As long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with creating. From Legos as a child to drawing, painting, and playing music as a teenager, I have always pursued forms of creative self-expression. As an adult, I struggled to find a creative medium that satisfied my need to create.
Shortly after meeting my fiancé Amanda, I started making jewelry. Simple jewelry designs led to complicated designs which led to many many trips to bead stores. I was immediately drawn to the beautiful colors and unique designs of lampwork beads. Amanda and I eventually took a lampworking class and I was immediately hooked. We left class, bought a torch, kiln, glass, and tools, and I have spent very little time away from the torch since then.
I started off making beads out of soft glass, but was soon attracted to the ethereal and organic colors of borosilicate glass. I began working with borosilicate glass and have not looked back. I soon fell in love with making marbles. I was fascinated by the amount of detail that could be fit into a small orb of glass. I was also drawn to the magnification qualities of clear glass, and declared clear to be my new favorite color.
Eventually, Amanda told him “marbles are great, but I can’t wear them”, so I began exploring ways to translate his favorite marble designs into shapes that could be worn.
Amanda and I now own Soleil Et Lune Studio and Gallery, a glass studio and bead store in Salem, VA. We teach classes there ranging from beginning beadmaking to marbles and sculpture, and classes in metal and wire working.
My work can be found in public and private collections in the US and beyond. I have been asked to be a demonstrator and teach classes at many venues up and down the East Coast including Lapidary Journal’s BeadFest in Philadelphia, and Hot Time in the Mountains in Asheville, NC. I also feel honored to have won the Best Vortex category of the 2007 Carlisle School of Glass Art Marble Flame-Off. Click here for photos from the Flame-Off.
One of the things I like most is working with other glass artists. If you are going to be in the Roanoke, VA area any time, drop me a line. I'd love to work with you.
