Carole Perry - Studio Art Glass

The Emperor’s New Clothes [filesize 22K]

Carmen’s Wicked Moves [filesize 24K]

Road to Marakesh [filesize 27K]

So often I hear people exclaim - “Oh, I thought it was fabric - but it’s GLASS!” Aghast, they gaze with delight at the incredible sculptures of the gifted artist Carol Perry.

Nine layers of thin glass are stacked, joined together by color, to create a pleasing pattern. The glass is carefully placed into a kiln, then gradually heated to 1500° fahrenheit. At this temperature, the glass rods become pliable and tacky, thus fusing together to form one solid mass, yet retaining their original, individual shapes.

Control of the temperature is crucial to the success of the piece. If reheated, the glass liquefies, losing its shape and the meticulously laid out pattern.

At 1500° fahrenheit, Perry hand-forms the glass into the graceful, elegant curves, unique to each sculpture. Working at this intense temperature, her movements must be precise. Perry has to consider the flow of color throughout the pre-laid pattern of the glass. She overcomes challenges of working of a variety of glass types, such as opaque, transparent and translucent glass. Each retains heat differently as well as each color responds differently as some are easier to work than others do. As she sculpts each piece, the temperature drops. Perry can not allow the glass to go lower than 1200° fahrenheit, or the piece will crack.

Once Perry has completed the formation of each sculpture, it is returned to the kiln gradually reduced to room temperature, in a process called annealing.

What is so amazing about the finished piece is that it looks woven. Literally thousands of thin glass rods are placed together to create the illusion. Employing the 3 glass types - opaque, translucent and transparent - invites a unique play of light throughout the finished surface of the sculpture. An exciting interaction of light, reflected light and shadow moves across the surface.

Each sculpture is unique and cannot be duplicated.