Don Gonzalez Glass

I live and work in an area of New Jersey where there is an abundance of stone forms that were deposited here at the end of the last ice age. In the past, the multitude of stones have been a nuisance while trying to dig foundations for my home addition and studio, or while trying to tame a plot of land to grow food or while trying to dig post holes for sheep fencing.

And then I had a revelation that these stones produced by volcanism, are made of much of the same chemistry that I employ in the studio to color and melt the glass. So now, most rocks that I encounter capture my interest. Some of these stones have interesting forms, largely shaped by movement during the ice age. My new work elaborates on the dialogue of the stone forms with glass elements, cast in sand, that are fitted and mounted to the stone.