About Us
“Glass
Art to Make You Smile”
Mark & Julie Glocke are pleased to introduce you to the world of “cold fusion”. “Cold”, because we start with thick plate glass and never heat it and “fusion”, because each piece of our art is assembled using an adhesive that is not only clear, but also stronger than the glass. Just like the glass artists that heat their glass to fuse it, our work becomes one solid piece of glass.
Julie, the artist, designs and assembles each piece of glass art. Mark, the craftsman, cuts, cleans and when required, polishes each piece of glass. We got started by simply layering or laminating our designs. As we matured the glass has become more interesting to both us, and the viewer. All three series of our current work demonstrate our continuing exploration into the world of cold fusion.
Our glass creations have become participatory art. That is, depending upon where the piece is viewed from, will determine what you see. Using only clear optical glass and adding the color using dyes accomplishes this. If we put the color in, the color will move through the glass and if the color will move, it will change or even disappear depending on the viewing angle.
Through design-in-design vases, free form sculptures and mesmerizing cubes we try to express our joy and passion for glass. We thank you for taking the time to view our work and hope you find your soul smiling. If you do, we will have succeeded as artists.
What is the art made of?
Glass, adhesive and dye. We use three types of glass. 1) optical glass, that allows the color to move through the glass without distortion, 2) no-iron glass that is clear because many of the impurities have been removed and 3) plate glass. The same kind of glass you use to replace a window that gets broken by the kids next door.
The adhesive we are currently using cures under long wave UV light. The reason for using such a product is that, it is not only clear, but also, stronger than the glass.
We do not use colored glass. That is, all the glass we start with is clear glass. We, using different colored dyes, have inserted any color you see in our work. We do this because if we insert the color in the piece the color will move. If the color will move, we can design in color changes or even make the color disappear.
How do I clean it?
With the exception of the cubes, we recommend cleaning all of our work in the dishwasher! No, the heat won’t bother the adhesive. The dishwasher will get to all those hard-to-get-to spots. For those art buyers lucky enough to have a larger piece of ours, we do ask that if you put your piece in the dishwasher by itself, do not use soap.
What about the price?
As with most artists, the price for each piece is based more on labor than materials. The more expensive a piece is, the longer it has taken to make. For example, a larger sculpture will take well over 100 hours to complete.
Why do we do this?
This is where we are supposed to talk about nature and color and space and basically sound very artistically intelligent. Well, we can’t do that. We do our glass simply because it makes us smile. We will have succeeded as artists if what you see makes you smile as well.
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