Mary Ellen Larkins
“Fused glass captured my enthusiasm the first time I ever saw it. I simply loved its shimmering, changing colors; its cool, hard texture; its intense beauty. Now those feelings are mingled with excitement at seeing the changes the glass undergoes after I've cut it, shaped it, subjected it to temperatures as high as 1,700 degrees for hours on end.”
“And I admit to a surge of pride when customers report back to me the wonderful compliments they receive when their friends—and even complete strangers!—see my pieces.”
Mary Ellen Larkins has been creating art in the Washington area since soon after arriving here from Philadelphia in 1970. Her art has taken a variety of forms, including batik, oil painting, sewing, and beading. She found her heart's true love, however, in 1999 when she was introduced to the magic of fused glass. Since then she has gradually extracted herself from her desktop publishing business so as to devote more and more time to her glass. Since 2000, she has created thousands of pieces of jewelry—earrings, pendants, bracelets, brooches, money clips, among other items.
Of late, she has moved into creating much larger items, including display pieces, tables, and brilliantly colored, distinctively shaped, and variously-sized plates that are both functional and decorative. Her work is displayed at craft shows and juried exhibitions in the Washington and Annapolis areas and at Transient Crafters (since 2000). She has been a member of the National Capital Art Glass Guild since 2000 and has had many pieces juried in to prominent glass shows.
She is proud to have had her art be the subject of an article in her local newspaper in Vienna, Va:
http://tinyurl.com/GlimmeringArt.
For more information, visit her web site: http://maryellenlarkins.com or contact her at melarkins@verizon.net.
