THE PROCESS
Fused glass art combines the delicate interplay of glass powders, sheets, and specialised paints to craft unique, meaningful pieces. Through layering and kiln-firing, these elements merge into vibrant, textured works that capture light and emotion. Each piece is either created from commissioned concepts or born of the artist’s own creative exploration, resulting in distinctive artworks available for purchase at the studio and gallery.
Elizabeth was asked to create small windows for an early learning centre depicting the Nyoongar seasons of Western Australia. The commission was exacting: the windows needed to be durable for a child-centred environment, clear and engaging at eye level for young children, and respectful in their representation of Nyoongar seasonal cycles of Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang.
The palette was grounded in the Western Australian landscape: ochres, deep blues, pale sandy tones and the soft greens of regrowth.
Design work explored scale, translucency and pictorial clarity. Each small window needed a concise visual language: simple motifs that read well from a child’s perspective but held layered meaning for adults. Elizabeth developed compositions that combined abstract colour fields with recognisable forms—stylised grass trees, coastal waves, native wildflowers, and footprints suggesting animal movement. She balanced opaque sections for bold colour with areas of clear and textured glass to catch, soften and refract daylight.
Once satisfied with the fired panels, the pieces were set into bespoke timber frames crafted to the centre’s specifications. The finished windows functioned as both teaching tools and works of light: children gather to point out flowers and animals, teachers use the images to mark seasonal activities, and the glass filters daylight into calm colour throughout the centre.
The project was technically demanding and culturally careful. Through research, collaboration and repeated refinement of firing and assembly techniques, Elizabeth delivered a set of small windows that honour Nyoongar seasonal knowledge, meet the practical needs of an early learning space, and bring durable, changing colour into everyday experience.