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Just take one look at the work of a fused glass artist such as Cathy McKervey, and you’ll be blown away. For me, it is reminiscent of when I used to put lots of crayon bits in a muffin tin and throw them in the oven to make new ones; all the colors would meld together and you’d have this beautiful, swirled crayon. Of course, Cathy’s process is much more involved than crayons and tins, and involves molecules, coefficients of expansion and “annealing,” but the way the colors blend together is much the same; and the results are nothing short of breathtaking.
Not an artist by nature, I had no idea what fused glass was, or the process it takes to make something so amazing. I had to have Cathy break it down for me in simple terms and she was gracious enough to do so, without making me feel like I was sitting through chemistry class. Basically, in the simplest of terms, to fuse glass you must find glass that is compatible, cut the glass and then put it in a special kiln to heat it slowly, so it becomes fluid. Once it is fluid, it will “fuse” together. It is then cooled, and the annealing phase begins; this is the point when the glass begins to return to solid form; successful annealing is the key to creating a piece that will stand the test of time. “The problem with glass is that you can spend days, hours, even weeks on a piece and in a split second, you can have nothing.”
Cathy has been interested in art her entire life. In college, she studied art education and focused on stained glass. For the un-art educated, this brought another question to light, “What is the difference between stained glass and fused glass?”
“With stained glass, you cut it, grind it, use lead and copper foil and then solder it all together. With fusing, you only use the heat of the kiln; there is no copper, no lead and no soldering.”
After college, like so many artists, Cathy went on to teach middle and high school art classes and spent over 13 years doing so. Over 10 years ago, Cathy became interested in the fusing process and started taking classes all over the place, from Portland, OR to Chicago, to Gatlinburg, TN; as you can see, her education was not wasted. She was also fortunate enough to get a one year sabbatical from her teaching job to work for Ken vonRoenn at Architectural Art Glass in Louisville, KY, a “unique glass studio that is focused on expanding the role of glass in architecture.”
“I felt very privileged to work for him and his company,” Cathy said of her time spent there. “I led public tours of the facility….it was a lot of fun.” If you have some spare time, I suggest logging on to Google to look up Mr. vonRoenn and his company; I spent hours looking through their site and can honestly say that I am completely dumbfounded with what can be done with glass.
So what brought Cathy to Iowa a year and a half ago? “My husband took a job here.” Since moving to Iowa, Cathy has taken to doing what she loves as a full-time hobbyist. Has she thought about going back to teaching? “No, I’m really content with what I’m doing. I’ve done some summer camps for the kids…and I’m involved with the River City Artists and their sale and show at the new incubator in September.” From the sounds of it, her husband is very supportive of her decision. “He likes to call himself my personal financier,” Cathy says, laughing. “One time, we were in a gift shop……..they had a jewelry case with dichroic necklaces…in the meantime, my husband, who HATES to go to these places, is looking at stuff in the store, but around the corner so I couldn't see him...I asked the clerk if I could see the necklaces and as she brings them out of the case she says, ‘These are called Dichroic glass. Let me tell you a little about them.’ I replied, ‘Oh, I know…..I do that for a living!’ All of a sudden, my husband bellows out from around the corner, ‘A LIVING????????????????’ We cracked up...it was so funny! So every time I get a check, I show him that I am making a living! It's now a huge joke with my family!”
To get a piece of Cathy’s work before she goes global on the world wide web, head down to the MacNider Art Museum or Clear Lake Art Center as they both carrying displaying her fine works of art. Architectural Glass Art is still carrying her work as well, so on the off chance that you’re vacationing in Louisville this summer, you can fetch a piece that no one else has ever seen.
After she gets back from testing her “Decorating on a Dime” skills at her son’s new home in Florida, you can catch Cathy in action at the River City Artists show and sale on September 15th; while you’re there don’t forget to wish her a Happy belated Birthday
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