ARTIST INFO

JANIS MILTENBERGER
Lopez Island, WA

Penland Affiliation | Instructor 2003, 2006, 2010

Janis Miltenberger created this ornament using glass flameworking techniques. Using a torch, a small tube of glass is heated, then blown and shaped using hand tools to create the ornament form. Once the shape is perfected, Janis uses the torch to add the striped glass accents and loop. The touch of silver luster is added in a separate process.

Janis has been working with hot glass since 1978. She lives and works on Lopez Island in Washington state. Her sculptural glasswork incorporates mythological stories, with floral and avian imagery. Janis is also an educator, teaching at schools such as Penland School of Craft in North Carolina.

“I am a fan of stories, fables, parables, allegory, and soliloquy. I appreciate the quest, the subtle roles and meaning within the story. There is also a transformative nature to storytelling, we take a word or image and emblazon it, infusing it with meaning, giving each element context. The magic happens in the audience, each person having the ability to personalize, and make a story our own. While my imagery might be representational, the elements are meant as concepts, deposits which are distilled, and formed into allegorical objects.

Working alone, in my studio, my primary tools are torches, that range from large to small. Each glass sculpture is built, first the internal structure and then one by one elements are fashioned and added to the framework. Pieces can take weeks or months to complete.”