Arts In Focus on PBS Fort Wayne is funded in part by the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.

Coming up, we'll talk with glass artist Emily Simpson and photographer Kelsey Martin.

It's all next on Arts in Focus.

Welcome to Arts in Focus.

I'm Emily Henry.

Emily Simpson and her husband Greg are both glass artists who display and sell their wares under the business name Sol Eye Glass.

We recently visited Emily at her home studio in Fort Wayne to learn all about how she uses a kiln to transform layers of glass into colorful renditions of animals, plants, flowers, landscapes and even three dimensional objects.

I'm so excited to be here.

I am surrounded by beautiful, delicate things, which is always a little intimidating.

But I want to know what made you interested in working with Glass?

Well, I have always been creative, and I started out as a young person with fabric and sewing and stitching.

And then at some point I visited the Springfield, Ohio Museum, just their regular art museum, and they were they were offering classes and just a variety of things.

And so I signed up for Glass and it was like, Oh, whoa, this is way better than this sewing stuff.

Well, it's funny you say that, because when you and I first met, you were likening your work to quilting.

Oh, yes.

And so how funny that that you were so aware of that world and then thought, oh, but this is better.

So you knew immediately that that this was going to be something you took to.

Yes.

And I took a couple other classes there and then went on to a couple of things in Columbus, Ohio, and then it's just been ever since.

Tell me about sort of the process behind what you do.

It's so much more than art.

Well, there is some technical things to it.

The kiln is used to reach a certain temperature to get the glass to do what you want it to do.

So glass sheet glass and other glass to kind of wants to be round in the heat.

It wants to ball up or come together.

And so sometimes you don't want that to happen.

So you don't want to get it that hot.

You want to be at some lesser temperature where the things are going to be fuzed together and and and attached permanently.

But not all balled up.

Okay.

And so there is a time temperature ratio that goes on.

And that's what the white board is with all those instructions.

The kilns are programed to for a certain effect for your product.

And so then I can just go down the board and say, okay, I want number three and I can then the kilns programed to do that and then you have more successful work.

That's that's amazing.

Now, before we started shooting, you were showing me what was what was going to be a bowl but shrunk up.

Is that what you're talking about?

Yes.

Not to call out the mistake you showed me No, no, there are there are a whole bucket of mistakes right by your feet.

So it doesn't not everything comes out the way you want.

So, yes, Emily pushed the wrong button on the controller and it went too hot.

And instead of saying staying bowl shaped, it all went down into a flat thing.

Yeah.

And because it was too hot and was got more liquid than I wanted.

But it happens and it's fine.

It's just a learning curve.

Sure.

Now, how much less often does it happen now, as opposed to when you first started?

Are you do those accidents still happen even though you've been doing it for a long time?

Oh, yeah.

Or do you find.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And sometimes you just you kind of guess I want it to go to this temperature.

Right.

And I think that's what the right thing.

The good news is, if you go a little bit less and it's not quite soft enough, then you cook it again and get to where you want to be.

So it's always better to air a little less.

Yes.

So as I was talking to Greg, I was really fascinated by the amount of chemistry that is involved in in what the two of you do.

Does that side fascinate you as well, or are you more excited about the process of designing and creating artistically?

No, I really like the chemical chemistry side of it too, where the glasses react.

Yeah, and especially the copper bearing and the sulfur bearing glasses, because that's how glass gets the color it is, is from chemicals and minerals.

And so you can either avoid those reactions or you can use them to your benefit.

And if you have those copper bearing and sulfur bearing glasses touching each other, they will make a line between them or a black space or a cloud kind of thing.

And so you can use that to your advantage in your design if you know how and if you want to.

Okay.

If that's your purpose.

Yeah.

Yes.

You don't want it to just show up when you don't want it, right?

So.

And tell me about some of the pieces that you have done with actual botanicals.

Oh, yes.

It's called fossil vitra, meaning fossils in glass.

It's actual plant material that then is dusted with enamel, which is a kind of glass powder.

And then the glass is fuzed onto it.

And obviously the plant burns away because it's fired to 1410.

Right.

And so you then you take out the piece of glass and you have the exact impression of the plant or seeds or whatever it is you put in there.

Now, fuzed to the glass and the color of your choice, because the enamel comes in like 80 colors.

Yeah.

