Mary Lou Burnside - Artist Statement

My medium is glass, mostly kiln-formed glass.  I design and create functional and decorative glass artwork.  I also give into my whimsical side to create garden art and multimedia work.
 
The process used to create my glass work is called Kiln-Formed Glass.  First an idea becomes a design, then multiple layers of glass are cut, assembled, sometimes with other elements such as glass powder or glass stringers, glass paint, metal objects, or organic matter such as leaves, and then fused together in a kiln at temperatures up to 1500 oF, annealed for strength, then cooled to room temperature.  This often takes several firings.  It then needs to be cleaned up, this is called Cold Working which can include sandblasting to remove debris or unwanted surface finishes, then grinding or shaping the edges on a wet belt sander to give it a finished look.  The work is then placed back into the kiln for slumping into or on a mold to give the piece form, whether a plate, bowl, lampshade or sculptual shape. 

Each completed piece leaves me asking “what next”?  Do I continue exploring this process or do I experiment with something new.  There are so many different processes and methods in creating unlimited different styles of kiln-formed glass.  I have barely scratched the surface.