Lori Steel – Glass Artist
Having been born and raised on the West Coast of British Columbia I have spent most of my life enjoying the amazing outdoors. I find inspiration for my work in nature; the stones and waves on a beach, flowers in my garden and the endless variations of colour and texture in the mountain forest. I became intrigued with the world of art glass over 15 years ago, after taking my first series of lessons in the art of stained glass.
Several years later I began creating commissioned pieces and teaching stained glass to others. It was in 2004 that I was introduced to the world of soft glass and the art of lampworking. Once again I fell in love with the world of glass. Yet this time I found the freedom of being truly creative, without the boundaries that sheet glass and the lead lines in stained glass bring. I have expanded on my exploration of this medium by learning techniques from some of the most recognized lampwork artists on the west coast.
“I feel most comfortable behind a torch; exploring what each glass rod is capable of.”
~ Lori Steel
I feel at home sitting behind the torch; choosing from a wide variety of glass rods and exploring what each are capable of. It is exciting to experiment with and watch what happens when different types of glass melt together and how they react to one another.
When the glass is molten I sometimes add metal foils, silver wire and various types of glass frit which all bring my beads to life by creating unique organic reactions. I love the spontaneity I feel when melting all the various mediums at my fingertips.
I have always enjoyed creating but it is molten glass that brings out my true creative process. I hope that you will enjoy looking through my gallery of work and that you will see all the different designs and patterns I am able to create by combining all the different types of molten glass.
Artist’s Statement
Each bead you see on this site has been handmade by me, Lori Steel, in my small home studio in Sooke BC. Melting colourful glass rods on a propane and oxygen mixed torch is how I make each glass bead. Once complete the beads are placed inside a computer-controlled kiln to be annealed. This process removes any stress from the glass so that each bead is durable and will last a lifetime.