Glass Works by Jo Marie Brotherton
June 7-28, 2024
Glass Works by Jo Marie Brotherton
Opening reception: Friday, June 7, 5:00-9:00 PM
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Closed Wednesday, June 19.
I see the human creative process as a form of tangible meditation. Holding a piece of work in your hand is holding someone’s time on this earth, their focus. My work represents years of study, a dance if you will, manipulation of a medium you can’t touch with your bare hands until it is completely finished and cool. And that is what draws me in. My work is sculptural, exploring translation of our world.
Jo Marie Brotherton came to the glass world via stained glass in 1979. In the years since, she has learned to use a wide range of glass forms and techniques. As a student at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, she helped fabricate a stained-glass installation designed by Eric Ericson. She built windows for private collections as well as commercial use. She was also part of the team that built the 1980 World’s Fair stained glass at the L&N Station. By that time, Brotherton had started working for Knox Glass in Knoxville. She explored dalle de verre, sandblasting carving, hand beveling, painting, fusing, furnace work and lampwork. Eventually she became vice president of Knox Glass’s glass art department. In the nineties, Brotherton learned lampwork from Kim Adams and Gary Newlin. She felt especially drawn to working with hot glass at the torch, so after retirement in 2000, her creative urge in glass focused on lampwork. Although she has learned from many artists around the world, she is locally-grown in her journey in glass and still lives in Knoxville. Brotherton built a studio behind her house and has opened it up to share with other artists and teach.