Love Across the USA - 2022

Love Across The USA is a public art project led by renowned street artist London Kaye. The collective of stitchers creates large, powerful crochet art installations that amplify the voices and visions of women from the past and present that are changing the world. The organization was founded by OLEK in 2017.

I had the pleasure of taking part in two of this year’s murals.

The first was the Peace for Ukraine mural. I contributed a square to one of three murals displayed. I was excited that my square made its way to New York City and I was able to visit the finished piece hanging in the Oculus.

The second mural I contributed to was in celebration of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. This piece hung outside the Dallas Central Library in Texas.

Love Blooms Here

I’m excited to share that my piece, “Love Blooms Here,” now graces a traffic box in Riverdale Park. The basis for this piece is hand-stitched felt rectangles. I arranged the pieces, photographed them, and tranferred them to a digital file. The finished rendering was selected for display on a traffic box at 4801 Madison Street, Riverdale Park.

Thank you to the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation and Town of Riverdale Park, in collaboration with Verizon and the Maryland State Highway (SHA), for making this opportunity available. Learn more and see the list of other newly installed traffic boxes.

Endings

The closure of DC GlassWorks and Sculpture Studios isn't a farewell to my glassmaking, but is most certainly the end of a chapter. Ten years ago I took my first glassblowing class at this public access studio, 20 minutes from home.

My time at the studio taught me the value of practice. It awakened an appreciation for color and texture and helped me to see beauty in the play between light and glass.

I've had the privilege of introducing others to the medium at studio open houses, at markets and as an instructor. Teaching helped me to understand the cause and effect of each move, the joy and frustration of being a beginner, and reinforced over and over again the value of practice.

The "team sport" that is glassmaking taught me the value of crafting among, and with, a community of makers.

The joy of learning took me to Pilchuck Glass School and the studios of Corning Museum of Glass, with the opportunity to learn from masters of their craft.

Sharing my work has taken me to Chicago, ARTOMATIC, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Etsy headquarters and countless craft shows.

I am thankful for what I've learned and who I've met so far, and looking forward to what the next chapter of crafting brings.

First signs of spring

First piece from a glassmaking session inspired by the early blooming Snowdrop.

And a little inspiration spring, this time from the yellow crocus.

A celebration of spring

Each spring I make a piece to celebrate the year’s first blooms. This year Snowdrops were the first to emerge followed closely by the yellow Crocus. Then a Forsythia and purple Crocus came out to play. Lots of color inspiration for this Saturday’s glass making session.