What can I say...It's a family thing!

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​Working with glass set with resin has been in my family since my Great Grandmother Ida Nelson started “painting” with glass back in the 1960’s.  I remember visiting her home once in Oregon as a very young child.  She had a small art studio filled with tiny broken pieces of glass in jars covering the wall.  My Great Grandfather, her husband, Roy Nelson would lovingly crush all of her glass from old bottles, vases, plates, ect.  He used to make all her frames from discarded lumber too.  Friends and family would donate all kinds of glass of differing colors for her to use.  She loved art and loved to create!  She used to make coloring books for her children and shortly after for all the children in the county.  She would travel the county teaching art classes and selling her coloring books.  She even used to make doll houses and all of the furniture to go inside out of paper.  You could think of it similar to origami.  She was noted in several newspapers (see accompanying newspaper articles and photos of life's work), won awards, on TV and had several exhibits/shows across the nation.  Several of her pieces have been on display in churches, banks, and rest homes in Dallas and Salem Oregon.  One of her pieces, a Leopard in a tree, took first place in a national craft show in 1968 and was quoted as worth $15,000.   While I never did get to learn from her personally.  I do have several of her pieces that I use to help inspire and guide my own art journey with glass.

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Today I buy all of my glass at a glass art studio in Kensington, Maryland.  When I create a piece of glass art I infuse the energetic expression of the plant or animal I am working with.  I sit, meditate, and sometimes journey with some of the medicine I am working with.  I do this so that the energy of the spirit that I’m working with will come through in the art.  When applicable, I will add some of the medicine to the art piece to get a little bit more infusion.  Art for me is a way to express myself and find deep healing.  Each piece is unique and carries with it a piece of the spirit of the subject.  My goal for each art piece is that someone will find beauty, inspiration and healing from the art.

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My future plans for glass art is to move away from using resin.  I am working on acquiring the skills and tools to work with fire in order to take my art to the next level.  My goal is that this will not only transform my art but also be better for the environment.  Please reach out to me at milkweedherbals@gmail.com for more information, commissioned work and be on the lookout for new artwork!

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