May Guest Artist Jan Butler

Jan Butler, Glass Artist

Years ago Jan explored various art mediums, including acrylic, oil, watercolor, and pastel painting. Nothing became her passion until she found pottery, then 15 years later, fused glass. Eventually, faced with choosing between the two, she dedicated herself to fused glass.  Her pieces stand out and include fish sculptures, freeform  vases, and unique night lights, each a mini work of art, made with her own vitrigraph and cane pulled glass; vitrigraph work being Jan’s favorite.  Jan’s analogy for her work is that it is like making a gingerbread house, from scratch.  Some people buy premade candy and assemble a gingerbread house.  Others take on the task of making each individual candy; the gumdrops,  candy canes, licorice, marshmallows, gingerbread, etc. and then make the house. Jan falls into the latter group.  She makes all the small and more complex pieces that are included in her work, many using a vitrigraph kiln.  A vitrigraph kiln is a specialized elevated kiln in which the artist stacks glass into a crucible, heats it to a molten state, then pulls the glass through a hole in the bottom of the kiln to create skinny free form stringers (flower stems/seaweed/jellyfish tentacles) and structured cane, which, when sliced, reveal tiny flowers and fish, which she uses in much of her work, and which provide the tiny details that make her work so special.