Karen Glabas

I am a warm glass artist. Warm glass art is also called fused glass. I have been fusing glass for nearly 20 years.

With warm glass, the glass, when heated resembles liquid and when cooled is hard and solid. The glass transitions between forms through temperature change in a kiln. If cooled too quickly, the glass will shatter. My artwork is constructed in layers through a process that requires familiarity and flow. Kiln work is typically in two or more phases which raise the glass temperature up to 1500 degrees or as high as 1700 for a glass boil

Each piece of art glass represents a beautiful color pattern in my imagination, one which my hands have carefully crafted the form and color of the piece. While each piece is intentionally created, the piece evolves in the kiln as well, and can take a life and form of its own. Fused glass artists must understand and respect the behavior of the glass while accepting what the kiln gods allow to occur. Opening the kiln to see what happens is always a joy (ok, sometimes its ‘what the heck happened here and why?’).