Website: www.DebCrowley.com
CSGA Wall of Fame Page:
Deb Crowley - CSGA Wall of Fame

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I was born in Pacific Beach, Ca and lived in San Diego until I was 28.  I attended gifted schools for most of my life, many of which included art programs where I learned the strong passion I had for art of any kind.  In 8th grade I found drawing and watercolors, in high school I found clay and sculpting. In college I played guitar and wrote songs from the hundreds of poems I had  written over the years. After marrying and having 2 children, my best creations ever, I found myself a single parent.  I began teaching ceramics, Raku, drawing, weaving textiles and rush/cane then and had a custom ceramics studio.
 
In 1985 I met my husband, Michael, of 20 years now. He was a heavy plate and mirror glazier.  Within a few months we started doing stained glass and 6 months after that we opened Dreamglass Studio, a full service shop and supplies store and started teaching glass.  The next year I learned sandblasting and fusing, which I still enjoy very much.  In 1990 I made my first bead although I got serious about beads in 1993. The first 3 years of lampworking I learned to
torch to make eyes and other components for my fusing and copper foil panels, little did I know my love of making fish beads was around the corner!  In 1994 we built a full hot shop and started blowing large furnace glass.  Michael built me my first bead kiln in 1993, he is internationally known for his bead annealers and full hot shops he custom builds.

We taught for the Community College Education for 12 years in Las Vegas, many stained, fused and carved glass classes with as many as 20 students.  The most interesting and rewarding was a deaf group that until us had never had a chance to learn glass, they did some gorgeous work and was one of the most heartwarming last nights of a class ever!  I have taught lampworking and fusing all over the nation for the last 10 years, including several large venues as well
as smaller studios.

I have been published in many books, including Bandhu's "Contemporary Lampworking III" and his "Formed of Fire", in Doug R's new borosilicate video, Lark books, Corina's Spotlights and now have a tool I designed being made by Carlisle Machine, the "Crowley Marver"! I have won over a dozen awards for my lampworking and fusing, many from the venue Glass Craft Expo, Lorenzi Art Competition a Judge's Award, Glass Galore "Best of Show" with the clownfish bead on perfume bottle purchased and becoming a permanent part of Lincoln City's collection. I was juried in to the very first Warm Glass Fuse Off which was an international search for the 50 best fused pieces worldwide by Warm Glass and Bullseye Glass.

I attended the second annual Teachers Forum at personal invitation by Dan at Bullseye, where we roomed with Leah Fairbanks and her husband, Derek, we had a blast and learned a lot.  That was the only class I have ever taken except for a lecture by Pete McGrain class so I could meet the master of blasting flash-glass. Other than that I am completely self taught in all my favored mediums, the best of which is glass.  I am in awe of the medium, it is viscous and malleable with an element of danger and chance, I am totally in love with melting glass!

After the kids went on to Med-school or married we moved to South Beach, Oregon in 2002.  We built a new studio that we love in the forest between 2 state parks in the pines and cedars within a few minutes walk to sand.  We can listen to the ocean while we work, we have many private students who come here to further their knowledge of glass and enjoy the beauty of the coast with us!