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I have been intrigued with glass since childhood: with my father, I watched glowing gobs of optical glass shoot thorough a massive machine; studied the elegant, sparkling Steuben Shop with Aunt Tillie; and observed lampworkers creating fanciful animals. My Barbie doll had glass tables made of optical blanks! Years later, I find myself exploring line and gesture as wearable sculpture. I am fascinated by sinuous Art Nouveau lines, tree branches silhouetted against the sky, icicles, and diagrams of Old Masters paintings where gestures carry your eye through the painting. My work conveys movement – flowing, organic – evoking the essence of natural forms. I enjoy the moment when glass is between being molten and frozen into shape, when it responds to my touch and the heat of the torch. In my role as librarian at The Corning Museum of Glass, Rakow Research Library, doing reference and book acquisitions, I am immersed in the art and history of glass. The experience is an incredible opportunity to talk with researchers, students and artists about their work, as well as absorb ideas from artists who visit CMoG and participants at the Glass Art Society. I even got to handle ancient glass - the iridescence flaked off on my fingers. My museum experience led to a desire to explore glassmaking myself. In 1987 I started with stained glass and fusing. I then did furnace work at New York Experimental Glass Workshop, Horizons, Studio Access to Glass, and with friends. At CMoG's studio, I tried pate de verre and developed my lampworking skills. Most recently, I’ve begun working with fine silver. I learned to melt and shape borosilicate glass at the torch with Susan Plum, who delves into emotional and spiritual expression, and Sally Prasch, who conveys the power of precise techniques and a talent for communicating ideas. I have been a teaching assistant at the glassmaking schools Urban Glass, Pilchuck, Penland, Pittsburg Glass Center, and the Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass.
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