Glass Orchid Studio

A Little About Myself

I was born in Germany in 1963 and spent about 1/3 of my life there. I remember seeing the beauty of stained glass even as a child. In southern Germany, one is surrounded by stained glass everyday, for many people incorporate stained glass into their homes, mostly as panels in door and windows. I remember sitting in the 500 year old church in my hometown, Wartenberg, Germany,

fascinated by the windows. Simple though they were , they made the light dance upon the floors and ceilings. As a small child, I loved to paint and be creative, Mom always would tell me "make me something". My work with glass or maybe I should say "on glass", started at age 8 when my aunt taught me how to do "reverse painting on glass". I have done many of them since and started to sell them when my mother opened and antique shop in 1989. During this time i became very good friends with Sigrid, who trained 3 years as a stained glass artist. I would visit her where she worked and was fascinated by what she could create out of flat pieces of colorful glass. My thirst for creating panels out of glass overwhelmed me. All I wanted to do was learn more. She had been taught how to do everything the "old" way, by hand. At 31, I moved back to the USA and I began taking classes at the Delaware Art Museum, learning how to make lead panels. I have also taken classes in foiling (Tiffany Style) at Del Tech in Stanton, Delaware. In 2001 I went to Sienna Italy to learn the technic of painting on glass with vitreous paints that are fired between 1000 & 1325 degrees so the paint becomes a permanent part of the glass. Vitreous paints date back to 1000 B.C. The idea is for the paint to arrest the light on the surface of the glass and to create a dimension that did not exist before, In 2003 I went to the West Coast and took another painting class that was taught by world famous glass artist Peter McGrain. In 2007 I decided to go back to school and received a degree in Architectural Interior Design, graduating in 2009. Which has lead me to design a bathroom and windows for Middletown Main Street Inc's annual "Designer Showhouse" event. I have restored and designed new pieces for the houses in Historical Odessa, Delaware, dedication windows for churches, entrance ways for apartment complexes and many custom pieces, some of which you will see on my web site. I have pieces for sale in my studio that is located on Rt 13 just north of Odessa, Delaware and at the Bohemian Cafe, in Chesapeake City, MD and on occasion, Gallery Showings.