Having studied at Sacramento’s Stained Glass Forest back in the ’80s and the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, Gloria Vernon swiftly found her savvy in the art of glass. Yet Style’s 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards “Favorite Artist” winner is also a gifted pastelist and esteemed member of the Sierra Pastel Society and Placerville Arts Association. “Pastels appeal to me because they’re a fresh, vibrant media and very tactile,” Vernon says. “There are many techniques that can be used with pastels—I’m still learning their many possibilities.” You can view Vernon’s work at Placerville Flowers on Main. 

HLB: How did you start creating glass art?

GV: Glass was one medium that I still hadn’t experimented with, so I took a class in stained glass and quickly fell in love with the brilliant colors, infinite textures and how [it] was affected by light. At the Stained Glass Forest, very talented people surrounded me. I would hang out, use their studio space and absorb any techniques they were using, including copper foil, leading, fusing and sandblasting. At the time, I was living on a houseboat in the Sacramento Delta and didn’t really have a space to work in; when I finally had a studio at my home near Coloma, I began fusing and slumping glass.

HLB: Can you explain the glass fusing process? 

GV: Glass fusing is done in a kiln, nearly the same as ceramics. The glass is cut and assembled then placed in the kiln for a fuse firing. The temperature depends on the result you’re looking for. A full fuse to 1,425 degrees will make the glass flatten out; a “fuse to stick” firing at 1,350 degrees will round the edges of the glass and stick it together, but it’ll still have dimension. To make an object like a bowl, you fire a second time with the fused glass on a mold and it’ll slump into the shape.

HLB: What were you like as a young artist? 

GV: As a young child, I was always the one who did the Halloween and Christmas murals with chalk on the blackboard at Gold Hill School. Many years later, when I retired from teaching, I needed to regroup and find my passion. I found it in pastels and began entering local, national and international competitions. I’ve [won many awards] and was granted signature status with Sierra Pastel Society, Pastel Society of the West Coast, and Pastel Society of America. Before I painted, I also did photography...it was through my photographic eye that I cemented my knowledge of compositional elements; it also has the same color excitement as pastels and glass.     

HLB: How do you handle artist’s block? 

GV: When I get artist’s block, it usually means I need to step back and have some time to be bored. I think it’s necessary—it allows new concepts to come forward.

HLB: What advice do you have for aspiring glass artists?

GV: If you want to work in fused glass, be aware that the kiln and glass supplies can be quite expensive; also, depending on how careful you are, you will sustain the occasional glass cut.

by Heather L. Becker / Artist photo by Dante Fontana. Artwork photos courtesy of Gloria Vernon