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Elizabeth grew up in rural New Hampshire, where she spent many childhood hours
outdoors picking and eating the berries she loves to make in glass. In those
days nature-inspired television was a rare treat, and Elizabeth has strong
memories of being allowed to stay up late to watch Jacques Cousteau and National
Geographic specials. Those brilliant images of exotic fish, plants and insects
never seen before made a powerful impression that still inspires her current work.
As a teenager and young adult, Elizabeth studied pencil drawing and oil painting
in the photo-realistic style. She developed a passionate love of glass and made
stained glass windows. Two events that inspired her to make her own glass sculpture
occurred in the late 1990s. First, she saw the Blaschka Glass Flowers at Harvard.
Then she traveled to Murano, where she saw the realistic glass insects made by
internationally renowned flameworker Vittorio Costantini. During her first
flameworking class Elizabeth made two glass irises. Thrilled with the qualities
of the material and the potential to make extremely life-like sculptures, she set
up a flameworking studio at home, where she continues to develop her skills.
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“I am fascinated by the miniature. Staggering beauty, complexity and drama
are present in the petals of flowers and the lives of insects. Yet my delight in
these tiny worlds has always been tempered by frustration. Flowers fade, insects
fly away, and berries become moldy all too quickly. Although I can visit the magical
underwater world of coral reefs on film or even in scuba gear, those visits are brief
by any standard. I can never get close enough to see all of the amazing details that
are apparent to the tiny creatures who live there. My work in glass is an attempt
to capture parts of these miniature worlds, and to freeze them in time so that they
can be observed closely and enjoyed over and over again.”
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“Flameworking” is the process of sculpting glass in
the 4000°F flame of an oxygen-propane torch. The
Italian-made glass Elizabeth most often uses has a
“working range” between 1,000°F and 1,700°F. In the
upper part of that range, the glass can become as
liquid as honey and must be constantly rotated to
prevent it from dripping. Toward the lower end of
the working range, the glass begins to solidify and
develops plastic qualities much like clay or soft wax.
The sculpture in progress must be moved back and
forth in the flame to maintain it in that critical
“plastic” temperature range. If the piece is allowed
to get too hot, surface details will be melted away
and the sculpture spoiled. If it is heated unevenly
or cools too much, the sculpture will shatter apart,
sending near-molten bits of glass in all directions.
Each object she makes is hand sculpted by building up the
glass bit by bit; therefore no two are ever exactly alike.
Variations in the surface color are achieved by carefully controlled
heating and cooling, by mixing several glass colors
together, or by applying vitreous enamel, which is
finely powdered glass. When enamel is used, it is
completely fused into the object and will not rub, flake
or chip off. Any stems, such as those on cherries, are
embedded into the glass and are made of solid copper
wire that is unfinished or has an oxidized patina.
No paint is applied to any of the objects.
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EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF FLAMEWORKED ART GLASS
| Artist |
Seminar Topic(s) |
Dates |
| Margaret Neher |
Elements of flameworked flower construction in borosilicate glass |
2007 |
| Kimiake Higuchi |
Reproducing flora and fauna with Pâte de Verre techniques |
2006 |
| Loren Stump |
Sculpting and paperweight techniques in soda-lime glass |
2006,05,04 |
| Leah Fairbanks |
Painterly effects in surface decoration using soda-lime glass |
2006, 2005 |
| Vittorio Costantini |
Sculpting realistic insects, birds and fish in soda-lime glass |
2005 |
| Kristen Orr |
Floral techniques in surface decoration using soda-lime glass |
2005 |
| Janis Miltenberger |
Solid sculpting and cold assembly techniques in borosilicate glass |
2005 |
| Ray Olson |
Hollow forms in soda-lime glass |
2004, 2003 |
| Pati Walton |
Murrini techniques in soda-lime glass |
2004 |
| Corina Tettinger |
Design and stringer control in soda-lime beadmaking |
2005, 2004 |
| Andrea Guarino |
Beadmaking in soda-lime glass |
2004 |
| James Smircich |
Control of heat and surface tension in soda-lime glass |
2004 |
| Al Janelle |
Sculptural beads in soda-lime glass |
2003 |
| Pati Walton |
Surface decoration techniques in soda-lime glass |
2005, 2003 |
| Suellen Fowler |
Color techniques, hollow forms and solid sculpting in borosilicate glass |
2003 |
| George O’Grady |
Marble making in soda-lime glass |
2003 |
| Loren Stump |
Murrini techniques in soda-lime glass |
2002, 1999 |
| Milon Townsend |
Solid sculpting and color techniques in borosilicate glass |
2002 |
| Kristina Logan |
Beadmaking in soda-lime glass |
1998 |
| Bandhu Dunham |
Solid sculpting in borosilicate glass |
1998 |
SELECTED JURIED AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
| Exhibition |
Location and Awards |
Date |
| Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) Exposition, June |
Mostly Glass Gallery, New York, NY |
2006 |
| SOFA Exposition, November |
Mostly Glass Gallery, Chicago, IL |
2006 |
| 7th Annual Invitational Goblet Show |
Works Gallery, Philadelphia PA |
2005 |
| Glass Now 2005 and 2004 |
National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA |
2005, 2004 |
| Glass·tron·o·my |
RAS Galleries, Yountville, CA |
2004 |
| DIA Luminescence Glass Invitational |
Denver International Airport, Denver, CO
Invited Guest Artist |
2002 |
| Glass At The Gardens Glass Art Show |
Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Third place for Technique in the Beadmaking category |
2002 |
| Glass At The Gardens Glass Art Show |
Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Second place for Technique in the Torchwork category
Fourth place for Artistic Merit in the Hot Glass category |
2001 |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
| Publication Name |
Feature |
Date and Publisher |
| Glass Craftsman Magazine |
Front cover and artist profile |
Dec/Jan 2005, Porcelli |
| 1000 Glass Beads |
Page 94 and inside back cover |
2004, Lark Books |
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
| Gallery Name |
Location |
Works on Display |
| Pismo Gallery |
Beaver Creek, Colorado |
Sculptural objects and finished jewelry |
| RASGalleries |
Yountville, California |
Sculptural objects |
| Glassworks Gallery |
Louisville, Kentucky |
Sculptural objects and finished jewelry |
| The Glass Market |
Corning Museum of Glass
Corning, New York |
Finished jewelry |
COLLECTIONS
| Elizabeth’s work is in private collections
throughout the United States, including those of noted glass artists Shin-Ichi and Kimiake Higuchi,
Loren Stump, Vittorio Costantini, Margaret Neher, Milon Townsend, Suellen Fowler, Pati Walton and Leah Fairbanks.
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ORGANIZATIONS
Glass Art Society
International Society of Glass Beadmakers
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