I remember
being about 6 or 7 years old and being asked that age old
question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would
say "I am going to go to FIT (Fashion Institute of
Technology). I am going to design clothes." I know, I
was a strange kid. I did not do that. Here are some of the
things I have done.
At 16 I graduated from high school. The summer in-between
high school and college, I traveled through the US. I made
acrylic flowers and beads from Playdoh strung them on telephone
wire. People gave me money for these "creations". I know, I was
a strange teen. A word of warning Playdoh melts in the heat of
the sun.
Throughout college I was the organizer and facilitator of
our school's art shows, classes and a cooperative of students
and instructors.
In the 1970's I co-owned a leather shop. Most of what we
sold we made ourselves.
My hobbies have included, weaving/spinning, hand building clay
forms, carving then firing in the raku process, polymer clay,
beading, metalsmithing.
Then in 1999 I saw kiln formed glass. Specifically,
dichroic glass. I fell in love. The colors are captivating and
move people emotionally.
I approached learning about the glass and the processes
pretty much the way I do most things. With passion, zeal and
determination to create something unique and pristinely
finished. When I am working on something I can easily work
around the clock without realizing the day and night has passed.
As opposed to self-taught I consider myself “self-mistaked”.
Initially, I wanted dichroic glass cabochons to bezel set
in my sterling silver, beaded jewelry. Then the glass took over
my life. In addition to jewelry I have been creating accessories
for the home.
One of the things that amazes me about kiln formed glass -
are the visually very significant changes every step in the
process. I am like a child waking up Christmas morning every
time I open the kiln.
I start with full sheets of glass. Each piece I make has
dozens sometimes hundreds of tiny pieces of glass. It is fired
in a kiln then cut, ground and polished and fired again. Some
pieces go through this process several times.
I finish the glass the same way semi-precious stones are
finished. With diamond encrusted lapidary equipment. Starting
with a coarse grit and using finer and finer grits to achieve
pristinely finished pieces.
It gives me a great deal of joy to share my work. What a
gratifying feeling to enhance someone’s life with something that
gives them pleasure!
Stephen King was asked why he wrote and his response was,
that's what I do, that's what I have to do. (I am paraphrasing).
Well, that's my answer or something like that.
Enjoy Beauty Always!
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