First of all, I’m a married mother of 2 boys ('95 & '98) from Credit River, Minnesota.
CREDIT RIVER ART GLASS (& design company) is my venture that I started up in early 2007.
It's pretty predictable that when you read an “about me” page on an artist’s site it’ll probably start out something like “I remember sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen...” or maybe “I remember watching my mother creating...” ...it’s so sweet to think about where our creative sides were born & nurtured, but I promised myself that I wasn’t going to go back there...
but I couldn’t help it! It’s why I am what I am & why I do what I do...
I CREATE!
I've spent my entire life creating in one way or another. My 2 older sisters were very creative & I always followed closely behind them, shadowing their every move. They taught me how to color within the lines... I was shading my Crayola creations by the time I was 5 or 6!
Drawing, painting, pottery, woodworking, stained glass, cake decorating, jewelry design, etc...the list goes on.
Professionally, I have a background in interior design. When I had my first son in 1995, I started freelancing with other designers, designing & drawing (by hand) their custom furniture, cabinetry & other variously detailed fixtures. It's a pretty specialized job, they have their CAD designers, calling on me only for specific jobs that need finer details than a computer can get them.
As my kids got older & I had more time for ME, I found myself searching for a creative outlet that not only keeps me busy, but something that also feeds my soul! Who would've thought that GLASS & FIRE would be that something??
It makes sense... FIRE is pretty darned mesmerizing on its own... but then add to that GLASS. Beautiful, colorful glass. Molten. Manipulatable. Fabulous. When you walk away from your torch at the end of the day (with your family wondering what's for dinner & just as you are!), you have the distinct satisfaction in knowing that you've created these beautiful little works of art with your own two hands!! Talk about instant gratification!! :o)
The longer I play w/ glass, since January 2007, the more inclined I am to say "sorry, I'm busy" when the interior designers come calling with work. I'm enjoying life in my studio. I consider myself, at this point, a full time glass bead artist.
I'm very thankful for my design background as I've found that my eye for scale, proportion & color that allowed me to do so well w/ interiors has transferred over quite nicely to my beads.
If you want to know MORE about my head-first dive into lampworking, read on on the first few posts of this BLOG...
I have continued to build upon my glass beadmaking skills through not only practice, practice, burning myself & more practice, but I have also been fortunate enough to take classes with some super talented artists, including Jennifer Geldard, Michael Barley, Andrea Guarino-Slemmons, Kristina Logan, JC Herrell, Michal Silberberg, Joy Munshower & some short workshop classes w/ Julia Lund, Anastasia, Libby Leuchtman & Michael Mangiafico. It's been wonderful learning new techinques to incorporate into my own style as well as learning more efficient ways of working glass.
In 2013, I started teaching glass beadmaking classes! I LOVE IT! Here's a blog post that I wrote about it. Check out my SCHEDULE to see where I'm teaching this year!
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