Ann Klem began creating glass with an oxygen-propane torch 10 years ago. Since then, her addiction to glass has grown and she is working more and more with glass in the fused glass world where creations are kiln-formed and cold-worked.
Here she begins by cutting sheet glass and assembling pieces of glass that will go into the kiln and fire at nearly 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to form a single sheet of glass. From there she takes it in among her water users (machines that cut or grind glass with diamond discs or wheels, using water to lubricate the process). The fused glass process requires multiple firings in the kiln in between visits to the water users.
Klem will be the first to admit that she has an engineered approach rather than an organic one.
You can see this in her featured piece, “Uplift.” She began with dozens of long, thin strips of glass stacked on a kiln shelf next to each other so they stood with their narrow sides down. The first firing formed all these individual pieces in aqua tint and opaque ivory into a single sheet of glass. The second firing capped this sheet with a sheet of sky blue glass, thus creating another single sheet of glass. This sheet visited the tile saw for cutting the sides even and then a diagonal cut to create two pieces of glass, each still flat. Next came a visit to the grinder to smooth and add bevels to the edges. Each of these returned to the kiln for a slump firing to produce a new blue very different from either of the starting blue colors. The two resulting curved pieces sit together as one sculptural object.
Klem is continuing to create fused glass pieces and venturing into creating sculptural pieces using a process that includes melting glass in plaster molds. She also creates lamp-worked beads and combines them with sterling silver of 14K gold-filled components to create wearable art jewelry.
In addition to being adjudicated into the Kentucky Crafted Program, Klem also holds memberships in the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, Glass Art Society, Louisville Artisans’ Guild and the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen.
Her work can be purchased at the following locations:
Bluestem Misouri Crafts, Columbia, Mo.
Gallery 104, LaGrange, Ky.
Gallery Janjobe, Louisville, Ky.
Gallery on Pearl, New Albany, Ind.
Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Berea, Ky.
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, Ky.
Kittrill/Riffkind Art Glass, Dallas, Texas
Schmidlin Studio and Gallery, Louisville, Ky.
Ann Klem
Fisherville, Ky.
Email: info@annklem.com
Web: www.annklemreflections.com