Dichroic Glass Jewelry Artist of the Week Cynthia Valenzo

Cynthia's Etsy shop: http://ccvalenzo.etsy.com

I have been in love with glass nearly all of my life. About 20 years ago I decided I wanted to make stained glass panels for my Kitchen Cabinets so I went and took lessons at a local shop. After making lamps and many commissions later I decided I wanted to do a contemporary piece with fused glass pieces for my foyer Transom and side windows so I went and took a class in fusing.

There wasn’t a lot of information available. They primarily explained the chemicals, glass and rough fusing cycles and the rest was experimenting on your own. This was about 12 years ago. Since that time I have designed Glass Tiles, started playing with making jewelry with all of the scraps and working a full time job. In 2002 the company I worked for was bought out in a merger so with my severance package I ended a 30 year corporate career and went into the glass business.

A few years ago I had a B&M shop where I taught and sold fusing supplies. It was great fun and I met many wonderful people, but I spent more time teaching and managing the business and had little time left for creating. I closed the store and moved the studio to my home and since have had more time devoted to creating and working not only with glass but precious metals and semi precious stones. I work more hours than I did in the corporate world but the fulfillment in being able to work with glass and the challenges of continually creating new things is a constant joy. My husband is a retired electrician and serves as my quality control, maintenance and shipping department. I don’t know what I would do without him.

Working with glass is such a joy and challenge and every time I open the kiln and see what comes out it’s a roller coaster ride. There are a lot of disappointing moments when the kiln Gods have decided to laugh at you, but the joy of a beautiful piece really outweighs the disappointing moments. Being able to enhance the glass with Decals, Etching and Sand Blasting just to name a few makes it even more rewarding and keeps me pushing the envelope looking for the next plateau. Best of all are all of the people I have met all over the world with my internet business.

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Thank you Cynthia for sharing. If you would like to submit yourself as "Artist of the Week" please send us an email at info@aaeglass.com Include 2 pictures of your jewelry as well as a blurb about you and your company. We look forward to hearing from everyone. \

Also, we have a new decal coming that will knock your socks off. Hang tight!

AAE