Patty Roberts

“My love of glass began in middle school when a group of artists came to show the art classes the different techniques that were possible in glass. It was years later that I began my exploration into the glass world. When I saw the pâte de verre pieces from the early French artists I was inspired. I found a workshop at Bullseye glass company that taught the basic techniques then spent the following few years testing and pushing the limits of size and design.”
To create her pieces, Roberts makes a clay model into which she embeds copper features. The piece is then covered with a refractory plaster material. When the clay is removed from the mold, the metal is left behind in the plaster. A glass paste, made of crushed glass frit and a binder, is layered around the metal and built up to create the walls of the object.