Artist Bio

My desire to work in stained glass started back in the '70's. I had seen a simple candle holder in a crafts magazine and after studying the how-to, determined this was something I was going to do. Joe, supportive as ever presented me with a soldering gun for Valentine's Day. Great gift, but wrong tool!

About 5 years later I finally found an instructor. My first attempts were crude, sad little things. But determination won out and, investing an entire tax return of nearly $400 in glass and assorted supplies, my studio was a reality. I'm thankful to all the kind people who actually paid money for my first efforts. I look back on those early efforts and am amazed I had the nerve to offer them for sale! But I kept at it, finally deciding to master the craft and let originality come when it was ready.

This is one of the most difficult lessons any of us can learn... giving oneself the room and permission to not be perfect on the first try. So many people have said to me "oh gosh, I couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler!" or "I'm not artistic. I could never do that." How sad to be so afraid to make mistakes that you never have the chance to try something new.

My love of glass led to an interest in glass beads and beading and I took a detour into beading earrings and necklaces. Which led to a desire to make the beads. I bought the necessary tools to get started and a book and couple of videos in the late '90's. Remember what I said about fear? Well, mine took the form of seeing myself, mapp gas cylinder in my lap, torch going, and dropping a bit of molten glass in my lap... jumping up to get the glass off me, then dropping the torch and setting fire to the house. Poof! No studio, no home, no nothing! LOL!!

Unfortunately, I let that fear hold me back for over 5 years. Five years when I could have been creating and learning. However, I'm glad to report I set that fear aside and in June 2000, took a weekend class in beadmaking. WOW! I was as hooked as I knew I'd be. So with new torch in hand I came home and informed Joe I needed either the studio finished or room in the garage.

So, the garage it was while he finished up the studio. That was in 2001 and I've been busy (mostly) melting glass ever since.

In addition to playing with fire I LOVE computer games. Too much so, if you ask hubby but then, so is he. Some of our favorite games come from these guys:

You might want to check them out. Our current faves are the Mystery Case Files series and Luxor 2. Now you know what I'm doing when I'm supposed to be at the torch!