Spotlight on Tracy Slobodian

Though her days are spent as an interior designer, Tracy Slobodian also channels her creativity into lampworking at Chartreuse Designs.

With three years of fine arts studies and an eight-year career as an interior designer, Tracy's passion for color and beauty translates perfectly into her lampwork glass art creations.

Lampworking is a centuries-old process that involves using a torch to melt and shape colorful rods of glass - and in Tracy's case, the result is bold and beautiful wearable art and home accents.

Chartreuse Designs offers lampwork bracelets, earrings, pendants and rings, as well as wine toppers, canape sets and pens.

How did you get started in lampworking?

I started lampworking almost four years ago after buying some glass bracelets from another glass artist and being very intrigued by the colors and designs. I took some courses and haven't looked back.

What's your favorite thing about working with glass?

My favorite thing about lampworking is that it's very calming. The process of melting and deconstructing a glass rod to reform and shape it into something new is very fascinating.

What are the rewards and challenges of being a lampwork glass artist?

The main challenge of lampworking is really just time. Each bead takes a lot of time to produce; it is a very time challenging artform when creating large pieces.

The most rewarding thing is trying a new design or style of bead and it turning out even better than you pictured it to be. Or coming up with accidental new color combinations, that's always fun, too!

What inspires you?

I am inspired by everything: my glass studio has clips from various design magazines, architecture, photos of trips, thank you notes, poems, rocks I have been collecting, beads from other glass artists. Anything that I see that makes me feel happy or inspired, whether it is for color, texture or style, I place it all around my work station for visual stimulation.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?

I'm not sure, that's a hard question to answer. I guess I wish that I had discovered lampworking sooner in life. I was in the Fine Arts Department at University for three years taking painting, ceramics and photography, but there weren't any glass courses offered at my school. I now wish there had been.

What are you most proud of?

At the time I was the most proud of my first completed bracelet, which I made the day before my first half marathon to keep my mind off of the race. I was so excited to show my family that I couldn't wait to cross the finish line to share my creation with them.

Now I would have to say a custom necklace that I just completed for a breast cancer charity auction. I think it's the nicest piece I've ever made.