The Crafty Fox Glass

Fused Glass Studio

Heather...

For as long as I can remember, I have expressed myself through artwork. My mother was a painter and an art professor, and I spent many summers with her traveling and painting. Although my degrees are in Biology and Management, I have always incorporated the arts into my studies, my work, and my leisure time. I continue to attend classes and workshops to learn specific techniques and the use of new media that I can apply to what I already know and use. After many years of experimenting with various media, I have discovered that kiln formed glass, as an artistic medium, best expresses my personal vision at this time.

I love the qualities of glass. Glass is cut, ground and fired to become smooth and inviting to touch. Glass reflects and shines, but it can also be transparent and layered. There are many techniques that can bring out various qualities of the medium.

Virtually all of my pieces begin by cutting a piece of base glass with hand tools or electric saws. A second layer of glass is cut from various colors and thicknesses to layer on the first. More layers are added as details or decorations and the stacked glass is transferred to the kiln to be fused. I often create custom glass sheets to cut and use in my designs. These are created by using combinations of ground glass (frit), very thin broken glass (confetti), and thin rods of glass (stringers) on sheet glass and firing it. I also make “design elements” by cutting small pieces of glass and fusing them together to create “stones”, fusing frit to create “lace”, or pulling glass rods in a torch to create shapes and twist colors together. These objects are then used to embellish my original art.

The focus of my work is on the qualities of color, line, and texture. Through my creations I strive to engage the viewer, evoking a sense of excitement and interest in the subject matter. Illusions of movement, depth, and luminosity are common to many of my pieces.

My creations are inspired by the colors, shapes and themes of nature – from the Monterey Bay area, from my travels, and from my imagination. My work is about seeing, experiencing, and imagining, while often providing a pictorial representation of recognizable objects.

I intend for my glass creations to be seen and enjoyed by others. I hope that my works will provide a source of pleasure to those who see and touch them.

Darryl...

I find my muse in the natural world around me. I try to capture and translate the shapes, relationships and colors, particularly those present around the bay and in the Santa Cruz mountains into the glass I'm working on. Glass—cold, hard and sharp—has an amazing plasticity hidden inside it. I am learning and practicing techniques to use this surprising characteristic to bring out unfamiliar warmth and texture.