to seeing and touching the hot glass after the every fusing is completed. Once the kiln lid is opened a warm smile comes over me as I get the first glimpse of the fused glass. I just created another piece that is beautiful. The raw glass carefully cut then stacked in layers to the images in my mind has now been transformed from one hard material into another solid material. The transformation is almost magical. It is so smooth to the touch. It shimmers. It glistens. Light shines through it making fascinating color patterns beneath it. Light reflects off the glass in rich, deep colors.

Timeless Glass

The works are so hi-tech and modern looking yet at the same time so earthy since glass they are made of is primarily silica, common beach sand. It almost transcends time since glass objects have been found as far back as 3000 years BC. Dichoric glass itself, although made using hi-tech metal deposition processes today, was produced around 1500 B.C. in Egypt and Mesopotamia and is found in nature where lightning struck the earth fusing sand into thin dichroic coated tubes called fulgurites. I can see why for millenniums, artists  have worked with glass in many forms for functional uses as well as an art form..

I'm Hooked

I purchased a large glass firing kiln immediately after fusing my first glass at my sister-in-laws studio. I was hooked. I knew right away that I wanted to create large glass works. So after much practicing and experimenting with different glass colors, glass types and glass lay up methods, I quickly realized I loved using transparent glass in my works. So I started creating large polyptychs and mounted them one inch off brushed aluminum to allow the light to flow through the colored glass and flood the aluminum backing with it’s color. The results were dramatic and mesmerizing. Each pentaptych (multiple panels of art mounted on one base) I make spurs me to immediately cut the glass for another. And another… It is hard to let go of them so I hang them in my home and studio for a while. Every day as I walk by, I stop to admire the works as the transmitted colors change from morning to afternoon. Some of my works are best viewed by up lighting them with quartz halogen lights, so I turn them on in the evening. To be more environmentally green, I am contracting out a custom LED lighting fixture to reduce power consumption and heat while at the same time achieving a complimentary color spectrum from the LEDS.

My Kilns

I have two large kilns, a large Skutt glass fusing kiln with computer controls and a smaller Paragon kiln. I also have two small jewelry kilns for which fire and cool quicker than the larger kilns. jewelry kiln. Both are at my home although I bring one of the jewelry kilns to my studio in Northern Arizona in the summers where it is cooler to work with the hot kiln. At this studio, I do most of my water color painting because the light is so good from the large window. It is also so inspirational that I can easily come up with ideas whether looking out or sitting outside under the pine trees and listening to the breeze through the huge pine trees surrounding the studio. Here I can watch shimmering hummingbirds and colorful butterflies hovering about as my mind wanders and the peacefulness of the forest relaxes me.

My Studio

With my friends and sons dropping by, my eldest with two Australian Sheppard puppies, it can be somewhat distracting to my glass fusing. However, most of my glass is cut, laid out and fused here since the kiln is permanently wired to the wall. My studio has my in-progress glass projects placed on many stacking assembly boards which makes it easy pull out projects to finish cutting glass. The shelves are rapidly getting filled with fused glass plates, dishes, panels, Ikebanas and jewelry. Some are ready for slumping and others recently slumped to their final shape. Many are marked for the gallery and art shows this fall. A few are waiting to be rotated into our home replacing art that has sold.

My Glass Art

I branch off sometimes and make more traditional household items like plates, decorator dishes and Ikebanas. This is often for my friend’s commissions for gifts but just as often it is to try a new method or color combination. The glass colors look different after fusing, especially after the glass pieces and layers melt together after firing in the kiln. So I often make plates and small wall art and then hold them in different light to evaluate the combinations of colors and methods.

My Glass Ideas

Sometimes I wonder if I could ever get tired of creating these amazing works. I know the new ideas for patterns, colors, inclusions and types of glass just keep coming to me. Sometimes they find me in my studio in Northern Arizona, sometimes in dreams or in talking with my devoted friends who follow my works in almost as much fervor and anticipation as I do. I have created many gifts for them to give for special occasions or house warming gifts. It is so rewarding to have friends and acquaintances request my work for their friends, homes or cabins.

It's A Long Process

It’s a good thing that it takes so many days to complete each fused glass work or my studio walls and my home walls would be completely filled with glass panels and other glass art. As it is, I have racks of partially completed cut glass awaiting special colored glass, testing inclusions, glass color interaction or simply kiln time. It starts with the glass cutting, to image setting, kiln fusing (itself taking almost a full day to heat and cool the kiln) and proceeds to mounting the glass. Sometimes I know exactly how I plan to mount the glass and usually I get help in creating a method. I could not mount these glass and copper works without the help of my husband. He can make any of my ideas come to life in his shop by creating a working system to mount them and display them in their best light. I feel that I do the fun part while he spends a lot of time designing a solution, getting, cutting, machining and coating the materials, assembling the pieces and then attaching the glass. Most of the glass mounting systems have many parts and are all custom made. A time consuming process. This has been an expensive endeavor adding to the raw fusable glass I order or pick up from suppliers, the expensive hi-tech dichroic glass, test glass firings and finally kiln electricity. From start to finished wall hanging, it can take up to a week side by side to complete each one and a lot of materials in the process. In between, I usually have a few projects in the works as I mentioned.

My New Art

I am working on creating fused glass for my copper art, combining two base elements into one. Some of my glass fuses metals such as copper and flake and powdered mica between two layers of glass producing interesting effects. As I mentioned, I have many works that are mounted on brushed aluminum panels. One of my original thoughts for creating art in fused glass was to incorporate it with my copper art. Now that I have a lot of experience with glass and know what I like, I can’t wait to devote some glass cutting and kiln time to this combination.

A Few Final Notes

I make food serving glass art with lead-free glass making them safe for food service. My fused glass is carefully annealed in the kiln so that they are resistant to breaking even years from the firing. They are dishwasher safe too. The fused art made with glass that has a metalized coating such as iridized and dichroic glass naturally cannot be put in the microwave and will me identified as such. This is so that my friends and commissions can feel comfortable displaying the glass as art or using it as functional dishes, plates and bowls. My fused glass jewelry earrings and pendants are made with quality sterling silver findings.

Commissioned Work

I often find time to entertain commissions of fused glass or copper. I get great satisfaction in creating my own work. It has taken a long time to reach a level of mastery of fused glass and many of it’s variations. My background and training in water colors has been a great asset in creating dramatic glass works. When working with clients on a commission it takes a lot of work to blend my knowledge with desired product they want. As a result it takes me little time to warm up to someone else’s vision of pleasing art. I work hard to make their vision come alive as a unique work of art that we both find inspiring and beautiful to look at day after day whether in their home or office or my home.

Contact Me

So contact me if you have a vision that would come alive in fused glass on it’s own or mounted for wall hanging.