Gerry Klein grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana where she was constantly surrounded by the beauty of stained glass and beveled doors and windows. Just looking at the interaction of color and light through the beveled glass would simply amaze her. As a teenager she studied oil painting; however, it wasn’t until she took a stained glass class in 1979 that she realized she had found her niche.
Stained glass was exciting to her and she started making windows, lamps, kaleidoscopes and 3-dimensional items, but it wasn’t enough. She still remembered the random bright colors that first attracted her to glass when she was a child and she felt the need to explore the capabilities of glass even further. So in 1988, when beadmaking wasn’t popular, she taught herself how to make beads using a propane torch and cut up strips of stained glass. Since she was having so much fun with beadmaking, in 1989, using a special 3” kiln that would melt glass in a microwave oven, she taught herself how to fuse glass. She quickly graduated to a large kiln and found that learning how to control time and temperature to produce the desired result in glass could be both challenging and fun. She felt like she could “play” all day even though she was technically working. She now creates both funky and elegant designs using pure vibrant colors. Wanting to learn even more about glass, she took a class in glassblowing. Glassblowing has shown her how glass can be taken to the limits.
Working with stained, fused and blown glass in diverse situations for over twenty-five years has given her varied knowledge and experience. She has won numerous local, state, regional, and national competitions, and has judged state competitions. In 1990, she was commissioned by the White House Communications Agency to produce a newly designed crest dedicated to Air Force wives. Several of her winning designs are also published in books and magazines that are distributed internationally. Spectrum Glass Company has also published her designs.
Gerry has two children, two grandchildren, and an African Grey Parrot. When she is not working with glass you will find her walking in the forest or working in her garden. She welcomes you to visit her at the Hot Shops Art Center in Studio #105 where she has her working studio.
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