While I was visiting Tacoma this month, I had the opportunity to spend some time at Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio, and I’m so glad I did. I always enjoy visiting glass studios when I travel, and this one immediately caught my attention. The building itself is hard to miss with its colorful mural and welcoming storefront. Inside, the gallery is filled with stunning glass artwork — beautiful vessels, sculptural pieces, wall art, and colorful displays that make you want to walk slowly and take it all in. It’s the kind of place where inspiration is everywhere, and it immediately makes you want to create something. I really enjoyed exploring the shop itself. Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio isn’t just a gallery — it’s a wonderful creative space with supplies, tools, and artwork all around you. Everywhere you look there is something interesting to see.
What I especially loved is that they offer a wide variety of classes, not just resin but also fused glass and other glass art classes as well. As someone who teaches fused glass myself, I always appreciate seeing studios that are helping people discover how fun and accessible glass can be. It’s clear they’ve created a place where artists of all levels can come together, learn something new, and enjoy the creative process.
While I was there, I decided to take a resin class using pressed flowers, which looked like so much fun. The instructor walked us through the process step by step, explaining how to arrange the flowers, prepare the molds, and carefully pour the resin so everything sets beautifully. One of the first steps was selecting and arranging the pressed flowers. I loved this part. There were so many delicate flowers, leaves, and even butterflies to choose from. It reminded me a little of composing a fused glass piece — thinking about balance, color, and how the design will look once everything is sealed under the resin. I created a piece on a wooden board using a mix of bright sunflowers, purple flowers, greenery, and a few butterflies. The colors were vibrant and cheerful, and arranging them felt almost like creating a little garden scene. I also made a couple of smaller round pieces using silicone molds. Seeing everything come together was really fun. The resin brings out the color and detail in the flowers, preserving them in a way that almost looks like they’re floating.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I always believe that artists should continue learning and trying new things, even if it’s outside their primary medium. Taking this resin class reminded me how fun it is to experiment and simply enjoy the creative process. Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio is a fantastic space filled with beautiful artwork and opportunities to learn. If you ever find yourself in Tacoma, it’s definitely worth a visit — whether you want to admire the artwork, pick up something unique, or take one of their many creative classes.
I’ve actually experimented with flowers and resin before in combination with my fused glass, so this class was especially interesting to me. I love incorporating natural elements like flowers into artwork because they add such beautiful color and organic shapes. Seeing different ways to work with pressed flowers and resin gave me some new ideas, and I’m excited to continue experimenting with it in my own studio. One of the things I enjoy most about being an artist is that there’s always something new to learn and explore, and sometimes a different medium can inspire completely new directions in my glass work
I asked Glo to create another graphic for this post to go along with the one from the Museum of Glass. I’m starting to really like these — they’re just a fun way to capture the experience and add a little personality to the story.
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my site and my Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Karen
