Fired, Fused and Stained … All Things Glass Opening Exhibit

What: Glass art exhibit and artist reception

When: 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6

Where: Sequim Civic Center 152 W. Cedar St.

Cost: Free, open to the public

Contact: Karen Kuznek-Reese 681-3428

From realistic stained glass to abstract glass pendants, local glass artists in the Sequim and surrounding communities will come together to display, present and demonstrate glass artwork at the opening of the “Fired, Fused and Stained … All Things Glass Exhibit.”

The opening of the exhibit will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Sequim Civic Center, part of the First Friday Art Walk. Artwork will stay on display until March 31.

The exhibit will feature nine different glass artists and 26 pieces of artwork that incorporate glass in a variety of ways. The opening will include presentations and demonstrations from several exhibiting artists and is open and free to the public.

Exhibiting artists include Marilyn Brock, Patty Dinius, Cindy Fager, Millie Harrell, Lizbeth Harper, Sandy Placek, Susan Shaw, Susan Zarit and Eileen Collins.

Harrell is a Sequimite that has been living in Sequim since the age of 6. She’s been working with glass for 29 years and is known for her detailed stained glass artwork.

Her love for stained glass developed after taking a stained glass class where she got hooked.

“I enjoyed the beauty of it and creating it,” she said.

Harrell has a full stained glass shop and working studio, where she offers small stained glass classes of about three people. She also provides supplies for her classes and has the largest selection of stained glass on the peninsula.

She works with real stained glass, cuts the pieces, pairs and solders them together working with a pattern.

Harrell said she “works like a painter,” doing spots of color here and there, studies her subjects and makes all the individual pieces she needs for her work. From beginning to end, Harrell said one piece can take her from three to four months to complete.

She will have three pieces of her stained glass artwork on display called, “Butterfly Lady,” “Elk Window” and “Flower.”

Harrell also will provide a 20-minute presentation on her stained glass process at the opening exhibit.

Harper has been a Sequim resident for 11 years. Harper has been working with glass for seven to eight years and said her artwork always is abstract or contemporary.

“It’s all about color and form,” she said.

Some of her pieces on display include three abstract glass pendants and an abstract glass plate she calls, “Mountain Platter.”

She explained that using different fusing temperatures and “schedules” in a kiln will determine what a glass piece will look like. Some pieces of glass are fused in a kiln and then put into a mold for shape, while others are fused using different techniques for a smooth or raised texture.

Harper will be one of the artists demonstrating the four stages a piece of glass goes through from the raw glass to the finished piece and will discuss design as well. Her work also is displayed at the Blue Whole Gallery.

Shaw has lived everywhere from upstate New York to Forks to Sequim where she has been a resident for 10 years. She is a 2-D and 3-D artist with a barn that serves as a studio on her property.

She holds a community art project called Art Jam in July where she works with nine other artists to create projects such as murals for children to participate in.

Shaw’s singular piece at the exhibit is know as “Alisha” — a mixed-media piece in the form of a woman using beach wood for the body, wire for hair, beach glass and acrylic paint for details.