Hi,
I am a native North Westerner having been raised on beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene. I moved to Seattle Washington 1975.    In 2000 I returned to college in Criminal Justice and found myself pursuing classes in the Art Department. After one year of totally exiting out of the Criminal Justice and into art classes, I found the creative side of my being. I completed classes in design, 3D design, sculpting, color, and finally a self motivated and self taught glass class.  I had a small 110 V kiln which I brought into class and we were actually in the embryo stages of fusing glass and then slumping it. I guess you could say that we had nine weeks of pure experimentation. When the quarter was over I continued to fire glass and experiment and design with my work space in my laundry room and my little kiln in my bathroom! I realized at that point that I truly had found my passion in creativity in glass. I have limited myself to fusing and slumping and a broad range of creativeness within these processes.  I am constantly pushing the edge for more complex and creative work in this medium. It is an extraordinary and fulfilling feeling being able to express myself through such a beautiful medium as glass, and to create work that depicts my personality and creativity. Up until November of 2002, I did all my fusing and slumping in a ceramic kiln. Although it was most difficult and really is not the ideal manner in which to work with glass, I acquired what I call the "art" of fusing and slumping as I had to learn aspects of glass visually and manually without the benefit of digital controls. I had to know what glass was soft and which slumped faster and where in kiln to place and also visually what the glass looked like at certain process temperatures. I am now glad that I did not know any better as I learned a tremendous amount about glass the good ol' fashion way. In October I finally purchased a manual pyrometer for my ceramic kiln. This enabled me to monitor, soak and anneal the glass at a much more controlled environment in the ceramic kiln. But it was still not the ideal way as I continued to push the edge with size and thickness and continued to break pieces. However, I have been told by other glass artists that the use of a ceramic kiln makes the glass more like art as it is rather unpredictable and less controllable. Finally in December of 2002 I was able to get a glass kiln, full digital control and all. I must admit that I am truly in 7th Heaven with it. I love it. I love what it does. I no longer am ruining designs that I have worked so hard on. I still use the ceramic kiln for certain pieces as I have the knowledge to be able to do so. But my life and glass are made more pleasant with my new glass kiln. Each piece of my glass is hand cut, my own design and creation and I fabricate all of my own work. No two pieces are ever really alike. My glass leaves much room for individuality, not mass production. I hand cut all the pieces so what they always vary in size by a millimeter or two. I love what light and color do with glass along with volume, space and texture. I delight working with all the beautiful bright colors in the opals and the subtle rich colors of the transparents. I accent with diachroic, frit, stringer, and confetti. I definitely have come along way since I began a three years ago. Having a little background in art has been very beneficial and a love for the medium that I am in now. Enjoy looking as much as I enjoy making.
SaLLy