Inside the Studio

In the glassblowing studio, Kait Rhoads blows, shapes, and stretches molten glass to make multicolored hollow hexagonal glass tubes. These long hollow tubes are then cut into slices and placed in a kiln to be fire polished to a sheen. Fire polishing creates a smooth texture and surface reminiscent of suspended liquid. Once finished, these small elements become ‘hollow murrine’ that can be combined in a variety of ways to create large scale public artworks, smaller sculptures, and wearable art pieces.

Left: Red Polyp, blown glass, mixed red hollow murrine woven with copper wire onto a powder coated steel frame set on a solid steel base. 45" x 46" x 19" Right: Sky Collection 2011, blown glass, mixed blue hollow murrine and sterling silver components.

To create earrings and designs for the jewelry collection, Kait takes great care to thoroughly sort the unique murrine and select perfect pairings and groupings. As each slice of glass varies in shape, size, and sometimes color, she carefully gets as close to a perfect match as she can.

Kait acknowledges that her studio is on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.