North Shore Glass Studio at Sundance Artisan Show

Jeff Green | Sep 04, 2024

Kevin Kapler spends much of his time in the winter, in his glass studio. In the summer he shows his fused glass work at a number of art shows within a 50 km radius from his home on North Shore Road on Loughborough Lake.

That’s what has brought him up the road to Maberly for the Sundance Artisan Show on Labour Day Weekend, over the last few years.

His first experiences as a glass artist, which is his second career after working in children’s mental health for decades, came about when he was living in Kingston and his house had a window that was covered in an ugly mac-tac.

“My wife said, ‘can you do something about that, maybe learn how to do stained glass. So, I took a course in stained glass at St. Lawrence College and used it for the window. And that started me off with glass.”

When the couple moved out of Kingston to North Shore Road over 20 years ago, it was an opportunity for Kevin to build a studio, with an electric glass kiln which was capable of heating glass up to liquid form, enabling him to work in fused glass.

“I became so enamoured with fused glass, that I gathered all my stained-glass work, photographed it, and put it all up for sale on Kijiji. I’ve only been working in fused glass ever since.

He prefers fused glass because he enjoys the process and the dynamic nature of the end product.

He uses a flower pot, which he fills with glass and pigment.

“When the kiln reaches the right temperature, the glass melts and drips out of the hole at the bottom of the pot onto a mold below, creating something like this,” he said, showing a plate covered in swirls of colour.”

He leaves those plates as they are, as a finished product in some cases, and in other cases he will cut them into strips, and working with solid colour glass, often black or white, he assembles patterned pieces, that are then returned to the kiln to fuse together as a single piece.

Using variations of these techniques, he produces plates and bowls, jewellery and display pieces, which are full of colour and form, ever changing based on how they are lit.

“I enjoy the work, and I enjoy showing the work as well, and moving forward,” he said, ”whether I’m working on a simple plate, an abstract bowl, or a glass sculpture, there is always something new to learn about glass. And the community who works with glass seems determined to throw back the thousands of years of secrecy, so that daily learning is fostered and supported. This community sharing fits with who I am and keeps me curious and motivated.”

He also conducts classes in glasswork in his studio, either for individuals or small groups, and maintains an online gallery and sales site at Northshoreglass.ca