Carine Fram
Growing up in South Africa until the age of 27 played a major part in my perception of what art is. It shaped my appreciation for mixed media, recycled material, and vibrant colors.
I started my post-college, professional career as a Computer Scientist working for South Africa’s electricity utility. After emigrating to the USA in 1987, I consulted as a systems engineer in the Financial industry until I started my family with my husband Harvey. Once our three kids got to school-going age, I pursued a shift towards the creative side of life and began training to become a glass fusing artist. This interest was rooted in the fact that I was stimulated as a child by the bright colors of the Zulu tribe which dominates the Kwa-Zulu Natal region of my home town. The overwhelming use of glass beads in tribal dress and jewelry had influenced my everyday life as a child.
I started my fusing career in 2010 under the tutelage of Brad and Jody Walker at Warm Glass Studio in North Carolina and furthered my skills with fusing masters such as Keke Cribbs, Emma Varga, Bob Leatherbarrow and Marty Kremer (and too many others to mention). Later that year, I started my Glowing Glass Studio at my home in Lawrenceville, NJ where I work to understand and master the reactivity of colors and chemical compositions of warm glass to create my unique and functional glass art. On a daily basis, I add to my knowledge of technique and mastery. I believe it is the very technical nature of this art form that has kept me intrigued and inspired since it is not too dissimilar from the technical and ever-changing world of computers that I came from. As in my previous career, no two days are the same in my glass studio.