BRISTOL, Vt. (WCAX) – Most days, you can find Caroline Quick in her Bristol studio.
“Creating pieces to keep me out of mischief, basically,” she laughs. A retired empty-nester, Quick found herself in need of something to occupy her time.
“I saw in my future a gap when my son was leaving home,” she explains. That gap was only amplified after retiring from her career as a nurse. “One of my desires before I started nursing was to do art… or nursing. It was always a tough call, but I went for the nursing career.”
But with plenty of time on her hands, she took her first fused glass class in 2016.
“Very soon it became a very addictive hobby and more latterly, a small business,” she says.
Now, Quick owns and operates CQ Glassworks, making kiln-formed, one-of-a-kind, fused glass creations. From glassware for the home to bulk business orders or ornate ornaments, Quick does it all. Independence is one reason why she chose glass fusing instead of glass blowing.
“What I liked about that process so much was that I can do it myself,” she says. “I’m not relying on very expensive machinery or a team of people.”
Quick has quite the setup, but all of her equipment fits in the garage, just to the side of her home. In fact, Quick says they chose this space so she could have more room for her art. Before settling down in Bristol, Quick set down roots in South Burlington and Boston, after moving to the U.S. from Scotland. She says Vermont’s landscape reminds her of Scotland, and she enjoys working on a property with so much character.
Her creative process begins by taking sheets of glass and cutting them into her desired shape. Then, she layers them and kiln-fuses them for 24 hours or more. Sometimes, depending on what she’s making, there’s some additional smoothing or molding required.
“What happens is, I set the kiln, I go away, and then I get very excited,” Quick laughs. Creativity is half of the formula for this art, but as it turns out, science plays a pretty big role, too.
“This glass is a specialized reactive glass that contains silver,” Quick says, while holding a sheet that otherwise looks clear and amber in color. “When you mix silver with copper, which is in blue glass, you get this cool reaction and these clear pieces turn red.”
That reaction is how she gets her rich, stunning colors, which resemble petrified wood. That coloring is visible on her coasters and cheeseboards to name a few items. Quick’s style takes many shapes, from more serious work to fun and funky, she’s found a way to fuse the two. Quick’s creations are geared toward affordability, with her goal to allow people to collect stunning glassware. Lots of her work is available in galleries and online. And, she takes commissions, too.
No matter if she’s creating one of her iconic snowflake ornaments or a tiny trinket dish, one thing stays the same…
“I love the freedom of creating,” she says. And these creations are made in Vermont.