"Designing animals with a smile is a theme that carries through all of my glass sculptures."
Glass artist Nancy Nagel's love of glass began with a collection of tumbled beach glass when she was a child and has turned into her life's passion. Nancy graduated with a degree in art education from the University of Arizona, Tempe in 1974. Upon graduation she opened a glass blowing studio called Midnight Glassworks, so named because she worked at night to avoid the blasting desert heat during the day.
Today, Nancy Nagel is nationally recognized for her animal perfume bottle series. Each of the small sculptural bottles are first sketched and then sculpted to scale in clay. This unusual and thoughtful approach demonstrates her attention to detail, which makes each piece so unique and collectable. After the design process is complete, the animals are hand blown from borosilicate glass using a flamework torch.
Bringing the spirit of the animal kingdom to a whole new dimension, Nagel's pieces are intended to celebrate the comedy she finds in her whimsical creatures. As the sculptures are formed, an on-going dialogue between the animal's character and the artist are evident. Nancy explains that she uses hands instead of paws or wings to represent the hands of the artist.