Why Fused Glass?

Growing up on Cape Breton Island, I was surrounded by beauty. Beauty in music, the people, landscape and color. My mom loved to decorate with glass. She was especially fond of ruby red and cobalt blue glass items. We visited many antique stores over the years as a family, often leaving with a piece of colored glass destined to sit on a windowsill or coffee table. I grew to love the stained glass windows in our church. Travelling to Europe, I visited glass makers in Venice and admired their skill in shaping molten glass into beautiful works of art.

Traditionally, Cape Breton starts their youth at a young age in the appreciation and/or skills of craft. I have knit since I was a young girl. Early on, I developed a passion for cable knitting, making sweaters and afghans. Watching the cable pattern unfold proved to be motivating and exciting.

Growing up in Cape Breton gave me a sense of direction as to who I was and the influence of the cultural values my ancestors had brought with them from Scotland.

The combination of the love of color, glass, cable form, and our ancestors settling in Laggan (Pictou County), Nova Scotia, Canada, has brought me to where I am today. I love working with glass to make projects of all types, but I especially love making the symbols of my Celtic heritage. I hope you will grow to love them too.