About Me
My art, be it written, drawn, painted, sculpted or fired has always been about connection. I create out of my vision of a world full of possibility and hope and the myriad of ways we are offered the opportunity to be in relationship with each other and the earth.
What you’ll find in my art is a reflection of the many parts of who I am: a 55 year old Canadian artist, mama, poet, composer, former urbanite who has found her big farmhouse in the country, proud companion of a wonderful partner, a wise 17-year-old, an exuberant dog and two noble cats; a feminist, differently-abled, a survivor of a sometimes cruel world and a hope-filled sojourner walking the long road towards unity, connection, compassion and intentional love.
I come from a long line of wordsmiths and I have jotted down poetry and reflections in notebooks, scraps of paper, receipts in my car and lately, my phone for as long as I can remember. For the last two decades my writing has helped me survive the roller coaster of living with mental illness and to document the hope I find in the beauty, persistence and tenacity of life found in the natural world.
I’ve been a painter for over 30 years but fell in love with glass over 15 years ago. It is a medium that fills me with joy and wonder. Its interplay with light, texture; its transparent and opaque qualities inspire me. I am fascinated with layering colours and seeing the unexpected. All of my landscape panels begin as large sheets of glass that are cut into strips, shapes and crushed glass, called frit. In order to create depth and complexity of colour, my panels are built, layer by layer, firing multiple times to achieve an image which represents not only the physical landscape but something of the Spirit of the land as well. I am always open to try new techniques; find new teachers and share my vision through glass and painting.
I’m inspired by the land that I live on, the people that I love and the hope I find in the persistence of spirit. I hope you enjoy this visit to my world.
Tech notes
Working with Glass
Simply put, kiln forming means heating glass to very high temperatures in a kiln for the purpose of combining, shaping, or manipulating it. Fused glass, slumped glass and draped glass are all examples of kiln forming. Think of glass as a liquid that is frozen at room temperature. Heating the glass in a kiln melts the glass, allowing it to act like a liquid -- it sags, it flows, it blends, the surface softens and smoothes. As the glass cools, the shapes, patterns, colors and textures created by the flow are captured permanently within the glass. Colors blend to create new hues, and variations in depth enable the glass to reflect, bend, and carry light. The result is a spectacular display that gives each piece a unique character and brilliance.
At 1250°, the pieces soften and drop down against one another. At 1400°, they adhere to one another, but edges and textures are still sharp. At 1470-500° the sections melt into one another, eventually forming a smooth surface. The piece is then cooled quickly to just below 1000°, and held at that temperature for a period of time. This step, called annealing, reduces stresses within the glass and prevents flaws and cracks in the finished piece. The fused work is then cooled slowly to room temperature.
Cold working - by hand or by machine - is the last and important step to finishing a piece of glass. Diamond hand pads for sanding off rough edges, a lap wheel to shape and polish, diamond drills, grinders, sandblasting etc. - all offer different techniques and possibilities. Often, after the cold working is done, there is still one more fire to bring the surface of the glass back to a gloss. It's a long process but testament to the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. If desired, enamel details or finishes can be added at this point and fired at a relatively low temperature to cure.
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