About my art

 

Currently I am working in Fused Glass and experimenting with combining glass and PMC (Precious Metal Clay).

  

What attracted me to glass is the beautiful color and transparency of glass.  

It is a very happy medium to work with. It is very difficult to produce a depressing piece!  

There is also an unknown component… It never looks the same after firing as it does before, so there is always a surprise.

 

Much like life, you never know what you’ll end up with but you hope it is something beautiful and inspiring.

 

My designs are cut from sheets of clear and colored glass with the same expansion rate (coe).  Some pieces are accented with iridescent, opalescent, or dichroic glass.  Glass is really something that is best appreciated if seen in person.

 

Many types of glass have a color shift when viewed at different angles. Dichroic glass has a reflected color as well as a transmitted color. This makes the pieces very complex and adds a lot of depth.

 

I use various techniques including etching, sandblasting and painting with frit (ground pieces of glass).

Each piece is individually handcrafted, no two pieces are alike.

 

For plates and bowls the pieces are assembled into the design and fused together in a kiln, at temperatures ranging from 1330 to 1500 F.  After cooling, the flat fused pieces are removed and placed over ceramic molds for a second firing, which slump the flat glass into its final form. 

 

In the case of the jewelry, multiple layers of glass are stacked (between 3-10 layers) and fired at 1450-1500 F. After cooling they are cut into shapes, ground, finished and refired.

 

The pieces are fired in the kiln from 2-5 times. In all cases, the glass is annealed which removes any stress and strain in the glass, making the pieces durable.

 

Hand washing is recommended.

 

About Nancy Samuel

I am a native San Francisco Bay Area Artist who works in both glass (fused glass and kiln formed glass) and precious metal clay.

 

My wonderful teachers have included: Jim Wixon and Glenda Wixon, Janet Hiebert and Hadar Jacobson.

I have been making jewelry since I was 4 years old.

 

Besides my art, I am also a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Reiki Practioner.

I also feel a deep connection to animals and was certified as a Wildlife Rehabilitator by IWRC in the 80s.

 

I hope you enjoy my site and thank you for visiting!