The Professional Artists of St. Augustine (PAStA) Fine Art Gallery welcomes glass artist and jeweler K. Alison Schaeffler-Murphy to the eclectic gallery located in St. Augustine’s historic district off of Charlotte Street.
Schaeffler-Murphy, who prefers to go by “Alison,” began her love affair with the glass arts while attending Florida State University. In an “off campus” class, she came to realize the uniqueness of glass; its natural luminosity, brilliant clarity and reflective colors offered aesthetic properties that she wished to explore further.
“My jewelry and glass dishes invite light to interplay within the various layered colors of the piece,” Alison explained. “It gives the piece a living-in-the-moment quality, as the play of light constantly changes the expression of the piece.”
After graduate degrees in both art history and art museum administration, Alison worked with non-profit art organizations, museums and art galleries. She has served as a fine arts consultant, an art appraisal researcher, managed collections, chaired art shows and worked as art juror and judge. Additionally, Alison has served as an art gallery director and a curator. Her work has been featured in national magazines and local newspapers, displayed at glass expositions, art-in-public places, indoor and outdoor art fairs and exhibited at art galleries and museums. These days, Alison can be found full-time in her studio creating one-of-a-kind fused dichroic glass art works.
Alison’s use of dichroic glass is what makes each of her pieces appear dynamically alive. As light moves through and over each glasswork’s surface, viewers are captivated by shifting reflective colors and varied hues. Dichroic glass, a space-age glass originally developed in the 1950s for NASA, is now made using different metal oxides thereby offering a wider kaleidoscope of colors.
By using dichroic glass in her unique creations, Schaeffler-Murphy seeks to inspire the creative joy and happiness that the presence of art and beauty continually offers to our lives.
Alison’s collection of fused and dichroic glass works is on display at the Charlotte Street gallery and available for sale.
