MY ART
WHY GLASS
My designs often are inspired by the glass itself. The interaction of glass with lights and the colors their interactions create have always fascinated me. The harmony produced by layering diverse pieces of multi-colored glass is an extraordinary creation. Glass has distinctive and fanciful qualities that transform colors as light passes through or reflects off it. The resulting color combinations are infinite and magical. My jewelry can be any color you can imagine!
INSPIRATIONS
My inspirations come from colors and forms of nature – organic shapes and colors. Flowers in the spring. The brilliant colors in the summer sunshine and its juxtaposition to the enhanced shadows formed by the leaves in the fall. Withering winter flora.
My other inspiration comes from geometric plane shapes – non-organic shapes such as circles, triangles, and squares. I am drawn to simple and perfect shapes. These plane shapes are finite and infinite at the same time. I also get inspiration from architecture. The shapes of structures. The contrast of and between the sunlit surface vs. the shaded area.
Although my two main inspirations in a way oppose each other, both allow me the freedom to create whatever my heart leads me to.
TECHNIQUE
& GLASS TYPE
I use a glass form technique called “fused glass” (also known as “warm glass”) using a kiln. It is distinct from “blowing” or “torching.” Used by Egyptians more than 4,000 years ago, fused glass is one of the oldest glass forming techniques. I create my jewelry primarily using sheet glass cut into shapes of my design, fused with precious metals, and heated to about 1500°F (816°C).
I often use “dichroic glass” to create my jewelry. “Dichroic” originates from the Greek dikhroo, meaning “two colors.” Invented by NASA for use in spacecrafts, dichroic glass contains micro-layers of metals that, when diffused with light, project distinct colors, one transmitted and the other reflected. The glass sparkles, shimmers, and emits colors that usually complement each other. The coloration shifts depending on the angle of view and the direction of light reflected on it.
I also incorporate “pure silver foil” to glass, which induces reactions that result in unexpected colors and patterns. The colors of glass are made by adding different minerals – such as copper, gold, cobalt, iron, sulfur, and nickel – during the glass-making process. Silver reacts to certain minerals in glass, resulting in unique and organic patterns. My Alchemy series is inspired by this unique trait of glass.
