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SPACER
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Mary Murray is a kiln-formed glass artist in Laguna Beach, CA. She has worked in ceramics and glass since 2002 after retiring from a career in computer systems. Mary is excited to be back again at the 2025 Laguna Beach Summer Sawdust Art Festival, after being away from the festival for quite a few years. She was an exhibitor in the Sawdust Summer Art Festival in 2006, and the Sawdust Winter Fantasy for 9 years from 2004 through 2012, and also hosted several Sawdust Art Studio Tours at her home studio. Her fused glass plates were frequently featured in the Barbers’ Studio Arts Gallery’s monthly exhibits of glass tableware from the gallery opening in October 2006 through December 2011. After attending a week long large scale kiln casting workshop at “The Studio” at the Corning Museum in 2013, her work evolved from making fused glass tableware to making larger and deeper cast glass wall hangings and mounted pieces. In the ensuing years she has been making pieces for private homes and offices. Recently her brother-in-law's interest in 3-D printing sparked a new idea for her glass. She designed a series of custom "porthole" frames to display cast glass discs showing underwater scenes. Because glass casting produces varying results in size, the ability to 3-D print a custom frame for each piece has made this a wonderful collaboration. Mary is looking forward to being back with the Sawdust Summer Festival visitors again this year. Mary’s fused and cast glass pieces are created in the artist’s home studio in Laguna Beach. Designs are constructed from hand cut pieces of fusible art glass, glass rock, billet and frit, and are fused in a kiln at about 1450°F. Reverse relief casting is done by firing the glass over refractive plaster. Some details are created by etching dichroic glass pieces. All of the designs are the artist’s originals, using themes from the natural surroundings in the Laguna Beach area. |