Mossy

Kiln formed float glass
Created at Pilchuck summer 2025

In May of 2025 I set off by myself to take part in the first session of summer classes at Pilchuck School of Glass. It took an insightful and fun class led by Lisa Pettibone and Josh Hargrave about creative slumping. For a week we spent as much time as we could in the kiln room and shop experiementing with our projects (although there was only so much waiting you could do when waiting for kiln programs to finish! )

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do for my final project during the session. I struggled for a few days walking around and tyring to find places. Installation and sculpture is something unfamiliar to me, and I found myself aiming too big and placing too grand of expectations on. Instead I ended up traveling to a familiar tree stump that I would go out and sit on when I needed a short break during class. I knew I wanted to play with texture and then I decided I’d make a “moss” carpet to put over the stump. Although simple, the piece really blends into the scene and brings to question its role. It imitates the greenery but obviously isn’t exact. It stands out against the natural foliage and begs the question of man made interacting with nature. I wonder if creatures would recognize this piece and avoid it, or if they will act as if it is a part of the landscape and would carry one scampering on top of it and maybe even using it to some benificial extent. 

The texture was created by slumping the glass piece over a bed of crushed up plaster-silica mold. I created a whole bunch during the class with intention to use them in shaping some grand scuplture, but eneded up crushing it up into small bits. It did exactly what I wanted though! Then I searched around for a metal jig that would act as my tree log to slump over. Luckily there was already a pieces that could be bent and held into a broad arc, which the piece, once heated, fell into shape perfectly. The initial tree log that I tested on was the stump I was going to use for installation, but once the piece was ready and placed on the log, it was barren and very boring. Luckily with just a little more walking, I found this log more grown-into the earth and it just by fate matched the curve of my glass piece. I really like how this turned out in the end.

It now sits outside in my parents small garden area. Birds have used it as a small perch, I wonder if it was slumped in a more extreme bend if other small creatures could hide under it as shelter.