Marian Fieldson learned glass fusing at the Pilchuck School in Washington and now lives on the slope of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawai’i. “I am fascinated by the liquid effect of the molten lava and its affinity with glass to capture the feeling of the Earth on fire and the undulating cooling surfaces.”

Marian takes the patterns for her kiln casts from the lava flows in Puna on the Big Island where there are active vents. She stacks glass sheets and other specially made design elements over the refractory pattern negative and heats this in her kiln until they are fused and liquid. After careful slow cooling, the new cast is then heated a second time into a curved form. The natural braided ripples of lava show very well in glass, transparency and opacity playing against the light, and both the front and the back of each piece show different interactions. There are endless combinations of color and shape, each one a combination of sculpture and painting in glass.

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