Featured Artist Steph Mader

Ethereal and peaceful, artist Steph Mader’s glass landscape sculptures are made up of multiple layers of tiny glass particles, creating a 3D effect. Learn more about this artist by visiting her website.

 

 

Like many artists, I’ve had the urge to make things since I was little. I seem to be better wired for three-dimensional work, and I’ve spent most of my artistic career sculpting in one material or another.

 

 

I guess that leaning was evident pretty early; I remember locking myself in the family bathroom so I could make “clay” out of my father’s powdered Boraxo hand soap and sculpt little creatures, undiscovered.

 

 

I’ve been working in glass since the 1980s. My first efforts were glass sculptures, cast in the kiln. My work has evolved over the years, as it always does, and for the last ten or twelve years I’ve been making glass landscapes. I love the challenge of constructing them from nothing but little grains and strings of colored glass.

 

 

I build the landscape in layers, kiln firing after each addition. A finished piece will have between six and ten layers of glass, and will have been fired that many times. I build the planes of the scene from whatever is farthest away to whatever is closest to the viewer.

 

 

Because each visual plane in the scene is on a different layer, the landscape looks three-dimensional. Light illuminates the transparent glass colors to make the scene come alive.

 

 

I hope the glass landscapes evoke those quiet places where there are only natural sounds – the wind, birdsong, little rustlings in the underbrush. I think it helps us remember that we are part of the larger world, just as perfect and natural as any other creature.

 

 

For quite a few years I maintained a busy art festival schedule, mostly higher-end shows in the Western States. There were lots of reasons to love doing shows. I really enjoy meeting new people, so it was a great experience for me.

 

 

I loved talking about art with collectors and making personal connections with fellow artists. Having to keep up with show sales kept me working steadily in the studio year round. And there’s nothing better than an excuse to take another road trip, capturing lots of images for inspiration. But I logged a lot of miles and it was a lot of work.

 

 

Three years ago I moved to an island off the coast of Washington State. I have a cozy new studio and I’m building a new network of supportive artist friends here.

 

 

I decided to stay closer to home for a while to settle into the studio, freshen up my artistic life with some experimental work and build a teaching schedule.

 

 

Last year I offered a series of workshops for glass fusers. There is something truly wonderful about spending time making work with other artists. We are all enriched by each other’s ideas. The workshops have been a great success and I’m looking forward to next year.

 

Artist Steph Mader invites you to follow her on Facebook and her Blog.

 

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