About the artist

	Louise Mehaffey has been working with glass for over 25 years. Long ago, she enrolled in a stained glass class, intending to replace an ugly plastic sidelight in her home. Because her family moved not long after the class was over, she never got to finish the project, but the experience was enough to hook her. She opened the Glass Place studio and has been working in glass ever since. She has taken many workshops and seminars to expand her knowledge into fusing, sandblasting and painting on glass, and she used these techniques to achieve the effect she wanted in her work. In 1998, she started working with an oxygen/propane torch creating lampworked glass beads, and this has become her focus today.
With a degree in art education, she has taught art from the pre-school level through adult education, in public and private schools and in private lessons. Her art background has enabled her to develop a style that is as unique as her view of the world.

Louise is a member of the Reading-Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, and has served in several positions as a board member for over 10 years. She is also a member of the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild, the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, Goggleworks Center for the Arts, and the Berks Arts Council.

In 1993, she was commissioned by the Berks Arts Council to create the first Pagoda Award, given to a local individual who has greatly benefited the arts. In 1994, her "Magnolias" design was produced as a post card by the Spectrum Glass Company to promote their stained glass. In 1999, Spectrum Glass Company chose another of her designs, "Ivy Fence II", to produce, and in 2001 for an unprecedented third time, "Crabapples" was produced. In 2002, two of her lampworked glass beads were included in the International Contemporary Torchwork Exhibit at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and two more of her beads were included in the book 1,000 Glass Beads published by Lark in 2004. Since then, her beads have been included in many books and magazines. In 2008, her own book "Glass Beads: Tips, Tools and Techniques for Learning the Craft" was published by Stackpole Books. Locally, she has appeared on "Your Berks Craftsmen" on BCTV to educate the public about fine crafts and glass in particular. She markets her work at shows along the east coast, and her beads are being used by a growing number of jewlery designers.

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