Artist's Statement
For half a century I lived with no appreciation for the beauty of glass and the amazing properties of this strange fluid that looks like a solid.  On a whim, I took a lampworking class and really enjoyed it. Then I took a fusing class and was immediately in love.

It was never supposed to be like this.  Having long considered myself to have no artistic talent (after all, I can’t even draw a creditable stick figure), I was unprepared for the journey glass was about to become.

It has opened my life to the arts, to new friends, and a way to express my creativity through a medium that is at once challenging, surprising, and amazingly beautiful.

My reward is when someone touches or looks at a piece I created and smiles.  That simple smile means my art touched that person somewhere – probably unexpectedly.

Which brings me full circle to how my addiction to glass began in the first place.  The best places in life are often those we arrive at unexpectedly.

The Glass
Fused glass is created when layers of glass are placed together in a kiln and fired at temperatures in the 1250 – 1700 degree range.  As you increase the temperature inside the kiln and time the piece is exposed to the temperature, the glass becomes more fully fused, until it becomes a single new piece of glass in its own right, and completely unique.
 
My fused work incorporates many different types of glass including iridized and dichroic glass.  There’s a myriad of “accessory glasses” to choose from, with more options being introduced by the glass industry every day. There are metal and organic inclusions to be explored.  There’s color, texture and shape to exploit.  The possibilities are in fact endless.

My lampworking skills allow me to make glass elements on the torch to fuse into my playful “fishy” pictures.  In fact, I use so many different types of glass in them that the result is a fanciful undersea montage of movement, color and texture.

My innate ability to combine color and pattern which I drew on in patchwork quilting years ago, is now evident in my fused plates.

My “Scape” line of fused dichroic glass jewelry evokes the beauty and serenity of oriental watercolor silk paintings.  Entire landscapes can be found within the brightly colored dichroic pendants and earrings.

Being a denizen of Columbia, Missouri, the tiger is an obligatory theme.  Tiger trivets, coasters, plates, business card holders and jewelry all cater to the community’s Tiger Spirit.

As I began the second half-century of my life, a invaluable gift was bestowed upon me – the world of fused and lampworked glass.  I wonder if the next fifty years will allow me enough time to fully explore that world?

 

Snow Flake Glass
Peggy King
1916 Iris
Columbia, MO 65202
573-445-3279
E-mail Peggy King
www.snowflakeglass.com

 

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