Background
For the first four decades of my life, I lived and functioned
in a "left brain" world. Construction management,
computers, and accounting require symbol-oriented, linear
thinking. My work was about real objects, such as buildings, but
the process kept me separate from them.
I didn't pick up a piece of wood in my hands, feel its
texture, smell the pungent cedar as I cut it, enjoy the pleasure
of laying it in place and having my fingers recognize that it
was exactly the right length to line up with its adjoining
piece. I managed the company that hired the person who cut the
wood. I didn't even write a report using my hands, paper, and
pen—it came off a printer.
In 1986 I took a stained glass class. I didn't think I could
draw, but I always made my own designs. I was enthralled by what
glass does with color and light and loved working with my hands and
my mind.
In 1993 I began studying T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Truly a turning
point in my life, T'ai Chi has reminded me of something I knew
as a child—how to be. As I went further down this path, I also
re-learned how to see.
In 1994 I quit wearing a watch. In 1996 I left my "day
job" and opened Tennessee Glass Works, Inc. My background
helps me wire a switch on the kiln, keep my books, and run the
business. Doing these things lets me make fused glass.
Design Philosophy
First, I want organic shapes and textures. Given the right
circumstances, glass can do wonderful things when heated and
left to its own devices. In the same way a surfer rides the
crest of a wave or a watercolorist works wet-into-wet, I work at
controlling me and responding to my medium. My
goal is to arrange for the glass to do what it's good at.
Second, I love color. As much as I can get, of course, but
the combinations are what really make it sing. Chartreuse is
just not the same without grape. Yes!
Third, I strive for integrity with the kiln-forming process.
Whether sculptural or two-dimensional, I want my art glass to
look like it should be made in a kiln. There is still a lot of
unexplored territory in warm glass.
Methods