You were showing me some.

And especially the pieces you had that had the roots.

Well, just so cool.

So it's obvious that you like trying different types of artistry with your glass.

You were telling me that you are now doing casting.

Mm hmm.

Tell me about that.

Kiln casting is uses the kiln to heat glass into more thick panels.

Casting is usually thought of as being a part of a glassblowing process where the molten glass is used to make 3D form.

Right.

But yes, I love glasses.

And this is a three more of a 3D type structure.

This was cast in a mold I made.

And so I'm kind of headed in that direction.

And I taken a couple classes with a big national name person, and I'm going to work with her more.

And so these cast pieces, these are very real.

This is very elementary as far as casting goes.

And so but I will be doing more 3D works, so stay tuned.

Yes.

So what about the the casting is exciting to you.

I feel like everything you do is so cool.

I would be reticent to try something new because.

Why would you?

What you're doing is so cool.

So what was it when?

When you kind of wanted to dive into casting that made you excited?

Using sheet glass is kind of flat.

Yeah.

Okay.

You know, and casting is an opportunity to more go more 3D.

Yeah.

And it, it can speak in a different way.

It's interesting that you say it's flat, because I'm thinking specifically about a piece you showed me that has the three little birds on the beach.

And there's so much texture there.

And that's what what really stood out to me was the texture and the little feathers and the texture of the pebbles and the sand and all of that.

So to me, that doesn't read as flat at all.

Is that something that you really strive for with your work?

Is that that dimension?

Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely.

That texture, all dimensional quality, elevates it from the flat.

Flat.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yes, trying to do that all the time.

And even if I'm doing a landscape from glass powder, getting that dimension and the texture is, is really important.

What is the best part of creating glass art for you?

Is there one part in particular that you really love?

Boy, that's really hard.

Well, mornings are the best because that's when you open the kiln and it's Christmas and you get to see what's in there and you get things out unless you get coal in the sense that something is broken or which.

But that just.

Yes, yes, occasionally.

But but very, very little.

I mean, I put a lot of research into how to prevent it so that it almost seems like you're a process girl.

You, you like the research, you like, you know, figuring out those moving parts almost as much as Christmas morning and seeing the the end product.

Is that fair?

Yes, I am definitely a process person.

And partly because of that, I probably had 12 or 14 different processes that I use to make things.

And they're all fun.

They're all fun and have a different look and feel to to what you make and do you bounce around from.

Yes.

So you aren't you don't get in that.

No.

Boring.

Boring.

What is the hardest part of of what you do.

Coming up with new designs that not exactly that I can see something in my head and how to translate it into glass.

Yes.

And so you kind of have to work backwards from, okay, if I want this look, then I have to use these colors and I have to use this kind of mold to shape it.

The way I want it.

And I have to cut or use frit in a certain way to get.

So yeah, working backwards is reverse engineering I think is one term you used earlier that is happening all the time knowing that you have so many different processes.

Do you have a favorite?

I think the reactions I think the chemical reactions are probably one of my favorite things.

Yeah.

And I make little bitty bowls that are that are chemical reactions primarily and those are really fun.

And then powder landscapes.

The powder landscapes are really, really fun.

It's very it's more painterly than what you've seen here, which is more cutting glass and putting pieces back together.

And because it uses powder and those are really good.

Do you feel like this?

I know that this wasn't your career, your whole life, but do you feel like it's your life's work?

Do you feel like leaving these the world a little more pretty than you found it?

Is that your life's work?

My life's work has to do with the name of our company, which is Sol Eye Glass.

And that's a reference back to a Bible verse, which is something like, I'm not going to quote it exactly, but something like If I be single and open thy body be filled with light and what better way to transmit light than glass?

You couldn't have put a prettier bow on the end of this interview.

You are a joy.

This has been really lovely and I just really love your work and appreciate it so much.

Thank you for taking the time today.

Thank you.

It was lovely to be here.

For more information, find Sol Eye Glass on Facebook.

I'm joined now by artist Kelsey Martin.

Kelsey, thank you for coming in today.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited to talk about all of the different facets of your creativity because you are really multi-talented.

Let's start with your photography work.

When did you get involved in photography and really kind of fall in love with it?

Yeah, so I've been shooting since 2016.

I actually am here from Fort Wayne.

