07/02/2026
“Of Two Minds” The front and back sides of this piece are at least two decades apart. The back side with the yellow hair was the first fused glass piece I ever made. I was visiting family in Wisconsin. I’m guessing late 90’s (???) My sister Kathy suggested taking a ride up to Door County to a walk-in craft art center. I remember my nephew Greg and I decided to work in the glass area. I believe Kyle, Kathy and Jim painted ceramic plates in another part of the studio. I was in a figurative stage at that time and was obsessed with masks. So that’s the quiet contemplative mask. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the finished piece. So I held onto it until sometime in the 2010’s I had a studio and a kiln of my own. I decided to make another more animated mask to pair with it. (I’m still interested in human duality and form, but I’ve branched out from masks). After I finished that one, I still wasn’t sure how to present it. I did decide to join them back-to-back using an epoxy adhesive. I toyed with a welded metal stand with intentions greater than my will to finish a full body of glass in a metal frame. I set my shirt on fire during that adventure. So I pivoted back to safe kiln formed bases. Then the question became how to balance a relatively heavy piece of glass on the narrow tip of the mask’s chin. I know what I’d do if I had it to do over today. But my head was not there yet. Finally I decided on a #1/2” thick base with an abstract hand to display the masks. I held onto those pieces for years as well. The adhesive used is fussy to work with. And it took some time to come to terms with that and overcome my procrastination. Finally this year, I was determined to finish the piece. So here it is! Two plus decades later, the finished product incorporating my first ever fused glass piece.
