Art acts as a natural, powerful envoy that impels us to honor each
other and our interests. The power inherent in art renews, inspires, and transforms us. We sense we are all valuable, unique, and needed.
The collaboration involved in creating my work is very similar to the collaboration necessary to peacemaking. I am constantly aware of this during my art making process. My work is evidence of people working together with one purpose.
For instance, collaboration with the hot shop and knowledge shared in the cold working stages is essential. I realized that this work, though attributed to me, is really the collaborative effort
of all involved. We learn to trust each other. The work created is the result of our trust for each other.
I apply the skills I have learned from peacemakers during my art making process. I try to think like a peacemaker. I use patience, I listen, I respond, I allow no distraction to being present in the moment. Most of all, I persist. The result is that I feel successful and strong. The glass is a statement of the strength I feel. While the physical glass itself can break, the illumination and feeling it inspires cannot be broken.