Cast glass

10 inches

After meeting artists Shinichi and Kimiaki Higuchi of Japan, famous for their Pate de Verre, I began to transform my work again, translating my designs into cast glass. Through months of experimentation on my own, I learned how to create molds from my clay models. I had to make many calculations for the kiln and learn how to make rubber and wax molds. I spent a lonely winter doing those experiments, in a form of trial and error that reminded me of how my father and I began so long ago. This time I was alone. My work took on the organic colors of winter.

I often would observe doves huddling together in the landscape, waiting patiently for spring. This inspired “Frozen with Snow,” a bird almost encased in ice. I began to think of nature as a cycle and I wanted to capture that cycle in glass. “Life Cycle” depicts the life of a bird from egg to its last remains. I wanted to portray the hardship and effects of the environment on wild life and yet show their endurance in an endless natural cycle.