I went to the University of Saint Francis and I have my bachelor's in communication arts in graphic design.

But I took a concentration in photography and I actually ended up loving photography more than what I went to school for.

I kind of realized that like my junior year.

Yeah.

So they, Francis takes you all the way back to film.

So I like I even got to, like, be in the dark room and like, develop and learn how to load film all of that.

Yeah.

And then they switched you over to DSLR and that's what I and my medium that I work in now.

So I think what just like captured me I guess is like being able to like capture emotion in a, in a picture.

So I take portraits more.

I'm really not that great at taking pictures of like watches and glass and metal.

So I'm like, I need something that will like if I tell you to smile, you're going to smile.

If I tell you to sit this way, you're going to sit.

So yeah.

So 2016 is when I started and then when I got outside of college, like the whole graphic design thing didn't really work out for me.

Like I thought it would.

So I kind of was just, Hey, do you want to take a picture, come to the studio, like to the point where like I was shooting so much that I'm like, okay, I think I can like actually go into business with this.

Was that was that scary?

Because I feel like we live in an age where, you know, cell phone cameras are so powerful and great.

Yeah.

That a lot of people who are not photographers kind of fancy themselves photographers.

Yeah.

So did you have a moment of like, can I make this a business when everybody and their dog things?

Yeah, yes, yes.

I even still have those moments now.

Oh yeah.

Because I like, you know, Apple comes out with a new iPhone every like year and the camera it just keeps getting better.

And me as a photographer, I'm like this.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

You know, but like, it all boils down to, like, people who do that, they only last season, I like to say, like the people who are really, really into it, like me, who has been doing it for like a long time.

Yeah, I have meaning behind my pictures.

And I'm not saying that people who do shoot with, with like cell phones and stuff don't, but you can kind of tell within the work like we just took a shot, rather as like we took like a long lasting shot.

Yeah.

Okay.

Tell me about how your education sort of lent itself to the way you shoot now.

I mean, knowing going all the way back to film and knowing how how things work in the darkroom, that kind of thing, does that inform your choices now or was it is it just a good foundation?

I just think it's a good foundation.

I would love to shoot film, but film is kind of expensive now.

So and I'm only 27.

I'm a single mom of 27.

So yeah, I'm like, oh, but honestly, the darkroom actually helps because I use a program called Lightroom, which is Do you get it?

And so everything that I learned in the dark room is digital now.

So like exposure, saturation, vibrance, like grain, all of that that I could like manipulate in film.

I can do it digitally on the computer now.

So I really think I had a one up going to school, even though that wasn't my major, like having those like five or six classes I did have to take.

Yeah, I feel like if I didn't take it, I would probably just be, you know, laying out magazines and yeah.

Instead of like being able to, like, create my own story and like create a long lasting story for other people too.

So let's talk about creating stories because you really do that as well.

And you have a podcast.

Like I said, you're multi-talented.

So what sort of what media really lights you up the most?

You mentioned that in college it ended up being photography, but as you kind of dabble in all of these other things, what are you finding is most exciting right now?

I just love I'm a people person.

I love being around people and I think my podcast is what really like showed me that, that and then I also host art shows.

So my biggest thing is creating a platform for people who really want to get into whatever medium they are in, but they don't know where to start because I feel like that's kind of how I was, is like I went to school 4 years for one thing, and now I'm like, you know, like now I have to try to figure out, like, and it's not easy getting everybody to like recognize your work or like getting placements for your work.

So I think between me hosting my art shows and like me doing the podcast, which is called The Vent and is basically a platform for artists to come on and basically put themselves out there like Tell me what you want the world to know.

So that way, like we can figure out how to plug you here or like get you a spot here, maybe a job here, you know what I'm saying?

So people are my thing.

I love talking to people.

I love learning about people.

I love capturing people.

So I think I'm kind of going into the season now where life photography is great.

I will still always do it, but I really want to like dabble into like, how can I reach my community and help my community the way that like my community helped me and I think Fort Wayne is doing like a great job right now in the arts community of like trying to seek out artists like the murals here in town in like some of the festivals we've had.

And I'm even working right now to like try to build a collective of people who just don't feel like they're heard right now in our community and like we put on our own thing.

So that way people in the community can like see it and start coming in.

So I do have a lot of friends who are in the music scene right now who need like direction for music videos and photography and photo shoots and things like that.

