I always liked art, painting and creating beautiful pieces. I have painted all my life drawing inspiration from nature. I have always sketched in every note book and on any scrap of paper I could lay my hands on. Working, playing and creating with glass jumped at me in 2005 one evening when I was watching TV. I was watching a show dedicated to the crafters from all over the US and there was this lady who had made a beautiful butterfly sun catcher in a kiln right in her garage. I knew I had found my medium.
In 2006 I started with a small kiln and some glass in my garage. I did make some pieces. Could not make any thing over the winter because of the cold temperature. That is when my daughter found Diablo for me. I held onto the place quietly, would check the place out on the web and just drive by the place, but never had the courage to go in.
Then in 2009 I finally made the big plunge–I called Diablo and have been there ever since. I have experimented with all the various disciplines of glass art. Though my favorite is ‘flame/lamp-working’. I took to this discipline very easily and I am constantly pushing myself to make new things with my signature style of weaving and basket making with glass.
My belief that nature guides and soul drives shows through all my pieces, whether it be in the hot shop, flame-shop, cold-shop or fused glass work. I do always have a plan and colors of choice for the day, but being able to go with the flow is a very important talent to have. One thing that I have learnt is to respect glass and not to take the medium lightly. It can take on a life of its own. Even though I push the limits of a lot of the rules, I first had to learn all the rules and master them.
I am still learning, growing and evolving. Everybody at Diablo has been, still is and will be a big part in my creative life.
