Windy Sea Designs
| Contact: Karel Murphy |
| 718 SE 5th Street |
| Newport, Oregon 97365 |
| Website: www.windyseadesigns.com |
| Contact Windy Sea Designs via e-mail |
My name is Karel J. H. Murphy, and I am a fused glass artist and jewelry designer on the Oregon Coast in Newport, Oregon. My artistic career is a result of a life-time interest in glass and jewelry design with specific emphasis on use of color and texture.
My educational background in preparing for my artwork has been through: attending classes on jewelry fabrication, wire wrap, and enameling; study with practicing glass artists; attending workshops and classes through the Craft Center at Oregon State University, the Eugene School of Glass, and Bullseye Glass which is a leader in glass manufacturing. I have also attended Hot Glass Horizons which is held annually in the Pacific Northwest, and is a professional conference teaching the latest glass techniques and showcasing new products.
I am a member of the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Oregon Glass Guild, and I sell my art glass and jewelry off my website at: http://windyseadesigns.com. My fused art glass and jewelry can also be found in the following galleries: Breach The Moon Gallery in Newport, Oregon; Don Terra Artworks in Sisters, Oregon; The Max Gallery in Tucson, Arizona; and Shorelines Gallery in Poulsbo, Washington
My main artistic focus is to design handmade jewelry by using semi-precious gemstones, precious metals, high quality beads, and fused art glass that I have assembled. I use high quality semi-precious gemstones with unusual colors, textures, cuts, and shapes when creating my jewelry pieces. Once I have a design in mind, I assemble a combination of materials to create one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable art.
My fused art glass jewelry is done by cutting small pieces of art glass and then layering them into a design for fusing. Fusing involves use of a kiln to melt or fuse the layers of glass together into a solid piece of glass. One thing that makes my fused art glass pendants unique is that I don’t use glue-on bails because I don’t trust the holding power of glue. Instead, my pendants are either drilled or have a piece of wire that is fused into the glass in order to securely attach the pendant to a handmade beaded necklace or chain. My pendants are also cut by hand into shapes rather than using standardized molds for jewelry makers.
In addition to handmade jewelry, my fused art glass has expanded into larger functional serving pieces such as plates, platters, bowls and decorative art. My larger art glass pieces still use many small pieces of glass for the design that I hand set on to a larger piece of glass for fusing. My functional serving pieces are meant to be used and are food safe. They also should be hand washed rather than placed in a dishwasher which might damage the glass.
I take great pride in my handmade fused art glass and gemstone jewelry, and I enjoy the creative process involved. I hope you like what you see, and that you might find pieces to buy for yourself, family members, and friends.
