It was 1978, I was 19 years old and all I wanted to do was move from my hometown Madison Wisconsin to Seattle Washington. I didn’t know why at the time because I had never been to Seattle nor did I know anybody that lived there.
I met my husband to be Ryan, who was finishing his Masters at the University of Wisconsin Madison. I told him my plan and he said he would go with me. Ryan’s job took us to Puyallup Wa for 10 years. We had 2 daughters and lived on 5 acres. We had a little farm with 2 sheep, chickens and geese cats and 2 dogs.
1988 Ryan was unhappy with his job so we decided to move to Bellingham Wa, a city that is 30 miles from the Canadian border. It is one of the most beautiful places surrounded by mountain lakes and the pacific ocean. This is the year I was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis, which changed my life drastically because my legs didn’t work the way they used to. I needed to find an activity that used only my hands. Our realtor in Bellingham lived across the street from J and R Stained glass. I had a stained glass parrot that was cracked in the move.
I took my parrot in to J and R to be repaired And the man behind the counter said I could do it myself if I took a class. That was music to my ears! I took the class and I was hooked. It became my passion! After more than 30 years of making panels and lamps I realized that my back pain could not take building another lamp or panel.
I took a class on fusing glass. This is much better on my body! I bought a kiln. My kiln sat for 6 months because I was scared of it. I had to understand the different coefficients of the glass I was using. I had to understand how to program the kiln.
Glass fusing is joining individual pieces of glass together by melting them in a kiln. Temperature is 1400 to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. Glass slumping is heating the glass into a mold. This takes place at 1100 to 1300 degrees.
The dinnerware I make is dishwasher safe and it is impossible to scratch the surface with the sharpest knife!
