I’m incapable of art.
I don’t paint, pot or papier mache. I don’t sew, sculpt or silkscreen.
My 3-year-old son is in preschool mostly for craft development.
But like a moth drawn to the kiln, I covet art. I love being around it and being around the people who can create it.
So I figured I’d take a class. I’d learn something. I’d be around artists and artistic types. And, by God, I’d even create something.
Turns out the Arts Council of Snohomish County had lots to choose from. Beginning watercolor. Melted wax painting. Leaf casting. Pottery wheel.
I picked “Fused Glass Mosaic Basics: Plates, Plates &More Plates.” Of course, my eye keyed on the word “basic.” The object of the class was to use precut pieces of glass to make two complete glass plates.
I entered the class, just a little late, and was immediately overwhelmed by the boxes filled with brilliantly colored glass in a zillion different shapes. Those ahead of me were happily filling up their trays like famished diners at a glass buffet. A few had already sat down and dug in.
My mind was as blank as the two glass tiles I selected. I thought: So, which one of these boxes has the ideas in it?
Janet Foley saved me. She’s the kind of instructor we all wish we had during art classes in school: patient, knowledgeable, funny, encouraging.
And in love with glass.
“Glass is an addiction,” Foley said.
She brought me over to a table that held finished products to get the ideas flowing. There I saw trays that were smooth and textured, plain and fancy, abstract and surreal. I went back to the buffet to gather my glass.
As we created, Foley spent time explaining the properties of glass, how certain glass reacted under fire, what the various tools were to cut and shape the glass. We learned about stringers, long strips of glass, and how to torch them into zigzags, spirals or eyeballs.
Marcia Dolmseth was there with her daughter Aimee Dolmseth, 18, of Kenmore. This was the first plate-making class the two had taken together but they both were creating professional quality work, all dazzling and wild.
“She’s real artistic, as you can see. I just agonize over things,” Marcia said about her daughter.
Marcia created a wonderfully abstract plate full of reds and greens, stringers and dots. Aimee had two plates side by side, the first depicting a sun image with bright yellows and sun rays and the second a curvy, blue and green piece to illustrate the Earth.
Debbie Demars of Everett said she was just surfing the Internet to see what was out there for the summer when she found the class.
“I’m kind of an artsy-fartsy type person,” Demars said.
The plates everyone made were fantastic: Unique, whimsical, artistic.
Mine were simple. No surprise there.
On one of my plates I spelled out the word “Treat,” using glass that mostly resembled the letters so it turned out a bit abstract. Foley helped me with the letter “r,” which we wound up having to cut and shape. That really made the difference.
(Afterward Foley said she was going to have to start adding letters to her plates. See what I mean about encouraging?)
After we were done, we proudly took accolades and compliments from other classmates and left our plates to be cooked into submission.
I left dreaming of my next party. To my guests I’d offer a plate of tasty cheese and crackers. Underneath those treats would be the glass tray and as the snacks disappeared, the word “Treat” would appear. I’d imagine that one guest who would stare at the plate and eventually exclaim: “That plate is sooooo cute. Where did you get it?”
Wait for it. Wait for it.
“Well,” I’d reply slowly and with just the slightest edge, “I made it.”
Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Aimee Dolmseth works on her “sun” plate.
A glass tray created by arts class instructor Janet Foley.
Finished products include the author’s “treat” plate.
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