My journey with glass began a few decades ago. I was working at an antique store in Gig Harbor, WA whose owner taught stained glass at Stadium High School in Tacoma, WA and when the store wasn’t busy, he taught me his craft. I was hooked immediately. Fast forward 10 years and I opened my first studio in Woodinville, WA and dubbed it GlassRoots. I taught stained glass classes 3 nights a week and was open for retail 5 days a week.

My husband (who is wonderful) and I were raising three children and very busy. He always supported me in my artistic endeavors. One of my students gave me an old ceramic kiln and I started incorporating painted pieces into my stained glass projects. I experimented a bit, but fusing was just in its early years. Bullseye was just starting its fusible glass line. I ran that studio for almost 20 years.

Here’s a piece I did 40 years ago.

Fast forward a move to Marysville as kids grew up and out. I had a full time job at a Title company in Everett and was making and selling fused glass jewelry on the side.

I wanted to learn how to do lampwork beads. Enter a new, and now dear friend, Chris Warrington. An amazing lampwork artist, who said “I’ll teach you how to do lampwork and I want to learn how to fuse.” The moment I began to teach her fusing, I knew that was my path. Here’s my first project back after a 15 year break:

I stopped doing jewelry and started fusing again. I’ve taken classes from some amazing artists: Paul Marioni & Mark Ekstrom (back in the day), Fred Buxton, Tim Carey and Ann Cavanaugh. Lots of e-books and experimenting and I’m still hooked almost 50 years later.

Glass is the most versatile medium. I’ve done copper foil and leaded stained glass, sandblasting scenes on shower doors, bathroom windows and office doors in the Columbia Tower, fused, painted, blown, lampwork and cast glass. The way light plays off the glass entices me to constantly want to learn more. So much fun and so challenging at the same time. Every day is like Christmas morning when I open my kilns.

I think it keeps us young to continue to learn and share all that we can about this wonderful medium we all love.

Here is some of my current work: