Eleanor Brownridge

Nottawa, Ontario

The interplay of light and medium is what mesmerizes Eleanor as she looks at nature's patterns, particularly the trees in the Pretty River Valley. By choosing glass of varying intensity, colour and texture, and by manipulating the glass at molten temperatures, she tries to replicate the movement and chameleon nature of the world around her. She particularly likes to use "combed glass:" This is created by heating mixtures of variously-coloured glass pieces until molten (about 1700F). Then, protected by a welder's mask, leather apron and asbestos gloves, she stirs the glass with a poker in the kiln. At that point the glass is red hot so she doesn't know what the effect will be until the glass cools; no two pieces will be alike!