I did glass blowing and fusing during a vacation in Lincoln City, OR in 2016 (lived in Michigan at that time) and was hooked after that. After moving back “home” to Washington in 2018 I took more glass fusing classes through Bullseye Glass and Melt Glass Art Supply (Vancouver, WA). I started out with glass fusing but got “bit” by the glass on glass (GOG) mosaic technique after taking a class through Melt that Kory Dollar (Marvelous Mosaic Fine Art) taught.
I spent much of 2020 and 2021 doing GOG mosaics as it was perfect COVID-19 lock down activity that I could do from the comfort of home. In fall 2021 I took a leap to purchase a small kiln for my home studio and have concentrated on glass fusing since then. Shortly after that my wife and I decided to start a new business venture and created TLT Art LLC. We are still working out a business plan and how we plan to market our art creations. As a Native American with the Grand Ronde Confederated Tribe, I was able to get certified to sell at the Spirit Mountain Casino gift shop so that is officially my first selling venue.
Glass is my art medium of choice because there are so many different forms and techniques that can be used to create art. The biggest challenge is understanding the science behind how glass changes in the firing process and how best to process within a kiln to get good results. I am always looking to learn from other artists to see how I can interpret and incorporate new techniques in my finished pieces.
New techniques that I have been exploring recently are vitrigraph and landscapes with depth. I joined the glass guild as an opportunity to get access to a larger community of glass artists and opportunities to learn from others. Shortly after joining the guild I was approached to volunteer to be on the board. I have served on other non-profit organizations’ boards and held other volunteer positions in the past. I always enjoyed sharing my time with other dedicated people in furthering a good cause. You can read my message in the January newsletter to better understand the goals that I have set for 2022.
president of our Pacific NW Glass Guild.
