Find Your Creative Soul at Glass Act
By Chris Manson June 1, 2006 Issue

Suzette Brooks doesn’t guarantee she can make a glass artist out of anyone who walks into her studio, but based on the fine work by some past Glass Act students, she could probably make such a claim.

Brooks’ classes are just part of the appeal of Glass Act, now in its second year of business in Fort Walton Beach. The single and multiple session hands-on instruction attracts a wide range of students — from nine-year-olds learning about fused glass to folks well into their 80s. A large portion of the building is devoted to these classes, which include Basic Stained Glass, Basic Mosaic, and Introduction to Bead Making.

“People have taken their first classes here and gone on to become great artists,” Brooks says. Guests, many of them Glass Act alumni, often teach classes.

Glass Act offers an impressive selection of items for sale, including mosaics, fused glass, and stained glass art. Glass art supplies are well stocked, too. Brooks also offers commission opportunities for artists. “People will come in and order a window,” she says. “We have local artists who will work from a design or work up their own design depending on what a customer wants.”

Brooks took her first class in stained glass 30 years ago. She practiced the fine art for a while, then got away from it. “Later, I lived in Hawaii and took a fused glass class and fell in love with it. When I came back here, I kept at it. I had friends who did stained glass, and they needed a place to get together. My husband was extremely supportive in this venture. It’s a dream come true!”

She recommends that newcomers try bead making. “There’s a big demand for this,” Brooks says. The beginner starts with a rod on a torch that is heated into a hollow bead. Making a glass bowl is a bit more complicated. In the back room, large kilns are utilized as special sheets of glass are heated up to 1500 degrees, cooled, reheated, and formed over a stainless steel or ceramic mold. The process usually takes at least five firing days.

Brooks says the great thing about glass art is you can make mistakes. In fact, the store’s flyers invite potential students to “come break some glass with us.” Brooks points to one of her recent creations. “This started out being a mermaid, but when I fired it, it looked horrible. So I cut up the fused piece, added more glass, and made an abstract wall piece.”

Stained glass starts with a pattern. The glass is cut based on the pattern, and copper foil is formed around each piece before the entire work is soldered together. Brooks brings out a work in progress. “One of the things I love is when people make their own drawings for designs,” she tells me after I make a crude drawing of a dachshund. Another popular aspect of glass art is mosaic. The artist conceives a design, cuts all the pieces, glues it, then grouts it — a process similar to that used on bathroom tile.

“We’re big on creative soul,” Brooks says. “We want people to find their creative soul. We believe everyone has it and can express it through glass art.”

The Glass Act staff consists of Brooks and her husband Mike —“he does all the woodworking and made all the work tables”— and three part-time employees. Linda Sexton, an accomplished glass artist in her own right, says, “The number of folks who have come in out of curiosity are so captivated by the spirit of our store. Several have gone into business for themselves.”

One former pupil, a working veterinarian known in these circles as “Dr. Meow,” was recently recognized in Italy. The good doctor was featured on her own trading card — in Italy, they apparently fancy glass artists as much as Americans love their baseball heroes.

“Most have not had formal artistic training,” Brooks says of her students past and present. Indeed, a prominently placed sign on the Glass Act wall reads “We all start as beginners.”

Brooks shows me an amusing handmade bead depicting a cat with its head stuck in a fish bowl. The bead is the creation of Sherrie Venghaus, owner of Polly’s Concrete in Niceville. She is now one of Brooks’ instructors, after coming in for her first class less than a year ago. “I sold one of her beads for $85. She is doing unbelievable,” Brooks says.

“I had my first class 24 years ago,” Sexton says. “I was active in stained glass for about nine months, then I moved and didn’t get back to it. I came in here a year and a half ago. This is cheaper and better than therapy any day of the week! In the last five to seven years, the quality of artists here has been amazing.

“You could not ask for a better mentor or instructor than Suze. She is so encouraging. She sees beauty and quality people don’t know is there.”

The Glass Act is located at 102B Racetrack Road, 862-1119.

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