This month’s Glass Line magazine features 23 artist profiles of some of the most significant borosilicate FlameWorkers, including me. 

http://www.hotglass.com/online.html#_INDEX_4    October/November 2011, Volume 25, Number 3 

Recently I had the honor of meeting Fritz Dreisbach.

Fritz received a Master of Fine Art in 1967 from the University of Wisconsin where he was assistant to Harvey Littleton.  Littleton started the first college glass program in the U.S. and taught several artists who became prominent in the history of studio glass including Fritz, Dale Chihuly, Marvin Lipofsky, Sam Herman, Tom McGlachlin, Christopher Ries and Michael Taylor.  Fritz, nicknamed the Johnny Appleseed of Glass, continued on with a 35 year teaching career, teaching at 130 institutions world wide.  He is credited as one of the fathers of the studio glass movement. 

Fritz lectured at the Bay Area Glass Institute, talking about the beginnings of the studio glass movement and his involvement within it, as well as showing the evolution of his glass work.  Then he demonstrated the making of one of his little glass trucks.  Betsy (founding President of Glass Alliance of Northern California) and Richard Ehrenberg donated a piece of Fritz’s art for a fundraising raffle to support BAGI, and I luckily won – a beautiful piece from Fritz’s lariat series. 

Yes, I’m super lucky! 

( Fritz making a truck, assisted by Treg Silkwood and Dean Bensen)

Another in my tumbleweed series, Garnet Tumbleweed Before its Tumble. 

8″h x 12″w x 8″d

Glass

Here’s a new series of Imaginary Botanicals from alternate realities – When Plants and Animals Merge.   

8″h x 4″w x 8″d

26″h x 13″w x 9″d 

  9″h x 12″w x 3.5″d

3.5″h x 9.5″w x 3″d                                                                          

 All Glass and all made in 2011.

Happily, I just signed up for an Advanced Sculpture class this fall at De Anza College.  I have some ideas for combining paper with my glass and I will work on those in my class.