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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.
Elizabeth does not use molds. 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 |
| Vittorio Costantini |
Sculpting realistic insects, birds and fish in soda-lime glass |
2005 |
| Leah Fairbanks |
Painterly effects in surface decoration using soda-lime glass |
2005 |
| Janis Miltenberger |
Solid sculpting and cold assembly techniques in borosilicate glass |
2005 |
| Loren Stump |
Sculpting and paperweight techniques in soda-lime glass |
2004, 2003 |
| 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 |
2001, 1998 |
SELECTED JURIED AND INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
| Exhibition |
Location and Awards |
Date |
| 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 |
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
| Gallery Name |
Location |
Works on Display |
| Pismo Gallery |
Beaver Creek, Colorado |
Sculptural objects and finished jewelry |
| RASGalleries |
Louisville, Kentucky |
Sculptural objects |
| Glassworks Gallery |
Yountville, California |
Sculptural objects and finished jewelry |
COLLECTIONS
| Elizabeth’s work is in private collections throughout the United States,
including those of noted glass artists Loren Stump, 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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