In 1991 my husband Irv and I moved to Sarasota, Fl. to retire....but of course we had to find something to do. We couldn't just sit around and relax, so we opened a little glass gallery and studio to fill our time. We opened Glass Reflections, a glass gallery in the heart of the art gallery/antique district in Sarasota with my studio, Glasstudio-West in the rear. At that time I had enough room for one cutting table and a small kiln. In no time at all customers, after seeing my fused and slumped art wanted to learn how they could make glass, so I started teaching one on one. Eventually a space two doors down became available and I opened an expanded studio where I taught fusing and slumping. Eventually I brought in teachers to teach stained glass and beadmaking. In 2000 'Sarasota School of Glass' was born. We had 8 teachers and offered 30 different classes.

A few years later Irv and I bought a building 'out east', an up and coming area of Sarasota. Downtown was a very touristy/snow bird area, which meant seasonal business. 'Out East' meant year round business -- so we moved. Being downtown for 12 years and now moving to 'rural' Sarasota made me very nervous, but had proven to be the right decision. We changed our gallery name to 'International Glass Art Outlet' and re-opened my studio, now 'Firelite Glass' and school, 'Sarasota School of Glass'.

Four years later we again moved, expanding to larger quarters at Northgate Center and four years after that to Clark Rd. wherre we now have 3500 sq. ft. of space, sharing it with our sister company, Firelite Forms, which our daughter Jini runs for us.  We manufacture slumping molds for the glass fusing industry selling our products worldwide. We are proud to say that we are the largest manufacturer of slumping molds 'Made in the USA'.

Sarasota School of Glass recently has changed direction, bringing it's students Mini Workshops as well as full classes. What is in the future....only time will tell. In the meantime our calendar is full, students are returning again and again to learn new techniques and expanding their capabilities. Many are working independenly in our 'Open Studio'.