Ghost Town Glass consists of John, Janine, Molly, Haley and Annie Shea. Of us, two are human and
one is the mouth piece and that is me, Janine.
I have been melting glass since 2004 and working in silver since 2005. I love the combination of
glass and silver, and am always looking for new ways to put them together. I have been a
pyromaniac for all my life, and working with a torch with both glass and silver fascinates me. I
sometimes forget myself, mesmerized by hot glass and the beauty of it. Hot silver flows and then
reticulates, creating lovely textures. And I like hammering!
I use handmade glass beads (made by myself or by John), gemstones, Swarovski crystal, natural
stone, pearls, lucite, copper, and sterling silver and fine silver to create a variety of unique pieces. I
am inspired by shiny things, tattoo art, textures, fire and the interplay of shadow and light.
In 2006, John fell in love with glass and brings his whimsical take on the world and excellent heat
control to his intricate dot beads and glass creatures. In addition to beads and sculptural work, he is
exploring the world of marbles and off mandrel pieces. John is inspired by weird things, as anyone
can see from his creatures, and our dogs, who often fit into the seriously strange category.
John particularly likes to make Border Collies, like the one in our banner, which were initially
prompted by Cassie, our Border Collie. She died in June/08 but will live on in glass.
We love what we do, and have a dedicated silver and glass studio in our house.
All beads and glass objects are made with a Nortel Minor torch, and placed in a Skutt GM 10-F kiln
immediately and annealed to remove any stresses in the glass. Metal clay is fired in the kiln as well,
for 2 hours.
Glass beads used in jewelry are all handmade. Metal beads and findings are sterling, fine, Bali or Thai
silver, unless otherwise noted.
We have taken classes with the following instructors:
Glass
Metalwork and other cool things
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