Colored glass and sweltering heat combine to create art in Jan Downs’ Battle Ground workshop. Inspired by other artists, Downs began working with fused glass in 2011. The colorful patterns and detailed naturescapes depicted in her artwork are celebrations of life and the beauty of the natural world, she said.
Downs’ inspiration to pursue glass art came while preparing to decorate her new home in Battle Ground. She purchased a piece of fused glass art to display outdoors. Her love of the piece inspired her to try replicating it, and she began taking glass classes, first in Vancouver and then locally.
Downs has experimented with many artistic mediums and glass techniques since beginning. She has made kitchenware, window decorations, tabletops and windows. Her favorite projects are kiln-fused glass animals and colorful landscapes.
All her artwork begins with a sheet of glass. Downs often procures her glass from Bullseye Glass Co. in Portland. She works with solid colors, swirly patterns and textured glasses. Bright colors are commonly featured in her work. The glass produced by Bullseye can be enough to inspire her projects, Downs said.
“It can kind of dictate what you want to make. You look at it and maybe you see a mountain scene or water,” Downs said. “Their glass is so beautiful, sometimes you don’t even have to do anything to it.”
To make her landscapes, Downs combines sheets of glass and frit — powdered glass with a variety of textures, colors and coarseness. Sprinkling, pushing or painting with the powdered glass creates intricate details, from shading to leaf textures.
Once painted, the frit and glass landscapes are kiln-fired at sweltering temperature, up to 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, fusing the layers. Once fused, the artwork may have additional layers of glass added. When the scene is completed, the art can be melted into different shapes using molds and slumps.
Some of the shapes within her artworks are pulled from a vitrigraph, a specialized kiln used for extruding molten glass. The molten strands are extruded through a template, and Downs pulls the hot glass rods from the kiln. The kiln can extrude many shapes including hearts, flowers and leaf-shaped pieces.
Downs uses every bit of glass in her kiln-formed creations, creating no waste. Any leftover glass is used to inlay artworks. She often uses layered pieces to add depth and detail to tabletops and plates. Other scraps can be fed into the vitrigraph kiln and extruded, Downs said.
Downs presented her artwork at multiple shows during 2023, including the spring show at the Battle Ground Community Center in April and Art in the Garden at Naturescaping Wildlife Botanical Gardens. She plans to appear at more local shows, which will be announced in the new year.
Downs’ art is available at CK Outpost at 5610 NE 199th St. in Vancouver. Email her at fusedg lasslass@gmail.com.
