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Laura Critchfield
www.chestnutridgedesigns.com   Laura Critchfield

I grew up in northeast Ohio in the 70’s, before the age of rampant development. I was fortunate then to live in a small town where I was close to the edge of acres of woods, and now to live on the edge of the national park. In the 1980’s I attended Kent State University, majoring in painting and printmaking, but art took a back seat to marriage and children in the 90’s.

I spent most of the nineties working on pastels, exploring fabrics, polymer clay and focusing on my kids with the occasional spark of creativity seeing the light of day.

Laura Critchfield  

While in college, late at night, I used to haunt the glass blowing shop, run by the esteemed Henry Hallem. Since I was not a sculpture major, I was never able to get into an actual glassblowing class, but I was fascinated by the process and spent every free minute I had there watching the students work. In those days I contented myself with watching and later, with collecting antique carnival glass and contemporary glass. When I had an opportunity to take a lampworking class at a local studio I jumped at the chance. In August 2007, I took a lampworking class from Mary Ilko at the bead store (now Beatini) in Copley, Ohio.

 
Quite simply, I was smitten. After countless hours late nights, and many failed (and many successful) experiments, I have found a medium that offers a depth that two dimensional mediums never could. I am drawn to the bright colors, fanciful shapes and the way the light reflects through every bead, giving it life and energy. I use Italian Effetre, Creation is Messy, Lauscha, Double Helix, ASK and Vetrofond glass, and every piece is annealed in a Paragon Bluebird XL kiln.   Laura Critchfield
Laura Critchfield  

Lampwork has been around for thousands of years and today we still use the same basic process that our earliest predecessors started off with three thousand years ago. I have a simple torch, fuel, a worktable a few tools, and a rainbow of colors. I guess what really appeals to me are how to take these ancient processes and give them a modern twist, resulting in the unique work of the contemporary glass artist.

You can also visit my Etsy shop for available bead sets. www.etsy.com/shop/chestnutridgedesigns