Today we’d like to introduce you to Janie Duke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been doing glass fusing for 16 years. It all started when my husband and I took a vacation to Seattle Washington. A friend of mine had a beautiful bowl sitting on her table and when I asked where she got it, she told me she made it. Then she led me to her basement. She had all these little pieces of glass and a kiln and showed me how to cut the glass and put it in the kiln. I made my first little tiny dish and then, I was hooked. When we got home, I started looking online for places to take glass classes and buy my glass. I studied through YouTube and then found the Bullseye Glass website. The problem was there was no place to fuse the glass in town. So my husband bought me my first kiln. And I did it in my garage. Once I outgrew the garage, my husband handed me the keys to a Warehouse and said welcome to the Glass Duchess Studio. I’ve been there ever since.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I had found a Bullseye glass distributor in Cape Coral. After Covid, they moved out of the state. I had to revert back to ordering directly from the factory. Shipping costs are high when you only need a few pieces of glass. After a year of ordering directly, I decided to take the plunge and open the Florida Distributorship for Bullseye glass. I started off as an artist, and now I’m running a full time business, which were nowhere in the plans! But 3 years later, I’m glad I did it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a fused glass artist. Most people know of blown glass, but are not familiar with fused glass. I can accomplish what a glass blower does ,except I do it in a kiln. I specialize in large fused glass pieces. I am most proud of a 16 foot chandelier made for a custom built home. I had never done a project of that scale before. I’m always up to for a challenge. I guess what sets me apart from others , I’m willing to push the boundaries of size and shape. The chandelier is a perfect example of my wiliness to go big or go home.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was always interested in arts. Any medium I was given, I would go beyond what others would expect. My mother was very instrumental in letting me create with paints, pottery, chalk, knitting, crocheting . loved arts and crafts and spent a lot of free time experimenting. Although I have to admit, I never drew anything you could recognize and to this day, I can’t even draw a half recognizable stick figure!
Pricing:
- $75- $150 small pieces
- $250-$1,200 medium pieces
- $1,500-$20,000 custom large pieces
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Glassduchess.com
- Instagram: @Glassduchess
- Facebook: Glass Duchess Studio
