I began melting glass in 1996 without a clue
that I had started down the road towards total obsession. It was a hobby.
Something to take my mind away from the
high-tech-high-stress-high-paid-climb-the-corporate-ladder job I relished. Two
years prior I had given birth to a lovely little girl. Somewhere between her
birth and the spring of 1999 all of my life dreams and goals changed. Who can
pinpoint the exact moment these things happen? We make one little decision which
combines with other, seemingly unrelated little decisions until we’re headed
down a new unknown path without any idea how we got there or even that we are
there. Feelings and ideas are planted in the shadows of thought until one day
something causes them to burst forth into the light and we experience an
epiphany.As you might have guessed, I left that
high-tech-etc job to start Glass Orchids in the spring of 1999. Shortly
thereafter, in that same year, my husband and I purchased an old farm in Maine.
Our plan to escape was now out in the bright light of day, much to our
surprise. Our dream was realized in the summer of 2002 when we made the final
move to our farm in Maine and Greg and I both concentrated our efforts on Glass
Orchids.
Since then we have grown considerably and have
developed our own line of specialty patterned dichroic glass that we use in our
own work and sell to other artists. Greg does all the artwork and creates
this glass in our studio. These unique patterns differentiate our work
from the run of the mill.
We continue to grow both in the size of the
business and in the breadth and scope of the work we produce. In March of 2004
we won Honorable Mention for Best New Product of 2004 for our glass landscape
night lights. In May of 2004 we opened a show room here in Frankfort as well.
Glass is an amazing medium with limitless
possibilities. Many processes and tools are used in the creation of my pieces
which may be fired up to 5 times to achieve the desired end. The glass is fired
(melted) in a kiln, much like pottery, to fuse (or stick) all the little bits of
glass together. The glass may be bent, ground, polished, drilled and/or cut with
a saw somewhere in the process. I use several types of glass in my work but
possibly the most beautiful and amazing glass is called dichroic.
Dichroic Glass is glass that is coated with metallic oxides such as titanium,
magnesium and silicon. Dichroic means ‘two colors’ and the glass is called this
because it reflects one color while transmitting (the light that passes thru the
glass) another. Dichroic glass is used in laser technology and in scientific
measuring equipment. Truly a medium for the 21st century. (c) Copyright 1996 -
2008 Nancy
Tang/Glass Orchids
