Spotlight on Charlotte Barnard

I guess my journey to lampworking started as a little kid in Los Angeles in the 60s. My parents frequently took us to Olvera Street for lunch at Felipe’s and left me to watch the flameworker make lace carousels, tiny animals and delicate hummingbirds. No amount of cajoling with the promise of food could tear me away from watching the artist work his magic. I was hooked.

Fast forward to 9/11/2001. My husband, Mike, and I lived in Bethesda, Maryland and had spent 9 months planning a trip to Venice, Italy, that October, including an apartment on a canal a block from St. Mark’s Square. The last thing I wanted to do back then, though, was get on a plane. Fortunately, my husband wouldn’t agree to cancel our trip, and as it turned out we were rewarded with beautiful weather, very few tourists, and sympathetic locals who went out of their way to express kindness to Americans.

Wandering Venice and Murano, we found Cesare Toffolo’s intimate studio and talked to his mom and sister for a couple of hours, Vittorio Costantini’s tiny little shop that looked like an underwater reef, and countless hot shops with artisans hard at work. Following that trip, Mike encouraged me to look for a flameworking teacher, and kismet brought me to Kate Fowle who had just had a space open up in her upcoming class just down the road.

Her enthusiasm was contagious and I am forever grateful for her encouragement! For Christmas that year, my husband gave me everything I needed to get started, including my first kiln, a Paragon that I now use for fusing.