Glass, Color,  Light

About

My name is Beth Piazza (soubriquet Bif), and I am an Ybor City artist. With my new series "Glass, Color, Light" I would like to share, exhibit, and further explore my fascination with art glass. Glass is 3 dimensional. I can hold the actual color in my hand and see/touch it at all angles. Having been a painter for many years, the ability to hold these colored bits as opposed to the smearing, scratching, and pushing act of painting is exhilarating.

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These pieces are primarily created by gluing stained glass onto clear glass and then grouted. Some are made with built in lights to further add to the depth of the glass color.

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I focus on using scrap in the majority of my work. I recycle scrap bins from stained glass classes when possible. This involves a decent pair of gloves and hours of careful excavation. The glass is heavy and cannot be stirred or scooped. It lies as it was discarded in veins of colors. Picking it out piece by piece gives me an almost archaeological feel. You can imagine the types of projects that were being created by the bits they have left to throw away. It is very interesting. The glass is usually very dirty and quite mesmerizing. I constantly will hold new bits up to the light in wonder.