About Kathy Oda

 I love to make people smile.  A joke, a story, a piece of beautiful glass… the end result is often the same.  It makes me who I am and drives what I create.

I am a glass artist.  I create sculptural and functional art by kiln-firing glass.  I’m drawn to the texture and movement found in glass.  These simple and elegant forms contrast with the complexity found in fused glass layering.  With references to fossil forms, my work often suggests a sort of time suspension like that experienced viewing an ancient insect trapped in amber.  Because of the transparency of the glass I use, the finished work is always affected by its surroundings and so further and unpredictable influences will come to bear on the final art piece.  

Each art piece starts out with small pieces of glass, carefully laid out on the kiln shelf.  In total, four layers of glass are incorporated and in between each layer are prints from leaves or Spanish moss which creates a multi-dimensional effect when fired in the kiln.  

Each piece may be fired several times to add various design elements and additional depth in stages. The end result is a mosaic of color and the unformed edges provide an organic feel to the piece.  And lastly, most pieces piece are placed in a custom stand now created by me.  My Dad spent several years teaching me how to make them by myself.  It’s not nearly as much fun as working with Dad but at least I’m equipped to make them now.  The stands frame my work, thereby allowing the light to shine through the translucent glass to showcase each piece.

All components of my work are created domestically from the sheet glass that is hand poured in Portland, Oregon to my kilns which were made in Dayton, Ohio and Mesquite, TX to the steel rod out of Tennessee and Illinois used for the stands to where it all comes together into a single entity in Beaufort, SC.

I hope you enjoy my work!

Artwork examples