Art Glass
Tabletop
Artists' Statement
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Partners in life for over four decades, Don and Ellen Ljung find their skills and
style to be complementary in their work with glass. They have a studio in their
home with three kilns. They work collaboratively, and Ellen's expertise in color
is matched by Don's expertise with the kilns as they experiment with new ways to
design with glass. Together they create serving pieces, art panels, and wall art
using the brilliant colors and wide range of light diffusion and reflection of
glass.
Fusing glass allows Don and Ellen to explore the attributes of natural
elements, combining color, shape, and texture in unusual ways. Although they use
a wide range of colors, their work tends to feature the rich blues and greens
they see in wilderness kayaking and the rich hues of fall foliage. Always seeking
new visions for materials and design, they employ inclusions of dichroic glass,
metals, handmade frit, pattern bars, and glass swirls made over a torch, as well
as sandblasting, to distinguish their pieces.
Their international travel and
frequent visits to art museums have shaped their design aesthetic.
Resume:
- Sculpture Class at College of DuPage
- Glass fusing classes at Fine Line and Ed Hoy
- Two-week casting workshop at Corning Glass in New York
- First Place in Glass, Stone Arch Festival of the Arts [Minneapolis],
2009
- Award of Merit, Prairie Sculpture Show, Illinois. 2017 Geneva Fine
Arts Fair
- Shows include Arts & Apples Fine Art Show, Lakeview East Festival of
the Art, Gold Coast Art Show, Wells Street Art Festival, and other Illinois
shows
- Commissions, including glass insets for sculptor Guy Bellaver for his
sculpture for the two-story atrium of the new science building at St.
Vincent College in Pennsylvania, and large art panels for private
collectors.
- Featured artists for Geneva Cultural Commission's Eat Your Art Out,
February 2014, and Art in The Park, May 2017.
- Represented by art galleries and boutiques in New York, Wisconsin, New
Mexico, and Illinois, including the Leigh Gallery in Chicago and the
Skidmore Gallery in Galena, IL.
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