About the Artist
I became interested in glassblowing while I was living in western Massachusetts in 1998. I studied there with Sally
Prasch, a nationally recognized glass artist and teacher. She taught me the basic skills of lampworking various types
of glass in a series of group lessons and also rented evening time in her studio to me while studying with her. After
this, I shared space in a private studio with an experienced lampworker, where we traded ideas and inspiration while working
together. I worked there until moving to Vermont in 2000, looking for a more natural and peaceful setting to live and blow
glass in. Since then, I have maintained a private studio at my residence, learning new techniques and directions in glass
through the use of books, videos, online resources and networking with other lampworkers. My workshop has a full wall door,
which I open in the summertime, letting in the beauty and colors of Vermont to help shape and inspire my glasswork.
The two main reasons I chose to study and pursue glasswork were that I believed it would provide a continual outlet for
my creative energies and would give me the freedom to work and live as I chose. I now live with my family in a small house
with a vegetable garden and a glass workshop behind it. In addition to glassblowing and gardening, one of my passions is
recycling and environmental issues. I try to reduce, reuse and recycle in my daily life and my surroundings and this is what
led me to create my line of glass jewelry.
The idea evolved out of "recycling" shards of finished glass pieces that had broken for one reason or another. I would
select the most interesting broken sections to bring back into the flame and polish off the edges for use as a necklace
pendant. Because the glass piece was a small section of a larger work, the design and patterns would be unintentional, yet
appealing for the uniqueness. I found that these sold well and began to think about creating a consistent source for these
glass shards rather than waiting for a piece to break. I decided to work with frit glass for its ability to create endless
patterns through the melting salt size pieces all the way down to a fine powder. Mixing different types and shades of frit
gives my pieces all the way down to a fine powder. Mixing different types and shades of frit gives my pieces varying degrees
of color saturation and depth.
I start the jewelry process by melting the frit into a piece of clear glass tubing using the flame of a specialized torch.
As the glass heats and the colors combine, I use a blowtube to shape a vessel, which when cooled will be broken into shards for
use in jewelry. For more information on glassblowing, click on The Lampworking Process page.