Art In The Pearl: Fine Arts & Crafts Festival

Description:

I start my sculptures by drawing a full size sketch of how I see the final piece.
The glass componet is made of up to 40 layers of glass that I intricately cut, stack, and assemble in a way that creates an inner structure. I fuse the glass by heating it to 1480 degrees and then slowly anneal the fused block for up to 4 days. I then begin to polish the glass by using progressively finer abrasive disks. In the last step I use a wet felt pad and Cerium Oxide to very clearly polish the glass revealing its internal structure. I create the metal componet by cutting and welding mild steel and then grinding and cleaning it. Using patinas, pigments, and mediums I burn the finish onto the metal. The addition of light amplifies the structure within the glass and helps create a presences and sense of life in the finial sculpture.
I have always been compelled to express myself with three dimensional art that feels alive with movement and energy.