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I come from a family of artists and grew up surrounded with various mediums. Painting, pottery, photography and illustration have been an influence throughout my life, but I have always had a fascination with glass. The intense saturation of color and the fluid properties of hot glass are very intriguing to me.
My studio overlooks my perennial garden where I find inspiration in the form and subtle colors of the flowers and landscape. I am humbled by the elegance and beauty of nature as I try to capture what I see through flame and molten glass.
Using a table mounted torch to heat the glass, I work from the inside outward, creating depth by layering many different colors of transparent and opaque glass. Using the glass rods as my pallet, I stripe and layer hot glass onto the rod. With tweezers I grab the tip and pull it until I get a long, thin piece of glass called a “stringer”. With these strings of glass I draw my decorations on the bead like using a paint brush. Manipulating dots and swirls of glass with picks and marvers, I create a picture inside the bead itself.
It is my desire to draw the viewers eye deep inside the beads to inspire emotion and imagination. I find great joy in knowing that my art may be passed on as future heirlooms for generations to come.
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