A number of original glass crafts are made by combining colors, and the intensity of color combinations and pairing them with her works all start in the imagination of the artist, Ms. Izumi Hoshina herself.  She has a workshop and instruction area for students that she will use once the social distancing of the global pandemic subsides in Echizenhama, Niigata city, and she creates works using a technique called fusing.  Izumi selects and crafts parts of a larger glass sheet into the body of her current piece of glass art and then fuses and melts the pieces using a dedicated electric kiln.   She has a conception in her mind’s eye of what she wants the finished work to look like, and she painstakingly assembles each element of her piece of glass art.  Ultimately, she creates the dream of her original conception into a finished reality.  The art of glass fusing’s appeal is that it allows her to create several different patterns, and her creativity is expressed in each one of her works.  The only limit to Izumi’s artistic output is her imagination, and she is finding innovative ways to make even her wildest dreams a glass art reality.  A gallery of some of her works is on the Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) website, but if you are interested in commissioning a piece for your personal collection, you are encouraged to contact her via the JDS contact page and begin the process or combining your imaginations into a handmade, one of a kind piece of glass art.

Ms. Hoshina commented on her artistic beginnings, “I originally liked tableware and wanted to fuse that with ceramic art,” and now she mainly deals with functional tableware but she also has several artistic creations in her gallery of glass art.  Her artistic journey began studying at one of Japan’s most prestigious Fine Arts universities in Tokyo, but that was only the beginning of her artistic spirit’s growth.  She explored mosaics, woodworking, and urushi (Japanese lacquerware) with gold leaf among others.  Soon after, she undertook a pilgrimage to Australia where she reflected on her artistic process and deepened her devotion to glass art.  Her mentors include Klaus Moje who she studied under in Fukui, Japan, integrating his techniques into her own.  She never looked back and continues his legacy by merging his style into her own, transforming the ordinary into extraordinary.  On several occasions, Izumi has also mentioned the brilliant Lino Tagliapietra as an inspiration.  These two master glass artists are representative forerunners to Izumi’s unique and natural creations.