Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Colby.
Hi Kristi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
> I first got involved in stained glass in early 2020. I was waiting in line at a bagel shop in central Dallas. There was a bulletin board with business cards, business offers, flyers, etc. One specific flyer caught my eye. A woman in Richardson ran a stained glass and fused glass studio out of her home. She welcomed anyone at any level to take a class with her or for other artists to use her space to create their own pieces. > I took two classes and finished my first piece. I will never forget the feeling I had after finishing that piece. As I look at that piece now, I question my then ability to read a color wheel haha. The feeling of hanging my very first piece of stained glass in my kitchen window and seeing that raw morning sunshine right through it was incommunicable. In all honesty, I had an overwhelming level of wholeness I had never felt from just drawing or painting. Since then, I’ve never looked at a piece of glass the same way.
> After only two classes I was so graciously gifted with an overflowing amount of stained-glass supplies from an art teacher in East Texas whose school’s arts department had shut down their glass courses back in 2015. There were beautiful sheets of glass along with tons of scrap glass (already cut and/or broken pieces that are typically thrown away or unused). Seeing so many beautiful glass pieces that were too small or not enough of to make a piece going to waste honestly bummed me out a bit. So, I began to think of ways I can recycle and reuse these pieces to avoid this beautiful glass not being seen as art.
> I would see mirrors, antique stained glass, or old windows in thrift stores and even laid out as trash on the sides of the road. I live by “One’s trash is another’s treasure.”
> Road-tripping is a huge part of my life. I’ve lived on my own since I was 15. In those last 15 years, I’ve moved 14 times within 8 different states. Traveling these past 2.5 years with these new eyes for glass I started noticing that glass in many forms were quite often being thrown out. Not only by homeowners but by businesses, restaurants, other artists as well. Whether it’s shattered or cracked, I will always try to find a way to recycle it into my art.
> Made with memories; I remember where each piece of glass I find is from and the journey I took to discover it.
> There is such an indescribable beauty I see in glass. It speaks to me artistically in ways I never imagined.
> So here I am now 2.5 years later finding beauty in the broken. I never would have thought while standing in line for an everything bagel that I would find my life’s passion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As much as I’d like to brag about it being the smoothest ride… It has most definitely not been. Did you guys know…Glass breaks??? I know it shocked me too.
I’d say glass is one of the most fragile and most frustrating mediums I’ve ever worked with. A score (cut) line in a piece glass can break off in a completely different direction than you planned. (I say with my jaw tightly clenched) it happens so often.
I cannot count how many times I’ve sliced my fingertips, pads, cuticles, and knuckles open. I have avoided many ER trips with superglue and butterfly bandages. (Always have them handy)
Whether I’m at the very start of cutting out the initial shapes or grinding to smooth out the edges. You can grind off too much of a piece that I have absolutely limited amount of to where it no longer fits the piece. When soldering starts, there’s times when I have to rework and smooth older solder to a point where a heat crack begins. That soft little sound of a heat crack will break your heart haha
Since I do use older pieces of glass and other pieces, I have no idea what condition or journey they’ve experienced before I came upon them. A sheet could have a slight pressure crack or a slight heat crack that would be naked to the eye.
Glass has taught me not only patience with the art itself but the balance of patience I have to find within myself all while understanding creating anything takes time and bloodshed. Frustrating as it may be laughter has been my best medicine
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I get so inspired on my road trips, riding through national parks, setting up my tent or hammock between trees, my strange encounters with Ravens and natures critters. You’ll see I’m drawn to lots of browns, amber, yellows, reds, and neutral greens and incorporate my work. But I get a wide range of requests when it comes to glass pieces. Pup portraits, butterflies, planters, 3D planters, and lots of ’90s early ’00s.
Within this new year, I’m setting some new goals for myself that’ll push me in a huge way within my art and in my life in general. I will start doing bigger installations. This including doors, windows, incorporating wood with glass.
Big things for this year to come. I’m truly heavily set on focusing on expanding my creativity and business.
How do you define success?
I’ve just recently had a live altering an enlightenment and understanding of myself and my own take of success. With my whole being, I can define success as peace, power, and all relief of stressors. Truly being able to sit with yourself and find humility and gratitude for yourself for the things that haven’t killed you when you thought it would. The patience you are able to give yourself when needed and the willingness to get back up and keep going. Whether I finish a piece of art or not, I have a PEACE of art I’ve found within myself and that’s the most successful and powerful feeling I’ve ever accomplished in my 30 years on this earth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/godless_glass/
