Nancy’s passion for brilliant color is also visible in painted furniture pieces, wooden picture frames, and benches. Painting furniture was the seed for this thriving enterprise. Nancy was searching for something to help her feel better, to relieve the stress of dealing with a recalcitrant teenager.

“I began to paint furniture because it was so refreshing. The furniture was quiet, the paint did what I told it to do, and it was attractive to look at. It was a pleasant experience and it just felt good to do it. You could feel the stress go away. Maybe that was a measurable moment.”

Nancy says she developed her “expertise” in glass making through practice — disaster after disaster. She drew upon a large dose of self-confidence and combined it with a mindset that you can make something else out of a seeming disaster. “Pieces can be broken up and added to something else and it will add a new dimension to it that wouldn’t have been had that not happened. It’s a real stepping stone.” That’s the philosophical underpinning for Nancy’s artistic hallmark, the jewel motif.

Twenty years ago Sheryl Ellinwood started working with glass on a dare! Today her work is represented in galleries, as well as both public and private collections throughout the US.

Sheryl holds a Masters degree in both glass and sculpture from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and her work has won various awards including the Glass Art Society’s Award for Excellence.

Sheryl has a passion for books and travel. Every few years she travels to another part of the globe to bring new ideas and inspiration to her work. You’ll see the influence of trips to Africa and Southeast Asia reflected in several of her pieces.  Her sculptural work is based on interests as diverse as metaphysics and anthropology. Guaranteed, she is always at work on some new idea!

Robin Evans, award winning glass artist, innovator, writer and educator is a nationally and internationally known fine art glass mosaic artist. Her contemporary designs come from her fine art roots and as the principal designer and owner of Glowing Panels Studio in Sedona, Arizona; Robin specializes in collaborating with a wide variety of clients, architects, furniture and interior designers.

Robin has developed a trademarked process and product named Liquifusion™ and her glass art, which is finished with Liquifusion™, can be found in private collections and public sites throughout the U.S. and across the world. Several national top 10 and top 100 fine craft and art galleries showcase her work.

When Karen purchased her first kiln for firing ceramics, she discovered that she could fire glass in it. This was the start of my interest in art glass and I have been working with glass for over 10 years. Glass has become my passion in art. When she travels she gets inspired by new surroundings and tries to put that inspiration into her work.

Karen’s kiln formed animals have personality far beyond what is reasonable for this flat medium! She has recently been welding and incorporating glass into the welding making large animals suitable for garden settings.

In December 2001, Katie Schroeder’s professional career took a major turn while working an art show at Schroeder Studio Gallery.  She saw beautiful fused glass jewelry and expressed an interest in learning more about the process.  Katie was fortunate to work with longtime friend and glass artist Sherry Salito-Forsen during which time she was exposed to all aspects of the glass fusing.

Katie’s creative skills and ease with spatial design allowed her to quickly ramp up in the field, leading to the creation of one-of-a-kind pendants, earrings, tie tacks and bracelets.  She also collaborates with Francis Lai-Wang who adds sterling silver and precious stones to select pieces.  In addition to jewelry, Katie designs custom backsplash tiles for kitchens and bathrooms as well as knobs and pulls for drawers and dressers.

Katie graduated from Concordia University, Irvine in 1999 with a major in Humanities with an emphasis in Art.

Linda’s work incorporates her own handmade fused dichroic art glass with sterling silver in whimsical and fun patterns.  She uses the kinetic qualities of dichroic glass to create depth, movement and intensity.  Each glass piece is unique because Linda continuously experiments with her medium, adding metals and crushed glass to her kiln-fired pieces. She has developed a special technique in assembling the glass for fusing.

Over the years her jewelry has been showcased internationally in art galleries and museum stores including Freehand Gallery in West Hollywood and the Museum of Neon Art in Downtown Los Angeles.

Jane Tivol has always had a passion for glass. Se is fascinated by the way it is so comfortable in its natural, molten, fluid state. At the same time it looks right at home in its “super-cooled” solid state. Glass that has been formed using heat processes such as a torch, a furnace or a kiln seems to retain a quality that makes it appear to be trapped in a state somewhere between fluid and solid. Gustav Klimt’s painting, The Kiss, inspires many of Tivol’s pieces.