So they come to me and they're like, Hey, I just want you to just do whatever like you see fit for my look.

I'll tell you what I'm trying to convey.

And like, whatever you do, do it.

So I'm working with a lot of like hip hop and rap people right now, just solidifying their look like you have the talent.

And now we have to play.

We have to show the role.

We have to show the part.

And yeah, so I would love to like direct that music video.

I would love to like put together a whole photo shoot in like a whole rollout from like, okay, you're dropping this album this time.

This is what we need to post on social media.

This is what we need to interview, this is what we need to do.

And then your album's here.

So that way we're leading up.

People are like, So ready for this album.

You're going to get such a great like outcome out of it.

So I think I still need that.

I still need to be able to pour into my community.

But I think my way of doing that and like in order for me to still feel like I'm doing something personal, is utilizing them at the same time.

So, so you it sounds like you want to like creative direct.

Yeah.

Like the whole process.

Is that daunting to you?

Because when I think of that, you know, you know the end result and then you kind of reverse engineer it.

I'm like, that's a lot.

That's a lot.

Yeah.

How do you even know where to start and does that light you up and excite you or does it just intimidate you because it scares the crap out of me?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think that's a little bit of both like.

And maybe that's great.

Yeah, it does a little bit.

It keeps you on your toes.

Just like going back to social media.

I'm really into, like, black culture and like, hip hop pop culture, like, just the whole, like, scene and how things are like being put together, like the facets of like music labels and like having a label back you up and like them having this look for you and things like that.

So I kind of study that and I kind of just like figure out like, okay, how can I do this?

Like, O G's way you know what I'm saying?

And so it's intimidating because I'm putting all this work into it and it might fail.

But then at the same time, I'm like, okay, at least I did it, you know?

And then the exciting part of it is like the person that I'm working with didn't even think that they could do all of what they're doing.

And now we're, we're doing shoots, we're doing this, we're doing that.

And so now when you go on to do your next thing, even if it's not with me, you feel confident because like, hey, I've already done this rodeo, so it's I think it's like a catch 22.

It's like it's super exciting.

But the same time, there's always that we're human.

There's always that lingering fact of like, what if I fail because I'm not I'm not failing myself.

I kind of feel like I'm feeling that person too because, like, you're trusting me into, like, essentially their brand, you know?

Yeah.

Okay.

So when you are on a set or when you are doing a photoshoot, do you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want to create?

Or is it sort of an evolving just depending on the situation?

Yeah, it comes to be it's a living, breathing thing.

Or do you know exactly what you're going for?

Tell me about that process.

Yeah.

So it is really organic.

It's really whatever the vibe kind of is when that person comes.

I do ask like, Hey, if you like, what's your purpose of this shoot?

Are you just there's people that will pay you just to have pictures posted on Instagram or there's like a specific need, like I just did like a whole, like, surprise engagement.

Like they did a photo shoot and then like, I got to capture him, like proposing also.

And we had their family come with pumpkins and it was just like a really great thing.

So like that was put together with a purpose because the endgame was for her to say yes, but like on a regular day, if I'm just shooting my my thing is, have you seen anything that other photographers have done, anything that's inspired you?

What what how do you want to feel at the end of the day?

How do you want to convey like your pictures?

What do you want people to think?

So I don't go in.

I know some people sketch where certain lights are going to be and I'm just like, hey, let's just set up a light and like set up a background.

And I just it's like I just happened and I'm just like, okay, what's so interesting to me is that it sounds like even in, in your photography work, in your creative direction, even that's collaborative.

Yeah.

Because instead of coming in with the idea of what you want, you come in with the right questions to ask.

Yeah.

So and then based on those answers you can work with the artist and, and make something or the the subject.

Yeah.

Whether they're an artist or not and make something really cool happen.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for that.

Thank you for all of the beauty you bring to to Fort Wayne and the community and the world.

Thank you so much.

It's pretty special.

Thanks for being here.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

For more information, visit O G Killa Kels dot com Our thanks to Emily Simpson and Kelsey Martin.

Be sure to join us next week for Arts in Focus.

You can catch this and other episodes at PBS Fort Wayne dot org or through our app.

In the meantime, enjoy something beautiful.

Arts in Focus on PBS Fort Wayne is funded in part by the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.