My Story.
A little history.
As a graffiti-obsessed art student, I signed on for a class in glass art, thinking I was taking a stained glass course. Having grown up Catholic, I dreamt of melding the beauty of my church’s stained glass with my love for illustration to create a uniquely inspired combination. However, when I walked into the studio and discovered I’d accidentally signed on for blown glass, something even more profound happened. The use of fire, the fluidity of the glass, the camaraderie of artists and the beauty of shaping something that could never return to its original form captivated me. This experience led to a lifelong pursuit of capturing memories in blown glass.
Artist statement.
My art is meant to capture our experiences as humans when met with our natural surroundings. I strive to create a tangible representation of our emotional responses to nature. Playing to the strengths of the glass itself, I translate our reactions to the world around us. Glass reflects light like water and holds color like the sunset.
When working with glass, it feels alive. It’s heated to be molded and then cooled slowly as it takes a shape it can never go back to. Making pieces that people connect with through an experience or emotion is what drives me to create. In a way, glass is like a memory. One moment it takes form and can be constructed, then crystallizes to become uniquely transformed.
Coastal locale.
If you stop by First City Art Center and don’t find me at my bench in the studio, it’s nearly a sure bet I’m either surfing with my kids, fishing, or watching nature documentaries. A coastal kid from the day I was born, I consistently draw my inspiration from the sand and the sea. I capture living memories in glass, inspired from my days watching sunsets from Mallory Square in Key West or admiring the waves while surfing in Monterey.
Classic Venetian technique.
In my work, I use classic Venetian glass techniques and fuse them with contemporary coastal elements. At age 30, I was lucky enough to study under Pino Signoretto, a notable Murano glass artist, at Seattle’s Pilchuck Glass School. I was blown away by his ability to sculpt anything and everything in glass with no wasted movements. Having been completely studio taught aside from my lone glass elective, this was a life changing educational experience. I was fortunate to spend time at Pilchuck in various roles, practicing these techniques while working with glass blowers from all around the world. Upon returning to Pensacola, I set out to bring these ancient, traditional techniques to the local art scene and fuse my coastal inspirations with classic Murano glass making.
What inspires me.
The cresting of a barreling wave fascinates me. The ripples in sand and the way light reflects off the ocean triggers creativity. The texture of a sandy shell spurs revelations. Taking an object that is unlike glass and organic in nature to form it with glass makes the pieces particularly unique. Originality stems from my mindset of creating forms not normally seen. Glass can't be duplicated and should be treated that way. Nature continually evolves in a similar way glass takes form. No two sunsets and no two waves are identical like no two pieces of glass can be replicated.