Mindy Turbov, Member

Glass has always intrigued me. At the age of 3 my mother and I would comb the beach of Lake Michigan looking for beach glass. I have been making art with beach glass for decades.  What really made me fall in love with glass was visiting the island of Murano at  the age of 9. I watched as the glass blowers  created created amazing objects. That was the beginning of my glass collecting. Fused glass has been a part of my life since I was a child.  Once a year my family would visit the Higgins Glass Studio (Riverside IL and important in fused glass movement) where I become enchanted with fused glass.  As an adult, I learned  to blow glass at OxBow in Michigan. It is a difficult hobby to keep up in Chicago. So I began fusing a few years ago, as a way to stay with glass and learn a new format. I am hooked.

The glass rules. It has a mind of its own. The artist can coax it, understand its movements and chemistry. In the end, the artist is never quite sure how it will come out. There is this wonderful element of surprise every time the kiln is opened.

Glass working is my therapy and its much more rewarding than going to a shrink. I get lost in the work. It clears my head and lets me exercise the other side of my brain. All the papers on my desk and phone calls I have to return evaporate from my consciousness. It's just the glass and me, and my fellow glassworkers. I love to experiment with colors and new techniques. The camaraderie of my fellow glassworkers has added enormously to my artistic growth. I have always loved and collected glass and other forms of art. I was never very good at art. Through fusing and wonderful mentoring, I have actually become an artist and it very satisfying.