I like the challenge of turning cold flat glass into three dimensional objects that surprise the viewer. All it took was someone telling me it couldn’t be done.
I started doing glass when my children were babies. My first pieces reflected where I was in life—a doll’s house (which went on to win “Best in Show for Crafts” and “First Place-Stained Glass” at the Washington Square Art Show. It is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York.). Next came a carousel that turns and plays “It’s a Small World.”
When my children were in elementary school I started doing outreach into most of the schools on Long Island. Each student would be responsible for cutting a piece of glass and foiling it and then I would take it home and solder the windows or the letters of the school together and bring it back. Such fun to have the kids point out one piece of the whole and identify it as “theirs.”
When the children moved up in school I did artist–in-residence programs in various Jr and Sr High Schools with the students doing real work on the design and execution of major pieces.
And then it was back to 3-dimensional work. More houses, more museum pieces, a dentist’s office, a washing machine in the lobby of Coinmach Industries.
Recently I’ve started doing political pieces. As of this writing my series, “How to Fix the World,” has three pieces: She’s Breaking Out of the Girlie Box, She’s Flown the Coop, and She’s Changing the Dynamic. The fourth one will involve the Oval Office. She’s Changing the Dynamic is part of the Persistence juried show at the Museum of Northern California.