Having worked in agriculture my entire life, I never had time to explore art. A friend asked me to take a glass fusing glass with her about 15 years ago. I was captured by the unpredictable nature of glass, never knowing what I would find when I opened the kiln. I have studied with and gleaned knowledge from some of the best glassists, including Narcissus Quadliata, Amanda Simmons and Roger Thomas, and have expanded my techniques and creativity with Gil Reynolds, Patty Gray, and Janine Stillman.
Glass fusing involves working with art glass and melting the pieces in a kiln until fused. The kiln slowly ramps up in temperature until the glass is liquid. Once in a molten form, glass can be manipulated in different ways including raking or flowing several colors together. Then the glass is carefully ‘annealed’ – held at a special temperature to stabilize the molecules, before slowly cooling to room temperature.
It still feels like Christmas morning every time I open the kiln.