Denise Bohart Brown

"In my work, I strive to capture a singular moment in time—something that, if you look again a second later, will be gone. While often abstract in nature, my work is still very much based on an image—most often an image in nature—that is fleeting and ephemeral. Capturing that moment, no matter how literal or abstract the result may be, marks that singular moment as something to be cherished."

Growing up as an only child on a Colorado cattle ranch gave Denise Bohart Brown a lot of opportunities for creative exploration; she experimented with a variety of media before finding her niche in glass in 2001. Her designs, often abstract in nature, are inspired by the natural world both in the Colorado mountains that she calls home, and in her travels around the US and beyond.

Bohart Brown's kiln-fired creations often incorporate elements that lend a sense of movement and flow to a medium that often feels very solid and static. The technical aspects of her creative process—the number and temperature of kiln firings, the timing of the addition of glass—combine with the design to achieve the end result: a contemporary art piece that stimulates the senses and inspires the mind.

The artist's expertise in kiln-formed glass is largely self-taught. Her original experience came from working at the UC-Davis Craft Center in Davis, California. A handful of workshops along the way have helped her to incorporate new techniques and reach new levels, but the vast majority of what she has learned has largely been through experimentation.