Gretchen Niver

Though I’d been involved with other crafts and artistic endeavors — batik, silk-screening, graphic design — once I started working with stained glass in 1980, I never turned back.  Though self-taught, I learned a lot while working at a stained glass business in Cary, designing and building various glass projects. While building our dream home in Pittsboro in ’95, I learned how to fuse glass, so I could make decorative tiles.  Now, I work with both fused and traditional stained glass, and often combine the two techniques. Intricate designs made of cut glass and fused in a kiln can be ‘slumped’ into molds to create bowls, platters, and other 3-D creations, though I enjoy occasional returns to traditional-style glass projects. The color and versatility of glass still inspires me. I welcome commissions, and enjoy the challenges that new projects bring.