Kiln-cast contemporary glass sculpture

Wood had been my sculpting medium for forty years. But in November at SOFA Chicago 2009, I began a “cross-over” adventure – absolutely unexpected and dramatic.  Suddenly, I was casting my work in new light!

Available Works in Glass

BLUE TANGO

Blue Tango is my largest glass sculpture to date at 2'-2" tall. During layout, I envisioned a schematic representation of dance... tall and slender with open dynamic upward movement....

MARIAH

I thought it was time to actually try my hand at the evocative, sensual and organic theme of the Art Nouveau period. Here is the result....

SPLASH

My intention with this piece was to expose the inner core and draw the eye…from the outer structure...to the tight twists and turns...to the inner core...and swirl back out....

BLUE SHIFT

For this piece, I called upon several elements that I had incorporated in earlier glass works – intersecting lines and curve-over edges. It's not plagiarism if I steal from myself! But I also included a more open core, multiple penetrations and three tunnels to play with. ...

RED SHIFT

1′-3″ h, 8″ diameter       Kiln cast crystal       $15,500.       Available through Thomas R. Riley Galleries   Red Shift is a departure from my previous glass works in that it has a more solid central core, no penetrations, save the notch at top and bottom. On previous works, I had been noticing hints of shapes and colors
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LIMONCELLI

10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          $ 12,500.          Available through Thomas R. Riley Galleries               Creating LIMONCELLI … wax sculpture, glass from foundry, finished work Other Available Glass Sculptures...

CASCADE

1′-6″ h, 10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          Inquire Were there Orangesicles in your childhood? If so, then envision along with me what I was trying to capture here — the feeling of orange ice warming in the Summer sun and slumping – or, well, cascading down. This form may have been easier
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MIDNIGHT MOVES

1′-7″ h, 10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          Inquire Sensual, dynamic undulations were my goal. I hope the feel of motion pleases you as much as it does me. Technically, Midnight Moves was the most difficult sculptural glass I’ve completed to date. And the most difficult to cast.
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SHAPE SHIFTER

7″ h, 12″ diameter       Kiln cast dichroic crystal       Inquire                  Creating SHAPE SHIFTER … wax sculpture in progress & finished work Other Available Glass Sculptures...

CLASSIC MOVES

1′-6″ h, 10″ diameter       Kiln cast crystal       $ 16,500.       Available through Thomas R. Riley Galleries My vision for this piece was a romantic, sensual undulation of lines and planes. A body moving to soft music in moonlight hours. Technically, I pushed casting requirements further than before, stretching into a
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AWAKENING

1′-8″ h, 10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          $ 15,500.          Available through Traver Gallery Taking a curve and bending it back on itself is what I do. I love the flow and feel of the undulation. The movement is also an important structural element. With Awakening, I used two such elements opposite to each other to
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AURORA

1′-4″ h, 8″ dia.      Kiln cast dichroic crystal     $ 14,500.      Available through Thomas R. Riley Galleries Aurora is cast in dichroic crystal, meaning it changes color from pink to lavender in different light sources. The manufacturer calls the color Lilac. In the design, I attempted to convey a feeling of escaping the
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ADAGIO

12″ h, 7″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          $ 10,500.          Available through Traver Gallery Creating Adagio Other Available Glass Sculptures...

It’s not often you get to make a first impression a second time, but on March 11, 2010, I completed my first glass sculpture — and named it Second First, honoring the second time I’ve created my first-ever piece.

Collected Works in Glass

LEVITATION

11″ h, 1′-9″ w, 12″ d          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD Levitation is my first horizontal work. I followed (loosely) a version of my ribbon work from my sculpting days in wood. When the sculpture in wax was nearly finished, friends of collectors who acquired Canyon Song stopped by the studio. They fell in love with
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MYTHIC FIRE

1′-8″ h, 10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD by Holsten Galleries     At 1′-8″ tall and over 50 pounds, this was my largest (and, if I may say, one of the most dramatic) pieces to date. The lines and planes just worked out so well, as did the color shifts because I varied the
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UNFATHOMABLE

1′-6″ h, 8″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD by Traver Gallery I began working with the idea of colliding lines on my last piece, Firth of Forth. Here, I continued the idea, attempting to create the illusion of one line passing through another. It was a difficult visual element to pull off. I wanted it
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SECOND FIRST

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EVENT HORIZON

1′-8″ h, 1′-6″ w, 8″ d          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD This piece is a result of a very different idea that did not produce the desired effect. I ride a Harley motorcycle. One day I was hanging around the local shop and spotted a neat accessory – an attachment for the face of a carburetor
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CANYON SONG

1′-4″ h, 10″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD       Canyon Song was my second attempt at running a penetration from top to bottom. I added the further challenge of a long, sharp, twisting, unsupported leg structure. I feel the effect of both is quite dramatic. Creating CANYON SONG … wax sculpture in progress
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FIRTH of FORTH

Named in honor of my Mother who was born in Scotland not far from Firth of Forth....

MYSTIC LIGHT

12″ h, 7″ diameter          Kiln cast crystal          SOLD by Traver Gallery This piece was my third adventure in glass…pushing the boundaries of the material and my foundry. Engineering plays a central role in my designs. Not very romantic, I know, but the undulating and double back curves are planned engineering elements designed to support things
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The process was entirely unfamiliar to me. My learning curve was bent backwards. I had created a wax cylinder … that I sculpted … sanded … and “finished” … into a positive sculpted wax form.  (An aside. For me to sand wax was a particularly perverse process. The words sandpaper and wax just do not belong together!)

Then I had sent the wax form to a foundry … to be transformed into kiln cast glass … and brought it back to my studio where I did the final grinding and sanding.

The concept of partnering with anything but the Creative Force and my medium was completely foreign to me. To hand over my work to a foundry, to be wholly dependent upon them for any step of my process — let alone the utterly most crucial step?  It was heart-poundingly terrifying!

Still  the adventure continues. I’m totally captivated by the process and final product. After spending 40 years working in shades of brown, I am using color and am awestruck when light hits the work. It truly glows and feels alive.

I love it. I really love it. Welcome to my glass art world.