I saw a colorful window reflection in NYC and used it as an inspiration for a fused glass artwork demonstration in a class I taught called “creating crazy quilts”.

First I saw a video on what happens when you lay stringers next to each other on fiber paper and do a full fuse – they start to repel each other. Then I thought about grass and a little creature hiding and a hungry bird. That was my thinking on this piece that I call, “Spying a Snack!”

Things I didn’t know about the Castor Bean Plant – Beautiful but can be deadly; CASTOR OIL is extracted from the seeds (which are not technically beans) and is used in anti-microbials, cosmetics and medicine. It has been given orally as a laxative, and in the past it was given to kids as a health tonic. It also contains the water soluble toxin RICIN, although ricin is not partitioned into the oil. (do not chew the bean!). Much of the plant can be allergenic and toxic. It’s legal to grow but not to extract the ricin.
Castor oil has also been used in biofuels and as an effective motor lubricant. It has been used in internal combustion engines, including in WWI airplanes and some model airplanes. I love the colors of the leaves and seed pods.

Castor Bean, (20 x 16″), (sold)

Recently, I finished 3 science themed commissions.
One is a 2 cell blastocyst award sculpture and the other two are a cell with mitochondria and an environmental study of killifish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Award for ISTT (8″x5″x3″)

Cell with Mitochondria

Killifish environment

While walking through my neighborhood, I noticed these tiny (about 1/2 inch long) winged elm seeds. I decided to make them in glass. It was a labor of love as each little wisp of white was a drawn out stringer cut and put in place. A few jumped on the first fuse and had to be ground off, and the piece refused a few times.

Winged Elm

Winged Elm Seeds (23″ x 19″) ($550)

Durham is a great little city, and I love being a member of 5 Points Gallery Co-op. Last year I created a fused glass piece with iconic Durham buildings, and I was challenged to make another one this year. So, here are my two artworks about Durham.

Bull Durham (sold)

Bull Durham 2 (18″ x 22″) sold

Please keep checking back or email me for quotes as I have decided to sell most of my fused glass artworks online using PayPal.
I have created a new Menu category titled Art for Sale and Contact. It will take me a while to get it all organized.

Iceland is a fascinating place of fire and ice. The landscape is so inspiring for art.
And we lucked out to see Northern Lights too, even in September, even in southern Iceland.

Glacial Ice (20 x 16)

Hot Spots (20″ x 16″)

Just published in the American Women in Science Magazine: an article entitled, The Melding of Science and Art, by Raven Luo, a graduate student at Duke University, includes a section on my science inspired art.
https://www.awis.org/resource/melding-science-art/

James Webb (1906-1992) was born in Granville County, NC. He was the second administrator of NASA. The James Webb telescope has just revealed images from deep space showing galaxies that are millions of years old. Coincidentally, I have recently finished two fused glass artworks about the universe.

Microcosm in Space and Time, 20″ x 16″

Deep Space, 14″ x 11″