Jodi McRaney Rusho

I had the good fortune to be raised in a somewhat vagabond lifestyle. My family moved around the small towns of the west at an average of two new towns a year. While it drove my school teachers wild, it was a great exposure to many different places, people and stories. That early part of my life instilled a permanent sense of nosiness, let’s call it curiosity…

We never had a television while I was growing up, so in a bid to keep me busy, I was given my first deluxe X-acto knife set at age 8. Opening that little wood box and seeing the light flash across all those beautiful steel blades cemented my love for the sharp and the shiny.

While still pursuing that first love, I discovered glass twenty years later. Here was something that combined sharp and shiny in a whole new way. I started experimenting with recycled glass but wasn’t really committed until lots of folks told me it couldn’t be done. That recycled art glass was not worth the effort. Well….along with that aforementioned curiosity, I’m as determined as a mule!

Nine years later, I eat breathe and dream about recycled glass. It’s a difficult medium. I spent the first few years failing repeatedly and doing massive amounts of research. Along the way, the story of the glass really hooked me, particularly in relation to the people who value it. I can’t fathom the idea of opening a box of new glass from the factory, it just doesn’t have anything to say.

Have comments or suggestions?  I’d love to hear from you!