Description

“Cain & Abel” Sculpture by Rick and Valerie Beck. Blown and sandcarved glass. 13.5″ diameter x 3″ high. Artist Card included.

Rick and Valerie graduated from the same college, same year in Nebraska, however they didn’t meet until a year later through a mutual friend. They began working together in glass, married, and decided to continued their graduate studies at Southern Illinois U Carbondale. They earned their Masters Degrees, Rick in Art and Val in Educational Psychology. It wasn’t long before Val was back working in glass with Rick. One of life’s unexpected turns despite planning, but a good one, as you will discover.

Sandcarved bowl technique

“First, we blow a shallow bowl with three layers of color, and clear for the exterior. Next, I take sandblast resist, called Buttercut, and draw the imagery that I want on it. I cut that out of the resist. Then, after the bowl is cooled, I peel off the backing and stick it on the glass bowl. I take that to my sandblast cabinet and sandblast everything that is not under the resist. I can do that to different layers of the color. I can also peel off different parts that are on the bowl and blast them to different layers.

After that, I take all the resist off and wash the bowl very well. Then I apply a finish called Liquid Luster. The bowl sits for a day, and it is then buffed of