Springfield Artist Turns Glass Into Memories

When a friend approached Emily Pezzulich and asked her to make a picture of the house where she raised her children, her friend had some conditions. She wanted a basketball hoop over the garage, and she wanted the family car in it. 

“The important thing is she really wanted the red car in the garage,” Pezzulich said. But Pezzulich, of Springfield's Pezzulich Glassworks, wasn't working with paints. Instead, she melted glass to create the image (check the pictures in this article to see it). 

Pezzulich has been creating art with glass for around 20 years. Pezzulich will be exhibiting her glasswork at Chantilly's Sugarloaf Crafts Festival between December 9 and 11. 

Pezzulich receives help from her husband Alan, a retired engineer. He uses his knowledge of science to predict how different kinds of glass will react.

Pezzulich's work includes bowls, suncatchers, and mosaics. More recently, she has been focused on creating landscapes using glass. 

"We try not to make the standard things that everybody can get when they go to an art show," Pezzulich said. People are sometimes so startled by her glass landscapes that they think they've been painted.

Pezzulich says her art seems to hold personal connections for people. One woman bought a landscape because it reminded her of Minnesota. 

“You can make things that people will buy, or you can make things that people will collect," she said. "I’m more interested in things that people will collect.”

Visit Pezzulich Glassworks at their website. The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival will run in Chantilly's Dulles Expo Center from December 9 through December 11.