I earned a B.A. in studio art from Michigan State University in 1982, and soon after that took my first glassblowing class. Almost fifteen years later, glass re-emerged as a strong interest in my life and work, gradually becoming my favorite medium. I like to use whatever combination of techniques and materials is needed to bring my vision into tangible form, rather than being tied to any traditional combinations or categories. This makes the work refreshing to do, and it also challenges me constantly to develop different skills. My work with glass combines many techniques—kilnworking, off-hand furnace work and blowing, flameworking, and cold work.

A few years after glass took center stage for me, I became interested in making pens. The process suits my multi-technique interests perfectly: it begins with designing and fusing color strips, then gathering and pulling barrel and nib cane, fashioning the pens one by one in a torch flame, annealing them, and finally, delicately wet-sanding each nib by hand. Pens are powerful tools of expression and creation. The physical act of writing with pen and ink can be a potent way to figure out what we think and want. My vision is that these pens will enhance their users' experiences of writing or drawing. I love to think they can encourage seemingly ordinary people to discover that they are in fact artists. These glass pens make a tender, expressive line, and because they do not need to be redipped frequently, they are better suited to drawing than any other dipping pen I have used. The cane-making process I use to make nib and barrel material for pens also produces the multicolored stripes in my blown ornaments and furnace-worked paperweights. I find the spirals of color in so many cheerful combinations mood-elevating in any season. Pieces of cane are flattened and smoothed in a kiln to produce whimsical "pocket rocks," which can be worry stones, jewelry or mosaic components, game pieces, or treasures for a child. These small pieces can also be incorporated into other artists' fused work (COE 90).

My sculptural rose and leaf paperweights are meant to stand alone or be grouped in arrangements. Similar forms will be part of a large "Life" mosaic installation that I am creating for the lobby of a religious meeting house in my city. And the delicate fused ornaments are meant to evoke the individuality of snowflakes, as well as the beauty and fragility of winter, without religious associations. All of my work is one of a kind, even when I remake similar designs, because each piece is uniquely handcrafted.

Martha Kauppi
The Glass Gem
Madison, Wisconsin