Shauna Walsh
Windwood Glass

Glass artist, Shauna Walsh, finds inspiration in the natural surroundings of her secluded studio. She is fortunate to have a furnace capable of reaching temperatures of 2000 degrees necessary to work with molten glass. She uses steel rods and blowpipes to form the fluid glass into different shapes such as rondelles (plates), vases, perfume bottles, bowls and paperweights. The molten glass is clear to begin with. She adds color and works it in as layers and patterns while it is in the molten state. Shaping the molten glass is an acrobatic process using steel tongs and soaked cherry wood cups and paddles.

Shauna grew up locally and excelled in art classes in the Fayetteville-Manlius high school. She studied art at Rochester Institute of Technology and received a BFA in glass from Massachusetts College of Art. She also studied with master glass artisans at Penland Craft School in North Carolina and Kent State University in Ohio. After finishing her studies she returned to build her glass studio next to her families tree farm near Cazenovia.

Shauna enjoys painting as well, and one technique allows her to use her glass objects as canvases. She covers the glass with a rubber material on which she draws and cuts out wildlife scenes. She then carves them into the glass with a sandblaster. The etching depth penetrates different layers of color. Wildlife themes include herons, deer eagles and fish.

She also makes a wide range of glass jewelry, including earrings, pins and barrettes. She fuses pieces of blown glass to form abstract collages of color and shape. Her very popular tiny vases go through every process that the larger vases do.

Shauna continues to show her glass at several juried arts and crafts shows throughout the Northeast. Her partnership with local artists is important to her.

Contact Information:
Name: Shauna Walsh
Name of business: Windwood Glass
Phone: 315-655-2225 (Cazenovia Artisans' phone)