Interview: Sabrina Baissas

Back in December I went to the Renegade Craft Fair. It was there that I first met Sabrina, of Fox and Clover fame. She had a table full of lovelies, but what caught my eye was this:


photo courtesy of Sabrina Baissas

Clearly, I'd been missing all the ponderosa pines in Flagstaff - unsurprisingly, there is nary a one here in Chicago!

I was so impressed by both Sabrina and her work. She does the drawing for her pieces herself, as well as the glass cutting, painting, firing, and designing. Moreover, she actually knew that the pine tree was a ponderosa. Could the woman be any more impressive? Well, as it turns out, yes. She is a super resourceful repurposer, amongst other things.

I didn't leave with that necklace, but I did leave with another she made. I'll show it to you all sometime. But that's enough about me. It's Sabrina you should be getting to know.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Sabrina. I'm a glass artist and I just moved to Seattle from Minnesota this week. Place plays a big role in my life -- I've lived in 5 countries, 3 continents and now 5 US cities. I speak three languages. Because of this I feel like I'm a bit of an iconoclast, an enthusiast for all sorts of arts, foods, & people. I love adventures.

I learned to work with glass in Paris, France in 2005. I completed a year-long apprentice-style education in traditional stained glass at the studios of Philippe and Christiane Andrieux. I learned 800-year-old glassworking techniques, including kiln-fired glass painting. Glass paints are similar to ceramic glazes. I paint them onto glass with fine brushes and quill pens, then fire the images permanently onto the glass at 1300 degrees F.

Now I have my own studio, called Fox & Clover. I adapt my traditional glass painting skills to modern graphic dishware, jewelry and stained glass. My design revolves around one of my greatest loves - the natural world. I'm endlessly fascinated with plants, animals, weather and land. If I'm not working on my glass (which is most of the time - well over 40 hours a week) I want to be outside, hiking or doing photography with my husband and my friends.

2. How much of your material is recycled/upcycled?

Because the natural world is important to me, sustainable use of resources is central to my studio. This year I began making 100% of my dishware and jewelry from reclaimed glass -- basically from discarded windows and picture frames. I also use about 85% recycled packaging for all my shipments (which leads to a ridiculous amount of boxes and styrofoam squirreled away in my studio). In my office I reuse paper and envelopes. I don't own a car and walk to work every day. I'm always looking for new ways to be clean and green.

3. Where do you find these materials?

So far this year, I've gotten a ton of reclaimed glass from friends and family. It's amazing how everyone has a broken window or picture frame sitting around in their garage. My supply needs will probably grow beyond this soon though, so I plan to make some deals with local demolition crews and glass repair shops to get their scraps.

As for packaging, I shred all my junk mail, catalogues and old phone books for use as packing material. I get lots of boxes from my family.

4. What tools do you find indispensable and why?

My most indispensable tools are my glass cutter, glass pliers and my quill pen. Nothing gets made without these three tools. And let's not forget my computer -- it's indispensable for marketing and selling online.

5. Which item are you are most proud of having created?

Hmmm, that's hard to answer. I guess I'm proud of whatever my newest design is..... until I come along and make an even better one. I don't dwell much on past work (although maybe I should more often). I tend to want to do something even more splendid, something that tops anything I've done before. So I'm probably the most proud of a design that I have yet to create.

6. From where do you draw your inspiration?

Well, my subject matter, as I said above, is inspired by nature. But how to portray it, my aesthetic choices, come from other visual roots.

I lived in Java, Indonesia in 2000 and became enamored by their traditional batik -- not the touristy crap sold by the beach but the fine, minutely-detailed traditional patterns. This led to a serious long-term infatuation with patterns and prints. Over the years I amassed a library of patterns that I've seen in museums, on furniture, on wallpaper and learned to distill them into elements for my work. I love patterns!

A second inspiration is a 19th-century Japanese artist named Shibata Zeshin. I had the good fortune to see a rare exhibit of his art in 2007. He painted nature in a way that combined realism and a sort of humorous charm. His eagles, turtles, cranes and elk have a realistic beauty like scientific illustrations, but they interact with each other with a lively, quirky way. His work is fun and clever. Not many artists do that. I'm far from replicating anything like that, but his work gives me a goal.