The Taber Museum hosted a good friend of the Museum, Deb Parsons, with a lecture on the history of glass and a demonstration of hot glass.
The lecture, part of the 2019 lecture series featuring such craftspeople, took place on May 19, 2019 and was well attended by folks who were fascinated by the work of a very talented artist.
Deb has been working with glass for thirty-five years. Her passion for glassmaking began with stained glass which eventually led to fused and cast glass. Having experimented with kiln formed glass, she wanted to expand her horizons as a hot glass artist. In 1991 a glassblowing studio in Corning New York offered classes and her dream became a reality. For the next four years, Deb traveled to Corning immersing herself in sculptural blown glass, which gave birth to lampworked glass in 1995. Creating glass with a torch combined all the techniques she needed to begin a full time career. In 1996 Deb’s husband Art built her a teaching studio, the first public access lampworking studio in Lycoming County. Deb’s mission is to teach self love through creativity. Parsons Hot Glass Studio offers glassmaking classes for ages ten to one hundred! Throughout her career, Deb has taught glassmaking at the studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, public school residencies, off premise group presentations, art camps and art shows. Deb continues to proliferate her body of work by constantly discovering new techniques in glassmaking. She plans to work with glass for the rest of her life.
The program “The Evolution of Glassmaking“ took attendees on a journey into the wonders of glass, beginning with its earliest origins to present day. Deb demonstrated lampworking techniques and exhibited various forms of art glass.
The lecture was part of the 2019 series focusing on craftspeople, collectors of and collecting decorative arts. Thank you to the Woodcock Foundation for its sponsorship of this series. The Foundation has been a steady supporter of the Taber Museum's education series, allowing lectures to be provided to the public at no cost.
