Hometown: Columbus, OH
Discipline: Glass
In her misspent youth, Patricia DeMaria determined that she would become a veterinarian. That did not quite work out. (Although she enjoyed all the science she was required to study!) Instead, she wound up in theatre design and worked for thirty years creating sets and lighting for many theatrical productions in central Ohio. While her passion for theatre passed, she still had a creative itch to be scratched. Patricia took many classes in enameling, stone carving, beading, and painting; then she discovered glass fusing. She guesses her veterinary interest bubbled back up as her fused glass pieces invariably take the form of one sort of animal or another.
Patricia uses Italian Effetre glass to create fun and funky animal magnets. She prefers to use freeform glass pieces rather than precisely sawn forms to layer and fuses her creatures as she feels it enhances their spontaneity. Copper wire is
included in some as legs, antennae, and whiskers. Pewter charms are wire-wrapped on for extra character on bugs and spiders. Her menagerie includes bugs, birds, cats, dogs, spiders, pandas, turtles, and owls, with more to come!
