Blog

This is my 4th year as a volunteer with Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) Celebration of the Arts Gala - The Gala, now in its 28th year, recognizes those who create, teach and support the arts in Howard County.

One important part of the Gala is the Rising Star Performing Arts Competition, where a local talent vies for a $5000 cash award - selected by the live audience (believe it or not, the selections are made during the event, during the performances!!). 

As a glass artist living in Howard County and someone who was part of an amazing gallery in Howard County (Horse Spirit Arts Gallery, which showcased local artists but had to close in 2024), I have seen firsthand how much artists, teachers, galleries and the arts community benefit from HCAC. 

And a thriving arts community makes a more robust place to live for all of us!

So, I always donate one of my works for the arts auction (one part of the Gala festivities) - if you're in HoCo & around on October 25, 2025, come to the Gala!

www.hocoarts.org

Sometimes the idea for a piece comes from nature itself - perhaps a stylized version of some spring flowers?

I love playing with special paints that are made for glass & mixing them with ground glass powders - that's how I made the red flowers. I've found that red is a very strong color and a little goes a long way.

The swirling green stems are vitrograph stringer - where the glass is heated to a molten temperature (usually over 2000 degrees) & it's more liquid - then it can be pulled through a clay pot. To do this, I wear special clothing & use specialized equipment - big protective gloves and eye covering - and hold very long tongs. It's CRAZY fun to do & it's possibly to blend some colors along the way.

The vitrograph cools and then can be cut in pieces.

I will try taking photos one time of the process because it's quite neat to see.

I covered the background with various ground glass (frit) and then fired this piece. It's mounted on a metal frame and can be hung from a hook or leaned on a shelf.  If you have questions about this piece or process, please ask away!!

Now working on my 3rd commission in a quick time period has made me reflective on the process.

the 1st one was for a friend in a mid-Century modern house, full of windows & light, so we talked about designs of that period, colors she liked and designs that went with the rest of her decor. That picture is a typical mid-Century modern design - kind of a Mad Men period design.

I like to use watercolor pencils to sketch out designs, line up glass colors and make test pieces for clients to see before starting the final piece (or in this case, we did 2 large pieces). 

When I lined up test pieces and possible glass elements, the client picked what kind of test pieces most appealed to her and then I started on the "real" work - cutting glass and firing multiple times to get the design sketched out.

It's a really fun process - I like firing preliminary pieces "the elements" because glass doesn't always fire the way it looks "raw" before firing. Having a small test piece (let's say 2" square) is better to evaluate - like it or not? - than having a final piece several feet wide and/or long that contains a surprise that the client doesn't like! 

I've also started making life-size sketches for clients to see.

Anyway, it's a creative and fun interaction - I'll continue with more lessons learned in another post!

We had eight students on Saturday for my 1st fused glass class (& the 1st one for HorseSpirit Gallery). It was SO much fun!

I briefly showed all 8 how to score and cut glass - some people are skeptical that they'll be able to do until they try & see how easy it is. (at least a straight cut - curves & shapes ARE difficult). The students really went to town on their plates - and what is so extraordinary to me - each one is drawn to different colors and kinds of glass. I will post some of their work later after it is fired. They did amazing work - and we had a really fun time.

I'm impressed that people are so open to trying new art forms - they were a great group!

I do love talking about glass! When I was at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery last weekend for the opening reception for my show with Rana Geralis and Jennifer Barlow, we had so much fun talking about our processes for creating art. They are both painters - quite different styles - and I found it so easy to chat with them about how some of my pieces are made.  They asked great questions and quickly understood many changes that are done through manipulating temperatures. 

That's what I'll be doing next Saturday - please come if you are curious about glass - and bring your questions! 

I'll talk about how I layer colors to get certain looks, how I mix transparent and opaque glasses, how I "paint" with ground glass and ground glass powders -and lots more!!

if you have questions about specific pieces, let me know & I'll be happy to answer -

I'll be doing a fused glass demo at 2 places -

on Saturday April 15 at Horse Spirit Arts Gallery (check my Gallery page for address & details if you need) - I'll be repeating demo's from 11 am - to about 3 pm - 

The entire month of April, I will be one of 3 featured artists for "A Taste of Spring" so my work will be for sale throughout the gallery, too.

I love talking about fused glass & I love doing demo's. 

I've got glass samples of reactive pieces and will talk about how artists use color reactions for different effects - 

I just love learning with glass - I love how you can put clear glass on top of a pattern & then you immediately get depth -

I love using ground glasses (called frit) at different consistencies (powders, fine, medium & coarse) & the displacement makes a pattern, too.

I love all the principles of figure/ground - clear makes a space - that is chunky clear glass can be covered with a colored powder & you see the clear space -

Anyway, it's LOTS of fun & i'm bringing lots of samples -

I'm also a member of a glass guild - National Capital Art Glass Guild (www.ncagg.org) is presenting The Poetry of Glass at the Sandy Spring Museum from March 29 - May 28 - I'll have 3 pieces in this show.  My demo at Sandy Spring will be 4/30 from 11:30 to about 2 pm - same kind of show & tell as I've described above.  

Hope you can make it to one of the demo's!

March 2023

OK, I’ve been living the cliché about the shoemaker not having shoes…. As a marketing consultant/executive, I’ve written enough web content over the years to make me almost phobic about launching a website to showcase my glass. Delay, avoid, procrastinate – guilty as charged!

But to everything there is a season – and here we are….

The funny thing is,  I love talking about glass and the process of making fused glass pieces.

So, let’s make this fun for both of us  – you, the person curious about fused glass, and me, the artist. What I do know are the questions people have asked me over the years:

What’s the difference between fused glass, stained glass, blown glass – and is there any other kind of glass work that we should know about?

I’ll start with some basic q/a and then add periodically to talk about special techniques – using reactive glasses, layering with tints, what happens with fusing/slumping etc and then I’ll focus on specific pieces that I’ve made.

Along the way, I can highlight any demo’s, classes or in-person opportunities that you might be interested in attending.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to write them in comments section (Home page).

What’s the difference between fused glass, stained glass, and blown glass?

Artists use different tools to work with these three very different forms of manipulating glass but one huge difference is the temperature it’s handled.

Stained glass is cut and assembled without heating it in a kiln or furnace. The artist has a design and cuts glass.  Then, the artist assembles the design using grout or copper foil or lead to hold the glass pieces together. Copper foil and lead came need soldering (and heat) to keep the pieces together.

Many people are familiar with blown glass through popular TV shows or seeing a glass blower at a local fair. Typically the artist is gets the glass to a molten state – in the range of 2400 degrees, and uses a big furnace to keep the glass hot and malleable. Since glass blowing involves a large furnace and other heating and cooling chambers, it is typically done at a studio.

Fused glass is the process of joining multiple pieces of compatible glass in a kiln, typically working in the range of 1450-ish degrees. We can fire multiple times to join, texture and shape the glass.

Other popular forms of glass artistry include casting glass and flameworking.

Curious about any of my work? Ask away.  Questions are fun!