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I’ve been an artist as long as I can remember. In kindergarten, getting the “good” crayons with sharp points and interesting colors was critical. I thought arts and crafts period was better than recess. Didn’t everyone?
The first part of my career was spent as a senior art director working in advertising agencies and design firms. I have my own business now, Cynthia McEwen Design, in Chicago.
In the summer of 2000, I took a week-long lampwork beadmaking class at Oxbow, the summer arts program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. So it began... My favorite art medium has always been acrylic paint. I discovered working with molten glass is a lot like painting. When the glass is fluid, it moves like paint. It can be stroked, swirled, dotted or dipped and combined with other media as well. The results are more unexpected because you don’t see the colors as they appear when cooled and many chemical reactions can occur, but that’s part of the fun. I work mostly with Moretti/Effetre glass on a Nortel Minor torch and oxygen concentrator. Since starting beadmaking, I’ve taken workshops with Kate Fowle, Larry Scott, Patti Walton, Sharon Peters, Kristen Frantzen-Orr and Dustin Tabor as well as some jewelry classes from people like Kate McKinnon. |
The sharing of their knowledge and experience has taught me invaluable techniques that would have me taken years to acquire on my own. For that, I thank them. |
