Jan Kirchoff
Glass

"I have always been a crafty sort of person but did not begin my 'art' career until I was in my 40s, and then, it was by accident"...  

A girlfriend wanted to take a class in stained glass but didn’t want to go alone, so I signed up too.  Little did I know that six weeks later I would be hooked.  There was so much to learn that I became an apprentice, and then took a job in a commercial glass studio.  In the next five years I was fortunate to work on many varied and interesting projects as well as to teach classes. Now I work from my home studios in Parkland, Florida and Dahlonega, Georgia doing private commissions, as well as creating inventory for the shows I participate in each year.  In addition to traditional stained glass in the lead and copper foil methods, I specialize in what is known as an “overlay” process.  By creating a silhouette image from metal and affixing it to a piece of glass, I can attain a great deal of detail in a cost effective way.

The gourd art came about, again, by accident.  While shopping in a home furnishing store I chanced upon what I thought was a beautiful rustic vase.  It turned out to be a gourd.  I bought it and after much contemplation I decided “well shoot, I can do this”. So I hunted down some gourds (not easy to find in south Florida) and began my journey.  A lot of what I know about gourd art has come from books and trial and error.   The finer techniques I have learned in workshops from artists involved in the Florida Gourd Society.

I am currently a member of the American, Florida, and Georgia Gourd Societies.