Our journey with glass began over 20 years ago when a friend invited me to try working in stained glass. At first, I was very nervous about getting cut by the glass or being burned by the soldering iron, but I overcame my fear and created my first stained glass window depicting a scene with hummingbirds and morning glories, that I designed myself. As my confidence in the technique developed, I eventually began designing and creating glass mosaics and then, later, discovered fusing glass in a kiln in a class at my local stained glass workshop. I became addicted to all the creative possibilities that these new techniques and tools presented to me.

I splurged, and purchased a Glass Kiln as a new creative 'toy' and began exploring glass fusing on my own. I created my first fused glass stars for gifts for family and friends. So many people liked them, so I decided to try selling them at a school fundraiser. Success - This was the beginning of Sycamore Shade Studios! At this point my adult son, Justin became interested in working on the torch and helped to transform my 3 car garage into and Art Studio complete with Lampworking torches and Glass kilns.
Recently, we have added a Laser Cutter to our studio. This fun cutter gives us the opportunity to design and create our own wooden ornaments, boxes, displays and shadowboxes for our collaborative fine art diorama glasswork creations.

The creations in our shop are created essentially, by melting glass.
We use 3 methods.

‘Lampworking on a Torch’
How Justin creates his Blown Glass Ornaments, and Pendants.
He heats up a hollow glass tube and manipulates it by twisting, shaping and fine-tuningwith the use of graphite tools, pliers, and paddles. The addition of complementary glass colors, frit, and silver makes each creation unique and one-of-a-kind. No two are exactly the same. Each Ornament or pendant is then placed into a glass kiln to be annealed (cooled slowly in a digitally controlled kiln). The entire process of annealing takes about 12-16 hours.

'Glass Fusing – Collage Method'
How I make my Dichroic Pendants, Mandalas, Stars, Fish and Birds.
I cut sheet glass with a glass cutting tool or glass water saw and then arrange the glass pieces, gluing them together. The next day, when the glue is dry enough to hold the piece together, I place it into the kiln for ‘firing’. Each piece is fused/melted together slowly in a digitally controlled kiln to 1450 degrees to facilitate gradual heating and slow cooling. The entire process of firing and cooling takes about 16-20 hours. Dichroic Pendants require 3 separate firings: 1 to fuse the 'collage' pieces onto a base, 1 to fuse a clear layer on top of the 'collage', and then another to
'fire polish' the edges after cutting the finished collages into pendant shapes.

‘Glass Fusing – Frit Method’
How I make my Lifesaver Beads, Cabochons, Donut Beads and Pillow Pendants.
Frit is glass that has been crushed to the consistency of fine and coarse sand. It comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Designing with 'Frit' is achieved by spooning the fine glass into molds that have been sprayed with a ‘release’ agent to keep the beads from sticking to the mold. Each set beads or cabochons is made this way using my own special blends of frit to get the colors and patterns that you see in my shop.

The History of Glass is very Intriguing! Learn about it here:
*History of Murano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsJlMrhdxvE

*Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the of the Glass Bead by Corning
(a short video with no sound)
http://www.cmog.org/set/objets